We are just a group of retired spooks that discuss things that you’ll not find anywhere else. It makes us unique. Take a look around. Learn a thing or two.
One of the big movies of the 1960’s was a Beatles movie called “Yellow Submarine”. It was so amazingly popular and it set off the 1970’s neon decorations and what not. But today it is a forgotten movie. Too bad!
This is a Beatles musical and well worth the time to watch.
There are various snippets from the movie on YouTube HERE.
We start off today with this short clip and sail off into the world of (yucky) reality.
Today…
What factors contribute to the success or failure of US companies in China? What can we learn from these experiences?
Two big failures. 1. Not enough market research 2. Not adapting to the market.
Just because it’s big in Baltimore it could still bomb in Beijing. So companies even naively believe that promoting their product or service as American, made in USA is going to be the key to entering the market.
KFC and McDonald’s are both in China. But KFC has over 10,000 locations while McDonald’s has around 4,500. KFC locations make more money at each location. Why? Adapting to local tastes. At KFC, they offer congee for breakfast. They created a chicken roll that mimics a Beijing duck roll. Grandpa Colonel Sanders is more endearing than Ronald McDonald. Chinese tastes lean towards chicken more than beef. McDonald’s is trying to adapt their menu, but too little too late. KFC is owned by Yum brands but has been spun off into Yum China and the CEO is a local Chinese.
Proctor and Gamble came in with a bang. Using their standard TV demonstration commercials, they made big changes in the consumer market. In five years, they changed urban dwellers from using soap to wash their hair to using shampoo. Vidal Sassoon and Head and Shoulders took top spots. Then a local upstart called Slek came from nowhere and killed them. They hired an army of young ladies to give out free samples. They used painted billboards and smoke stacks in smaller cities to get attention. Became market leader very quickly.
Starbucks came in big using the aura of American culture. For a long time, they ruled the nest. Locations at the Great Wall and the largest roastery in Shanghai. Until competition came. Luckin Coffee came in fast. Starbucks has 5000 locations but Luckin has 20,000. Luckin came in with a killer app. Coconut cappuccino! Starbucks is trying new things as well. For Chinese new year they launched a pork flavored coffee. But not a big hit.
To enter any market, including China, its critical to understand the market and what you may need to do to adjust to that market.
Seven Layer Ground Beef Casserole
859f6cad024f4294661124ca51345c97
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Ingredients
1 cup uncooked rice
1 cup cooked or canned whole kernel corn
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups (15 ounce can) tomato sauce
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1 cup cooked or canned green beans
3/4 pound ground beef
4 slices bacon, cut up
Instructions
Put rice and corn in baking pan or dish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Mix tomato sauce and water. Pour half over corn and rice.
Add layers of onion, green pepper, green beans, and beef.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Add rest of tomato mixture, top with bacon. Cover tightly.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour.
Uncover; cook 30 minutes more.
When was a time when someone threatened legal action on you only to find out that you were a lawyer?
My sister and I were roommates when I was in law school. She was a recent law school graduate when I started my first year. Fast forward three years: now I’m a recent law school graduate. My fiancee and I are moving in together, and my sister bought her first condo. Time to move on.
After we vacated the apartment, our landlord charged us for some damage, some of which was totally fair, some of which was not. We responded as much, and were swiftly served with a complaint in small claims court. I don’t remember the amounts at stake, but let’s say it was something like $1000 for “real” damage and $1000 for BS damage.
(As an aside: what was the real damage? A busted countertop. Not having a knife handy, my sister decided to use the lip of the granite countertop to open a squash. The squash won. What was the BS damage? Damage to our unit and the unit below us from an unattended overflowing toilet. The shenanigans were that the damage (if any) happened in April, and the remediation didn’t happen until late August, between tenants. Our position was that this was work that would be performed in the ordinary course of turning the apartment over to new tenants, and so we’re not responsible.)
Okay okay, so we get a complaint. There follows a phone call from a lawyer, “encouraging” (to put it charitably) us to settle. Less charitably, this lawyer was attempting to intimidate us into settling, lest we face the full wrath of the justice system.
I didn’t mention I was a lawyer. At least, not at first.
I just calmly stated our case. Then the threats. Then the re-statement of the case. Then the threats. Etc.
I didn’t mind. In fact, I did all I could to keep the lawyer on the phone. After all, they bill by the hour. More and more times going in circles is just money out of the landlord’s pocket.
But after a few more such phone calls, it got old. I did have work to do, after all.
On our next call, I started dropping legalese. Things like, “I dunno about speculation, but I believe I’m allowed to testify as to events of which I have first-hand knowledge.” Or “I get that you have to zealously represent your client, but your case has to have a good-faith basis in fact and law.” Each time, quoting various rules of evidence of ethics. Like, word for word. Because I just passed the bar exam.
None of that seemed to register. When he finally insisted he’ll see me in court, and that I’ll have to waste a whole day waiting around for my case to be called. I said something like, “well, I guess I’ll bring my computer and get some work done.” He responded, “oh no… only attorneys can bring a computer in to court.”
I chuckled.
Alas, I didn’t get my day in court. A few days later, I got a notice that the trial was rescheduled, allegedly based on a motion I consented to. I did not consent. I was able to get the case dismissed (without prejudice), and the whole thing had to start again.
That prompted yet another furious call from my new friend. I asked with genuine curiosity how he was able to represent to the court that I consented to rescheduling the case, when that wasn’t the case. He dismissively squawked that “it’s done all the time.” I said, “huh, okay. I’ll guess we’ll find out… unless we settle.” I then offered something like $700, a few hundred bucks less than the amount we legitimately owed. He accepted.
I asked that he send the settlement agreement to my and my sister’s work addresses — we both worked for high profile law firms at the time. I made it a point to drop off the check in person, and he finally acknowledged: “You guys are attorneys? Why didn’t you say so?”
China VS America | Yanis Varoufakis on Big Tech, Capitalism and Techno-Feudalism (Part 3)
Why do developing nations kind of trust China and Russia these days?
Virtually the whole world
Even the West!
How many times has Putin gone back on a commitment given?
Almost never
Do you see white russians swarming into Chechnya and taking over and ending their autonomy?
Same with Xi Jinping
Once he signs that paper, the Chinese honor what ever they have committed to
They follow rules
They obey International Laws
The US?
Nopes
Liars
They have cheated everyone so far
Native Americans?
Cheated
African Americans?
Cheated
Afghans?
Cheated
Iraqis?
Cheated
Libyans?
Cheated
Even the Japs have been cheated
They do so citing DEMOCRACY
Their explanation is “We are helpless because OUR PEOPLE don’t want this so we have to stop”
Yet there is no referendum
It’s a based on a bunch of corrupt or stupid senators and congressmen
Russia and China are trusted by the entire world and even the West trusts them openly
Because they CAN’T AFFORD TO LIE EVEN ONCE
That single lie could be so overblown by the MSM that their reputations could be severely damaged
What is the most unbelievably clever thing you have ever witnessed an animal do?
I watched a very smart crow in front of a Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC). This is just one of those weird memories that stay in your brain forever for no specific reason.
Originally, I was just waiting outside on my food order when I happened to notice this amusing crow. It was absolutely fascinating how intelligent this crow was; so, I stayed to eat my lunch and watched him for nearly 40 minutes. It was very entertaining and eye-opening to watch this clever crow operate.
There was a swivel-top trash container outside the front door of the KFC. The crow would wait until a customer threw trash in, fly to the top of the container, rock the swivel top back and forth then slide down inside the trash can. He’d be inside there 15-20 seconds, then surprise; he’d come flying back out with a bag in his beak.
He flew beeline under a nearby tree, opened the bag and began to extract the contents one by one. It was almost like he was sorting out to the right and left what was edible and what wasn’t. I watched him open catsup, butter and honey packets. He’d hold them down with his claws, rip them open with his beak, then ingeniously step-pressure the contents out of each packet with his claws while pecking the goodies inside down his gullet.
The crow would only fly to the trash can after someone threw trash in; when they did, he was on it quickly. This smarty-bird also knew how to pry the lids off little containers of mashed potatoes and coleslaw. He had a few pieces of chicken that he was picking clean between flights to the trash can but always kept an eye peeled toward that trash can for the next customer.
After about 30 minutes, his crow family found him and he had to defend his between-flights chicken bone. He finally flew it out from under the tree and set it on an exterior window sill closer to the trash can. He then did only what I could describe as a ‘bird strut’ where he walked back and forth, puffed his body up and cawed out a warning to any other crows who dared invade his lunch territory. I felt so silly laughing my ass off while sitting all alone in my car but his moves were so intentional and understandable and hilarious.
One of the smartest moves was what he did with drinks and straws. He’d stand a soda cup up, pry off the lid, remove the straw from the lid, then amazingly jam the straw back down into the drink. I don’t know if he clamped off the pressure to hold liquid in; but I saw him extract a nearly-full straw, toss his head way back and let the liquid run down into his mouth. I know a few teenagers that probably couldn’t figure out how to do this. This feisty crow was a seasoned fast-food connoisseur. After he was through getting the liquid out, he flew the cup over to the tree and dumped the ice from about 10 foot in the air. I swear this was a diversionary tactic because a bunch of other crows began investigating all the scattered ice cubes and left him alone for the time being.
This sounds like a silly way to spend your lunch time but that crow kept me so captivated. They sure do learn to adapt. I had heard crows were smart birds, but now I’ve seen it first-hand. Just before I left, I tossed him an encore biscuit and a new chicken bone.
What is the most useless fact you know?
When you say “a, e, i, o, u” your mouth gets smaller with each vowel you say.
You don’t really wash your hands; They actually wash each other while you stand there and watch. (Imagine)
If a man says you’re ugly, he’s being mean. If a woman says you’re ugly, she’s envious. If a little kid says you’re ugly, you’re ugly.
Things are not on fire, fire is on things.
When you say ‘Forward’ or ‘Backward’, your lips move in those directions.
(yes, just like that)
The word ‘Australia’ has three A’s, all of which look the same, but are pronounced differently.
If You Rip a Hole in a Net, There Are Actually Fewer Holes in It than there were before.
This sentence “All the faith he had had had had no effect on the outcome of his life.” is actually correct.
Sometimes you have to sing the whole alphabet in your head just to find the next letter.
The latest scientific research has shown that you can travel on an airplane without announcing it on Social media.
What’s More Dangerous than Running with Scissors?
Falling on them (imagine).
Lazy fact #1725402648207549
You are too lazy to read that number
“Dammit I’m Mad ” backwards is still “Dammit I’m Mad”.
Nothing is behind Your Back. it is always in front of your back.
Most of the time the People who tell you to calm down, Are the same people that made you angry in the first place.
Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia
Its not fun to say, but ironically, this is the medical term for the fear of long words.
You Can Inflate the the Word Count on Your Essays by Writing the the Word “The” Twice. (I just did that).
Yes, English can be weird. It can be understood through tough thorough thought, though.
Adding some more
If you attempt to rob a Bank, you will have no trouble with rent or bills for the next Ten Years, whether you are successful or not.
If you swim with a Friend, your chances of getting eaten by a Shark will drop to 50%.
The early Bird gets the worm, but the early worm gets eaten by the Bird.
You’ll get everything you want in Life if you lower your expectations.
Never Run from an overweight Policeman. He’s more likely to shoot than chase you.
If someone calls you by your full name, either they are in love or you are screwed.
The more you weigh, the harder you are to kidnap.
Don’t mess with Elephants. they NEVER forget, and NEVER forgive.
You will understand when the time is right.
You can’t break your New Year Resolutions, if you don’t have any in the first place.
The people who go to Jungle Safari with their slowest friends are more likely to survive during animal attack. (sounds weird but it works).
Second place means you’re the best Loser.
Brushing your teeth is the only time you clean your skeleton.
You have never actually seen your face, you have only seen reflections and photographic depictions of it.
History classes are only going to get longer and harder as time passes by.
Adding some more
when you lie down outside, looking up at the sky, you’re actually staring down into an infinite cosmic abyss with only the earth’s gravity stopping you from drifting off forever.
A 45 year old Bosnian man named Amir Vehabovic faked his death back in 2007 because he wanted to see who would attend his funeral. Only his mother attended. After this debacle, he wrote dozens of angry letters to his so-called friends and what he thought of their friendship going forward.
In the mid-1880s Aluminum was more valuable than gold, now we use it wastefully to wrap food.
It rains diamonds on Saturn and Jupiter.
There’s no reason the alphabet needs to be in that order.
The swimming pool onboard the Titanic is still full.
Everything you’ve done in life has led to you reading this line.
“How do I hold 1.4bn Chinese together” – Douglas Macgregor
International Business: Why didn’t American companies choose India instead of China for manufacturing products?
I’ve come across similar questions from time to time on this very topic and I don’t recall anyone ever pointing out the true reason.
The reason as to why India can’t out perform China in manufacturing is NOT because of infrastructure, it’s NOT because of skilled labors, it’s NOT because of corruption, and it’s also NOT because of “superiority of the Chinese mentality”.
I’d like to answer this question with this noun
Unpredictability
Now repeat after me.
Unpredictability
Unpredictability
Unpredictability
This is the single most powerful noun that’s preventing India from being a manufacturing hub – because doing business in India is so god damn unpredictable, therefore it is impossible to calculate your return on investment when dealing with India.
Bad infrastructure? No problem, that can be factored into shipping cost & delivery time
Lack of experienced labors? No problem, that’ll factor into capital/startup cost
Corruption? No problem, tell me who I need to pay and how much, that’ll become part of operating cost
Lots of paper work? No problem, longer startup time means lower return on investment, but that again, can be calculated, and can be made up with higher profit margin.
You know what the problem with India is?
NOTHING CAN BE CALCULATED
In India:
When a someone says “yes”, you have no idea whether he/she actually meant yes or no.
When a worker say that “I’ll be there in 5 minutes”, you have no idea whether he’s one of those workers who keeps his word, or he’s one of those workers who’ll just show up 4 hours later
When an official approaches you and ask for “expedition fee”, you have no idea how much he’s asking, and how much faster he can expedite, and how many more like him are coming
When you are presented with a pile of paper work, you have no idea whether this is the last pile, or whether there are 20 more piles that’s coming after, and whether you were even given the correct paper works to fill out.
Heck, even if you have someone coming in to help, you have no idea whether he’ll hit a cow on the way here and then forced to wait for another 8 hours for a shaman to show up and complete the ritual.
All that plus the occasional “I refuse to work with people from that caste” plus union strike and power outages makes doing business in India extremely unpredictable.
If you are a business owner, would you buy from someone who sells you the same item with $3, knowing that the goods will likely be delivered on time and to specification, or are you going to buy from someone who sells you for $2, but you have no idea when, or even if you’ll get that item?
Most people would buy it for $3, then just markup the profit.
Business is all about predictability, trying to make money without ability to predict is called gamble, and business owner don’t like to gamble when they could avoid it.
So to wrap this up.
Unpredictability is what’s killing manufacturing in India. Not infrastructure, not mentality, not corruption, not skilled labor.
It’s UNPREDICTABILITY, in capitalized bold letters.
Why don’t U.S. companies move their overseas manufacturing to friendlier countries than China? There have to be other countries willing to manufacture goods at reduced prices.
Business issues requires business expertise to solve. US-China tension is political ones, manufactured by its politicians, which power and influence is waning after one of the parties started the “government is the problem” thing, and unhealthy amount of idiots voted for it.
Indonesia has been wooing foreing multinational businesses to move here, we once aimed for the likes of Foxconn, but it is super difficult. Politicians talk as if it is as easy as organising a campus protest.
It got picked up by the clueless media, read by ignorant audience, and the hype is fired up.
But the problem is always started by the stupid country that promotes this “international trade” system and their fake science like economy. The principles called for:
Economics of scale: achieve efficiency by mass production, and market that is big enough to give demand cushion.
Infrastructure and facilities: setting up operations require utilities, workers, and supporting policies.
Finances & access: the capitalistic system requires the money market to be aggressive and risk-taking enough to make it a reality.
Number 1 is easy. China and India is big enough, but for greedy businesses, Indonesia, being the 4th biggest is never enough. The US, being 3rd biggest is too problematical and the people often fight back. India is similarly problematical – unlike US’ 2 parties-same package deal, India is super fragmented, you can’t control India after buying their winning party. China is just one party state, pretty much like Japan and Singapore in practical manner. Get chummy with the party, get the entire country.
Number 2 is also very evident. US is probably the best at this. But, US politicians are growingly becoming a show business. Upgrading and maintaining activities are not something that generate media headlines and spectacle for the politicians, so they often neglect the infra and facilities. Politicians hogging the stage, inspired people to be more like them, peddling influence either as social media or actual influencers, taking socio-political studies instead of the scrutinised STEM subjects. China is all new and still pretty much aspirant. India is the same. But unlike China, India still has the Da Falun problem: superstition and traditionalism running rampant. While CCP purged such movement effectively back in 1990s, the rot is beginning to haunt them back with the growing BS that always entail populism, and CCP increasingly more interested in keeping things the way they are instead of rooting out the problem. And this presents an opportunity to Indonesia, but we are way too far to be competitive with those 2. As Tim Cook said to the Chinese media last month, calling in 10,000 engineers in China is much easier because they have them. The US whines about “higher quality engineers”, but less than 3,000 quality engineers will not produce the overwhelming amount of volume at the same quality level.
Number 3, while China the mainland calls itself communist, they are home to more billionaires than Indonesia. Only India has more than them despite being poorer – which speaks volume about the wealth disparity there. People there are more risk-taking and has the “doer” mentality. Indonesia is the kind of dilletante that knows everything, but do nothing. You won’t attract investors if you yourself just don’t show confidence-inspiring commitment.
Another big irrational reason that is not intrinsic factor of China’s competitors are easily the US market itself.
American are hustlers, and some of them are sleazy as F.
I mean, they hired $30k marketer to turn $3 ordinary goods into $80 at WalMart with warranty backed by head office registered in Delaware or Utah or Florida.
I know this, because we get the excess goods flowing into our secondary market, still packaged with all US labelling and shameless promotion wrapping the box.
Granted, it never hides the fact that it is Made in China.
Okay, maybe the $77 excess profit taken by the US entity might go to some well-paid support staff employed by the importers. But what about the consumers? How do they feel like paying $80 for a crappy Chinese product being marketed as a result of “Hong Kong univeristy research project by a genius that has moved to stateside”?
These questions will go over American politicians and its imbecile congress. They don’t have any intellectual capacity to understand these things.
Ask them, like who own Chrysler now, I don’t expect 50% accurate answer from these fools who tried tp “grill” their business excutives with the most brain dead questions ever.
As for other alternative countries:
Vietnam
Hardworker, hustler, the young upstart seemingly capable of everything. But ultimately is never big enough for the greedy western capitalists.
Taiwan
“Made in Taiwan” – proceeds to smack the machine. No longer stands for the quality, and probably never were. They are just “discount Japanese” as ever. I owned Taiwanese phones (htc) for almost ever. It is as funky as “Made in Taiwan” of the yesteryears – low quality beats by dr. Dre-branded speaker or poorly fitted volume button on flagship phone. Today, even internet techies are dropping more and more bombs on Taiwanese electronic brands’ flagship model (which btw, I still use quite fine).
Philippines
This is not 1960s anymore. Needs more US money injection like what they received during Marcos era. But then again, the competition landscape is no longer 1960s. I use Intel processor made by them, and it is quite fine.
Malaysia
Interesting alternative, but again, it is on the smaller scale.
Bangladesh
Only for certain products.
Germany
This fool has dismantled themselves slowly, and prefer to point finger at others instead of doing it themselves.
UK
Same as above, but worse.
Nigeria
Wait another 10–20 years.
Mexico
As long as you are fine with them.
Back to US
Perhaps the best solution of all: make your own stuff. I think everyone can easily agree with this. Even the Chinese are also moving to US. You just need to undo all those years of Reaganism brainwashing about unions and lazy American workers.
Why I Never Dated American Women And Moved To Eastern Europe
Have you ever met somebody so stupid that they made you question how they survived this long?
I used to work as a teacher at an elementary school in rural Ohio. I was consistently blown away by the stupidity of EVERYONE there: my students, their parents, my co-workers, and the administration.
Once we had a school cancellation because of snow. We didn’t get just a few flakes, but literally a couple of feet. One mom dropped her kid off anyway – even though there obviously were no buses, no vehicles, and no people around at all, like you always have during a school day drop off.
I was inside the building, along with a couple of other teachers. A few of us had already arrived at the school when the superintendent decided to cancel, and we decided to get some work done before heading back home.
One of these other teachers was the one who found the student wandering around.
This kid was a fourth grader, and apparently of the same mental caliber as her mom. She didn’t know her home phone number or her mom’s cell phone number, but she was “pretty sure” she knew her address.
The other teacher proved to not be so bright, either. She asked me what she should do, and I advised her to call the cops and let them handle it. That’s what I assumed she did.
Found out later that she actually drove the kid to her apartment building. They knocked on the door of the kid’s apartment but got no answer. A neighbor heard them and told this teacher that the kid could just come inside their apartment and stay with them until the mom came home.
This teacher, without knowing ANYTHING about the neighbor, did exactly that. I kid you not.
When the mom realized that school was actually closed, she panicked and drove back. She pounded on the door until another teacher let her in. (I was in a different part of the building and didn’t hear this.) The other teacher had enough brains to do what I’d suggested at the outset: she called the cops.
It took a few hours before the kid was located inside the neighbor’s apartment. Thankfully, the kid appeared to be safe and sound. But, yeah, it was a SERIOUS lack of judgment for that first teacher to have left the kid with a complete stranger.
She got a reprimand, and we all got a memo on what to do in the event of a similar situation (predictably, leaving a student with the first random stranger who offered was NOT a recommended course of action).
I left the job and the area a few years later, thinking that maybe all of the pesticides being used there (it was mainly a farming community) were rotting peoples’ brains.
I sure didn’t want the same thing happening to me.
Roll with the Changes (REO Speedwagon) | Classic Rock Cover – Kelly and the Ding Dongs
If you are a teacher, have you cried in front of your class? What happened?
Six times, I think – 2 nice, 4 not. That makes me seem like an emotional wreck!
Within my first month teaching, my whole class climbed out the windows and ran away. I was sure I was going to be fired.
A 14 year old student who died suddenly and unexpectedly from an undiagnosed brain tumour. He was literally in class one day and dead the next. Telling the class was horrific.
A colleague and friend (my husband’s best friend) killed in a cycle accident on the way to school. Telling my husband (also a teacher) was horrific.
I had a seriously unstable student attempt suicide in my classroom by jamming a pencil up his nose and well, I don’t want to go into more detail. I cleared the room while help was being sought and he then tried to set himself on fire with spray deodorant and a lighter. I don’t think I’ll ever get over that.
When my ‘naughty’ junior class baked me a massive purple velvet cake covered in miniature My Little Ponies (an in-joke) and created a a huge collage when I got engaged.
After years of trying for a baby, my husband raced into my class to tell me we’d been chosen to adopt our little girl and we’d get to meet her the next day. The whole class cried!
Edit 1:
My most recent update about the student in #4: It would have been 4 years ago I last heard about him (I also taught his two younger siblings), but he survived and was getting the help he needed. No miraculous ‘cures’ – the whole family was deeply affected by the dad’s hidden addiction issues (the youngest sibling confided in me, I didn’t know at the time of teaching the eldest) – but he was physically healthy and in a day-program to get his schooling back on track.
Have you ever confronted a thief?
Yes, during Covid lockdown, I stayed temporarily in a little guest cottage on my sister in law, Jay’s property.
I nipped out one afternoon, to the shops, and though I wasn’t gone even 30 minutes, a burglar took his shot at my goodies.
I came home to the broken window, and I was telling Jay about it, through the shared gate, at the bottom of my walkway (i walked past the window to get to her). So I was about 5 meters away telling her, when I saw him climbing out of the window he’d just broken! He was however, now trapped in the tiny walkway, the end to which I was blocking. And I was in the process of alerting all other 8 people on the property to his presence.
Well, because I’m never what you expect, instead of panicking, I dropped what was carrying and charged the bloke with ferocity. Jay, though shaking and yelling for her husband and friend to call the cops, trigger the panic alarm and come help us, pulled out her phone and started recording my interaction with the thief.
The thief had seen me coming at him and turned and tried to scale the 14 ft wall behind him (which hilariously had an unlocked door he could have simply opened and exited, but he didn’t know it was unlocked). Not thinking twice I weighed him up and figured he was slight enough that if I could get him on the ground I could probably pin him with my weight long enough for the men on the property to get to me.
I didn’t know they had not reacted as I expected, so despite pulling him off the wall and delaying him considerably, he unfortunately he managed to dump a handy bucket of water over me, and sliping out of my grasp got away with several thousands worth of jewelry.
He was, however, arrested just the next week when he decided to return to the scene of the crime. No one said the chap was bright.
I still have the video of the altercation. She didn’t keep it steady while I was wrestling with the guy, but she got an excellent view of his face as he ran past her making his getaway. 🤣 A still of that video landed the guy in jail, without the need for court testimony from me!
I’m a legend in town, but nameless. You can’t really see my face in the video, so no one knows who the crazy chick was that pulled a burglar off a wall and tried to sit on him till the cops got there!
Anonymous Just Leaked The US Sent An Email Asking For The Resurrection Chamber Of Gilgamesh
History story
Instead of shooting down the bomber, the German pilot guided the heavily damaged plane safely out of German air space.
main qimg 175499b3543e352f337b3970db62d9f1 lq
During World War II, Second Lieutenant Charles Brown was the pilot of a B-17 and after a tough aerial battle, his plane was the only one left behind in German air space. His plane was running dangerously out of fuel, half of his crew was wounded, his tail gunner was killed, and his plane was rattling from all the gunshots it had taken.
German ace, Franz Stigler, was only a kill away from earning The Knight’s Cross, Germany’s highest award for valor. He was on the ground when Brown’s B-17 passed over him and he took off on his Bf-109 to chase after the American plane.
When he got behind the B-17, he was about to press the trigger to take down the plane, but noticed that no one from the B-17 was shooting at him, he flew closer to see that the tail gunner was dead and the crew inside were injured and huddling together.
Then he nudged his plane alongside the bomber’s wings and locked eyes with the pilot whose eyes were wide with shock and horror.
Stigler pressed his hand over the Rosary he kept in his flight jacket. He eased his index finger off the trigger. He couldn’t shoot. It would be murder.
Alone with the crippled bomber, Stigler changed his mission. He nodded at the American pilot and began flying in formation so German anti-aircraft gunners on the ground wouldn’t shoot down the slow-moving bomber. (The Luftwaffe had B-17s of its own, shot down and rebuilt for secret missions and training.) Stigler escorted the bomber over the North Sea and took one last look at the American pilot. Then he saluted him, peeled his fighter away and returned to Germany.
Brown eventually reached England and landed safely. He got married, had a job in the State Department during Vietnam War, and eventually settled in Florida.
Then, he wanted to know who this German pilot that saved his life was. He put up an ad in a German newspaper.
On January 18, 1990, Brown received a letter. He opened it and read:
“Dear Charles, All these years I wondered what happened to the B-17, did she make it or not?”
It was Stigler. He had had left Germany after the war and moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1953. He became a prosperous businessman. Now retired, Stigler told Brown that he would be in Florida come summer and “it sure would be nice to talk about our encounter.”
They met up at a hotel in Florida and from being once enemies, they became close friends.
Brown and Stigler became pals. They would take fishing trips together. They would fly cross-country to each other homes and take road trips together to share their story at schools and veterans’ reunions. Their wives, Jackie Brown and Hiya Stigler, became friends.
Both of them passed away in 2008. Brown was 87 and Stigler was 92.
So yes, it is possible!
My almost 15-year-old son watched a movie for 16+ year old people without my permission. What should I do?
My 15 year old son and his friends went to a cybercafe in the afternoon, sent to take photocopies of practice questions and watched dirty photographs in a browsing centre
The cafe owners own kids went to the school so he tipped off the teachers who summoned the parents
It’s PERFECTLY NORMAL
It’s what all teenagers should do and do
It’s what I did in my teens (though I never got caught)
Too much discipline almost always goes the wrong way and you don’t want your kid becoming desperate enough to HIDE THINGS from you right?
So dont push him
I set a few red lines and that’s it
Dont lie about your marks or performance and come clean if you fail so that correction can be done
Don’t smoke at any cost or have a first beer until you get a paycheck
Don’t take a girl out on a date or have sex with her until you have a decent paycheck
Close the door when watching Porn and don’t let your mother find out and for gods sake don’t use fake labels on CDs
That’s it
Within these boundaries , you do what you feel is best
I can’t set academic targets for them
So my advise was : MAKE SURE YOU DO YOUR BEST. AS LONG AS YOU KNOW YOU DID YOUR BEST AND WEREN’T LAZY, THAT’S ENOUGH
A 15 yr old watching a 16+ year old movie is pretty normal
I bet he knows way more than a 16+ year old movie
Is Taiwan part of or separate from China?
Well, I am not Taiwanese or from any Chinese state, I am from Singapore, and to give you an honest answer. Technically it is part of China.
I get like Taiwan wants independence, but they can’t, I am not saying that they have no capabilities, but they just can’t. They can survive on their own, but they can’t be independent because China is looking after them.
Before anyone gets angry at me for not supporting Taiwan independence and all sorts of such things, I want to make my point that Singapore used to face this issue too. Singapore was once a part of Malaysia too because of a merger. And when Malaysia kicked us out, we could have said no, but Singapore minister Lee Kuan Yew said that they have come to accept it to gain independence from Malaysia. Even the US gained independence from the UK after the UK allowed them to become independent. Have you noticed the common criteria between these two examples? If you think that both have came to an agreement, then you’re right. Both came to an agreement and hence became independent. That’s why to me, if China is not allowing Taiwan to be independent, then it cannot be independent no matter how hard you try to fight for it. So, yes, Taiwan IS a part of China as of now.
And if you think about it, do you think China needs Taiwan? Just like Hong Kong and Macau, the only reason why China claim it as their territory is to make sure those pesky western power doesn’t come down to claim them and use them against China. Only Taiwan minsters and citizens are blind to see that, but if you don’t get involve in such issue and take a step back, you will realise that this is most likely the case. I study history in secondary school and I saw a source during the Korean War where the Chinese had a poster that states to kill the Americans who were in Taiwan and South Korea, you do realise it is the KOREAN War, it was between North and South Korea, but what does Taiwan have to do with it? Well China wants to chase away Western Power in Asia. It is as simple as that.
Now, whether Taiwan will get independent or not, it is really based on whether the US gets too involved with Taiwan, if China seizes Taiwan, no matter how hard Taiwan fights, it still is a part of China. The only reason why they had a government down there was because Chiang Kai Shek lost against Mao Ze Dong, and he had a thick skin to start a government down in Taiwan, and if you think Mao Ze Dong is bad, well, it doesn’t make Chiang Kai Shek any better, just know about White Death or White Terror and you will know why. People can claim that Mao Ze Dong was evil, but technically he was also good in building China to what it is today, same goes for Chiang Kai Shek (Taiwan), Syghmen Rhee (South Korea) and Ngoh Dinh Diem (South Vietnam), these people who were supported by the US, also were dictators and killed many too. Back to the point, Chaing Kai Shek just ran down to Taiwan to set up a local government system but China ignored it as they had many issues to solve in their own country, if China back then did not ignore it, they would have went to Taiwan and kill Chiang Kai Shek and his party of people. And this is not a joke, I am serious when I say this that they would have if they realised it was really a huge threat that will affect today.
China says that Taiwan is their own people, but I feel that’s an excuse, seriously? Taiwan VOLUNTEERED to join the Japanese army and killed many Chinese in China, Malaysia, Singapore, regardless of whether they were communists or not. Do you think they will see the Taiwanese Chinese people as their own people? People would rather see them as Japanese than Chinese. And Taiwan is very influenced by Japanese culture with their way of life, I would rather cede them to the Japanese rather than taking them back since they are very Japanese like and most of their habits are very Japanese like. Again, they only don’t want to give them independence because of the Western Power plans to surround China.
All in all, I am not saying that Taiwan cannot be independent and I don’t support their independent, but I am just stating down of why I think they cannot be independent and hence is a part of China regardless of whether you think it is or not because in reality and in actual fact, they are not and they cannot be independent, it all lies on whether China is willing to give up, only time will tell.
The Lost Boys – I Still Believe – Tim Capello (Subtitulado)
Some of the strange AI artwork from today
Really strange stuff today.
@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(6)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(3)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(4)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(5)
I think that this picture wins the prize for the strangest painting…
Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(6)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(2)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(3)
Contemplating coffee…
Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(4)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(5)
Worshiping a coffee God?
Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(6)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(1)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(2)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(5)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(6)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(2)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(3)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(4)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(6)
This story contains themes or mentions of suicide or self harm.
Good morning Marc. A familiar robotic voice gently awoke me from my peaceful sleep as I tried to pry my eyelids open.It is time to shoot your advertisement for Taurodyne. The product is in the bathroom cabinet.Taurodyne was a toothpaste company that had purchased ads for intergalactic voyages. If life was ever discovered on one of the “Taur” missions, it would be a huge marketing boost for the company, but after the 20th mission failed, people just stopped caring. It was unlikely for anyone but hardcore viewers to recognize the name Marc Silva, much less buy toothpaste because of its ethos. I unclipped the harness holding me vertically against my padded bedroom wall and ran a quick scan with the vitals monitor set up to my left, the faint green light blinking in time with the thumping of my heart.“Andromeda, how long have I been asleep?” I asked.Measurements indicate it has been seven hours. “Ship assessment?” I queried as I rubbed my eyes wearily, now floating in the zero-g atmosphere.Oxygen levels are stable, velocity remains constant, no anomalies are detected.Everything was normal.I opened the hatch that gave way to the narrow hallway of my Edison-4. I floated down the hallway toward my bathroom. In the cabinet next to the rinseless soap and water pouches was my toothbrush, and next to it, a tube of Taurodyne toothpaste. I couldn’t even use the viscous liquid to brush my teeth in its current packaging; the liquid would just float away. Taurodyne marketers, however, maintained that the brand recognition that came with a tube was necessary. I located the camera on the left wall just above my prompter, oriented myself to face it, and displayed the red and blue logo labeled, “Taurodyne: the high-tech toothpaste.”
“Roll it, Andromeda.”
Cameras are recording in three, two, one.
“As an astronaut, I need long-lasting freshness to keep my helmet smelling great, even for long spacewalks. That’s why I choose Taurodyne.” I flashed a smile before dropping the facade.
Your recording is compressing and will be flashed to the nearest base. Orienting communication lasers…
I took out one of my more space-friendly toothpaste packs. I hated these ads. I thought everyone on Earth could see through my ingenuine smile and yellowing teeth, even after they were whitened in post-production. I felt so exposed, so alone. Andromeda eased my yearning for interaction, but the blasted ads were a constant reminder that there was an Earth I had left behind.
Message sending…
Nonetheless, they were necessary. Ever since President Flint had cut funding for the space program, the budget had been strained. The program subsisted on nothing but our own ad revenue and philanthropic donations by eccentric trillionaires. Second-class, loaned rockets plagued the ASA – formerly NASA – while private and Chinese missions used their new, top-of-the-line ships.
The message will take one month to travel and will be received at base PACS-867 on April 3, 2130.
“Thanks, Andromeda,” I responded absentmindedly.
Today was the culmination of my mission to find humans a new home. It was the final leg of the journey before I would be assigned to another lifeless sphere, devoid of interest and isolated in the perennial vastness; venturing in hope that there, somehow, humanity could continue its endless crusade of existence, a reckoning never resolved, only delayed. The population was growing by nearly two billion people a year, mandating the rapid colonization of the unknown; however, no suitable planet had been found yet. The “balloon problem,” as scientists referred to it, was explained to me by the man who popularized it: Mario Perez.
Mario was well-dressed and -spoken for a man who spoke English as his fourth language. I met with him at his home nearly two years ago. Contrary to his gloomy work, Mario was a jovial man. Perhaps he felt safe in the knowledge that he would never survive to see his prediction come to fruition – he had stage four cancer at the time. I arrived at his warmly lit house filled with tchotchkes and knickknacks where he cracked jokes and told me about a painting that hung in his living room where we talked. It was Dali’s “The Persistence of Memory.”
“Is that real?” I asked, floored.
“No, not at all,” he chuckled. “They offered it to me, but I figured, why hang it here where a couple of people can enjoy it when it can be at MoMA where it is seen by thousands?” He delivered the rhetorical question in such a way that I couldn’t help but laugh, though I wasn’t quite sure what I was meant to be laughing at. It was the kind of joke to be enjoyed at barbecues, perhaps said by a paternal grill master during small talk. Our conversation topic was anything but small talk.
After we settled in, him in a reclining chair and me on an itchy sofa, Mario began a routine that had, by then, reached billions of listeners.
“Assume you put a single piece of bacteria in a cup, and that organism doubles every minute. The process begins at midnight on Monday and will end when the glass is full in exactly twenty four hours. When will the glass be half full?”
I had seen his work, but him, sitting across from me in his La-Z-Boy (but not relaxed) staring unflinchingly at me gave it a whole new gravitas.
”11:59 pm on Tuesday night,” he said with finality. “The pocketwatch of humanity is ticking. Our time is running out, and we have just one precious minute left. What’s the solution? Say we colonize a hundred planets. Let’s represent the space they provide by expanding our limit to the entire room. That buys us only ten short minutes. It is only a matter of time, even if we colonize those hundred planets, until our timepiece once again reads 11:59.” That warning was the thing that drove everyone in the spacefaring business to work harder, go faster, and travel further than ever before.
I assumed Mario was dead by now. His doctor’s prediction was far eclipsed by my mission length. As for Mario’s prediction, he prognosticated that barring an alternative to Earth, population control would have to be utilized by 2150, twenty years from now.
Population control. That had been the question of the last few years. Whether it was righteous to struggle against an ever-increasing flood of humanity by accommodating the endless new bodies, or whether it was nobler to sterilize a portion of the population in the hopes of helping a section of the yet unborn to thrive in an Earth of plentiful resources. The UN and other international bodies were paralyzed by debate and the lack of a right answer to a confounding moral problem. It seemed that inaction would rule doomsday.
I shook off my existential crisis, moving toward my modest living area, and more importantly, the breakfast pouches inside my plastic cabinet labeled food.
“What exciting alien species will I be encountering today?” I queried with no small hint of sarcasm.
You must repair atmospheric sensor 3b before I take low-atmospheric photos and data of planet Confutatis Spes. Once the data is collected and you are safely aboard, I will perform a boomerang maneuver to shoot you back toward PACS-867 where you will return the Edison-4 to the Chinese.
Everything as expected. “Sounds good, A. When am I disembarking?”
T minus ten minutes until your EVA.
Everything seemed to be on schedule. I quickly slurped down my blueberry oatmeal and went to put on my suit in preparation for the spacewalk. I was done sitting around doing nothing but filming promos for shitty toothpaste. Today was a day of action, where I would become master of my own life.
“Andromeda, put on Space Oddity” I mused with a smirk slowly working its way to my lips.
Space Oddity by David Bowie now playing.
By this time, I had made my way to the suit staging area. I went through the checklist drilled into me at training. When I pulled the tether taut to test its strength, the lyrics began to rise high above the sci-fi sounds that played in the background of my favorite song as the song’s ship countdown began. The unique voice of David Bowie became ubiquitous. I looked out of the airlock toward the planet I would soon visit, both my ears and now eyes filling with beauty. I started mouthing the lyrics, slowly working up the confidence to sing in earnest, broken high notes joining the forlorn verse.
“Ground control to Major Tom:
The time is near, there’s not too long.
Can you hear me, Major Tom?”
The red-tinted sun at my back combined with the deep purple clouds that I could only assume were toxic iodine made the planet reminiscent of a sunset. As pretty as it was, a lot of work would be required to make this planet into a home. I stepped into the main body of the suit.
“Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you hear?”
I donned my heavy helmet equipped with a life-support system and boasting a sun-protectant visor. The song shifted to the sound system contained within the helmet, but I kept belting.
“Here am I sitting in a tin can
Far above the moon
Planet Earth is blue
And there’s nothing I can do”
I slipped on my gloves, cleared my throat, and asked, “You there, Andromeda?”
Here as always. We have entered the upper atmosphere and are in a stable orbit. Your mission is a go.
“Then let’s do this thing.”
The airlock opened and I pushed off toward sensor 3b. It was impossible to see through the purple clouds all around me so I navigated with the help of Andromeda as she activated different thrusters attached to the suit to correct my movements.
You will have to perform a jump out to the right engine module. Two o’clock.
“Copy that.” I jumped without hesitation, feeling a slight correction from the right side of my suit, and latched onto the metallic surface.
You must adjust the collection unit to 37 degrees to accommodate our low-orbit angle when collection is happening.
I reached out, trying to feel the porous, cylindrical device. My clumsily controlled hand made contact and slowly started pushing it into position.
“Just tell me when to stop.”
Stop. Well done. Time to return to the main body. Eight o’clock.
I pushed off once again and felt the familiar correction. “I thought I had that one,” I complained sarcastically. Andromeda didn’t respond. She was used to my humor. We had grown close over the past two years. Any interaction, even with a machine, was welcome in the void. Her competence and real-seeming empathy for my predicament gave me complete trust in her. Deprivation of human contact over the years had made me boring and socially inept. I thought Andromeda was the only one who understood me.
I reached the airlock and reentered the ship. The pressure equalized, and I took off my helmet.
We will be entering the lower atmosphere in thirty minutes where data collection will begin.
“Great. I’m gonna get a nap. Let me know when we’re boomeranging”
I doffed the remainder of my suit and drifted back to my cramped quarters. I strapped myself into my sleeping bag and fell into a deep sleep.
*******************
Marc.
Marc, there is a slight problem.
Marc, you must wake up.
“What is it, Andromeda?” I asked crankily.
An anomaly has been detected in the oxygen levels of the ship.
“Are we leaking? How bad is it?”
I did a scan for leaks and found nothing. We are losing 3.4 times ten to the negative eight atmospheres of partial pressure per minute.
“Log the deficit. It’s probably a reading error. If the problem persists, wake me up in twenty minutes.”
*******************
Marc.
The problem is persisting.
“How so?”
We are losing 1.4 times ten to the negative six atmospheres of partial pressure per minute.
That was anomalous. That the oxygen was leaking 100 times worse was flustering. “Show me the data on oxygen levels,” I implored.
I looked left at my monitor and zoomed in.
“A, assign a line of exponential regression and give me an R squared value.” I looked intently at the exponential model, where terror awaited me. Oxygen would run out in fifty minutes at the current rate. The confidence metric read an even 100%.
“Oh, no.” My panicked voice began to crack as I recognized the severity of my situation.
I ripped off my bed straps and careened toward the airlock. What could be causing the leak?
“Andromeda, I’m going to check the oxygen tank for leakage from outside of the ship.” I frantically jumped into the suit I had so joyously put on less than an hour ago. I reached down and strapped myself into place, but I was still missing something. I cried, “My gloves! Where are my gloves?”
On the table to your right next to the purple smudge.
I hadn’t done a good job cleaning up, but there wasn’t time for that now.
I snatched the gloves, pulled them on, and hooked the tether onto my waist loop. Finally, I opened the airlock.
Wasting no time, I made a beeline for the oxygen tanks. When I reached the panel, I unscrewed it with shaking hands and practically ripped it off.
“Andromeda, scan the device for external oxygen.”
Scanning through suit sensors… no leak has been detected, although there is oxygen in the air outside the ship at high concentrations.
“We have no way to collect it,” I assessed militarily. “Besides, the iodine would make it unsafe for consumption.”
The iodine content in the atmosphereis negligible.
“Well then what is this purple stuff?” I asked. “What the fuck is this?” I yelled in shock and desperation. “If it’s not iodine what the hell is it?”
It appears the substance is a rudimentary life form.
I was silent for a few seconds as I processed the information. “No kidding.” This was humanity’s first contact with an alien species. I went limp for a second, my hands slipping from their holds, but I forced my clammy palms to latch on tight. Then I went as white as a sheet. “That’s the problem with the oxygen.” I realized. “There are aliens on my ship, and they’re multiplying.”
I raced back to the airlock, took my suit off as fast as possible, and rushed to grab the disinfectant in the living area. I sped back to where I had seen the purple smudge before. It had noticeably grown in size. Panicked, I applied the antibacterial substance and began to scour the ship for more of the colored organism.
Horrified, I found the purple film on counters, hallway walls, and a large amount in my bedroom. I must have tracked it in. I tried scraping some of it off with my fingernail, but it clung to my harness with incredible veracity.
I hastily checked my first clumping to see if the disinfectant was capable of saving my life. To my dismay, if anything, the stain had gotten larger; reality set in.
I crumpled and wept forlornly, “Andromeda? Am I doomed to die?”
With current supplies, There is no way to stem the organism’s growth.
“I need to send word of first contact to ASA.” If anything, my sense of duty propelled me upright. “How long do I have?”
10 minutes before mild asphyxiation begins, 15 before death.
“How long before we’re out of the clouds and I can send the message?”
13 minutes.
The air was already getting thin. What loyalty did I have to ASA? I could buy humanity time, but was it worth it? Did anything outweigh the agony I would feel? Maybe they’d name the planet after me, I mused. But what would I care? I’d be dead. Did it matter what I left behind? What about the obligation to my species? I resolved to send the message, my allegiance, not to ASA, but to humanity prevailing.
The damn bacteria. I laughed in the face of my quandary. Isn’t this what I wanted? To find alien life? But why must it compete with me for oxygen? I supposed existence itself gave any being the prerogative to fight for its survival, big or small. Existence is a competition and we’re just gladiators in the arena, battling trillions and trillions of others.
My breaths became ragged. I located a camera and faced it.
“Andromeda? Are you ready?”
Ready as always.
“Thanks, A. For everything.”
It has been an honor, Marc. You’re live.
“Hello ASA” I wheezed. “I have discovered life on the oxygen-rich planet Confutatis Spes.” Each word was preceded by a gasp now. “The organism has contaminated my ship and used up my oxygen.” I struggled to make a sound as I rasped a final “Good luck.”
Sending… sent.
“A, put on … second half of … space oddity.” I didn’t have time to listen to the complete song.
With pleasure.
I floated down my now-colorful hallway to my living area where I found my kitchen knife. I ventured to the airlock where I looked out at the maroon planet below me, my insides slowly being consumed by suffocating fire. I had prolonged humanity’s survival, even if it was just for a precious minute or two on the grandfather clock of human existence. As for my own life, the clock had struck 12:00. I serenely drew my blade, feeling like a conquistador of old on a new frontier, Space Oddity serenading my final moments.
Here am I floating in my tin can,
Last glimpse of the world,
Planet Earth is blue and there’s nothing left to do.
As the final line played, I plunged the knife into my stomach, my beautiful vista giving way to the blackness of the void I knew so well.
Cook ground beef and onion until meat is browned and onion is tender; drain.
Stir in beans, tomato sauce, taco seasoning mix and 3/4 cup cheese.
Sprinkle 2 1/2 cups corn chips in the bottom of an 8 inch square baking dish.
Cover with beef mixture.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes.
Spread sour cream over chili.
Top with remaining corn chips and cheese.
Bake for 3 to 4 minutes longer.
Why do people like Linda Sun, who had held privileged positions within American government and society, betray our country?
It must be recognized there are two kinds of Chinese stateside. Those with pinyin names, and those with dialect names, usually wade-Giles flavor.
Linda belongs to the former group, and it marks her out as mainland diaspora.
Linda is 41, a naturalized US citizen, and attended American schools from childhood.
She is being charged with charged with violating and conspiring to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act, visa fraud, alien smuggling and money laundering conspiracy, more than a year after losing her job in the New York state government, whom she had served with distinction for 15 years.
In other words, she was a career civil servant, a lifer.
I find the media extravagance too well-timed, and the myriad details too well-stitched together for this not be a professional hatchet job. This is trial by media at its finest, and a continuation of the China Initiative timed to the election cycle.
The charges leveled are not too different from the professors with pinyin names who were indicted in the China Initiative witch hunt. Careers and lives have been destroyed, with few convictions to show. That’s what happens when a web of insinuation is spun on flimsy evidence.
Particularly galling are the accusations on Taiwan. Linda was following official US Department of State policy on One China contained in the 3 Communiques and 6 Assurances. Apparently, she is supposed to know when to bend the rules when it comes to Taiwan, just like her political appointee bosses.
In other words, she has committed the crime of NOT overstepping her authority as a civil servant, and acting within her pay grade.
I think Linda’s family can kiss a big chunk of their wealth goodbye fighting the case. Life will not be the same for a long time as this drags through the court.
Have you ever known someone who was wrongly imprisoned? What happened to them?
My cousin was wrongly accused and convicted of murdering a 13-year-old girl back in 1983, He spent more than 10 years on death row as a convicted child murderer.
About 2–3 years after his conviction another man was arrested for kidnapping, rape, and murder of a little girl and on an adult woman. During this man’s arrest and prosecution, he tried to make a deal saying he would confess and take responsibility for the kidnapping and murder of the girl my cousin was in prison for if they would spare giving him the death penalty. The state’s attorney refused as they didn’t need this because in their opinion they could put him on death row for 2 murders and they already had guys in prison for the other murder.
When my cousin’s legal team found out about this, they questioned the man and he was able to give intimate details of the murder that were never made public and were discussed in the open trial. Things like what type of sheet the body was wrapped in and where she was left and condition of the body and so on. His legal team took it to the authorities but they would have nothing of it. They said they had the men for both sets of murders and they didn’t need him.
My cousin managed to get 2 more trials and finally on the third trial his defense team was able to prove that the cop who testified he heard my cousin confess to the murder wasn’t even there to hear the confession. He was on a fishing trip in Florida and not in Illinois to hear this so-called confession. At this point, the state’s case fell apart. They were able to prove that he was completely framed by the police and state’s attorney’s office. There were many people who made their careers on my cousin’s case so they didn’t want to admit they framed him when the other guy came forward.
My cousin’s case was such a big story as it was ongoing that he was interviewed by 60 minutes and there was an episode of Unsolved Mysteries dedicated to his story.
In the end, after 10+ years on death row, he was freed. He sued the state and received a huge settlement. A lot of people lost their jobs and credibility when it was all said and done. Eventually, Illinois put a stop to the death penalty because my cousin’s case was the first of a handful of cases where people sentenced to death were actually innocent.
Edit update – I did mention in comments but he was freed with the help of the innocence project. They did amazing work to finally secure his innocence.
Was any woman that filed a false 498a case convicted or fined?
I have personal experience where a woman who married a decent guy (my client) had an open affair with an ex boyfriend (she married due to parental pressure) and eventually decided to leave my client. She got him arrested under false 498A, DV Act charges plus a 307 IPC (Attempt to murder) by manipulating the local cops and sent him, his parents (who had not spend a minute with the woman) and his sister to Judicial Custody in Chennai. The parents got bail within a day or two as did the sister but the guy spend 83 days in Custody.
Luckily – as it happened the man had proof that on the days the woman had alleged to be beaten and harrassed – the man was in a training program in Singapore for 14 days. He was not in the country at all. Likewise her allegations of bruises were rubbished when facebook photos of her dancing at a sangeet ceremony on the same evening when she claimed she could not move out from bed were discovered. Using this evidence we filed a 482 Crpc quashing case with HC.
HC Judge eventually quashed all the charges especially noting that it appeared that the woman had made false statements and he condemned the woman strongly but that was it. Just condemned the woman strongly but no criminal case because she was a woman. Just the single statement that she acted beneath her dignity. Just a single warning.
So the guy goes to jail for 83 days in a false case, loses 6 kilos, spoils his reputation and even if his honor knows the truth – his honor still only reprimands the woman with a scolding but no criminal case or jail.
The divorce was finalized in Jan 19 and the settlement was smooth.
First time hearing of REO Speedwagon – Roll With The Changes (Reaction!)
When I was growing up I had friends who lived up the street from me. They were two brothers, and I have written about them before.
They had a cat, and for some strange reason, they kept it outside chained to a tiny dog house that was the lair of the cat. Oh, he was a mean cat. For sure. Not being allowed to be a cat; to run around and do cat stuff.
I really wanted to let him get free, but I never had the gumption to do so. So year after year, he just sat there or paced around. It was a solitary and boring life for a cat. Not only that but he was ignored. Never getting petted, or loved. He was just chained out there and fed. What a horrible, horrible life.
Poor kitty.
He died when I was in university.
They just picked him up and threw him into the dumpster. Poor, unappreciated, and unloved kitty.
Guys. Please treat your pets with dignity and care. It’s what you should do. Whether you want to or not.
Today…
What are some life hacks that we can use in our daily life?
Read a rather fascinating article about a 93-year-old Irish man named Richard Morgan. He is an excellent rower, a world champion in the older-age competitions. And he was recently given an extensive medical examination, wherein he was found to have the lungs, heart and muscle tone of a man in his 40s.
Now the coolest thing about Mr. Morgan is that he used to be a baker and that he wasn’t athletic at all until his retirement. And that he didn’t pick up rowing until he was already 70. But when he did, he started going at it rather intensely. Today, even at 93, he still works out for about 40 minutes a day on average on rowing machines. He does weight training thrice a week, too. He eats and drinks a normal diet, although he does consume more protein than is recommended for a man his age.
Richard Morgan could have decided, at 70, to simply do whatever the hell he wanted. Health be damned, fitness be damned. He may have had a jolly good time, but he’d have very likely be done. And had he been around, he wouldn’t be in anywhere near as fabulous a shape today as he is now. Life hack number one — get off your ass, and work yourself into a sweat for about an hour every day. What is one hour out of 24 hours in a day?
Messages have been coming in from people who reside in and near Dnipro (Dnipropetrovsk) Ukraine, describing what it was like during and after the Russian ICBM attack.
According to the messages, the Yuzhmash manufacturing plant was attacked. This was an industrial giant, the leader in rocket production in the former USSR. This plant manufactured many space and intercontinental missiles for the USSR.
According to the messages, the Yuzhmash plant no longer exists. In its place there is now just a mountain of dust.
In addition to ground level workshops where attack drones and rocket engines were currently manufactured, the plant had extensive underground workshops where missiles were assembled from Western components, which were stored and then labeled “Made in Ukraine.” They say there were at least 3 sub-floor levels beneath ground level, each 6 meters high.
Now, all of this is gone, there is just a pile of dust and rubble.
Other messages describe the impact, saying “it was so strong that apartment buildings several kilometers from the plant cracked. Now there is no water or heating in the entire city – all the pipelines that ran underground cracked and failed.”
Other residents say “the explosion was like an earthquake. Everything was shaking, furniture was falling in people’s houses, dishes were falling out of cupboards.”
Lastly, the messages confirm “Communications in houses are also out of order.”
All this from just ONE Russian ICBM missile without a nuclear warhead. It was merely conventional.
What is the biggest turn-off you’ve ever had on a date?
He texted me earlier that he would meet me at the restaurant at 8.
I agreed, got ready and reached the restaurant at 7:58 (I’m a punctuality freak), to find that he’s not there. So I got a booth and decided to wait.
And I waited. And waited. And waited.
And finally, after 25 minutes, he arrives and stares at me in horror. “You’re here already?! Aren’t girls always late?”
“Not me.” I reply.
We order food and spend the next 1 hour staring down at our plates. Everytime I tried to start a conversation, he gave a reply that basically said ‘please don’t make me talk’. We continue staring down at our plates.
He got a text message and after reading it, he seemed to be in actual physical discomfort. I asked if he was okay.
He replied “It’s my ex. I cant stop thinking about her. It’s been just 2 years since we broke up” and covered his face with his hands.
WOW.
Pepe Escobar : Will China Help the Palestinians?
People who grew up poor and are now in a higher social class, what are the biggest or most surprising differences you’ve noticed?
I qualify!
Dirt poor then. Top 1% now.
There is good news and bad news.
Have you heard these?
Rich people want to keep poor people down.
Inequality is bad.
Rich people have rigged the system.
Wealthy people control politics.
Money leads to unjust outcomes in the legal system.
The first one is completely false. 0% true.
The second is 20% true.
The third is 30% true.
The fourth is 40% true.
The last one is 80% true.
If you are a poor person in the court system, you are cooked.
Good News
Rich people do not want to keep you down. Not at all!
They greatly admire poor strivers.
They respect people who arise at 5 AM to work at McDonald’s.
They want other people to be successful!
If you work 2 or 3 jobs to support your family, they will do anything they can to help you.
They appreciate hard work and diligent effort.
Wealthy people love rags-to-riches stories.
Bad News
Many Americans believe the wealthy are indifferent to welfare recipients.
Actually, it is much worse than that.
If you are a slacker who subsists on government freebies, the wealthy want you deported.
As in expelled from the country.
Don’t call us. We’ll call you.
Some of the wealthy would give you a free ticket!
But only if you promised to never return.
This is the mindset of the wealthy…
You live in the United States.
There is more opportunity here than anywhere else on Earth!
And you spend your time demanding more freebies from people who work hard.
You are begging for handouts like a dog.
Where is your self-respect?
Where is your work ethic?
You are bad news — practically and morally.
Bottom Line
Anyone can go from bottom to top in America. My brothers and I did it!
Rich is better than poor.
I no longer buy day-old bread, patch holes w/cardboard, buy gasoline with dimes.
Meritocracy works! Any attempt to reduce meritocracy harms our country.
Welfare, DEI, and other forms of redistributive justice lead to good outcomes for the bottom 25% and terrible outcomes for the other 75%.
Economic growth is more important than economic equality.
Good luck to you!
MEN ARE SO SIMPLE MINDED| Mark Grungor | Men and Women’s Brain – NOTHING BOX (REACTION)
Yes. The box theory.
Will Bangladesh drift closer to China now?
Being friendly to China is a policy formulated by the Bangladesh government out of consideration of national interests.
Sheikh Hasina fled to India instead of China, which shows that she is pro-India.
Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus is likely to become the new prime minister of Bangladesh. He is pro-American.
Sheikh Hasina stepped down due to protests, and the most angry person was Indian Prime Minister Modi.
Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India, claimed that the reason for the riots in Bangladesh was the intervention of the US Department of Defense. Because she refused the request of the US Department of Defense, the CIA led the riots in the country.
Specifically, the US military took a fancy to Saint Martin’s Island in Bangladesh and asked Bangladesh to hand over the island to the US military to establish a naval and air base. The US promised to ensure that Hasina would continue to rule Bangladesh.
Sheikh Hasina accuses the US: What’s the significance of St Martin’s Island? | World News – Times of India
South Asia News: Explore the history and geopolitical significance of St Martin’s Island in Bangladesh, including its maritime boundary disputes and strategic location near the Bay of Bengal. Learn about the island’s role in international relations and recent allegations of foreign interference in Bangladeshi politics.
Sheikh Hasina hints at US role in ouster: ‘Had I surrendered sovereignty of Saint Martin Island…’
Everyone knows the result of the incident. Starting in June 2024, there were large-scale demonstrations in Bangladesh, which eventually led to Hasina’s escape to India by helicopter.
India has been supporting Sheikh Hasina, who spent years in exile in India after her entire family was assassinated in 1975.
India-Bangladesh relations have shown signs of cooling since Sheikh Hasina’s departure.
According to local Indian media reports, non-essential staff of the Indian High Commission in Bangladesh have been withdrawn after Sheikh Hasina resigned.
Bangladesh is currently led by an interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize winner and economist Muhammad Yunus.
Some Indian news outlets have been claiming that Pakistan and China are behind the protests and have exaggerated the scale of attacks on Hindu minorities following the protests.
But Muhammad Yunus is not pro-China, he is pro-American.
He has close contacts with American politicians and is also the candidate favored by the US State Department for the new prime minister of Bangladesh.
Whether he is pro-American or not can only be known after Muhammad Yunus is formally sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Bangladesh and whether he will hand over St. Martin Island to the US military as a military base.
If the US military establishes a military base on Saint Martin’s Island, the US military will enter the Indian Ocean.
Saint Martin’s Island is very close to Kyaukpyu Port in Myanmar.
Kyaukpyu Port in Myanmar is the port of entry for the China-Myanmar oil and gas pipeline.
The US military can use Saint Martin’s Island to block the entrance of Chinese oil and gas pipelines in the Indian Ocean.
It can be said that the reason why the United States is eager to obtain Saint Martin’s Island is to contain China.
even if Myanmar’s Kyaukpyu Port ceases to operate, China still has Pakistan’s Gwadar Port on the Arabian Sea as an entry point for oil and gas pipelines.
Of course, the country most affected by the establishment of US military bases in the Indian Ocean is still India.
After all, India has always regarded the Indian Ocean as its own backyard, and Indians feel even more threatened by the United States.
Saint Martin Island : Will A US Military Base Threaten India or China? | Indian Defence News
The Varsha nuclear submarine base under construction in India, the headquarters of the Eastern Naval Command of the Indian Navy and the Abdul Kalam Island used for tactical and strategic missile testing are not far from St. Maarten.
Bangladesh’s military strength and military technology are simply not comparable to those of the United States.
If the U.S. military establishes a military base on St. Martin, it will be close to India’s sea-based nuclear deterrent, a major weapons testing facility and naval headquarters, directly touching New Delhi’s major red line.
If the US military establishes a military base on St. Maarten, then the Indian military will have no secrets from the US military, and all Indian military bases are within the coverage of the radar stations and missiles established by the US on St. Maarten.
Now Joe Biden has really done it. By giving the green light to long-range missile strikes deep inside of Russian territory, he has brought us closer to nuclear conflict than ever before. As you will see below, Russian officials have become convinced that “NATO has gone to war with Russia”. I feel like I am watching a slow-motion train wreck that I am powerless to stop. I have been warning about this for so many years, and now it is here. Steve Quayle, Henry Gruver, Dumitru Duduman, Marty Breeden and so many others have also warned America about what is coming. If we stay on the path that we are on, nuclear weapons will be used. Do we really want to go down that road?
The corporate media here in the United States is trying really hard to convince us that Joe Biden’s decision wasn’t really a big deal.
In Moscow, meanwhile, senior lawmaker Leonid Slutsky slammed Mr. Biden, accusing him of deciding “to end his presidential term and go down in history as ‘Bloody Joe’.”
Senator Vladimir Dzhabarov, meanwhile, told Russia’s state-run Tass news agency that Biden’s decision represented “a very big step toward the beginning of the third world war.”
The official newspaper of the Russian state, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, warned “the madmen who are drawing NATO into a direct conflict with our country may soon be in great pain.”
And according to the Washington Post, one former Kremlin official is warning that “Moscow now believes NATO has gone to war with Russia”…
A former Kremlin official told The Washington Post that Moscow now believes NATO has gone to war with Russia and that “they will proceed accordingly.” The official spoke on the basis of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
That is rather chilling.
Of course that language echoes something that Vladimir Putin said himself back in September…
Putin had personally warned against the eventuality previously, issuing a warning in September that U.S. permission for Ukraine to fire American-supplied long-range missiles at his country, “would mean that NATO countries, the United States, and European countries, are parties to the war in Ukraine.”
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov referenced that previous statement by Putin when he was specifically asked how the Russian government is viewing the latest developments…
“And here the position of our President, the position of the Russian side, was very clearly and unambiguously formulated by our Head of State in his statement that he made in St Petersburg.
“It says everything very clearly. I simply recommend that you read these words of the President once again.”
Wow.
War with Russia is here.
Sergey Markov was asked if Vladimir Putin would actually use nuclear weapons once long-range missiles start falling deep inside Russian territory, and he warned that in a worst case scenario “nuclear war happens before Christmas of this year”…
Asked if Putin would use nuclear missiles in response, Mr Markov said ‘not now’ and said it was more likely that bases in eastern Europe could be hit by smaller, tactical nuclear missiles.
But he added: “I think Biden, Macron and Starmer want escalation which could lead to, from my understanding, in the worst scenario, the nuclear war happens before Christmas of this year.
“Probably you will not be able to say ‘Merry Christmas’ because you will stay in the hole trying to hide away [your] family from the nuclear catastrophe. It can develop very, very quickly.”
Personally, I don’t think that it will happen quite so fast.
But we are definitely on a road that leads to nuclear war.
After Biden’s announcement, U.S. Representative Thomas Massie stated that Biden had just committed an impeachable offense…
By authorizing long range missiles to strike inside Russia, Biden is committing an unconstitutional Act of War that endangers the lives of all U.S. citizens. This is an impeachable offense, but the reality is he’s an emasculated puppet of a deep state.
I agree with Massie 100 percent.
But there won’t be a move to impeach Biden now.
Most Republicans in Congress are way too lily-livered to do anything like that.
Trump Jr., 46, tweeted that the “military-industrial complex” is trying to undermine his dad before he takes office by pushing the war further into chaos.
“The Military Industrial Complex seems to want to make sure they get World War 3 going before my father has a chance to create peace and save lives,” he tweeted.
Yes, Joe Biden is still in the White House, but this was a decision that Donald Trump should have been allowed to make.
Trump needs to come out and immediately denounce what Biden has done, but if he does that he will be accused of “colluding with Putin” and that is something that Trump very much wants to avoid.
But Trump can’t be concerned about what others will think at this point.
We are literally on the brink of nuclear war, and we are running out of time to reverse course.
In fact, Sweden is so concerned about the possibility of nuclear war that it has “issued five million pamphlets warning its citizens to stockpile food and water”…
Sweden has issued five million pamphlets warning its citizens to stockpile food and water – just hours after Volodymyr Zelensky’s chilling video address to Vladimir Putin warned US missile strikes “will speak for themselves.”
If our leaders had any sense, they would be doing the same thing.
But instead, they keep assuring us that the Russians are bluffing and that they would never actually use nuclear weapons.
In the end, we shall see who was bluffing and who was not.
Interestingly, on Monday it was being reported that Internet cables under the Baltic Sea have been “suddenly disrupted”…
Two undersea internet cables in the Baltic Sea have been suddenly disrupted, according to local telecommunications companies, amid fresh warnings of possible Russian interference with global undersea infrastructure.
A communications cable between Lithuania and Sweden was cut on Sunday morning around 10:00 a.m. local time, a spokesperson from telecommunications company Telia Lithuania confirmed to CNN.
Did the Russians do that?
Were they trying to send us a message?
I just wrote about how vulnerable our undersea Internet cables are last week.
Cutting two cables is not going to disrupt much, but what if the Russians started cutting dozens of cables?
We really are in uncharted territory.
Hopefully cooler heads will prevail, because right now the road that we are on only leads to pain.
Be the Rufus
After Hitler, which dictator was the worst in history?
Hitler wasn’t the worst. My vote goes to Pol Pot. He was the dictator of Cambodia 1976–1978.
His claims to infamy:
Killed more people in proportion to the size of the nation than any other dictator
Killed most people in shortest timeframe
Destroyed the economy of Cambodia
Destroyed the intelligentsia of Cambodia
Effectively rendered Cambodia back to the Bronze Age
Destroyed the infrastructure of Cambodia
Caused a man-made famine in Cambodia
Obliterated literacy in Cambodia
Deurbanized and deindustrialized the country completely
Sowed the land full of land mines, making 30% of the fields of Cambodia uncultivable
Founded the largest extermination camps ever and coined the concept “killing fields”.
Finally his ambitions went too far when he attacked Vietnam. The Khmer Rouge military, already starving and badly armed for anything else than terrorizing unarmed people with eyeglasses, collapsed in front of the Vietnamese military (who had just kicked the arses of both USA and China).
Never before has a foreign conqueror been welcomed so heartly than in Cambodia, and never before has a war turned so quickly into a humanitarian rescue operation as in Cambodia.
No Man’s Sky: Brilliant New Update Makes This Game’s Biggest Redemption Story
I am of Hui ethnicity, currently living in Jiangsu Province. My family is a pure-blood Muslim family. My parents’ ancestors came from Jining in Shandong Province and Dangshan in Henan Province, both of which are major Muslim communities in central China.
In addition to that, we also have relatives in Xinjiang and Qinghai, but as the older generations passed away, we have grown distant from these relatives, who live thousands of kilometers away.
My grandfather was an imam in the Xuzhou area. From a young age, I learned a lot about Islam from him. His home was right next to the mosque, so I essentially grew up in the mosque.
Back in the 1980s, the old mosque in Xuzhou had a large courtyard, and I would play there every day after school. I knew all the imams at the mosque, and because I was a good student, they all encouraged me to attend an Islamic college when the time came to choose a university.
Having been brought up in Islamic teachings from a young age, I still follow most of the Islamic practices today, even though I am now in my 40s.
My grandfather, as an imam, maintained a close relationship with the local Han Chinese community. He was not only eager to help Muslims but also willingly assisted Han Chinese people. Sometimes, he would give the beef that Muslims gifted him to some of his poor Han neighbors. If Han Chinese people came to him for help because of poverty, he would even give them money, expecting nothing in return. Because of his kindness, both Hui and Han people respected him.
I still have a photo of him from when he was 90 years old, standing by the mosque’s gate. I remember the gate had calligraphy written in both Chinese characters and Arabic: “Respect Islamic teachings, and love China.”
I believe these memories of mine are a small reflection of the close relationship between Han Chinese and Muslims in China.
While I did not end up attending an Islamic college, I earned dual degrees in sociology and psychology, and eventually became a programmer.
I am aware that in recent years, there have been some tensions between the Hui and Han communities in parts of China. I don’t think these incidents are significant. From a young age, I learned from my grandfather what it means to see both Hui and Han as fellow citizens, looking out for and respecting one another. Therefore, while I respect my own ethnic background, I have never considered Han people to be “different” from me.
Later, I had a child, who is also proud to be Muslim. Every time we travel, he insists on visiting the famous mosques along the way, and he also enjoys reading books about Islam.
However, I believe he should be well-rounded and expand his perspective. In the past few years, I’ve recommended many books from other religions to him—Bible stories, introductions to Catholicism, biographies of Buddha, Buddhist basics, biographies of the Dalai Lama, Taoist texts, Zen writings, and more.
Since my child is free to make his own choices, I’ve shared with him everything I know about Islam, my personal religious experiences, and all the stories about my grandfather. After that, I will respect whatever path he chooses.
Beef Stroganoff Casserole
53ed67842f7755c618b18dcefaeb4b7a
Ingredients
1 (12 ounce) package wide egg noodles
2 pounds round or sirloin steak, cut into 1 inch strips
1/2 cup all-purpose flour, in zip top bag
1 (16 ounce) package mushrooms, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
1 tablespoon paprika
1 (13 3/4 ounce) can beef broth
1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
Instructions
Heat oven to 325 degrees F.
Place uncooked noodles in a 2 1/2 quart casserole.
Coat strips of steak with flour by putting a few strips at a time in zip-style bag and shaking well.
Arrange coated meat on top of noodles.
Arrange chopped mushrooms evenly over meat.
Sprinkle the onion, nutmeg, parsley and paprika on top of mushrooms.
Pour beef broth over entire dish.
Cover and bake for 1 hour.
Stir in sour cream, and bake for an additional 15 minutes.
What is the worst job experience you ever had?
Working as an Amazon driver. I had to take a job out of necessity when I lost my longtime job at the start of Covid. I was 45 years old and took a job as a driver for Amazon. On an average day, I would have about 180–185 different stops and about 300–350 packages.
The vans always had something wrong with them. Broken seats, no AC, cracked windows, etc. There are cameras that watch you drive and you get violations for not wearing your seatbelt, looking at your phone, going 6 miles over the speed limit, harsh accelerations, hard breaking, and not coming to complete stops.
I had so many packages that I often could not use the rear or side doors. I had to wiggle out through the drivers door. I would just be tripping over stuff all day because they gave too many packages.
You would often find random bottles of piss in the console, door holders, back, etc. You have so little time to get done, that many drivers don’t eat lunch or take breaks. A lot are forced to pee in bottles so they can finish their routes on time.
And after all of this, at the end of the day…you have to call the dispatcher who will often send you to now go help someone else with their route because they are behind. That is your reward for doing your job well.
I lost 45 pounds working there. Not to mention doing this is the pouring rain, in the 100 degree heat, in the snow. But the worst part for me, was doing all of this in the dark. Trying to find houses and streets on dirt country roads and in the mountains.
We didn’t leave the facility to start until 11am or noon. to start! So in the winter, half of your day is delivering int he dark.
It was the most inhumane job I’ve ever had…and I was in the Army.
My Wife Pulled A Bait-And-Switch About Kids, Said My Son Isn’t Enough, So I’m Filing Divorce…
What meal from your childhood did you dread being served?
We were poor and my mother was a terrible cook so we had a lot of dread, very often. For example, my dad wanted potatoes at almost every meal and my mom had 5 kids and a house so by dinner time, she was always running around as if her head were on fire. Frequently, the potatoes burned before they could be mashed. Didn’t matter. We had to eat them anyway. Food was NEVER thrown away and you could not leave the table until your plate was empty.
On the very rare occasion that milk went sour, we had to drink it anyway. If the oatmeal was burned, we had to eat it anyway. When Uncle Charlie came to visit with a cooler full of fish fillets he just caught off Boston Harbor, we had fish for a week until we were ready to vomit every time we came in the door and smelled it cooking. Oh, and my uncle was not fastidious about deboning.
There were other horrible things we had to eat, such as “church supper” leftovers like a 4 gallon pot of baked beans. I will never eat anything with kidney beans or baked beans again. Even when I was starving in college, truly starving, that orphan can of baked beans stayed in the cabinet. I will never, ever, ever eat chili or baked beans ever again. Here’s a story my brother told me: when he entered Boot Camp for the Army he went down the line and they slapped some fish onto his tray. Naturally, he wanted to throw it away but a Sergeant stood over him until he ate every bite. To his astonishment, the first bite was delicious. He downed the whole thing and had it at every meal. Even the Sergeant was astonished – the fish was garbage. That gives you an example of how bad my mother’s cooking was.
Once, someone gave us some veal. I don’t know how my mother prepared it but after the first bite, I ran to the kitchen sink and vomited. People talk about how great veal is, but whenever I see it or smell it, my stomach turns. I hate veal – and not for emotional reasons. Another of my mother’s favorites was Liver and Onions. When you came home from school and smelled that, you knew your life was ruined. You WANTED to be in Detention. I can’t ever, ever eat that now. Or kidneys. My mother LOVED kidneys. Just the look of them made me want to be sick. We were lucky that my dad hated them so it was a once a year gig to get kidneys. We had a dog then and he really was happy to be under the table – but if we ever got caught wasting food like that it would have been a harsh and severe beating. Food was precious and it was never, ever wasted; burned, rotten or unloved – it had to be eaten or you couldn’t go to bed. I remember my brother sitting at the table one evening until midnight with the swill still on his plate – and then in his breakfast dish the next day. He tried to outlast my dad. He failed. He had to eat that garbage completely.
There were a lot of miserable meals in our home. You ate what was on your plate and you didn’t complain. Both my parents knew the hunger of the Depression and when I went to college and starved, I appreciated their reasoning a lot more.
British Police To Arrest Jimmy Dore Over Twitter Post!
Why is the U.S. heavily reliant on China for many products? Is it possible for the U.S. to stop buying from China and produce these products domestically?
We all know banana publics in South America. Even though we undergo huge inflation, the price of bananas is still relatively low. Yet nobody complains that the US relies on South America for bananas.
So to understand this issue, we must remember that today’s capitalism is the financial monopoly capitalism. The capitalists in the West after five hundred imperialism and colonialism exploiting the Global South, don’t need to produce everything to have a luxurious life. The Global North can just sit on its accumulated huge capital to “finance” the global economy so it can live on interest from the capital. That’s the world economic order after WWII. The US industry was not offshored to China, it offshored first to Japan, then Japan offshored the manufacture to South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong, and finally the Four Tigers offshored manufacturing to China. This process of offshoring manufacturing has undergone for half a century already.
Since 2008, since Obama, the US has tried hard to bring manufacturing back to the US but filed. If Americans can have white-collar jobs, why let white-collar jobs become blue-collar jobs? In the 1970s, when the US offshored manufacturing to Japan, the US was very happy to celebrate the post-industrial society. The Global North can sit in the office and let the Global South toil in sweat. The Noth-South economic order since WWII has been implemented with Bretton Woods institutions, such as the World Bank, IMF, and WTO.
After China entered WTO, the North-South world order was tropicalized as Made-in-China-Comsumed-in-America. For every dollar of made-in-China one paid in shopping, only fifteen cents go to China, other eighty-five cents go to Japanese patents, European design, American brands of marketing and logistics, and retail services. The US went to post-industrial service when the service GDP was higher than the manufacturing GDP. Today,
main qimg d05af880c22bfb1d7ec8407326b3592e
Capital floods in Fintech, technology advancement is first used in finance and military industry. See the green portion at the upper-right corner of the graph above? it includes the military industry.
Service is hard to offshore. One cannot use other countries’ transport for transit, and going to other countries for health services is rare. If the US can offshore service, it will, such as offshoring telemarketing to India and the Philippines.
When Americans consume, they pay more for financial services than for real goods and services. When they visit doctors, they pay more for insurance services than the medicine and doctors. When using a car for 20 years, they pay more for insurance than the purchase of the car. American consumers cannot escape the financial services, the insurance, the mortgage, etc. That’s financial monopoly capitalism.
It is letting the Global South do the labor, don’t blame the Global South for “stealing the jobs”. You cannot eat the pie and have the pie. You cannot keep the jobs without doing the jobs.
After the failures of onshoring manufacturing, the US resorted to nearshore. Such as NAFTA to have manufacturing in Mexico. The US also resorts to friendly shoring, and encourages imports from ASEAN and India. But what’s the difference? The manufacturing is not going back to the US, and it is China’s turn, following Japan and the Four Tigers, to offshore its manufacture to India and ASEAN.
The US cannot help but feed the greed of Wall Street and the military-industrial complex. It is capitalism, The political system is by the capital, for the capital, and of the capital. It is the capitalist system and the capital become monopoly.
14 Year Old Killer Thinks He’s Going Home
https://youtu.be/sBZpcEQJT6A
Many Hong Kong buildings (particularly residential apartments and hotels) have hollow, open floors that look like a big hole halfway up the building. Is there a functional reason for this or is it cultural?
The fire safety laws in Hong Kong state that buildings of 40 floors or higher are required to have a “refuge floor” built, and for every 25 floors thereafter another refuge floor is required. A refuge floor is basically an open, empty floor with bare minimum structures, and a fire sprinkler system.
main qimg f638109a8502385b4e62d158bb8e2fee lq
The purpose of these refuge floors is to act as a safe refuge for people to escape from fire and to gather there awaiting rescue. Another purpose of these floors is to act as a void between floors to prevent, or at least slow down, the spread of fire from lower floors to higher floors.
main qimg 4800493f10250dbc2029336e8fa47e2a lq
If you are talking about the vertical holes in some of the buildings in Hong Kong, then they are not refuge floors. Some of them are part of the architectural design, some of them are there for Fung Shuǐ reasons, and some have the specific purpose of preventing the “screen barrier effect” – whereby the width of buildings are so wide that they act like a screen barrier and obstruct light and air flow in the area. Some also have a hole in them to minimise the effect of wind force on the building during a typhoon.
main qimg 3fc9acc1a7974a3d4ad5a50323989c1b lq
Edit 20/9/2019: After replying to a comment from Mr. Faraone, I have added this to my answer.
Fung Shui Myth:
The hole in the building in the above image was designed specifically so that the passages of the “dragons” flying from the sea towards the hills behind, and vice versa, are not blocked. Apparently the building was built bang in the middle of the passage of the dragons and without that hike their passages would be blocked.
What are some particularly creative ways that students cheat?
In Fall 2009, Professor James Simpson of Harvard University was assigned to interview Harvard senior Adam Wheeler for his Fulbright Program application.
The Fulbright Program is an extremely competitive and prestigious fellowship program. The program pays for the selected American citizens to conduct research, study, or teach abroad. Each year, 8000 Americans receive a Fulbright grant. Recipients range from students to professional scientists and artists. Fulbright alumni have collectively won dozens of Nobel and Pulitzer Prizes.
Student applicants to the Fulbright get nominated by their school before moving on to the national level. In Wheeler’s case, this meant he had to clear the superstars at Harvard.
Before their interview, Professor Simpson looked over Wheeler’s application. It was extremely impressive. Wheeler was the author of multiple books (some in collaboration with Harvard professors), a lecturer at six academic events, a creator of Harvard courses, and a brilliant student with a nearly perfect GPA and glowing recommendations.
Simpson moved on to the personal statement. But something was off. The writing felt… familiar. After a bit of digging, Simpson found what he was looking for. Harvard professor Steven Greenblatt’s piece from Essays on General Education in Harvard College.
The piece matched almost exactly with Wheeler’s Fulbright essay. Simpson quickly called Harvard’s chair of the Fulbright nomination committee. Wheeler was notified, and he quickly and quietly left Harvard.
From there, Wheeler’s story unraveled. The personal statement wasn’t the only thing faked in his Fulbright application. The GPA was fake.
Wheeler’s records on Harvard official showed that he had transferred from MIT at the beginning of sophomore year. Due to a rocky start with a D-plus in his first semester, Wheeler had just over 3.6 GPA at the time of his Fulbright application.
main qimg 1fd1d5c344b4911b96f88c4c9e85b4ca lq
Wheeler’s self-reported transcript for his Fulbright application.
Wheeler’s self-reported transcript claimed a 3.99 GPA after three years at Harvard. He had only been at the school for two.
The recommendations were fabricated. The books were never written. The lectures never happened.
But it didn’t stop there.
David Smith, Wheeler’s resident Dean, and Jay Ellison, then head of Harvard’s Ad Board (which handles cheating) continued looking. He checked the rest of Wheeler’s file. Wheeler’s Harvard forms listed his birth year as 1987. Wheeler’s passport read 1986.
As Smith kept searching, everything about Wheeler’s identity fell apart.
On Wheeler’s application to Harvard, the transcript was fake.
The perfect SAT scores. Fake.
His resume. Fake.
The 16 AP exams. Fake.
Adam Wheeler had never even been a student at MIT.
Wheeler hadn’t even stopped after the Fulbright incident. After he left Harvard, Wheeler had applied to Stanford and Yale. Smith was notified.
Eventually, Harvard’s Police Department took over from Smith and Ellison, trekking through the web of Wheeler’s lies. Prosecutor John Verner, in early May, decided there was sufficient evidence to charge Wheeler with 20 criminal counts, including identity fraud, falsifying approval, pretending to hold a degree, and larceny.
Later that month, Adam Wheeler was arrested in his home state of Delaware.
Russia’s final warning to NATO – you’ll get your war, but it’ll be over in 15 minutes
Drago Bosnic, independent geopolitical and military analyst
We are inches away from a global thermonuclear war. And no, this isn’t a meaningless, overused catchphrase. Quite the contrary, it’s as serious as it gets. We have reached a historical boiling point. At no other time in human history have we been closer to the scenario of annihilation, not even during the so-called “Cuban” Missile Crisis. It should really be called “Turkish” or something along those lines. And it’s important to note that we’re not digressing from the topic by mentioning this.
Namely, the mainstream propaganda machine just loves maintaining its narratives that essentially whitewash the political West and denigrate the actual world. This is why the fact that the United States initiated the “Cuban” Missile Crisis by deploying nuclear-tipped missiles in Italy and Turkey back in 1961 (although some sources claim it was as early as 1959) is ever so “conveniently” forgotten. The USSR waited a full year (at the very least) to respond by placing its own missiles in Cuba.
Thus, it’s perfectly clear who initiated that confrontation. And yet, as previously mentioned, modern historiography remembers the event as the “Cuban” Missile Crisis, sending a subliminal message that it was initiated by the Soviet Union and Cuba. Why is this important? Because the same people are now telling us that Russia “escalated” the NATO-orchestrated Ukrainian conflict by “firing missiles at a democratic Ukraine”, once again “forgetting” to mention the preceding events.
In the last two days, approximately a dozen ATACMS and “Storm Shadow”/SCALP-EG missiles have been used (on the same day Moscow updated its nuclear doctrine, mind you).
So, how did the “evil Kremlin”, led by the “crazy, bloodthirsty tyrant Putin”, respond to this?
Well, not with nukes, as we’re still here, even though the doctrine allows it.
However, Russia did fire what is technically an ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile). This marks the first time such a weapon was used in a conflict. And while ICBMs normally carry thermonuclear warheads, this one was conventionally armed. To better understand what sort of weapon this is, we have to go back a decade or so, specifically to the RS-26 “Rubezh” program that was supposed to deter NATO’s crawling aggression in Europe and the post-Soviet space.
Namely, the RS-26 was envisaged as the successor to the formidable RSD-10 “Pioneer” IRBM (intermediate-range ballistic missile). Essentially a shortened version of the three-stage RS-24 “Yars” ICBM, with one stage removed (and some other modifications), the RS-26 had a shorter range, but was no less deadly. In fact, it carried more powerful warheads than the “Pioneer” (at least four 300 kt instead of the latter’s three 150 kt ones), while also being more accurate and impossible to intercept.
This enabled it to target even massive underground command centers or any other high-priority targets across NATO-occupied Europe. However, there was a (geo)political problem with the RS-26. Namely, it was made at a time when the INF Treaty was still in force (banning all missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 km). So, for the RS-26 to formally comply with this, it had to have a range greater than 5,500 km. Otherwise, it would violate the INF Treaty and be designated as an IRBM.
To avoid this, it was designed to achieve a maximum range of 5,800 km, just enough to be designated as an ICBM. However, this created another problem, as it affected the New START treaty. Namely, this would force Russia to reduce the number of its, so to speak, “purebred” ICBMs such as “Yars”, R-36M2 “Voevoda” and RS-28 “Sarmat”. As a result, in 2011, the program was postponed for a period after 2027, with most resources diverted to the development of Russia’s new hypersonic weapons.
But, on April 12 this year, Moscow tested an “unnamed ICBM”. To this day, the Russian military is yet to publicly reveal the exact type of the missile launched that day. At the time, I argued that the missile was actually the RS-26, as it had striking similarities with the previously mentioned RS-24 that the “Rubezh” was actually based on, including the way it conducted wobbling maneuvers designed to confuse NATO’s ABM (anti-ballistic missile) systems, making it virtually impossible to intercept.
For seven months, no news came through about this “mysterious ICBM”. Until the early hours of November 21, that is. Initially, the Russian military didn’t reveal what missile it was, letting NATO contemplate what to do next. However, the “mysterious ICBM” was soon not only uncovered, but actually named – “Oreshnik” (“Hazel” in Russian). However, solid information about the missile is extremely scant, fueling all sorts of speculation, wild guessing and outright misinformation.
For instance, the Pentagon insists the missile that hit Dnepropetrovsk was fired from Kapustin Yar, a testing site in the Astrakhan oblast (region) in southern Russia, located over 1000 km to the east. This distance is too short for an ICBM, raising questions about the veracity of the US military’s claims. Then, videos from Kazakhstan emerged, specifically over the city of Satbayev, which is 1,500 km to the east of Kapustin Yar. Even more interestingly, some 450 km to the southeast lies Sary Shagan.
This place is home to one of the largest and most important missile test sites in the former Soviet Union, with the Russian military still using it extensively, including during the aforementioned April 12 test. It’s simply impossible to see “Oreshnik” fly over Satbayev if it was fired from Kapustin Yar to Dnepropetrovsk. However, it’s certainly possible that the missile was fired from Sary Shagan. Still, NATO doesn’t want to reveal that it flew nearly 2,400 km before hitting its targets with pinpoint precision.
Even more interestingly, videos over Satbayev also show that the missile is wobbling and maneuvering just like the “mysterious ICBM” tested on April 12, further reinforcing the notion that the “Oreshnik” could actually be a conventionally armed “Rubezh”. In addition, its maximum range exceeds 5,000 km, which puts virtually all of Europe in range. And indeed, it makes little sense to get a completely new missile if you have the “Rubezh”, as it’s already a largely finished product.
Technically speaking, there are several possibilities when it comes to the “Oreshnik”. First, it doesn’t even have to be a regular missile and could be some sort of MaRV (maneuverable reentry vehicle), MIRV (multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle), HGV (hypersonic glide vehicle), etc. or perhaps even a hybrid, with the “Rubezh” being the primary missile carrier. The “Rubezh” itself can already carry the “Avangard”, so if the “Oreshnik” is an HGV, it shouldn’t be a problem for the “Rubezh” to deploy it.
Another possibility is that the “Oreshnik” is a completely new missile (not necessarily ballistic, but likely a more advanced hypersonic, maneuvering weapon) that has its own MIRV/MaRV/HGV warheads. There are no definite claims about this at present, simply because very little is publicly known about it. However, personally, I am more inclined to believe that the “Oreshnik” is a conventionally armed HGV that can be carried by nuclear-capable ICBM/IRBMs like the RS-26 “Rubezh”.
The reason is quite simple, because why would someone make something completely new when they already have a finished project that can immediately go into production (the “Rubezh” uses the same production lines as the “Yars”)? This reinforces the notion that the RS-26 is a highly modular design which can be equipped with various types of warheads, including conventional ones. It also harkens back to President Putin’s vision of Russia’s strategic preemptive strike capabilities.
One more thing that should be noted about the “Oreshnik” is that it was certainly an overkill against the Neo-Nazi junta. Russia’s more tactical and operational level missiles could’ve easily conducted this. However, given the fact that Moscow is faced with the increasingly delusional and aggressive West, it just had to demonstrate its firepower, prompting Putin to authorize the long-range strike on Dnepropetrovsk. This is a particularly important message to both the US and EU/NATO.
In terms of the functioning of the missile’s warhead, the available footage shows at least 30 smaller projectiles divided into five groups (six in each). The lack of visible detonations (although at least one was seen) suggests these are probably advanced kinetic penetrators capable of annihilating heavily defended and dug-in positions. This means that any NATO base anywhere in Europe and/or elsewhere would be in range, but Russia wouldn’t need to rely on its thermonuclear arsenal to deter aggression.
Key European NATO Bases in Reach of Russia’s Oreshnik Hypersonic Missile
In his remarks unveiling the Oreshnik missile system on Thursday, President Vladimir Putin warned that Moscow reserves the right “to use our weapons against military facilities of those countries that allow using their weapons against our facilities.”
Russia’s new Oreshnik hypersonic ballistic missile has a 2.5-3 km/s flight speed, a 1-1.2 ton payload, is equipped with multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles, and is designated as an intermediate-range missile, which means a firing range of up to 5,500 km. During its test combat deployment against a Ukrainian military-industrial target Thursday, the Oreshnik was thought to have traveled 1,000 km or more to Dnepropetrovsk from Russia’s Astrakhan region.
Here are some key NATO facilities within reach of the new hypersonic intermediate-range missile:
Eastern Europe
Poland
Lask Air Base (home to permanent US Air Force detachment)
Home to by far the largest US garrison in Europe and the second-largest US deployment abroad, besides Japan. Home to some 35,000 troops and support personnel.
Ramstein Air Base (largest US and NATO air base in Europe, key to US operations in the region and Middle East, including the once secret US drone program)
Another key US garrison country in Europe. Jumping off and/or transit point for US and NATO military operations in the Middle East and North Africa, including the 2011 aerial aggression against Libya, which triggered a wave of migrants and refugees flooding into Europe via Italy.
Aviano Air Base (stores US nukes)
Ghedi Air Base
Naval Air Station Sigonella, Sicily
Naval Support Activity Naples (HQ of US 6th Fleet)
US Army Garrison Italy
Greece
Naval Support Activity Souda Bay, Crete
UK
Royal Air Force Lakenheath
Royal Air Force Mildenhall
Royal Air Force Alconbury/Molesworth
Royal Air Force Croughton, Fairford, Welford (common stopover site for US strike and strategic bomber aircraft)
Royal Air Force High Wycombe (RAF HQ)
Portsmouth Naval Base (home to two-thirds of Royal Navy’s surface fleet)
Spain
Rota Naval Base (permanent home to six US missile destroyers). Key strategic facility for US operations in the Mediterranean Sea.
Moron Air Base
Portugal
Lajes Air Base, Azores Islands (key NATO transatlantic logistical hub, targetable if Oreshnik can be redeployed from Astrakhan region to new launch locations somewhere west of Moscow)
This is a girl in Japan going eating, and taking a public bath in Japan. I like it because it is almost like you are there and experiencing it for yourself. A nice escape and adventure. No sexual anything. Just wholesome stuff.
(If you want the “sexy stuff” you can join her fanclub. It’s a mix of Japanese kinds of stuff. Not to my liking, but you all might want to go down that rabbit hole.)
UPDATED 7:43 PM EST — EXPLOSIONS IN KURSK AND IN ROSTOV, RUSSIA . . . CLAIM: ATACMS — AGAIN
Since about 3:00 PM eastern US time today, Saturday 23 Nov 2024, reports have been coming in saying there have been numerous explosions in Kursk, Russia. Those reports **claim** American-supplied ATACMS were used by Ukraine — again.
Other reports say “it may be Drones.”
Additional reports are also coming in claiming explosions in Rostov-on-Don, Russia.
I have received video of what is purported to be a residential area of Kursk, Russia, and the video clearly shows large flashes of light and the loud boom of a significant explosion. So the reports of “explosions” in Kursk seem to be true.
There is no official verification (yet) that the weapons used were ATACMS. I am endeavoring to grab the latest Intel on this, and will report what I find out; but here we are at 5:33 PM EST and for the past two and a half hours, multiple, consistent, reports are saying it WAS American-supplied ATACMS.
It was just two days ago that Russia responded to a different ATACMS strike, by launching a brand new ORENSHNIK Intermediate-Range Missile against Ukraine’s city of Dnipro.
If, in fact, Ukraine is once against hitting Russia with ATACMS, then clearly they didn’t learn any lesson at all from being hit with an ICBM and a larger act of retribution/deterrence might have to be delivered by the Russians.
How fast that may take place is anyone’s guess.
UPDATE 7:43 PM EST —
The explosions in Kursk ARE confirmed. It was a Ukrainian attack.
According to the Governor of Kursk, 27 Ukrainian UAVs and two “missiles” were shot down over the Kursk region.
Cut tops off bell peppers and remove seeds. Parboil in salted, boiling water for 4 minutes. Drain and cool.
Brown meat in skillet with onion. Drain oil.
Add tomatoes that have been mashed.
Add Worcestershire, salt and pepper. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.
Add rice. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.
Remove from heat.
Add Cheddar cheese, stirring until melted and well blended.
Stuff mixture into peppers.
Top with Parmesan cheese.
Bake at 350 degrees F about 20 minutes or until hot.
Notes
If freezing peppers, do not bake. Wrap individually and place in a large freezer bag. Thaw well before baking.
When did you realize that your childhood was not normal?
I never had this big “aha” moment where it dawned on me all at once. But I’d say I first realized something really wasn’t right when I was around 9 or 10 years old. That’s about the age I started making friends on my own, spending time at other people’s houses without my parents also being around, etc. It was hard not to notice the differences between my house and most of my friends’ houses.
I saw parents who not only loved each other but openly expressed affection for one another. The fathers actually seemed to want to be home with their wives and kids. They certainly didn’t have random women in their lives that they openly dated and carried on with in front of their children.
Meanwhile, the mothers seemed to genuinely enjoy being mothers and to love their kids. They didn’t sit around all day pouting and drinking, alternating between ignoring their children and either yelling at them or criticizing every little thing about them. Instead, they were fun, and happy, and pretty, and generous. They smiled. They laughed. They had little busy things they liked to do with their spare time.
My friends’ mothers would even invite me to help them in the kitchen or sit and watch cooking shows with them in the mornings if I spent the night and happened to be up early. Their eyes would light up when they smiled at me. I had the impression that they genuinely liked me and enjoyed being with me. And when they’d tell me I was a pleasure to have in their homes and that I was welcome anytime, I could tell they meant it.
That’s also around the time I started lying and making up stories about how things were at home when asked about it by other people.
For example, we were always being given school assignments that required us to write about things like what our families liked to do together over the holidays or special things we did with each of our parents as far as quality time. I realized these were things that were supposed to be happening in family homes or else we wouldn’t be asked to write about them.
I also assumed the whole situation with my parents clearly not liking each other (or me) was somehow my fault, I was ashamed, and I didn’t want my teachers to know about it. So, I’d write about things my friends did with their parents as if it were me and my parents instead. Sometimes I’d just invent complete fictions that I thought sounded good — whatever I thought would make us seem normal.
And I lied to my friends, too. Like, I remember this one incident where I got a really high score on a big test — only one answer wrong — and my best friend at the time insisted my parents were going to buy me something or throw me a party to celebrate because that’s what her parents would do.
What actually happened when I showed my mother the test was she grilled me about the one wrong answer, demanding to know why I didn’t get all the answers right. So, I wasn’t praised for doing well. I was scolded for doing badly. But when I got back to school on Monday and my friends asked what kind of reward my parents treated me to over the weekend, I lied and said they threw me a giant pizza party and bought me a bunch of presents. I was too ashamed to tell them what had really happened.
Because before all this, I just thought my home and family were normal. I thought it was normal for parents not to love each other and to low-key hate their kids. I thought it was normal to just want to spend all your time alone in your room reading, and drawing, and writing, and retreating into your imagination because trying to connect with your family instead just made you feel… bad.
To this day, it’s still hard for me to think of parenthood as anything other than a waking nightmare to be avoided at all costs. There’s a part of me that will probably always worry that my parents were right to feel the way they did, to be so miserable, and to blame it on their kids. (I, unsurprisingly, never wanted children myself or had any. I didn’t want to wind up like my mom.)
As an adult, I naturally get that those things weren’t normal or healthy on any level. I logically know the situation at home between my parents wasn’t my fault and that it was very wrong of them to ever allow me to feel like it was. I also came to realize that my friends’ parents and families had problems and secrets of their own — huge ones, in some cases. They just weren’t airing out their dirty laundry in front of guests or anything.
But it’s still weird to think back on. That was a very confusing period in my life during which I felt pretty isolated and very confused. I thought I was literally the only kid in the world dealing with anything like that.
It was both a relief and a disappointment to find out that I wasn’t. I was relieved to know that I wasn’t alone and that I was far from the only kid who grew up in a dysfunctional home or had emotionally unavailable parents. But I missed believing in the fairytale that there was such a thing as a perfect family or a household where everyone got along 100 percent of the time.
Ever since I was little I wanted to explore space and explore my curiosity of a world unexplained. After I graduated high school I told my parents how passionate I was of going to college for astronomy and astronautics. They weren’t proud nor happy and thought little of the accomplishments of NASA and told me no. They were not even willing to help me pay my way through college. So I took the pain of rejection and I remember crying and looking at old books and exploration tapes because it was not fair.That’s when I decided that I was going to try anyways and I applied to the Emory-Riddle Aeronautical University. I waited for months and my father told me I received a letter, so I remember grabbing it happy and disappointed because I was too afraid to feel just one thing. I was accepted, I was literally accepted and I was finally happy with life.I studied astronautics for 4 years and was granted a chance after college to be apart The NASA Exhibition for a space launch. The date is set for March 06, 2041 that was eight months ago today. I have been in space now for six months exploring Mars, the fourth planet from the sun, that is red in color but dessert like with fridge temperatures makes Mars hard to explore. The exhibition is set to last for a year and a half hitting places like Europa and the Titan next. I wanted to be the first to try and manipulate the gravity of Mars. The closer The Space X spaceship gets to Mars the closer the camera set on shows me in this spaceship the features of Mars. I was already warned by NASA that the closer we get to Mars the worst it could potentially affect the spaceship.In each camera we see dessert grain red sand. I keep reporting in happy showing the team of the cameras that are landed on Mars. I know my parents are in NASA’s domain looking at me and my team. Until one of my team members noticed the hydro fuel that keeps are spaceship safe from Mars radiation is becoming low. Worried Jack runs to me telling the team that the hydro fuel was never made to get low because the kind of fuel affects the generator system of the spaceship. The whole team not knowing what Jack was talking about we start asking him again to explain further. He expresses that the closer we get to Mars the spaceship will blow up due to the level of radiation on Mars. The beeping starts to become erratic and the team starts to cry and NASA operator’s check in and start demanding we follow instructions. How can the best day of my life possibly be the last day of my life?NASA operators tell us to turn the spaceship around William with Cindy start quickly to change directional paths but are losing control over the system because the spaceship runs on hydro fuel which is running low. Mandie tells us there is a force filled around mars due to its lack of gravity and the hydro fuel is running to low to move the spaceship. Which meant we were stuck miles into Mars force filled of radioactive heat with nowhere to go. Soon as the hydro fuel runs out the spaceship will become un-functional. The spaceship starts to tremble and Luis is praying and i’m terrified. Jack tells us that NASA says with no place out the radiation we will soon be exposed to its toxicity in matter of hours and eventually die. I can’t feel anything but the tears falling down on my face. My parents are going to watch me die with my crew in less than 5 hours. My crew has family and kids and they are never going home again in less than 5 hours.It’s 3 hours in and two of my crew members have passed, Cindy and Maddie, Luis is wheezing bad and me and Jack are panting heavily. Its 4 hours in a Luis is finally pronounced dead I start trying to keep Jack up and NASA keeps checking in on us. He tells that I’ve always been like a brother to him and whenever he needed encouragement from his screwed life to become an astronaut I was there for him, motivating him. I told him I loved him like a brother and after I said this I watch my brother take his last breath at 4:45 pm. I cry and say Jack I’m not strong enough for this the minutes feel like hours my lungs feel like a truck it is repeatedly being run over and the smell of Mars radiation fills the spaceship. I cough and hear NASA operators asking me are you okay? we are checking in on you. And thats when I couldn’t breathe I see my vision cloud and hear the engine rumbling as I cough I can smell the smoke. I feel nothing and everything all at once. I try to mouth whisper my ‘parents’ to the NASA Operators the best I could. I want to tell them I love them and I wish I could explain my thoughts but I was becoming short of breathe and then my parents say “I hear I love you Michael we love you, your gonna be okay.”The fire from the engine room starts to blow up to the lower half of the spaceship and I know it’s only a matter of minutes before I’m engulfed by flames or dead. This makes the radiation harder and harder to breathe in. As I feel me slipping away the waves of heat touch my skin first and I’m starting to loose consciousness. The only thing I knew in this moment I was blessed to live out my dream. As young boy I was always playing with a spaceship, a space shuttle, reading space books and watching space movies. As the flames engulf me as I start to die I will forever know that dreams are real but only as real as you make them.
Beef and Mushroom Casserole
818564d4f2d8925f8b6289dd7f70e2b5
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
1 pound lean ground beef
1 (5 1/2 ounce) package risotto mix with garden vegetables
1 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
Instructions
Prepare risotto mix according to package directions.
Meanwhile in a large nonstick skillet, brown ground beef, mushrooms, bell pepper and garlic over medium heat 8 to 10 minutes or until beef is no longer pink, breaking beef up into small crumbles.
Pour off drippings.
Season with salt and pepper.
Stir risotto into beef mixture.
Sprinkle with cheese and basil.
Is your last day as a police officer (before retirement) uneventful?
My last day as a police officer was June 10, 2010. I had been a member of the police department for 33 years.
On my last day I went to work at 8:00 AM, and soon after my arrival several officers came into my office to congratulate me on my retirement and to wish me luck and health. They were joined by some of the civilian staff, and a few sergeants and other commanders.
I didn’t get a lick of work done. You’d have thought I was giving out lottery tickets.
By about 10:00 AM the chief came in and shooed everyone out of my office. My chief (Mike) was a very large man, the very picture of an old time Irish American cop, with a heart of gold and a sense of humor the size of the solar system.
main qimg dd0640b9ca74c763ed05b1bcd79fb58f lq
When he chased everyone else out of the office, he closed my door, and turned around to face me. He had tears in his eyes. He gave me a big hug (he was not capable of small hugs), and he kissed me on my left cheek.
Then he said, “This will always be your house.”
And then he said, “Now get the hell out of here.”
Mike made my last day eventful. He died a year later, and I miss him terribly.
What are some of the most famous unsolved mysteries?
The mystery of Simpson’s predictions:
Simpsons predicted the famous Siegfried and Roy tiger attack.
Simpsons predicted that a friendly white tiger would attack two brothers when they perform in a show. The episode was telecast in 1993 and the Siegfried and Roy tiger attack happened in 2003 .
2. Simpsons predicted Facetime in 1995
Even before the internet became essential, The Simpsons telecasted a episode featuring Homer Simpson speaking with his wife visually. Apple introduced Facetime in 2010.
3. The Simpsons predicted faulty voter machines used in the 2012 US President elections
When Homer tries to vote for Barack Obama, the vote falls to John McCain. The incident turned out to be true in the elections of 2012 where Mitt Romney was the competitor for Barack Obama.
4. The Simpsons predicted the mass of Higgs Boson particle and thus discovered the existence of the God’s particle:
In the episode “ The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace” aired in 1998, Homer Simpson is a inventor and is shown to be solving an equation. That equation predicts the nano mass of Higgs Boson which was discovered in 2012.
5. The Simpsons predicted the NSA spying scandal:
In 2007, The Simpsons predicted that US people are being spied by the NSA. In that episode Marge Simpson says to her daughter that the government does not listen to anybody’s conversation. At that time a humanoid seems to record the information. The NSA spying scandal was revealed on 2013.
6. The Simpsons predicted the possibility of Outbreak of Ebola virus in America:
The Simpsons telecasted in 1997 about Ebola virus which was not popular till the 2013 Ebola virus Outbreak in America
7. The Simpsons predicted the FIFA corruption Scandal:
In March 2014, The Simpsons predicted the FIFA Corruption Scandal which was actually found out in 2015. They also predicted the finals of World Cup 2014 and the possibility of future world cup being held in a desert. The desert is Qatar where the 2022 world cup is going to take place.
8. The Simpsons predicted the Disney’s take over of 20th Century Fox:
Predicted in 1998 and happened in 2017
9. The Simpsons predicted the 9/11 attack:
This one might be a coincidence but the 9$ and the silhouette of the World Trade Center resembling 11 gives an eerie feel.
10. The Simpsons predicted the Syrian uprising:
The Syrian uprising was also talked about in the Simpsons way before it already happened.
The Simpsons also predicted the 3 eyed fish from the Japanese nuclear waste, Lady Gaga Superbowl show, The shard in London , Smart watches and many other events.
Thus, Matt Groening ( The creator of The Simpsons) is the ultimate and unsolved human prodigy.
Edit: Dipyaman Uzir and User-11191801878614068370 asked me about The Simpsons predicting the Trump as president in 2016 US elections. I have searched in the internet about this and here’s what I found.
main qimg ad5b69fdc75de954652eb3866ca114ec lq
The Simpsons predicted it 50% right. I say it because,
The Simpsons predicted Trump in 2015, not in 2000 in the episode “Trumpastic Voyage” which was telecasted after Trump announced his presidential nomination.
In 2000, The Simpsons telecast an episode “Bart to the future” where a joke about Trump becoming the president in the future is mentioned. Since Donald Trump was flirting with the idea of making a presidential run in 1999, this is a solved mystery.
However the prediction about the electoral map still remains a mystery. The electoral map predicts the map for Mitt Romney but it became true for Donald Trump.
There is this mouthwash that is popular throughout the world called Listerine. And I started using it to gargle with, when I was in the Navy.
Quite the history with this little element of personal hygiene.
Ah. My father died while gargling with it. He was found on the floor of his bathroom with the mouthwash still in his mouth after he had finished his morning shower. He apparently got out of the shower, brushed his teeth and was gargling when he had a heart attack. It was very sudden.
I used to use it in bongs in my university days. It would give us a nice cool and refreshing feeling when we were smoking with the bong. LOL.
Right now, I play this game with my daughter and she places a small amount in her mouth, she swirls it around and spits it out.
Over all, however it is pretty pricey. All things considered. I personally believe that it is twice the cost of what it should be. So I have slowly been switching to the Chinese versions. More flavors to choose from and not so harsh.
I even keep a small bottle in my travel vest. You know, for when you want a fresh and clean minty feel in your mouth.
Gargle as if your life depends on it.
Today…
This is a dangerous time…
Seriously watch this.
How “monstrous” can your thoughts be?
This is my “Monstrous” story.
My wife was killed in July 2001 by an semi driver.
He was speeding, weighed in at 76,000 lbs. Saw that traffic was backed up, was in a hurry to make up lost time, didn’t bother to slow down and ran into the rear of her full size Dodge van.
He applied his brakes 30ft from the rear of her van. The skid marks showed this.
The collision was so violent that both front wheels were severed off of the semi. The engine entered into the rear of the van caught fire and burned my wife to death.
I watched the aftermath of the accident on live TV. A news helicopter was in the area filming an unrelated story.
I watched my wife burn to death on live TV.
Anyway, to continue. I had all I could do to refrain myself from hunting him down and killing or permanently maiming him.
He deprived my two sons from growing up with a most remarkable woman
I can say here, that if our two sons had gone with her that morning to her dialysis clinic and died, there is nothing on this planet that would have saved his life from me getting retribution.
This douchebag, didn’t spend one second in jail, even though he was logging in on three different log books.
I wouldn’t have killed him immediately.
I would have shot him through both knees and elbows, permanently disabling him.
As he writhed in pain and agony, I would let him know why I did what I did. Then, I’d decide to kill him or not. I’m still not sure which way I’d go on this.
Live and remember every day why he’s in the condition he is. Or become worm food.
That was sixteen years ago and to this day I think about hunting him down.
So, ya humans can go into some dark places.
The US completely cuts off the supply of AI chips, China’s supercomputers to respond to the blockade
Mississippi Roast
Mississippi Roast is SO tasty. The leftovers make wonderful roast beef sandwiches also. You can also use this roast to make Mississippi Roast “Birria” Tacos. These are simply delicious, and it’s another good use for this particular roast.
mississippi pot roast
Prep: 5 min | Cook: 8 hr | Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients
1 chuck roast
1 envelope Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix
1 envelope au jus mix
1 stick butter
5 whole pepperoncini peppers
Instructions
Put roast into the slow cooker.
Sprinkle Hidden Valley Ranch dressing on top.
Sprinkle au jus mix on top.
Put a stick of butter on top.
Put about 5 pepperoncini peppers on top.
Do NOT add water.
Cook on LOW for about 8 hours.
Add carrots and potatoes, if desired.
What is the most disturbing image you saw today?
A man named Homer Peel kisses his wife, Geneva Peel, in 1937. She was just ten years old, and an oprhan. Peel lied to authorities initially and told them Geneva was twelve… child marriage had just been made illegal in the state of Tennessee — but Homer Peel claimed he had “saved” Geneva from the poor house, and that to annul the marriage would be to return her to a state of poverty.
main qimg 6304d7221cc6c5ebdee4370e9e2377fa
The picture above is Homer kissing Geneva after a judge agreed them his reasoning, refusing to undo the marriage and returning Geneva to her husband, twenty-four years older than her. He had reportedly “promised her a pretty new hat” for her loyaly. It was quite common in the 1930s for children to marry… they would typically marry men considerably older than them. It wasn’t until 1937 that a law prohibiting it came into existence, and even then, the practice continued. The photograph is jarring and unsettling for numerous reasons.
Homer and Geneva Peel entually stayed together until 1975, when they got divorced. Homer died in 1991 and Geneva lived on until 2017, dying at 92. The couple had six daughters and a son together, and eighteen grandchildren.
What happens if you refuse a direct order in the military?
It’s a bad move that can bring you into a lot of trouble. I did that only once and it didn’t help my career at all.
A few weeks after I had been transferred from a German army armored reconnaissance unit to the paratroopers, my new platoon leader gave me the order to spend the next day in the company’s storage depot to clean weapons. It was some sort of test: I was the new guy and the platoon leader wanted to know how compliant I was. Not very much, as it turned out.
Weapon cleaning was a job for recruits and I was already a lance corporal (Obergefreiter) at the time; definitely not my job and, to be honest, I thought it was rather insulting.
I refused the order. I simply said “No, I don’t do it!”, went to my room and closed the door behind me. My platoon leader was banging on the door for a while, but I didn’t open. After maybe ten minutes, he left.
The next morning, my captain called me and I received a disciplinary punishment. Five written pages about “Why we should obey orders” and a weekend on guard duty. It was a soft punishment and everybody knew it. I wrote the effing paper (no problem) and spent the next weekend on guard duty (which sucked).
Of course, my platoon commander didn’t forget the thing but I didn’t care too much. I knew that I would spend the next months in NCO (Non-Commissioned Officer!) school, after that I had a slot in commando training and if I came back with the German Commando badge, this guy couldn’t fuck with me anymore: he had failed the course twice.
All happened exactly as I thought it would. I finished NCO school, was immediately promoted (which was very rare) and completed the Commando training.
When I got back to my company, my captain told me to step in front of everyone. Then he said: ”This guy passed the Commando course with a better mark than your old and rusty captain, A round of applause, please!”
In a paratrooper unit, rank and discipline are secondary. Your military performance is far more important.
Still, the whole thing wasn’t worth the trouble. It was a stupid beginner’s mistake from my side and I had a lot of luck: with a different company commander, I could have thoroughly ruined my career- for nothing.
Disobeying orders is a form of art and you never do it directly. You say “Yes sir!”, do whatever you want and if someone asks why you didn’t execute the order, you play stupid. That’s how it’s done.
They’d finally run out of oreos. It took months, but finally, finally, they’d run out–the last one accidentally ejected into space. Sirius stood stewing in front of the glass window of his ship. It wasn’t his fault the oreo had been in that little cup he’d tossed in the trash. Oren was the one who had hidden it there, figured he’d never find it.He hadn’t. Obviously. Which was why it was floating in space right now instead of in his stomach. Sirius scowled at the speckles of light drifting out of the immense black.“Go see the stars,” they said, “they’re beautiful up there in space.” They said. Yeah well, Sirius wished he could haul those freaks up here and make them stare at the murderous fireballs for fifteen months in a broken down ship, with no outside contact and then see how beautiful they thought the stars were.Stupid stars. They could blink out of existence for all he cared–the people too.The ship had been quiet since their malfunctioning, sandwich loving AI had decided to go completely silent until they were – as she put it – ‘found by certain functioning individuals who could clearly state which sandwich was their favorite as well as help them out of this black hole of utter despair’.Stupid ship. He was decidedly disappointed in his ship’s ability to…well…move.”It’s not your ship.” Oren said from the deck where he spun aimlessly in the only swivel chair in the ship. Sirius turned to glare at him. Sometimes he thought his friend could read minds, other times he thought Oren just psychoanalyzed everyone like some villainous creep. Which….he was, a villain–that is—not a creep.”So how come we only installed ONE swivel chair?” Sirius said, stepping away from the ship’s window. Oren shrugged.”We should have installed two, because there are two of us.””Are there.” Oren said idly.
Who knew, really, one of them could be imaginary by now. But imaginary or not…Sirius took another step forward. “Up. My turn in the chair.”
Oren gave himself another spin.
“Oren.”
“There’s a perfectly good chair over there.” Oren said, still spinning.
“It doesn’t swivel.” Sirius said.
“Sad.”
Sirius glared at Oren, the little….. But instead of grabbing him by his perfectly manicured hair and hauling him off the chair, Sirius walked towards the doorway. “No prob. I’ll just go look through your knives.” Behind him the chair came to a halt. Slipping out the entrance, Sirius broke into a jog through the steel hallway of the ship.
“Don’t you dare touch them! That’s my emotional support knife collection!” Oren hollered from the deck.
Sirius made his way down the hallway of the ship to the third room to the right. Oren’s studious room. It used to have a lock, but now the door knob was completely gone. Sirius shoved the door open. He had melted the knob a few weeks back. Some of his finest work, if he did say so himself.
Oren’s room looked like a real life replica of perfection: it was white–the walls and ground and ceiling-and there was a bed directly across, its stark sheets laid across the mattress more smoothly than Sirius could ever get his hair to lay. To the side of that was a desk, bolted and firm, with a spotless furnish and all the drawers safely locked. He’d have to see about melting those knobs later, maybe to get back at Oren for being responsible for the loss of their last oreo. For now though, there was the matter of the swivel chair and the knives. On the right side of the bed was a sparkling glass showcase, inside which was the most impressive knife collection Sirius had ever seen. And they weren’t just ordinary knives, there were knives from nearly every person Oren had ever fought — and then some which he had picked up from one market or another. Sirius leaned closer to get a better view of a smaller knife, its blade was shaped like a half moon. It—
“STEP.AWAY.FROM.MY.KNIVES.” Oren growled from behind him. It was the voice he was famous for, the one that said ‘I’m a master villain and I’m to be feared’. At least that’s what it said to anyone who didn’t know him as well as Sirius. He turned with a smirk. “Oh calm down, I haven’t even touched them.” Oren stood in the doorway, stiff and imposing in his suit of white with gold trimmings. He glared at Sirius a good moment before stalking forward to inspect his knives.
Oren went back to glaring at him. “The glass. You breathed on the glass.”
“But it doesn’t look any different.” Sirius said.
“It does too.” Oren insisted, “it just takes a sophisticated eye to see it.”
Sirius snorted.
“Okay Back! Back back back!” Oren said, waving him out of the room. “The next thing I know you’ll be sneezing on it.”
“Alright, I’m going.” Sirius said walking out. He hesitated in the doorway, watching as Oren glanced back at his precious collection. Sirius grinned as he watched Oren’s eyes snag on the tiny empty place on the far edge of the display case. Oren looked back at Sirius, and then, the man smiled.
A heartbeat later Sirius smelled the smoke.
Two heartbeats and the ship’s fire resistance system blared active.
Five. Sirius was pelting down the hallway to his bedroom and—and, it was in flames.
His…his bedroom was on fire. How was THAT even possible! The thing was made of steel. But…not everything else was: the furniture, the bed, the—“OREN!” He yelled, gripping the sides of his doorway. The vents opened in his room and released a white gas that filled the room, snuffing each hungry flame as if it were a boot and they–bugs. And then it sucked the remnant gasses back into the vents, sealing them again. Leaving behind a black scorched, smoke smelling, grave of bed-sheets and used-to-be-valuable collectables.
“Well” Oren said from the hallway behind him, “That’s a sight.”
“I can’t believe this…You don’t just set someone’s room on fire!” Sirius gestured wildly to his once semi-nice bedroom.
“Says the person who melted my door knob.” Oren said.
“You put A SCORPION IN MY BOOT.”
“Because you lost my knife.”
“I…” Sirius paused. “Well, it went to a good cause.”
Oren raised an eyebrow.
“Oh come on, scratching my initials on your armor is a wonderful cause,” Sirius turned to inspect his nearly nonexistent bed, “not my fault it somehow wandered off after that.” He poked his mattress and it dissolved into ashes. “Wonderful.”
Oren leaned against the wall. “Anyway, you’ve gotta admit, Sirius, I did pretty good hooking up the ventilation just right so you’d smell the smoke exactly a second before the alarms went off.” Oren said proudly.
Sirius wiped his now ash colored finger on his clothes and deliberately refused to look at his friend. Stinkin villain, had to be so good at his job. “I suppose you can do pretty good cleaning this up as well,” he said, “and replacing all my very valuable collectibles once we get rescued from this useless bucket of steel.”
“Hmm. I think I’m going to go on over to the Kitchen and look for something to eat while grieving the tragic loss of our last oreo cookie, instead.” Oren said, walking away.
“Hey!” Sirius barked, spinning from the sorry remnants of his collectibles. Oren was already gone. But he wasn’t going to get out of this, not this time. The oreo cookie–which was not his fault, in fact, it was Oren who tried to hoard them all up for himself in the first place–was the least of Oren’s worries. He grabbed a heavy bag from his closet and stalked down the hall towards the kitchen.
“OREN!”
Nothing, no sound. Except the thrumming of the horrid prison he’d been trapped in for what seemed like forever now. And he didn’t even have a stupid oreo cookie to solace him. Why? Because of Oren, because he stuck it in a cup. He rounded the corner of the kitchen section of the ship and stopped short. Oren was sitting on the table there, eating cookies. Chocolate chip cookies.
“You’ve had those this whole time!” Sirius exclaimed.
Oren stuffed the last one in his mouth.
“You could have left the oreos for me.” Sirius said, jerking his bag open. “But instead you put the last one in a cup.”
“A clean cup,” Oren said, swallowing. “It was most certainly clean.”
He reached into the bag, “honestly I really don’t care.”
“And I’m not going to help you cle–” Oren paused, “hey, what’s in the bag…”
Sirius chunked a shoe at him. Steel-toed, well made, firm as a rock. Made throwing it feel gorgeous. Oren gave a sound like a strangled mouse as he scrambled off his perch and out of the path of the wrathful footwear. It slammed uselessly into the wall behind. Sirius chunked another.
“Hey!” Oren yelped, ducking behind the counter, “What in the universe are you doing?”
“Throwing shoes at you.” Sirius said. Obviously.
“Now now. Heroes aren’t supposed to hurt their villain friends.” Oren said from behind the counter.
“Ah yes,” Sirius said, “except that doesn’t really matter right now, because if it weren’t for you wanting to run off and save the world from imminent disaster, I’d be safely on a planet eating as many oreos as I want.”
“Well then, you’re welcome. That would be incredibly unhealthy.” Oren said.
Sirius threw a gold trimmed boot. It plunked against the counter. Oren peeped up to stare at it, and then ducked right in time as he hurled the boot’s pair.
“Actually,” Oren muttered, “I’m rather concerned why you have so many shoes.”
“If I wasn’t in a broken down ship in the middle of nowhere, with no hopes of ever making it back to civilization, those shoes would be quite valuable!” Sirius wasn’t even aiming for Oren anymore. He catapulted a pink dotted pair of tennis shoes into the far wall, they hit it with a satisfying thump.
Oren stood, staring at him. “You mean to tell me….you collect shoes.”
Sirius threw a bright yellow sandal at Oren’s face. It didn’t even get close, of course. Oren looked at the sandal and then back up at Sirius.
“You’re a shoe collector!” He broke out laughing, gripping the sides of the counter. “How did I not know this sooner!”
Sirius paused his onslaught of shoe missiles, there was only like, one more left in the bag anyway. “They’re very expensive. And valuable.” he said in his defense.
Oren only laughed harder.
“Took me a long time to collect them all too.” He muttered under his breath.
“I’ll”–Oren said between gaspy breaths–“make sure to leave you my shoes when I die. Something to remember me by.”
Sirius rolled his eyes and tossed his bag in the corner. “I’d probably eject them into space if you did, like the oreo.”
Oren managed to stop laughing enough to bow his head and murmur, “we shall forever grieve your greatest mistake, Sirius.”
“MINE?”
“Yes.” Oren said, “You killed Mr. Oreo.”
Sirius opened his mouth to object when the entire ship beeped, as if jolting awake.
“What did my ship just do?” Sirius rubbed his ears, glancing around.
“Um…it’s not your ship. It’s mine. Remember? I convinced the previous owner to give it in exchange for his life.” Oren said.
“That’s not how I remem—” Sirius began.
“SANDWICHES.” A crisp, emotionless voice vibrated from the ship’s speakers. “THE LIFE-BLOOD OF MANKIND.”
“Hey Sandie!” Oren exclaimed happily.
“Welcome back weird, malfunctioning AI who secretly wants to murder us with sandwiches and false facts.” Sirius said. “Guess you got bored, huh.”
“CANNIBALISM, PERFECT.” The AI said. “THERE IS A SHIP ENTERING THIS SECTOR AS WE SPEAK.”
A ship? Sirius met Oren’s gaze for a single life changing moment as the realization sunk in.
“We’re saved.” Sirius whispered.
They both raced for the console, and started broadcasting their existence to anyone listening. The radio fuzzed in and out for a few seconds before finally the first voice they’d heard in months came over as clear as the black in space.
“Unknown transporter. This is Fate-12, prepare for boarding.”
Sirius grinned, unholstering the pistol at his side. Oreos here I come.
What do you think about China’s J-35 Gyrfalcon stealth fighter becoming the country’s second carrier-based fighter?
The Chinese defense industry is advancing at a breakneck speed. China is only the second country in the world that will mass produce not one but two stealth aircraft. The J-31 (re-badged as the J-35 in November 2024), made its maiden flight in 2012. It is a twin-engine aircraft produced for land and aircraft carrier operation. It has been extensively modified over the years from the aircraft that made its first flight. Chinese aircraft development (J-20, J-10C, J-35, J11, J-16) was hobbled by the lack of domestically manufactured advanced turbofan engines. At present, the Chinese aircraft industry is roughly 20 years behind the USA but they have been leapfrogging over the last decade, and it is likely that the technological gap will shrink over time. The J-35 has an approximate RCS (Radar cross section) of 0.01m2 (50 square inches) in comparison to 0.005m2 (7.7 square inches) RCS of the F-35. In comparison, the latest fourth generation Su-35s has an RCS of 3m2, (4,650 square inches), and the French Rafale has an RCS of 1m2 (1,550 square inches).
J-35 with afterburners, performing at an airshow in November 2024.
The development of the J-35 in two versions is a very significant strategic step that will have far-reaching implications for China’s projection of power. With the J-35, not only will China be able to increase its stealth aircraft fleet at twice the speed of J-20, but it will also have a mix of two types (also called a hi-low mix in USAF) of stealth aircraft. It will also give the latest Chinese aircraft carriers a potent weapon system that can duel with the F-35. It is a well-known fact that Chinese are able to mass produce aircraft in great numbers. The current stealth flagship of the Chinese air force, the J-20, is being produced at a rate of 100 aircraft per year, which is faster than all models of F-35 combined. With the addition of a new aircraft, the Chinese air force will not only be in a position to phase out their 3rd generation aircraft (as of 2024, approximately 300 such aircraft are in service) but add an additional 1,000 stealth aircraft to the fleet in 5–7 years.
Vented single crystal Turbine blades is one of the highest tech products of modern material sciences.
Chinese engine manufacturers have finally been able to resolve issues related to production of single crystal turbine blades and blade cooling after spending vast amounts of resources on research and development. Unlike the F-35, the J-35 engines are designed for super cruising (travelling beyond the speed of sound without using afterburners). The J-35 was originally powered with the Russian RD-93 engines, which produce 18,300lbs (8,318kg) of thrust each. These engines did not provide the aircraft with satisfactory kinematic performance, and failed to achieve a 1:1 thrust to weight ratio even with a basic loadout. The aircraft was then flight tested with the WS-13E (also known as WS-21), which produces 20,700lbs (9,409kg) of thrust. While it was an improvement over the RD-93, it fell below the flight performance that is necessary for a stealth aircraft.
The WS-19 engine will power the aircraft. Its serrated exhaust can be observed.
The production version is likely to be equipped with the WS-19 engine. This engine is equal in technology and specification to the GE-F414-EE engine, which has not yet been used in any combat aircraft. The WS-19 features omnidirectional thrust vectoring technology for enhanced maneuverability and Full Authority Digital Electronic Control (FADEC). It is likely to produce approximately 25,000Lb (11,300kg) of thrust, making the aircraft suitable for carrier operations. This engine, combined with sleek aerodynamics and 3,000lb (1,300kg) lower empty weight compared to F-35 will allow it to accelerate and fly faster. High kinematic performance can be advantageous in BVR combat between two stealth aircraft. The J-35 is not only lighter but also has 7,000Lb (3,000kg) greater thrust compared to the F-35. An aircraft that possesses greater thrust to weight ratio is likely to perform better at certain tasks including air interception and ground attack ingress and egress. In addition, aircraft that have a high kinematic performance have a better chance of evading a BVR and surface launched missiles.
The APG-81 AESA radar.
The current F-35 APG-81 AESA radar is perhaps the most powerful AESA long range radar fitted to any multirole combat aircraft, with a range of 140miles (230KM), and a short-term peak power output of 24Kw. This radar is to be upgraded with an even faster and higher powered AN/APG-85 in 2026. This radar will be able to identify all types of drones, missiles and aircraft at longer range. The high-resolution ground imaging capabilities of the APG-85 will also be useful for reconnaissance missions, providing detailed images of targets for further analysis.
The J35 KLJ-7A(V2) radar is not only smaller in size in comparison to the APG-81, but also has provides lower resolution and less range. It has a peak power consumption of around 10Kw, and a maximum detection range of 120 miles (200KM) against a target size of 5m2.
KLJ-7A (V2) AESA radar used in the land based version of Chinese J-35 is less powerful than the F-35 radar. It is possible that the naval version may be equipped with a more powerful radar, since the aircraft will be able to produce 40–50kw of electricity.
The J-35 is equipped with several passive sensors including EOTS (electro-optical targeting system), passive 360-degree situational awareness sensors and helmet mounted display. The J-35 system software, sensor integration, speed of secure datalink systems and battlefield sensor fusion is not yet at par with the F-35. The J-35 is equipped with infrared search and track, Distributed Aperture System (DAS), which consists of several IR sensors around the aircraft for full spherical coverage, providing day/night imaging and acting as an IRST and missile approach warning system.
China has been able to develop and deploy highly sophisticated air to air missile systems. The off-boresight short range PL-10 and PL-15E BVR missile with folding fins is designed to fit into the J-35 internal weapons bay. The PL-10 is known for its all-aspect targeting capability, resistance to jamming and electronic countermeasures, and high maneuverability. It provides comparable performance to western missiles like the ASRAAM and IRIS-T, and even offers superior kinematic performance against the AIM-9X. The PL-15 missile that is currently used by the J-20 out-ranges the AIM-120D missile as well as the MBDA Meteor missile. It remains to be seen if the J-35 weapon bay is capable of carrying the long range (150 miles, 250KM) PL-15 instead of the shorter-range (110 miles, 185KM) PL-15E missile.
It is worth noting that maximum missile ranges provided by manufacturers are based on ideal conditions, and should be taken with a grain of salt. Effective BVR Missile ranges against combat aircraft are generally 60–70% of maximum advertised range for head on interception, and between 30–50% during a tail chase. In order to achieve a high kill probability (pK) the missiles must be used in their No Escape Zone (NEZ), which, in most cases, is even lower than the effective missile range.
The latest, smaller PL-15E missile with folding fin design.
In order to match the long-range capabilities of Chinese BVR missiles, the US is developing the AIM-260 missile. This missile will replace or supplement the AIM-120 AMRAAM currently in use. Interestingly, this latest missile uses radar and IR/UV sensors for terminal guidance. This missile is expected to be in operation in 2025. The AIM-260 is designed with a multi-terminal guidance system. It will have the same range as the shorter-range PL-15E (110 miles- 185KM). Air combat in modern warfare has changed considerably over time. An aircraft is now a part of a highly networked real time kill chain that includes satellite intelligence, networked ground-based radars, AEW aircraft, sea-based and other airborne sensors. The more effective the kill chain, the better chances an aircraft will have in undertaking a successful combat mission.
44-Year-Old Man: Existential crisis of life
What are some of the most epic product fails?
Would you pay $700 for a juice machine that requires WiFi to work?
What if I told you it only works with specific juice packets sold by the company, which cost ~$7 for every glass you want to make?
Oh I forgot to mention, it’s actually 25% faster to manually squeeze the juice packet with your hands, rather than putting them into the machine.
At this point, you’re probably unsure why anyone would ever buy one of these. This reaction was shared by consumers, as low sales forced the company to drop prices to $400. However over-engineering meant that each unit still cost $750 to produce. They were always selling at a loss, but now they were bleeding cash.
Yet despite the blatant flaws of their product, losing $4 million per month and a lack of customers willing to pay $400 for an inefficient juicer, they still managed to raise $118.5 million from prestigious investment funds, like Kleiner Perkins and Google Ventures.
This is the story of Juicero, a company which has now ceased selling its products, and offered full refunds to anyone who purchased their product. They should serve as a cautionary tale for any aspiring entrepreneurs who hope to get rich by solving a problem that doesn’t exist, instead of being ambitious and making a meaningful difference by solving important problems.
main qimg 9d2fa6ce3422ae57e8ed3f84a84fcf10 lq
What will Europe do when big daddy USA isn’t there to save them from Russia?
Where is big daddy USA right now ?
Cowards.
The U.S. has been actively preparing to fight one particular country since 1949. Multiple proxy wars, and trillions of dollars spent on stockpiling munitions and weapons platforms.
There are over 3,000 M1 Abrams tanks sitting collecting dust in the Sierra Army Depot, that were purchased to fight this one particular country.
And when the moment finally arrived for the US to finally take in this arch enemy after preparing for 75 years, what was the response ?
“Fear of escalation”
Cowards!
Americans have demonstrated they don’t have the balls to fight a near peer directly. Just a lot of talk and sabre rattling.
You spent all that $$$$$ preparing to fight only to back down like cowards.
And what message does that send to China, now that you have publicly played your hand and backed down from Russia ?
Just as when you backed down from Russia in 2014, and emboldened Putin to go further, so too are you emboldening the Chinese, and you’re too fucking stupid to see that. But keep listening to Trump, who has Putin in his pocket, and admires Xi Ping for how powerful of a man he is. That’s who you just elected – a president who admires the leaders of your enemies.
Spineless fucking cowards, and strategically as dumb as a bag of rocks.
Korea – stalemate
Vietnam – lost
Iraq – utter failure
Afghanistan – lost
You’ve developed a talent for fleeing
Cowards, who repeatedly betray allies.
But you sure kicked ass in Granada and Panama!!
And you sent not one, but two carrier groups to help with the turkey shoot in Gaza. Real tough guys!
Edit for the Trump voters: the soldiers are not the cowards. The soldiers are not the ones making the strategic decisions. The politicians are the cowards, including the Commanders in Chief, and every American citizen that supports the cowardice.
Dangerous (and very few of you know it)
Beijing’s spy agency ‘destroyed large number’ of Taiwan intelligence networks
State security ministry says more than 1,000 cases of Taiwanese espionage were uncovered in crackdown, with spies ‘severely punished’
Beijing’s top spy agency says it has uncovered more than 1,000 cases of Taiwanese espionage during a crackdown and vowed to keep up the pressure on the island’s pro-independence forces.
In a post on WeChat on Tuesday, the Ministry of State Security said the cases were revealed in a series of special operations launched in recent years and that it had continued to “strike hard” against spying activities.
A new Japanese study shows that Pfizer and Moderna vaccines contain unauthorized “animated worm-like” entities, invisible to the human eye, which swim, wiggle, and assemble themselves into complex structures, which cause clots inside the body. Researchers Dr. Young Mi Lee and Dr. Daniel Broudy isolated unused Pfizer and Moderna vaccine vials for 3 weeks, and then examined them under 400X magnification. They noticed that when the nano-technology was energized, it created “discs, chains, spirals, tubes, and right-angle structures.” The scientists believe these mysterious nanoparticles are responsible for the explosion of “turbo cancer” and autoimmune diseases around the globe. They also concluded that humans into controllable “Biohybrid Magnetic Robots.” The suggested that the smart microscopic components are part of the elite’s “long-planned well-funded Internet of Bodies,” which was described as a kind of “synthetic global central nervous system” turning humans into controllable “Biohybrid Magnetic Robots.” The researchers called for a ban on mRNA shots. They also demanded the labels “vaccine” and “safe and effective” be removed because the substances are not vaccines and they are dangerous.
Zelensky is now saying he has no intention of keeping the land seized in this incursion. (Just as well, because Russia will not let him.) So why did he waste his men and resources on it in the first place? Has he completely lost the plot?
He has indeed lost the plot
Has been losing so for a long time
He has been solely responsible for making Russia stronger and stronger by the day
Russian AD is unfamiliar with Himars attacks
He attacks Russian territories with so many Himars that today Russia can wipe out Himars Launchers effortlessly
Russian AD is unfamiliar with Storm Shadows and Scalps
He repeatedly attacks Crimea with these missiles and Russia can spot them a mile away and easily blow them away at a near 95% Interception rate
Russia is a creaking old army with only numbers who could collapse within their own weight
He stupidly takes them on, does a counter offensive and the Russian Bear slumbers, wakes up and begins to gradually start mobilizing, producing and making tactical decisions
This Kursk offensive is the best example
The Russians mobilized and moved within 72 hours and stopped the Ukranians at 15 Kilometres into the Border and killed the entire reserve force minus the 300–400 who are holding hostages
The Speed is astonishing
Next time it will be even faster
Plus their strategic evacuation of Border Areas
Plus their buffer zones along the Border
Bottom line is Zelensky is solely the reason why Russia is the MOST COMBAT READY ARMY ON THE PLANET
Reasons for the Kursk offensive?
It could never have been successful under any conditions
You can’t keep on entering Russia all the way to Moscow
Ultimately you will face resistance and be destroyed
Russia is the more powerful army
Just like if Bangladeshi Army invaded West Bengal, they would advance maybe 10 Kms before being cut to pieces by the Indian Army
The Reason was PR
To restore some confidence in the dying morale of the Ukranians
Instead the Russians are more determined to finish off the Ukranians
As every day goes by Russians who were reluctant to kill even Ukranian Soldiers and hoped they surrender are now ready to boil Ukranian Children in Hot Oil and make their parents watch
Time Zelensky was deposed
Problem is he knows too much
Probably Pictures of Biden and Hunter Biden with some Young Ukranian Minors on their Laps
Probably Secret Account Transfers of Wire Accounts of the Clintons or Romneys or Sunaks or Johnsons
It’s why he isn’t killed so far
Russia isn’t killing him because China has asked them not to
When this is over – I bet you will see some major Lithium extraction contracts signed between China & Ukraine in the past two years that will come to light
CHINA is NOT WHAT We Expected at ALL 🇨🇳 (first time in Shenzhen)
Do the Chinese people enjoy the same freedoms as Americans?
Women in China don’t have to worry about their own safety. A young woman can walk alone on the streets of China in the middle of the night.
You can smoke cigarettes almost everywhere in China. Although there are no smoking signs everywhere, there is no mandatory implementation. People still do what they want.
main qimg a12828f3c2064b4665735fd20960fe96
Chinese people can drink while walking. In the United States, if you drink in public, you will be arrested by the police.
main qimg 85a97fbcfc8e8fb7fa09c9f0c4ab3be5
The woman hangs a bag of Tsingtao beer on her shoulder and drinks it while walking
In the United States, you have to maintain your own lawn, otherwise you may receive a fine. But in China, most people live in apartments.
main qimg 01eb476c918cefdfddfaea9e91a86e90
Chinese people are completely free to make their own decisions and don’t cook at home. Boys and girls there prefer to eat three meals in restaurants or roadside stalls. Because there are many restaurants in China, almost everywhere. Chinese people do not need to believe in God and do not need to pray before eating. Meal time is the most relaxing time for Chinese people, and there is no need for so many rituals.
Most Chinese people are not as materialistic as Americans. In Chinese life, most people pursue a simple life, know how to be content, and are more free and independent.
4
Is this homeless? no!
Chinese people have the habit of taking a nap. You can take a nap anywhere, the main thing is relaxation.
Especially outdoor workers, couriers, sanitation workers, food delivery people, truck drivers, motorcycle drivers, vendors, and police officers will all find a shady place nearby to take a nap.
How did you foil or dodge someone else’s attempt to cheat or deceive you?
Oh boy, do I have a story for this. And I didn’t even “foil” the person’s attempt, really. More like I defeated him with my cluelessness. But in retrospect what I did is the best thing to do in my situation. You’ll see later in the answer.
A little bit of background (you can skip to the non italicized part for the meat of the story)
I was born in the United States, and when I was 7 my parents moved to India, their homeland (taking me with them of course). I was in India (Pune, specifically) from 2nd-12th grade. During high school, I applied to a bunch of American universities and got in. I finally decided on UC Berkeley, which was the best school that I got into, and was really excited that the school had a rich history.
Another important point to note is that foreign citizens living in India had to register with the police if they were staying in India beyond 180 days, and also get a departure stamp from or something before leaving the country on their passport. Being an American citizen, I had to do that while living there.
However, right before I left for the US, my family and I had just obtained PIO (Person of Indian Origin) cards, letting us stay in India on a 15 year visa and getting rid of the need for departure stamps and stuff.
I was 17, ready to leave for the US, where I was to meet up with my Dad in the Bay Area who was already there on business. I was super excited (think the heart eyed emoji, I looked exactly like that), for I was embarking on an exciting journey. I am American, and now I’m pretty comfortable in my own skin with my dual American / Indian identity, but back then I was pretty nervous and confused about my own identity, which made me a little anxious about going to the US.
So here I was, at the Mumbai airport, having said good bye to my mom and aunt who had come along to drop me off. I went to the immigration counter (for my American peeps, a lot of other countries have passport control when you leave the country too).
The immigration official looked at my passport. He looked at me with his beady eyes through his glasses:
“What are you going to the US for?”
“For my education.” (Apparently having an American passport wasn’t enough)
He probably deduced in his head that I was 17 and going to the US for college so my parents must be rich. He looked at me again, but his eyes were beadier this time.
“You don’t have a departure stamp. You cannot go.”
“Umm.. what?”
“I said, you don’t have a departure stamp on your passport, you cannot go!”
At this point I was super scared, because I was traveling internationally alone for the very first time, and I had no idea what he was talking about. I genuinely thought I had fucked up. After breathing heavily for 2 seconds, I said:
“So.. what do I do? What can I do, sir?”
“See.. I’m looking for your benefit, and my benefit.”
Now you all know where this is going. However, at that point I was completely clueless.
“Sorry, I don’t get it. Do I need to do something? Just tell me what I need to do, I’ll do it, sir.”
(my Indian peeps will know why I used that “sir” for an immigration official of all people. I was trying to be respectful and not rattle an official who could really mess with you if he wanted to)
“Like I said, I’m looking for your benefit, and my benefit.”
I was still clueless. I know all of you want to scream at me: “He’s asking for a bribe you idiot!”, but remember: 17, alone and scared.
“Ok, so then tell me how I can help benefit both of us. Let me know, I’ll do it.”
He looked at me, bewildered. In retrospect I think he was trying to figure out if I was for real. He got really frustrated:
“You’re not understanding what I’m telling you, now go!” (he hands me my passport)
At this point you guys probably think I just left as fast as I could, right? Well, no. I was genuinely clueless about his intentions, I actually believed I had done something wrong.
“Sir, if you just tell me what you need me to do, if there’s any issue with my documents, I’ll fix it.”
“No! Just go!”
I was thoroughly confused by this, and I just left. It was only after crossing the security check and calling my mom to tell her this story did I realize (while listening to my own words) that I was asked for a bribe and got out of it because I was totally dumb!
So there it is. I foiled a corrupt immigration official trying to take advantage of a scared 17 year old and make some money. But I didn’t “foil” anything. 🙂 I just defeated him with my cluelessness!
Why would a highly intelligent man choose an average woman as a partner?
I’m pushing 70, and I’ve been married, happily, for 35 years.
I am highly intelligent, in the top 0.1%, and I have a lifetime of working with very, very intelligent people, including many very intelligent women.
But I can tell you from my current vantage point that if I had restricted myself to women with my IQ or higher, I would still be single. There were certainly candidates; but I was not romantically attracted to them, and would not have enjoyed living my life with them.
In contrast, my wife and I are very compatible. We like the same kinds of food, and restaurants, and entertainment on TV and in movies, we like the same music, we like the same kinds of sex, we like the same kinds of vacations, we have the same political beliefs, we like and donate to the same charities, we like the same comedians.
It is very, very easy to live with my wife; and she is not a slave, we split our domestic duties evenly.
My life is not about being intelligent. That is my job, and I don’t need to bring it home, or discuss it with my wife, or get any ideas from her on how to move forward.
In my job I am surrounded by very smart engineers and technologists, including many women, and I can discuss problems and technical issues with them, and for the most part not have to spend an hour explaining my ideas.
The only thing my wife knows about my job is that some decades ago I invented something for the Federal Aviation Administration, and I told her it was to “Help keep planes from falling out of the sky, because the FAA frowns on that.”
That’s the one she remembers, a single four month contract out of 35 years.
I get my fill of intellectual conversation in other ways; I am with my wife to relax and have fun, and that does not have to be intellectual in the least. The only time it is, is when occasionally she wants me to explain something to her. I know her well, and I am smart enough to explain what she wants to know in terms she will understand and be satisfied with.
“Christ, One! What the hell were you thinking?” the voice came through the hud slightly distorted. Nothing had been right on the Doppel Station for days, maybe weeks. It was difficult to keep track of time in this lifestyle. There were no nights, no days, and essentially no schedule. Work needed done when it needed done and it didn’t matter if the men were tired or hungry or whatever other excuse they might concoct. One tried to focus his mind enough to remember when the issues had arisen. He knew it was during Twenty-Seven. Measuring events in that way made him feel lugubrious, but it had been his best method to date. These minor external repairs were not typically so frequent, and he grew concerned that it meant the end of the station was coming soon. Perhaps it had drifted from its axis, or some distant celestial body had shifted and was influencing it in some way. They were still waiting to hear back from the Union regarding their query.“One! Yo, you listening, man?” the voice crackled through again. One rolled his eyes and sighed, knowing the heavy exhale would be detected by the suit. He liked the idea of his disdainful sigh echoing through the main deck for his crewmate to hear.“God One, you don’t have to be so pissy. Just fix that panel and get the hell back inside. I’m sick of monitoring your vitals,” came the response.After finishing his work, One leaned back against the hull of the station and watched the swirling of the reality around him. The Dorra galaxy was on the small side for those that had been explored, and to One, it felt quaint — cozy even. It was like living in the smallest nearby town and still being able to see the nightlights of the closest big city.At least, that is how One thought of it, from his studies of old human culture. He, himself, had never lived on the planet known as Earth. Born and bred on this ship, he spent much of his free time daydreaming; imagining what life must have been like for his ancestors. Walking in something called grass — typically green with threadlike fingers of roots extending down into the soil for nutrients, hydrogen dioxide, and security. He wondered what that might feel like, having roots and security. Breathing unfiltered air, filled with the pollution and aromas of the natural world. One’s entire life had been inside this shell, floating endlessly in an even more endless vacuum of nothingness. Even the gravity he experienced wasn’t what he considered natural.“Bro — Wake up and get your ass inside,” the voice broke his melancholy revelry and One felt more angry than he had in weeks. It wasn’t often that he sat out against the hull and let himself take in the view, but it was without fail that whenever he did, he was called back inside with the same crass phrasing that effectively wrecked whatever peace he had found in his meditation.As One closed the airlock behind himself and secured it, he could feel the needy eyes on him through the door. He slowly and meticulously removed his gear, inspecting each piece before placing it carefully in his cubby. Mainly, he took such care in this process because he found it an effective method to avoid returning into the main hull of the station, and thereby further prolonging his peace and isolation.Technically, they were always supposed to take this level of care in their return inspections, but it was well known that few of the ‘nauts ever did, especially this far from the Hub. Stations like the Doppel rarely, if ever, received elite visitors, and never had surprise inspections from the higher-ups. In fact, the Doppel was much more of a small outpost than a proper station. The Doppel was a small superfluous station responsible for monitoring the oxygen levels and watching for signs of life on tiny dead rock on the outskirts of the galaxy. ‘Nauts stationed here were meant to exist, write reports for the Union, and maintain that there were always two living there. Nothing else.A pounding echoed around One as he painstakingly inspected his last valve and he turned to the door to see an angry face peering through the glass at him.“Come on, man, get in here!!!”
“I’m doing my inspections,” One replied.
“You’re wasting time and you know it!”
“ME? Never. Why on Doppel would I ever do something like that?” he asked, faking an aghast expression.
“Duuuude….”
He ignored the plea.
“Duuuuuuuuuude.”
He continued fiddling with his equipment, turning away from the door to hide a smile.
“Gawwwwd, dude.”
One started laughing.
“Alright, I’m coming, Twenty-Seven. Calm down,” he said, crossing through the door at last.
Twenty-Seven tackled him.
“Dude, it is so freakin’ lonely in this tin can, man. I don’t know what to do with myself,” he said, latching on to One’s back.
“Maybe you should try studying or reading or something,” One replied, pulling away from the younger man, “you haven’t been alive long enough to be this bored.”
“I’m plenty old enough to be bored, bro,” came the indignant reply.
“Dude, you’ve been alive 46 days. I activated the Womb for you less than 3 months ago. You have no right to be this bored.”
“Yeah, and you’ve only been alive, what, 180 days?” the young man asked sarcastically, though he knew the actual count was much longer.
“I’ve been here forever.” A cold and measured response.
The younger man scoffed before jumping on One’s back again.
One pulled away once more and went to the bunk room. Twenty-Seven followed him closely, something clearly on his mind. One turned to him.
“What’s up, man?” he asked tiredly.
“It’s just — Man, uh — What happened to Twenty-Six?”
“I’ve told you what happened to Twenty-Six.”
“No, you just said you needed a replacement.”
“That’s what happened to Twenty-Six. He needed replaced.”
“Dude, you know what I mean.”
“Twenty-Six died.”
“Well doy. How?”
“We’re in space. Even if we weren’t, death is a certainty.”
“Dude, One, you are the worst at answering questions, like, ever.”
One laughed.
“Yeah, but I’m still the best teacher you’ve ever known.” he chuckled.
“You’re also the worst everything I’ve ever known,” Twenty-Seven quipped.
The men stood in silence briefly. One lowered himself onto his bunk. Twenty-Seven watched him, an increasingly tragic expression spreading across his face. One leaned back and closed his eyes tightly, intentionally refusing to see the younger man’s pitiful appearance. He was tired of answering these questions with each new iteration. At this point, it seemed an exercise in futility.
Each story ended the same, each life coming to the same closing line; never anything special. It had become easier with each passing individual. Two had been a real struggle. One had been uncertain that he would ever recover from losing his first second hand man. He had tried to make himself disconnect since then. He spent more time outside the station when he could. Tried to be independent from them. But Twenty-Seven — Twenty-Seven reminded him too much of himself in the very beginning, beyond the obvious fact that they had the exact same face, the same DNA. Each of the men had the same face and DNA; that wasn’t special. Somehow though, Twenty-Seven was special. Excitable and eager to know whatever he could. Stifled by life inside the Doppel. It took great effort to remain aloof with this one. One reflected on the lives of the others, how shockingly dissimilar they had all been, all facts considered, and yet they all ended the same. Such is life, he thought to himself.
One woke up naturally for the first time in what felt like ages. No klaxon blaring, no clingy crewmate awaiting his eyes to flutter open. “Good,” he thought. Perhaps at last Twenty-Seven had gotten the hint to stop asking so many questions. He rose slowly, stretching his aching body. The human body was not designed to spend its entire life in space. Even One, essentially created for that purpose, still struggled with the effects.
One found Twenty-Seven sitting quietly near the com panel and staring through the view screen at the celestial bodies of Dorra that blinked and flickered around them.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” he whispered, placing his hand on Twenty-Seven’s shoulder.
“Yeah, yeah,” Twenty-Seven responded, being jarred from whatever distant reality his mind had ventured off to.
“So like me,” One thought with a gentle smile, before saying “Get some sleep, man.”
Twenty-Seven rose mindlessly and followed the instruction. “How long has he been awake?” One wondered, before taking Twenty-Seven’s place at the com. Still no message from the Union. One felt a familiar twinge of concern, before shaking it off. What did it matter, really, he asked himself. He went about his routine, checking the equipment, checking readings, looking for anything that might have gone awry during his rest. He was relieved to find there had been nothing out of the ordinary, and returned to his studies.
“Tell me what happened to Twenty-Six,” a groggy voice croaked from behind One. He had been reading for hours, and the sudden reminder that he was not alone startled him.
“Christ, man!” he yelled.
“Tell me,” Twenty-Seven said again, “I need to know.”
“You already know.”
“I know he’s dead. I don’t know how he got there.”
“Does it even matter?” One shot back, “Dead is dead. Who cares how anyone arrived at dead. All that matters is that they are dead.”
“What happened to you, man,” Twenty-Seven asked quietly.
“What do you mean?”
“What happened to you? Seriously, how can it not matter how they got there? Dead is DEAD, man! Becoming dead is a big freakin’ deal.”
“Drop it,” One yelled. He felt his long stifled emotions bubbling up inside him.
Twenty-Seven was silent.
One was silent.
The silence became its own entity. A threesome to their short staffed company. It floated down on them and wrapped them up, holding them against one another. One stared at Twenty-Seven, staring at his own face. Younger, not so worn down by the nihilism, unscathed by the repeated witnessing of death after death. Hair still cut to regulation. Twenty-Seven stared back, tears prickling at his eyes and throat. He saw himself, and yet something completely different. Long, unkempt hair licking at that uncanny face, yet the skin pulled differently. Tighter, and yet wrinkling slightly around the eyes, across the forehead. That face no longer held its softness. Silence coiled tighter, beginning to hint at suffocation.
“Look, I can’t tell you what happened to them, man,” One whispered through the smog of silence that nestled around them, “I just can’t do it again.”
Twenty-Seven nodded slowly. Time drifted without meaning again, the way it had for so long, the way it always would, but in that moment, it was palpable.
An alarm blasted through the station, nearly shaking the men. Something was wrong. Severely wrong. The silence that had enveloped them was eradicated. They rushed to the com to see if they could see anything. The view screen was blank. The instruments were going berserk. Inconsistent and chaotic readings flashed over and over before the entire com powered down. The lights dimmed inside the vessel, and a warning message began repeating itself. One looked to Twenty-Seven. The young man’s face was contorted into fear and frown. One patted him on the shoulder. “I’m going outside,” he shouted over the various sirens and messages the station’s computer blasted through the hull. Twenty-Seven grabbed his hand. “I’ll go,” he yelled, but One slipped away and ran for the airlock.
One grabbed his gear and slipped it on far more quickly than he ever had. This was not how these situations were typically handled. The man with seniority was not the one who was supposed to go out during the outages, but he didn’t care. Regulations be damned. He wasn’t going to watch it happen again. Twenty-Seven stood at the doorway, watching One as he dressed, screaming something unheard through the chaos that shattered everything he had ever known. One heard as Twenty-Seven began trying to open the door into the airlock and before the younger man could progress, he opened the outer door, effectively locking the rest of the station down until proper procedures allowed things to open again.
One ventured out onto the shell of the station where he had spent his life. He immediately saw where the vessel had been struck by some manner of space debris. Two of the twelve power cells placed around the outside of the ship had been knocked loose, likely causing a short in the circuit and causing the power levels to fluctuate inside. He set to repairing the damaged pieces, and looked up to see still more hurtling towards the Doppel. He worked as quickly as he could, but it was not fast enough. He had only been able to repair one of the cells before the next impact. A small piece of rock struck him at such velocity it tore through the arm of his suit. Safety procedures activated. The arm was severed off and sealed instantaneously. The temperature rose rapidly on the blade inside the sleeve, cauterizing the amputation. One screamed in pain, though from everything he had read, this was nothing compared to what would have happened without the guillotine effect of his suit. He had poured over the manuals that warned of what could happen in these circumstances. How the water in human skin would vaporise in the absence of atmospheric pressure; moisture on the tongue would boil. All of that, of course, only mattered if the rest of you somehow had oxygen and protection from the vacuum of space. The hud began a countdown, indicating how long he had left without receiving proper medical attention. These suits, while advanced technology, could simply not stave off human death without other measures being taken to recover.
One’s mind flashed back, again and again, to each of the different men he had lost during his time on the station. Had this been what they had felt? This fear? This — well, this relief? What sort of emotional cocktail did they each experience? Were they — Was he — glad? He felt himself floating away from the hull of the station. The impact must have been enough to separate his magnetic boots from the titanium. It was a weak bond anyway. It only made sense that it would have. As he rotated away from the only home he had ever known, the only home he could ever have known, he tried not to imagine the face of his protege. He tried not to see that same face, over and over again in his mind. The fear. God, the fear. Two’s final scream flashed through his mind. Eleven. Nineteen. Each face, the same, and yet so different in that final moment. Each death had been different, but was that even possible? Each had taken place in the same location — this godforsaken station in this corner of this godforsaken galaxy. Each death of the same person, genetically. How could it have been so different each time? The urgency of the message in his hud increased, counting away One’s final seconds, and he felt a feeling of anticipation. Of impending freedom?
The Womb hummed in the background as Twenty-Seven sat at the com, studying up on life in the olden days, back on Earth. He absent-mindedly worked his finger through the scars on his face. The scars he had put there with a broken piece of the ship gathered during a repair mission. They were designs he had created after discovering the concept of “tattoos” during one of his deep dives into old human culture. It was his only way of feeling different. When at last the Womb unlocked, he felt a very slight tickle of excitement. What it would be to not be alone again, even for a little while. He tried to stifle the feeling. He knew how this always ended.
“Welcome to the Doppel,” the computer voice chirped pleasantly.
Twenty-Seven stepped into the room to watch the new arrival recover from the incubation process. It sat up slowly, rising out of the pink amniotic fluid that each of the men was born from, stretching its back and arms. It looked around. Focusing on his face. It blinked several times, and he waited patiently for the eyes to focus. It took some time, this orientation to the world of the living. Fortunately, each of the clones was born with the ability to understand language and to speak it; once they figured out how to make their vocal cords work, anyway. The amnion drained from the incubation pod and the hatch opened, allowing the newest arrival to the station to step out into its new home.
Twenty-Seven leaned against the wall. His hair was long, tumbling down his shoulders. His hand stroked his beard out of habit.
“Get some clothes on and find me for orientation when you’re ready,” he said coldly before walking out of the Womb. Something made him hesitate for a moment, and he turned back to his newest crewmate. Maybe this time it would be different. He cleared his throat.
“And, uh, welcome to the Doppel, Forty-Nine. I think you’re gonna like it here.”
“Wait. Sorry, I just wondered. How long have you been here?” the new man smiled awkwardly before asking, as his eyes slowly took in the haggard face of his superior.
How did you foil or dodge someone else’s attempt to cheat or deceive you?
Recently, I was at my parents’ house (it is empty now) and the phone rang. A guy with a strong Mexican accent asked for my grandma (who passed away a few years ago, but the landline is on her name) and I said it was me. I thought it was an extortion call…
Mexican man: It is me, auntie!
Me: who is it?
MM: Me! Your beloved relative! Don’t you remember me anymore? I left Guatemala so long ago! Guess who am I!!
Me: Quique!!! So nice to hear from you! How are you mijo? How are your wife and kids?
MM: Well, we are all ok! Look auntie, I want to surprise my family, but I got stuck in Mexico DF Airport! Please help me not to blow the surprise! I need money to pay some taxes here. Can you send me $1000 through Western Union today? I will pay you back tomorrow as soon as I fix this!
Me: Are you sure you will fix it with only $1000? I can send you more just in case…
MM: Thanks auntie! Let’s make it $3000?
Me: I will send you $5000. Call me in 3 hours to give you the transfer number.
MM: Please deposit under the custom’s employee name it is XxXx…
THREE HOURS LATER…
MM: Hi! Could you do it?
Me: I just remembered that Quique is not my nephew, it is my grandson. And he is gay and single… and hung up.
Roast Pork with Potato Dumplings
This is one of my all-time favorite comfort foods.
roast pork potato dumplings
Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients
Dumplings
3 to 4 pounds starchy potatoes
2 to 3 eggs
1/2 to 1 cup all-purpose flour
Sea and or kosher salt, to taste
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
Pork Roast
1 pork roast
Oil (for browning)
Salt and pepper, to taste
Paprika, to taste
1/2 to 1 pound coarsely chopped onions
Instructions
Dumplings
In a large pot, boil potatoes in salted water with the skins on. Peel and put them through a ricer (if you don’t have a ricer, use the back of a spoon to smash potatoes through a sieve). Let cool completely.
Refrigerate.
The next day, about 30 minutes before the roast is finished, set a large pot of salted water to boil.
To the cooled, riced potatoes add eggs and 8 to 14 tablespoons of flour, depending on how starchy the potatoes are). Also add salt, nutmeg and parsley. Using your hands, form potatoes into balls between the size of golf and tennis balls.
Add the potato balls to the boiling water but do not let the water continue to boil. When they float to the top in 15 to 20 minutes, they are done.
Pork Roast
In a large, heavy pot, heat oil. Sprinkle the roast with salt, pepper and paprika, and brown quickly in oil. Add onions and brown them, too. Turn heat down to medium low. Add a little water. A carrot and a couple of fresh tomatoes can also be added if desired. Cover and cook for 2 hours, turning occasionally.
To make gravy (optional), remove the roast and add a little water to the pan to de-glaze it. Add a little flour or cornstarch to thicken the drippings.
Serve dumplings and pork roast with red cabbage or sauerkraut.
What was something that a teacher told you in school that you knew was obviously wrong?
I was taught to read the newspaper when I was in elementary school by my parents and an excellent 4th grade teacher. When I was in 8th grade I read an article that said drug addict pregnant women gave birth to addicted babies. When I told my teacher in health class about the article she didn’t believe me. She said women who ate bananas did not have babies addicted to bananas. I pointed out that heroin was addictive and bananas were not. She told me to shut up and sit down.
In high school I read a newspaper article that said the military tested LSD on unsuspecting soldiers and several had killed themselves accidentally while in a drugged state. One jumped out a highrise window because he thought he could fly. My gym teacher told me I must be mistaken because our military would never do such a thing. I asked why it was in the newspaper if it wasn’t true. She said she didn’t believe I read the newspaper.
Freshman year in college in my American History class my professor attempted to tell me that the scientific belief during slavery was that Black people were not really human. That they were like monkeys or pet dogs. I told him that they may have said it but they knew it was a lie. Because given how white men raped black female slaves they must have seriously been into bestiality. Livestock cannot farm or clean or build or cook or rear and feed their babies. They knew we were just as human as them they used that lie to justify slavery. Then I walked out the class.
How did you foil or dodge someone else’s attempt to cheat or deceive you?
Originally Answered: Have you ever foiled/dodged someone else's attempt to cheat or deceive you?
Oh Yes!
Late afternoon, on my way back to my dorm, Pink Floyd in my ears when I saw that lady coming towards me and smiling.
She was absolutely gorgeous, well dressed, and waving towards me.
Obviously I turned around to confirm that it wasn’t me(because well, why would it be me? I don’t know her) as she approached and said hi!
Baffled, I removed my headphones and replied back.
Lady: “Hi. How are you?”
Me: “Good thanks, and yourself?”
Lady: “I’m in some trouble and I’m really looking for some help. I need to meet my brother at *I forgot where* really soon and I don’t have enough money for fuel. Would you mind lending me 10 Rand(South African currency)”.
Me: “Sure thing”, while I handed out 10 bucks.
Lady: “Thank you so much, you really saved my day”.
Me: “Pleasure”.
Now, I’m the type of person who usually helps others when I can. That day I had some bucks, so I did.
What happens next?
Couple of months later, I was on campus chatting with my buddy and this absolutely gorgeous lady approaches us.
Lady: “Sorry to disturb you guys, I see you’re having a great chat. I’m missing out on some fuel cash and I need to go see my brother who is working. Do you have any spare 10 Rands?”
Me and friend: “Apologies, we don’t have cash on us”.
Lady, looked at us weird, turned around and make some comment. Me and my friend didn’t bother.
However, something struck me then. I knew that lady. Hell yes I did! However, it was too late to foil her plan.
Epilogue
Months later, I bumped into her again.
I decided to be an asshole that day and as soon as she started speaking I wore my evil grin.
Lady: “Sorry sir, I nee…”
Me: “Ahh, you gonna meet your brother again. You know, it’s the third time. I would have literally given you a hundred if you had changed your story.Try to be more creative next time, gorgeous!”, while I walked past her laughing.
Of course, I got the “Fuck you!” reply but I was too content to care.
Why is China the largest factory robotic installer in the world, with over 50% of all installations when they have so many unemployed people?
Entirely different
These Robots are doing jobs that NOBODY IS REALLY INTERESTED IN DOING
Like sewing buttons onto shirts or cutting lines of cloth
How many workers today do you think line up for 55 Yuan per day to sew 560 buttons onto 80 shirts at 1 Yuan for 10 buttons?
How many workers want to cut line’s of cloth and earn 70 Yuan a day for 140 metres a day of cloth?
How many workers want to get paid 60 Yuan a day for manually applying coloring lines on steel bars?
Almost NONE
So China needs Robots to do the job and to do it far more economically
These Jobs are now done by what is called 5G Factories
Fully automated factories working with 100–120 workers doing jobs with automated machinery that formerly close to 300–500 workers were needed
That’s because workers aren’t keen on working for 1500–1800 Yuan a month anymore
They want a minimum of 3000 -3200 Yuan a month
The Unemployed people are primarily College Graduates
They want advented jobs meaning Jobs that suit their qualification
In 2015 – the Offering Starting pay was 5,750 Yuan a month for a Non Trainee STEM graduate
In 2024 – It’s 9,150 Yuan a month
If you see the Vocational Training, the unemployment rate among fresh graduates is a mere 6.57%
Back in my college days, I was bit of a strange guy. I mean, I was studying hard core; hard STEM classes at 21 credits a semester, and then doing the party-college scene. So I would be doing mathematical tensors and derivatives followed by fluid mechanics and the mechanics of deformible bodies. Then after that, I’d pop a tab of LSD (acid) and spend the next 14 or so hours tripping “blue balls”.
Lordy! I’d never do that today.
But I was young and stupid.
Anyways, I used to hang around with different “groups” of guys and gals on campus. And most of the time was split between my buds (Jay and Peter) and Howie and his crew. Jay and Peter were engineering students like myself. We drank beer, sometimes whiskey. And we smoked cigars. While Howie and his crew were marijuana and LSD.
So as it was often the case, since the duration of the LSD was so long, I would end up tripping while I was with my “straight” friends having beer.
And some curious events came out of that.
For instance, one day we were drinking beer and wanted to go out and get a pizza, but I was taking a long time getting to the door. And Jay yells out “Come on! What’s taking you so long?” And I responded, as I looked down at my feet and the churning LSD fueled imagery, “It’s impossible to walk though this muck. There’s no grip.”
Another time, I just sat at the window looking out at the constantly snowy Syracuse grey sky, and Jay says to me “Man, you look like a cat that wants to go out of the house”.
Ah. When we left then, and the -20F temperatures hit my face, my mind went “NOPE!”.
Anyways, I think that life is like a series of rooms. All arranged in a row like a snake. And while in that particular box, was a unique snapshot of time and life that I experienced, and then moved on from.
Right now, I know that I am in a different box. And I am using my affirmations to improve it and set forth the conditions for the next box in the row. Take care everyone…
Today.
What is the saddest thing a casino dealer has seen at their table?
I have lived in Las Vegas for a couple decades. Here are the 2 worse things I have ever seen. I dont know which is worse. You tell me.
At the Bellagio on a busy weekend evening a whale comes in and he was such a whale that on a busy Saturday night he pointed to a craps table in the middle of the main casino area floor and they shut the game down and roped the table off only for him. He buys in for a million and a crowd has formed at the spectacle. The man proceeds to lose nearly every bet and burns through the million in about 10 minutes. He is noticeably annoyed and yelling and degrading the dealers. They bring him another million in chips and in about 5 minutes he losses about half of it. He takes a handful of chips and throws in almost point blank into the stick mans face. Spits on the dealer to his left, spits in the floor guys face almost point blank and scoop launches the rest of his chips into the air. Nobody says a word. The dealers with a stoic self control I have rarely ever seen all bend down and begin picking up the chips. They get the chips placed back in front of the man and the game went on as if it never happened. All the money in the world cant buy decency or class.
The other worse thing I have seen is around Christmas at the MGM a pregnant woman playing at a slot machine drinking whisky and smoking a cigarette while breast feeding an infant and the ash from the cigarette hanging from her mouth was falling on the infants face.
America Is In Shambles
A few months old, but… damn!
Can’t the Chinese feel their lack of freedom?
When I traveled to France last summer, random people I had a chat with on the train asked me how it felt, living in dictatorial China.
Our train was late (typically French), and one of them commented that last time, the police got all the passengers to line up and kneel outside the train while the police did a thorough search of the cars and luggages, looking for a running terrorist. But that’s normal, one commented. “If you let just one escape, who knows what will happen”. They found it completely normal and justified.
I pointed out that I never experienced anything like that in China. Nor did I see soldiers with assault rifles in train stations and supermarkets, like I do in France (Vigipirate). Nor did I get searched by armed soldiers for no reason in the mall, like my then darker complexion Chinese boyfriend was, in a French mall (in front of me).
I’ve seen worse when I lived in Equatorial Guinea, to be honest. A dictatorship supported by France, where I taught in a military navy school that was financed by French military cooperation. Nobody asked me, then, how it felt living in a dictatorship. Or warned me about going there, even though I wish they had.
I do know how it feels, living under a dictatorship. But not thanks to China! And people who have never been there keep telling me what I’ve been obviously missing about China the last 11 years that I have lived here. That’s amazing.
My better question is, how can westerners still believe that they are free? They should care about that, and leave Chinese freedom to the Chinese.
Truth
Can you share your experience of growing up in a Chinese household and how it has influenced you as an adult?
Scarcity and Poverty
Although I was very happy, born in the 1970s, and my family wasn’t very poor—by the standards of that time in China, we were about average—I still felt poor.
But I was still very happy.
Firstly, my parents loved me very much.
Secondly, our situation at the time was actually not bad.
We never went hungry; at the very least, we had enough to eat. Despite frequent power outages, we still had electricity, even if it was just a 15-watt light bulb.
Power outages were common, and during these times, we could only use candles for light. When the power came back on, it felt incredibly bright.
(I remember when I was about eight years old and went to my grandmother’s house, which was much poorer than my parents’ home. One night, local kids took me to see a so-called wonder. We walked ten miles of mountain roads only to find that their ‘wonder’ was a single electric light installed by the local government. I said, “What kind of wonder is this? I have it sometimes at home.” They felt both envious and somewhat hurt.)
There was no running water, only river water. With the beginning of industrialization, the river water became severely polluted. My father’s workplace raised funds to drill a well. My daily task was to draw water from the well and fill our family’s water tank.
We were poor. When I was about six, I accidentally broke one of my mother’s plastic hairpins. Another time, when I was over ten, I mistakenly thought I had broken my father’s watch. And once, when I was 19, I thought I had lost my father’s bicycle.
Even after all these years, I still remember the terror I felt at those moments—feeling like my blood had frozen, thinking I was beyond redemption. The only way to atone was to… I couldn’t bring myself to tell my parents. The feeling of waiting for days was truly tormenting!
（I found these two “industrial products” on the Internet that almost cost me my life. They are these two pieces. I am 100% sure that they are the same model. I will not make a mistake. Now I can only search for photos of them on collectibles websites.）
Now that I am a father myself, I pay close attention to this. No matter what mistakes my children make, they always tell me.
Even in those times, the Chinese still placed great importance on education.
In our impoverished county, there were three libraries. My parents managed to get me an adult library card (children could borrow only two books at a time, while adults could borrow five). So, I could borrow 15 books each time I went.
I’ve borrowed many books over and over again (with a return deadline and overdue fines), and I never get tired of them. This includes The Physics of Fun, The Amazing Adventures of the Physical World, The World of Dinosaurs, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, One Hundred Thousand Whys, Charlotte’s Web, and many more. These are just a few that leave the deepest impression…
At that time, China was swept up in a craze for learning English. Everyone believed that mastering English was essential for acquiring scientific knowledge. This wasn’t entirely wrong, but since China had previously focused on learning Russian, there was a shortage of teachers and textbooks.
For some reason, there was a belief nationwide that a particular English textbook was exceptionally good. Believe me, this textbook was a hundred times more famous in China than in all other countries combined. It was called New Concept English, created by British people for Germans after World War II.
（Googled from Internet）
When it was introduced to China, it became highly sought after but was hard to obtain. A classmate managed to buy a set through relatives in Shanghai. I borrowed it from him, copied it every night, and returned it the next day until I had finished copying the entire set. Of course, I had to do some of his homework in return.
The word “copy” now evokes the idea of “ctrl+c” and “ctrl+v” for me, but back then it meant fountain pens, ink, paper, and thick calluses on fingers. Paper was quite an expense at that time. As a result, I developed another form of PTSD—I bought enough paper to last me a lifetime.
The picture shows only a small part of it.
This made my wife very unhappy; she scolded me, saying that these things only take up space and that I’d never use them all. I told her that looking at them made me happy.
There are also several hundred cheap pens (trust me, they are no worse than the high-end ones that cost tens of dollars!), but they were thrown away by my wife and cannot be photographed.
While I wasn’t paying attention, she threw away my samurai sword, bow and arrows, stun gun, several daggers, including a Kabar, nunchucks, and more… The reason she gave was that they could hurt the kids. I’m really angry and want to divorce her！@_@
I might be extremely insecure. When I was dating my wife, she was surprised to find that the space under my bed was filled with long-term storage food: canned goods, homemade dried food, honey and salt (which can last for hundreds of years), vitamins, vacuum-sealed dried fruits… When she asked why, I said I was worried about famine…
Now it’s all gone!
Chinese traditional superstition says that nothing should be stored under the bed; it should be empty. I’m not superstitious, but she is. Sigh! Moreover, my vacuum-sealing machine was sold to a scrap dealer by her!
The first time I went to her home to meet her parents, I actually went to tour their grain storage first.
When I saw that they had over 2 tons of food stored, my father-in-law and I exchanged a smile, and I felt an instant connection: we are the same kind of people.
At that time, my wife comforted me by saying, ‘Don’t worry, if there is ever a famine, I will share half of my rations with you.’ To me, that is much more sincere than ‘I love you.’
Interestingly, my wife was much poorer during her childhood than I was.
By the time she was in high school, her family didn’t even have a table, and she did all her homework on the windowsill from 7 to 17 years old.
But she doesn’t seem to have any psychological scars from that deprivation.
I, on the other hand, am deeply affected, and I don’t know why.
A few years ago, I found this set of books on an old book website in China, similar to America’s abebooks. I irrationally bought several copies of each book.
(One of several used copies I purchased, the others were given to relatives’ children, but they obviously didn’t value them.)
This is a form of PTSD, haha, like Jack London’s Love of Life, where the protagonist, despite being rescued, irrationally hoards bread.
Some scars never fade. Even though I have some money now, I can’t bring myself to cook fried food. So much oil used for frying, and then to throw it all away for health reasons? I just can’t accept it. Rationally, it’s not much money, but emotionally, I can’t accept it.
For example, even if I’m full, I can’t bear to throw rice into the trash can, but I can throw away the dishes, because in my childhood, discarding food wasn’t an option—it wasn’t “imprinted” on me.
In summary, we were very poor but very happy. My parents loved me so much, doing their utmost to give me their greatest love, care, and the best conditions and education they could provide.
The Buddhist scripture says, “Even if a person were to carry his father on his left shoulder and his mother on his right shoulder, with the weight of their burden grinding his flesh and bones until he could see the marrow, and walk around Mount Sumeru for hundreds or thousands of eons, even if his blood flowed and covered his ankles, he would still not be able to repay the deep kindness of his parents.”
It is true.
Asking AI to write a country song about beer for breakfast
Gorgin walked the corridors once again to make sure everything was okay.“Why do I have to continue to check out the station when we have systems set-up to make sure everything is in order on the station?” he asked the commander of the station, Morgan.“Just do it,” said Morgan. “You never know what can get past our systems way out here in space. There is a lot of unknown things out here. I’m tired of explaining to you each time it’s your turn.”Now, Gorgin was walking through the corridors, and checking out room after room.“Why such huge station for just a few people?” thought Gorgin.Gorgin rounded the corner, and in front of him stood an alien that stood seven feet tall, green scaly skin, fish eyes, a mouth full of sharp teeth, and claws reaching out to him. All Gorgin could do is stare in shock then let out a piercing scream as he started backing up around the corner, then turning and running as fast as he could. Before he reached the end he could hear someone laughing hysterically behind him. He came to a stop and turned around seeing Dwight in the alien outfit pointing at him and laughing.“I will be taking this to the commander!” he cried out, as soon as he went to his room to change.“I can’t believe I have two adult men standing in front of me,” said Morgan. “The two of you clowns have been at each other since you came to this station. Should we go over everything the two of you have done to each other?”“This was all started by Dwight,” said Gorgin. “He was the one who set the dials so I woke-up out of slumber as an old man.”Morgan and Dwight chuckled over that one.“That was a quick fix, but it was fun while it lasted,” said Dwight.“It didn’t end there with the two of you,” said Morgan. “I believe the next mishap is when Dwight transported in the station and appeared in another section with three butt cheeks. Courtesy of Gorgin tampering with the controls.”“Sitting down was quite comfy,” admitted Dwight with a grin.“Even though, the two of you have brought much humor to everyone you need to act like adults,” said Morgan. “You think the two of you can do that?”
The two of them nodded their heads.
“Now get out of my sight and do your duties,” demanded Morgan.
Both of them left the room, staring at each other with dislike.
“I would greatly appreciate it if you could move to the other side of the station so I would see you less,” said Gorgin.
“I would say that it would be even better if you would move off the station,” said Dwight.
“Just stay away from me,” both said at the same time, and they went their separate locations.
It was a couple of days later that the two met again.
Gorgin went into what everyone called the “Pet Room” to create himself a pet to keep him company. As he entered the room he saw that Dwight was already in the room at the controls.
“What the heck are you doing in here?” he asked.
Dwight turned to him. “Looking for a pet. What do you think idiot?”
“Hurry up then,” said Gorgin.
Dwight went back to the controls and went back to pushing buttons. Time went by as Gorgin waited impatiently for him to finish.
“I think I got it,” said Dwight. “Oh wait. That won’t do.”
“That is enough,” huffed Gorgin, stomping over to Dwight. “Give me the controls.”
Next moment, both of them were fighting over the controls, pressing and clicking until there was a sudden flash that lit up the room. Both of them stopped and looked at each other with befuddled looks.
“What the heck was that?” asked Gorgin.
“Not a clue,” replied Dwight.
“We should probably check around the station to make sure everything is okay,” said Gorgin.
The two left the room, trying to call the commander, but getting no answer.
“Let’s go to command center first,” said Gorgin.
The two rushed to the command center.
“Dwight did it!” Gorgin cried out as soon as they entered the room.
“No I didn’t!” Dwight called back. “You butted in!”
But the two realized they were wasting there blame game for the commander was nowhere in sight. They looked all over, but no sight of the commander.
“He’s not in the freshening room,” said Dwight coming out after a flush.
“Strange for him to be gone,” said Gorgin.
Then the two of them heard a squeak.
“What the hell was that?” asked Dwight.
“Sounds like the commander has a pet,” replied Gorgin.
The two started looking around until the two came to the commander’s chair. Both saw at the same time a squirrel on the seat looking at both of them. It started chattering, then jumped off the chair.
“I didn’t know the commander had a pet?” asked Dwight.
Gorgin shrugged his shoulders and scratched his head. Then a light bulb popped on inside his head.
“What pet were you looking at getting?” he asked Dwight.
“I was contemplating on getting a tamed squirrel,” he replied.
It didn’t take too long for the two to figure out what happened.
“Did we turn the commander into a squirrel?” asked Dwight.
Gorgin just nodded then the two searched for the squirrel, which ran around the room.
“We need to get him,” Gorgin said.
The two chased after the squirrel, bumping into each other, and Gorgin grabbing the squirrel, but it bit him, and was loose once again.
“We need to get the room robot,” said Gorgin as he shook his hurt finger, going over to the panel.
He pressed some switches and next moment the robot came out.
“Retrieve the squirrel,” said Gorgin.
It didn’t take long for the robot to scoop of the squirrel and deposit it into a glass came.
“Now to see about the rest of the crew,” said Gorgin.
The two of them checked for lifeforms on the station, then checked the screens for each room they detected life. All the lifeforms were squirrels.
“What did you do?” asked Gorgin.
“You were the one pressing numerous buttons,” said Dwight.
“We need to fix this fast,” said Gorgin.
Gorgin released the robots in each room, and the squirrels were scooped up. The other robots were sent to the pet room.
“I hope we can reverse this,” said Gorgin as they headed to the pet room.
All the robots were in the room as the two of them tried to figure out a way to make their crew human again.
“I think I got it,” said Gorgin. “We need to get out of the room so nothing happens to us. The robots will be released once we leave.”
The two left the room, robots released, and there was a bright flash. The two went back into the room and saw everyone was human again. The only thing is that they were all naked. Commander Morgan stood up and looked at the two men with a stare of death.
“We are in trouble,” muttered Dwight.
The next day the two were put in cryosleep until the next crew came in a couple of years. Before both of them lay down for their sleep they looked at each other, and both of them grinned.
Fry bacon in a large, deep heavy pot over medium heat. When the bacon has rendered most of its fat, remove the pieces with a slotted spoon, drain on paper toweling and reserve.
Add the onions and garlic to the bacon fat and cook until the onions are translucent.
Add the pork and beef to the pot. Break up any lumps with a fork and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the meat is evenly browned.
Stir in the remaining ingredients except the beans and the bacon. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
Taste and adjust seasonings.
Stir in the beans and the bacon, and simmer for 1/2 hour longer.
“You done woke up the dragons now!” | Colonial Marines vs The Hive | Aliens (1986)
This was FUN! The expressions!
Intel Drop and Disclosure, February 13, 2020
One reason the alternative media exists is to provide a distraction from real conspiracies
Trump is being tried before the US Senate, where many of the members are “fake people,” longtime Russian assets paid through accounts in the Cayman Islands. Many of them are “cuckoos,” or “walkins.”
Some senators are being threatened, not by militia types but by senior Federal officials from law enforcement related agencies. It isn’t about Trump, it’s about closing the door on where a real investigation of Trump would lead, not just to Moscow but back here, to four generations of fake people.
Sometimes they are called “Manchurian Candidates.” Many ask if John McCain was “turned” as a POW or if Trump was recruited by Cohn in the 70s or by Russia through his Ivana in 1987 as The Guardian implies.
These are public faces but, behind them, we have four generations of cuckoos or Manchurian Candidates, they have lived and died, done their work and remained unknown or unseen.
They now control the US and 99% of them are unknown except at the highest level of classification, the real “Q,” and are feared.
Their power, their numbers, unimaginable. Their work? We see it every day, it is why we can explain none of how we came, as a nation, to such an end.
They are placed “in the nest” to take control of certain trusts or banks, key industries or to inherit “at risk” fortunes. They are often the super rich mysterious who donate money by the millions but have no history.
When, during the 1990s, a certain tobacco company began funding antigovernment militias, we saw them. We see them today more than ever, but only if we look very carefully. Who pays the bills for the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers or their 3 dozen clones?
Why money from an nearly invisible reclusive supermarket heiress that has never been photographed?
Why so many wealthy who have never been photographed, have no college records, no marriages or divorces, no records at all?
How many “walk ins” became wealthy and powerful after 9/11 as fake military contractors?
Imagine, laundering a cuckoo though Annapolis, then through SEAL training and then into a running a secretive private army around the world to run narcotics and money laundering.
How many cuckoos have been laundered into Congress though the military? All GOP or both parties?
Do some checking, look for “too many coincidences,” over and over where cuckoos are “chosen” and “elevated.” Look at Hawley:
Trump thinks he did it all himself. He thinks he was accidentally adopted by Roy Cohn, the kingmaker for the Bolsheviks and that he was first.
He wasn’t. Richard Nixon was their boy, Ronald Reagan was their boy and George W. Bush was their boy as well. With Trump it was timing, the person to have in place when half a million Americans’ could be killed to steal 12 trillion dollars and destroy US credibility around the world.
Roy Cohn brought Rupert Murdoch into the US, making use of two of his prime assets, Ronald Reagan and Newt Gingrich. Fox News has been the voice of America’s downfall ever since.
Who stood against Roy Cohn? Jimmy Carter, Mike Dukakis, George Herbert Walker Bush but also Robert Kennedy turned on him as did George Wallace.
A pattern? Before Murdoch, Cohn ran Maxwell. Want to see what laundering looks like, from Wikipedia:
As an Assistant US Attorney in Saypol’s Manhattan office, Cohn helped to secure convictions in a number of well-publicized trials of accused Soviet operatives. One of the first began in December 1950 with the prosecution of William Remington, a former Commerce Department employee who had been accused of espionage by KGB defector Elizabeth Bentley.[8] Although an indictment for espionage could not be secured, Remington had denied his longtime membership in the Communist Party USA on two separate occasions and was convicted of perjury in two separate trials.[17]
Cohn, of course, was running it all and doing so at an unimaginable early age. He may well be the single most influential figure of the 20th century, certainly in the dark arena of American political corruption and control of the United States by the Kosher Nostra.
9/11 was the same as COVID, 20 years of war, building a heroin empire from Afghanistan and stealing a trillion in oil while looting the US. Oh, how about a world of prison camps, tapping every phone, a foreign run police state within the US, run by the DHS and runaway commands or bureaucracies at the DOJ, DOE and the Pentagon.
Where does this come from?
A never spoken of but major area of US security is studying and trying to contain the fake people who show up as mass shooters from time to time but also run Google Corporation, Microsoft, some bigger companies and lots of government agencies.
They control public utilities, credit agencies and anything that involves “cyber” or “crypto.”
They were the McCarthyites, they were the Tea Party, they were the Neoconservatives and they are the leaders of Christian evangelism and the corporate news, both left and right.
It is all theatre. It always has been.
Few Americans except for officials of the FBI and CIA at the highest levels and some special operations planners know what I will be writing here. I have confirmed this through official channels, real confirmations, circumspect in nature. Material will have been seen, some of it.
In 2012, Mitt Romney was supposed to be elected president. Romney, whose general demeanor compared to many, is ‘moderate,’ is said to be a ‘stalking horse.’
According to our sources (I took this recording to an FBI interview and frightened people enough for them to leave the room when I offered to play it) at the FBI, highest, Romney, partnered with former Mexican President Carlos Salinas, is part of a massive Russian influence operation.
The history behind it goes to the Mormon War against the US in the 1870s and to the 1882 Edmunds Act. From there, the Romney family began an meteoric rise as George became a powerful industrial figure for no reason whatsoever. From Wikipedia:
Romney was born to American parents living in the Mormon colonies in Mexico; events during the Mexican Revolution forced his family to flee back to the United States when he was a child. The family lived in several states and ended up in Salt Lake City, Utah, where they struggled during the Great Depression. Romney worked in a number of jobs, served as a Mormon missionary in the United Kingdom, and attended several colleges in the U.S. but did not graduate from any of them. In 1939, he moved to Detroit and joined the American Automobile Manufacturers Association, where he served as the chief spokesman for the automobile industry during World War II and headed a cooperative arrangement in which companies could share production improvements. He joined Nash-Kelvinator in 1948, and became the chief executive of its successor, American Motors Corporation, in 1954. There he turned around the struggling firm by focusing all efforts on the compact Rambler car. Romney mocked the products of the “Big Three” automakers as “gas-guzzling dinosaurs” and became one of the first high-profile, media-savvy business executives. Devoutly religious, he presided over the Detroit Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Romney was then appointed to oversee Michigan’s new constitution, for no reason whatsoever and was then placed into the Michigan governorship, seen as a stepping stone to the presidency. Mind you, we don’t hate the Romney family. George was an opponent of the Vietnam War and was pushed aside in 1968 by Roy Cohn and Richard Nixon as “not corrupt enough.” J. Edgar Hoover (Meyer Lansky’s puppet) played a major part.
Cohn also “worked with” a very young George W. Bush and was very very very close to a young Donald Trump, who he mentored into New York Organized Crime, though Trump’s family was well entrenched long before he was born.
Cohn, a “reputed mobster” and “red baiter” was, by our findings Russia’s chief influencer in the US during the entirety of the Cold War, “influencer” and spymaster.
Who better than the lawyer that killed the Rosenbergs.
Here are the alleged facts that we add to this mix:
Soviet Russia from the 1920s onward began seeding “walk ins” into positions of power in banking and finance, industry and politics. This operation, after 1959, was run from Cuba and accessed the US through the porous borders of Mexico and Canada.
Russia also operated though the Greek/Greek Cypriot community in the US and Canada which included access to powerful political leaders (Democrats) and control of the Senate Banking Committee) to launder cash until 2005 when it was no longer necessary to hide money when the Supreme Court under Citizens United legalized not just bribery but use of foreign laundered funds to run a massive intelligence operation against the US
Prime among these activities is control of certain agencies including but not limited to the US Department of Energy (nuclear arsenal/secrets), the FBI, the CIA, the DHS, the Interior Department and the US Department of Treasury. The DOJ has been under total or partial Russian control since Bobby Kennedy stepped down and we have our suspicions there due to his early contact with Roy Cohn.
Let’s take a look at this science fiction “replacement” operation. We know the FBI has a task force that does nothing else but track these people. We have had access to some records, one of a state governor who was a Cuban born Russian asset (still around).
Try tracing the Trump’s, from Germany to the US and back to Germany but real records, do they exist? Not hardly.
Who came back from Germany to the US? Cuckoos?
The history goes back centuries to the Silk Road when Khazars would take over caravan’s by removing the merchant and replacing, a story we have told often but one that needs to be remembered.
Today, in the US, we are 4th generation “cookoo in the nest.” Questions? If Samuel Bush is from Columbus, Ohio, where is the Bush family from? Don’t bother to look, they don’t exist.
Start looking at the less obvious tech billionaires. Many don’t exist.
Look at some public figures like Assange. Look at alternative media figures with no families, no personal history, or backgrounds with gaps that show travel to Israel or Russia.
Dozens of Russian “walk ins” are laundered through Annapolis, West Point and the Air Force Academy.
Others become leaders of Evangelical Christianity as, from the 1870s onward, even before, the South and West were targeted because of cattle, rail and mineral opportunities. Many of America’s biggest fortunes, even shipping or chemicals, come from “non people.”
When people like Jim Fetzer trip over these fakes, they are fed destructive fake information by people who are placed near them send to them over a cliff. More than just Fetzer are targeted.
It isn’t just alternative media. Who is Rush Limbaugh? What is Sean Hannity’s background? You mean they don’t have a background? How about Tucker? From Wikipedia:
What we know is this, our FBI informant describes an intelligence operation run out of Cuba, decades old, that run many prominent America assets. But who are they?
Certainly we have key members of congress. It is easy to track them because their payoffs run through banks in the Cayman Islands, Switzerland and Israel. You can tell by their patterns of travel though all have lock boxes with fake passports, just like Jason Borne.
What are their tasks?
Obviously, America is the “milk cow,” the only nation capable of supporting endless debt. The US isn’t their only toy. They have Israel, North Korea, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Lithuania, Poland, Albania, Libya, Sudan, Kuwait, Bahrain and how many others?
When do we actually see them? Think of the UK, the News of the World scandal and, behind it, the Freemason pedophile rings that have been at the heart of British society for well over a century.
When Michael Shrimpton talks about the DVD, who do you think he means?
Were the Nazi’s really Nazis? Their background was Christian Nationalism/Evangelism and their origins American though the billionaire financed eugenics movement. They existed in the US as the Klan or American Legion/Black Legion long before they were seen in Germany.
Nazism is American, not German.
The roots date to the 1850s, the Know Nothing Party, the first Trump incarnation, and later the Immigration Restriction League and others, targeting primarily Catholics but also Jews, building a base in the East and a stronger and longer lasting one in the Midwest, one that blossomed with the resurgence of the Klan in the 1920s and later with broad support of Nazi Germany under the America Firsters and Committee of One Million.
Today, this is the heart of the GOP, built almost entirely from “fake people.”
Russian Paratroopers Ambushed and Destroyed a Group of Canadian and French Mercenaries In Chasiv Yar
Electronic warfare updates.
What is China’s approach to military technology, and how do they differ from the US?
My Answer on Quora -MM
This is a MASSIVE subject. It is something not easily covered in an answer, a query, a book, or a series of books. I will do my best to answer this question, but first we need to lay down some fundamental “ground rules”.
Firstly, and fundamentally, I am assuming that you want an ACTUAL answer. Not a off-the-cuff opinion by a student, or a fan-boy of war-games, or a ‘Merica screamer. You want some real intelligence. So I will do my best dredging up a some answers based on my experience and background.
Secondly. broad-strokes are easy. But the nuances in the details can throw the most intelligent off the subject matter and bog one down in a slush pool of the trivial.
So let’s go through the most primitive basics…
[1] China is a nation of survivors. They have over 6000 years of warfare of every kinds and shape. They don’t like war. They don’t want war, but being peaceful differs from being a pacifist. Don’t make the mistake that seems to common in the neocon halls of America today. China is a warrior nation of survivors. They are the descendants of Genghis Khan after all.
[2] The United States is a Military Empire based upon plunder. It sounds bad, but it’s historically true. The military is well-funded, and state of the art. The military is truly a global resource, and power projection is one of the many United States strengths. The entire military-industrial complex feeds the military empire, and the big fear today is that without a war to sustain itself, the United States will whither and die.
Now with that being established, lets look at the systems that each nation relies upon. As from the point above, the primitive basics define the usage methodology.
[1] China, a nation of survivors, has created simple and robust systems. They are easy to use, simple to mass produce, easy to repair, and very, very lethal. This is from the simplest items in a foot-solders kit, to the most modern fighter aircraft.
[2] The United States, a military empire, needs the industrial base to function. There needs to be constant calls for more equipment, more ammo, as well as systems to train, and repair the systems in use. Thus American systems tend to be overly complicated, high cost, tends to break down, and requires expensive spare parts.
Now, all that is very interesting, but the real issue is in the people that conduct war. After all, they are the ones that will use the technology of war. So here, we will take a quick peek at the differences between American soldiers and Chinese soldiers.
[1] Chinese soldiers. Well, Xi Peng has implemented a Genghis Khan technique of training young children in the ways of discipline and warfare. Everyone is trained. It starts in first grade, and continues week after week, after week up until they graduate from college. All 1.4B+ people. So, today, as it stands now, China is a nation of reservists not conscripts. And they fight in unison. They are tiny terminator units that fight like hordes of ants attacking a bee hive.
[2] American Soldiers. The image of the ideal American warrior has been cultivated by Hollywood. It’s the “Army of one” which is so typified by the character Rambo. That being said, the actual military is stratified. Generally, the rank and file are characterized by the lowest common denominator. It’s peopled with those of little options outside of the military. Those that adjust to the military are promoted and become highly skilled specialists, irregardless of their social-economic background. Officer and professional ranks are peopled with highly capable individuals. Many of whom have multiple degrees, but unfortunately, the highest ranks are fundamentally political / politicized appointments. Together this stratified military system has worked well over the years and serves the military in it’s on-going roles.
Mission parameters differ substantially between that of the United States and China.
[1] China is a highly capable DEFENSIVE military with very little in the way of “power projection”. China is built as a fortress, and any nation, or group of nations trying to assault or invade it is absolutely doomed to fail. Additionally, China has mastered long-range intercontinental weapons and information systems. The military dos not need to be in close geographic proximity in order to completely devastate a targeted nation.
[2] The United States military is designed for invasion, and policing of it’s conquered lands. Power projection is it’s mission, and once a nation is subdued it is a historical norm that the land is looted of it’s resources and fed back to the the United States oligarchy.
Now, with all that clearly defined, we can see that both nations would use the technology that they have in their possession in greatly different manners. What would serve the needs of the United States would not serve the needs of China. So when making this comparison you absolutely need to take that into account.
[1] China would only use it’s military in two roles. [1A] defensive if attacked. And, [1B] long range offensive missiles to destroy the cities and resources of the primary attacking nation and it’s proxies.
[2] The United States would use it’s military in specialized roles. [2A] Military supervision of proxy military forces. [2B] Policing of conquered and captured lands. [2C] As a negotiation ploy / tactic to generate fear of nuclear attack. [2D] As an invasion force against a weaker foe.
And with the above being clear, the comparison of the technologies of both militaries are but a distraction. You use a hammer to hit a nail, and a screwdriver to screw wood together. But you wouldn’t use a screwdriver to pound a nail. Thus a comparison of military technologies are meaningless on a practical basis and at best, is an illusion.
Elon tells it straight
This Looks Like Unequivocal Evidence That The Taiwanese Government Has Been Fabricating Election Outcomes in 2020 and 2024.
Interesting dredge up. However translation and formatting issues made it a tiresome read. Only for those really interested in the Taiwan issue. Otherwise, skim and exit. -MM
About two years ago, this Taiwanese YouTube blogger uncovered very troubling evidence that the Taiwanese DPP regime has been most likely culpable in fabricating the entire 2020 presidential election outcome through the so-called Central Election Commission (CEC) staffed by DPP cronies. The CEC is a crackpot joint, with no resemblance to similar institutions in other real democracies, whose ranks are saturated by DPP party hitmen and minions, exploiting a subtlety in the Taiwanese political ecology to fake a facade of neutrality, as explained in the post below.
Chiu Yu
What can mainland Chinese, Singaporeans and Hong Kongers learn from the Taiwanese people’s achievement of democracy?
Nothing! Absolutely nothing! Or maybe “Democracy is a bad thing”? I was born and grew up in Taiwan, and have never lived in China, Hong Kong or Singapore. Taiwan has badly botched its experiment in democracy and set a terrible example to the Chinese speaking world.
If you follow Taiwanese news, you would know almost all TV news anchors critical of the government have been forced off the air. In the mean time TV stations aligned with the ruling party DPP all received multiple millions (in USD) directly out of government budgets. Just last week the government even audaciously shut down a highly popular TV channel, the CTI, that has consistently enjoyed number one rating on the island, simply because it is the most fiercely critical of the government.
Imagine Trump forcing Chris Cuomo off the air or shutting down CNN! You don’t hear this in the cherry-picking western media because the DPP government takes an anti-China stance that secured itself preferential treatment by the West and a blank cheque to harass, intimidate, and persecute the media, the judiciary, the opposition parties etc. with impunity, not to mention their favorite sport: Looting the government.
The Taiwanese populace are still those docile, resigning, apathetic lambs from the dynastic or colonial days holding their government authorities in awe. The fact that the ruling party is stealing from them in real time does not touch a nerve for some strange reason.
It is a completely failed experiment in “democracy” that only Western media love as they need Taiwan as their poster child against China. Here’s more detail: Chiu Yu’s answer to Is Taiwan geared up to take on China?
What makes Taiwan stand out today, those economical “achievements”, those world leading electronics and petrochemical industries with attendant superb infrastructure without which its “democracy” would have made it go down the path of India, can all be attributed to the foundations laid in the 1960–1980’s by technocrats in the dictatorial KMT administration.
It was these public servants under the one-party authoritarian regime that jump started and nurtured TSMC, the top leading IC foundry in the world, Formosa Plastics, another world leading conglomerate, and countless other industrial and business giants in Taiwan staffed by superbly educated workers thanks to its no-nonsense education system, ahead of its time.
Thanks to the reserves accrued under the dictatorial KMT regime, Taiwan can squander its resources through embezzlement and corruption, through mass dumbing-down, in the ensuing decades under “democracy” and still limp along today, although maybe not for long.
When I look at Taiwan today, I don’t see a so called “democracy”. I see a totalitarian kleptocracy devolving into a North Korea! In a broader perspective related to this question, I have posted another challenge question elsewhere on Quora Chiu Yu’s answer to Why do many Chinese believe that Western democracy is a plot to make China weak? to which nobody seems to be able to give a good answer so far.
Interested? Watch this space. I will elaborate further. Note added on 12/03/2020: Just a couple of days ago I learned about a chicanery played by the ruling DPP party in Taiwan.
It takes advantage of the little known difference between political parties in Taiwan, KMT, DPP, etc., which are almost all modeled on the Leninist/Communist doctrine of explicit and rigid party organization structures with a high threshold for membership admission, and those in the West (Democratic, Republican, Social Democrat, ….) with extremely loose party structure and member admission qualifications.
The consequence is that, there are very few “card carrying” party members in Taiwan (about 1% of total population), compared to pretty much self-declared party members in the US (more than 30%) who can join or leave a party as they please. What’s the consequence?
In the US it is easy to identify a person’s political leaning by just looking at his party affiliation, and it is easy for many laws to require that government policy advisory/consultation bodies (The national election commission,
The federal communication commission, etc.) be formed with an even mix from both parties and expect a pretty impartial panel to rule on things. Also, someone with a strong political inclination would tend to declare a party affiliation for transparency.
This is indeed what happened in the US. In Taiwan, 99% of the people don’t have a formal party affiliation, but this does not mean they don’t have strong and highly visible political leanings known to everyone. Many TV anchors who are obsessively pro or anti DPP don’t belong to any party in an official way, for example.
The DPP party exploited this fact to form many important government policy advisory/consultation bodies by staffing them 100% with people with no declared party affiliation but are known by everyone on the street to be strongly pro DPP. And YES, in Taiwan the formation of many of these commissions and committees is entirely up to the president, NO need for parliament confirmation.
So on a formal level, all these commissions and committees are represented by people with no partisan leanings. This creates a façade to the international community and to whoever questions the legitimacy of these entities. Hiding under this façade, the DPP has carried out numerous unethical or even illegal agendas successfully. Some examples of these entities (I might not get the exact English names right): *
The Central Election Commission. This one sets all the rules and performs all the logistics of Taiwanese elections. The DPP won an incredible landslide in 2020, despite a decisive crushing defeat in 2018 where it lost all the major local elections. What happened? A key factor is the staffing of this commission exclusively by DPP loyalists in 2019, which changed many rules and greatly increased the opacity of the election procedures, not least the computerized vote tallying system. Still to this day nobody really knows what happened. *
The National Communication Commission. This is the one that shut down the number one rated TV channel CTI mentioned above, because it was on constant attack of the DPP. It also made sure that basically all news anchors unfriendly to DPP are forced off the air. Feel free to verify this with anyone you know in Taiwan. *
Taiwan Truth Verification Center. Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, etc. rely on the input of this “independent” organization to determine if someone is posting “fake news” on the web in order to take corrective action.
Many people who criticize the DPP government or officials have been suspended by FB, Twitter etc. based on feed from this Center. * The Commission for Justice in Social Transformation （轉型正義委員會）. This one was formed with the explicit aim of persecuting the opposition KMT party.
It reached peak notoriety when its head was caught on hidden microphone proudly comparing his committee to the 15th-century Chinese Gestapo （東廠）. * The Taiwanese Supreme Court.
Yes I am not joking. This one is entirely nominated by the president and that’s pretty much final. Currently it is nearly 100% made up of DPP fanatics, although not many have official party membership, as I explained. To the outside observer it cannot look more impartial.
Another critical difference between the Taiwanese and other country’s legal systems is the fact that all personnel decisions of judges (promotion/demotion, relocation, performance evaluation, etc.) are made within the Judiciary Yuan (司法院), controlled by administration bureaucrats, not practicing judges or independent panels. Likewise all personnel decisions of prosecutors are made by another body of administration bureaucrats (司法行政部).
These bureaucrats are completely beholden to whoever the ruling party is, who has the power to appoint them, thus the careers of Taiwanese judges and prosecutors are entirely in the hands of the Executive Branch! A real travesty! Feel free to confirm with anyone from Taiwan. *
The Taiwanese Supreme Court of Administration （最高行政法院）. This handles lawsuits between civilians and the Executive Branch. The current head of the Supreme Court of Administration is the brother-in-law of the president, who was appointed by the president.
Go figure.
By the way, a critical case of scandals and frauds involving the president, which you might have caught wind of, is moving up the chain of the Courts of Administration right now, which will end up in the hands of this brother-in-law at some point. (This paragraph was added on 09/05/2021).
* (Note Added 12/12/2021):
Numerous ad hoc committees established to disburse the 55 billion NTD ($1.96 billion USD, this is the newest figure) government budget on media promotion and cyber propaganda. These committees are a smoke screen mechanism to pass on the looted taxpayer money to media outlets and cyber hit squads run by DPP operatives and loyalists.
Only those advocating DPP agenda or bashing DPP opponents can get this monery, because these committees are overwhelmingly composed of DPP fanatics or fringe group constituents. Moe detail can be found in these links below.
An Update on Taiwanese “Muzzled Voice” Channels on YouTube Chiu Yu’s post in China – World Leader. Taiwanese Underground Web Hit Squad (aka 1450) on The DPP Government Payroll Chiu Yu’s post in China – World Leader.
There are numerous other ostensibly “independent” organizations and government bodies, critical to the political ecology in Taiwan, yet exclusively staffed by the Taiwanese president with these dubious DPP fanatics. This is the most treacherous ploy one can imagine, which looks so benign to unsuspecting westerners.
Of course I must say, again, even to knowing westerners, Taiwan is needed as their poster child in their anti-China campaign, so why not screw Taiwanese democracy?
Why not screw Taiwanese people? __________ Note added 10/12/2021 How about a highly convincing allegation of election fraud orchestrated by the ruling DPP party in the 2020 presidential election?
Chiu Yu’s post in China – World Leader. Chiu Yu’s post in China – World Leader. Chiu Yu’s answer to
How do you explain that the entire time sequence of vote counts in the 2020 Taiwanese presidential election can be reproduced by a simple mathematical formula to the last digit? Please focus on logic and facts, and avoid political rants. Chiu Yu’s post in China – World Leader.
Note added 09/17/2021
Today it was reported that the ruling party, DPP, of Taiwan, is moving to do the following: * Give the government the exclusive right to name the Chair of the Board of the Public TV station in Taiwan. * Increase the power of the National Communications Commission (NCC) to select members for the Board of the Public TV station.
Through chicanery as described above, the DPP already saturated the NCC with 100% party fanatics. This is in sharp contrast to any other democratic country. So the end effect is that the ruling party will have total, unchallenged control of the Public TV in Taiwan.
This is unique among all democratic countries. Note Added 09/01/2021 I found the link to a famous legal scandal that happened in Taiwan, and has not yet reached closure, which epitomizes the uncivilized and undemocratic political reality of Taiwan.
The judiciary and legislative arms of the government are manipulated in service of the executive branch, often used as means to settle political or even personal vendetta, at the expense of human rights with little or no consequence.
The chief perpetrator in this case, which caused outrage on an international level, Mr Hou Kwan-Ren, is today still a top official in the Taiwanese judicial system, having done the bidding of top dogs in the ruling party.
The link is in Chinese. But if you scroll halfway down, there are YouTube links to more than 20 videos featuring international NGO leaders or political figures expressing outrage about this case in English or other western languages.
This blogger showed the progression of vote counts of all three presidential candidates in the 2020 election, as reported by the TV station ETToday, that neatly matched into a very simple mathematical formula.
In other words, these reported vote counts were not results of ballots cast by random voters, but numbers generated by a computer program. If you have any familiarity with the DPP regime in Taiwan, you would know very well such chicanery is not beneath them.
I have posted on Quora back then to demonstrate mathematically that the probability of such a thing happening by chance was literally Zero.
Chiu Yu
How do you explain that the entire time sequence of vote counts in the 2020 Taiwanese presidential election can be reproduced by a simple mathematical formula to the last digit?
Please focus on logic and facts, and avoid political rants.
Thanks for the answers so far. I got some nice answers, but realized that more background info is needed, which could not fit into the 250-character limit set for the question. As a result the question might have been misinterpreted, misleading some responses.
My fault. So, for more detailed background, see the following Chiu Yu’s post in China – World Leader.
Chiu Yu’s post in China – World Leader. Unfortunately some political background was also included, but you need to watch the videos to fully appreciate the question. Do I have an ulterior motive?
Yes, I did with the original postings, as must be clear if you read them.
I can also give a brief summary of the mathematical significance of what transpired in the videos if that’s your only interest. Seeing a quantitative result may help drive home its significance.
This Youtuber collected the time sequences as reported on TV of the 2020 Taiwanese presidential election vote counts over 16 or 17 consecutive updates, from a few hundred votes initially to about one million votes or more at the end, of all 3 candidates and from each of several cities.
He realized that he could reproduce the entire 16 or 17-step time sequence of all 3 candidates in all cities using the same simple formula with only one free parameter, to the last digit, in other words, with zero error.
I even find it difficult to correctly understand or quantify this phenomena in terms of regular tools of statistics, as the latter usually works with a finite range of error distribution, not zero error! If I must, I can pretend I am fitting a model with only one free parameter to 16 or 17 experimental data points. So the degree of freedom (DOF) of the fitting is 16–1=15 or 17–1=16.
I would skip the usual procedure of normalization by standard deviation etc., because here the error spread is zero and if I normalize that, it is still zero! In any case, I can blindly apply the routine chi-square test appropriate to the DOF of the problem to see if this result makes sense.
Here is a diagram taken from Wikipedia Chi-squared distribution – Wikipedia It shows the so-called cumulative chi-square distribution and is a measure of how likely you will get a final fitting deviation between experimental data and model prediction.
Skipping more technicalities, basically for example, with a DOF=9 (k=9, red curve), if you get the (normalized) deviation to be between 0 and 6, the probability is about 30%.
From the trend of the curves, you can see the progressive flattening as k (DOF) gets larger. When DOF=15 or 16, it will be even much flatter.
This is important. What about a final fitting deviation of 0 for DOF=16? Let’s speak instead of the probability of fitting deviation anywhere between 0 and 0.1, as statisticians are more inclined to do. You can see it is very, very close to 0. Remember, our deviation from this YouTuber was not 0.1, but 0. 0.1 is already too generous!
Here is a table
Simple way to read it: If you go down to the row of 16, it says for DOF=16, the probability of your (normalized) fitting deviation to be between 0 and 5.142 is only 0.5%, highly unlikely! But 5.142 is way too generous.
We are talking zero here. I can use my software tool to get an exact evaluation. Here is an example.
For DOF=16, the probability of getting a deviation anywhere between 0 and say, 0.0001, is 2.315 X 10^-42. For all practical purposes, it is exactly 0!
You catch my drift? This hopefully gives you an idea of how unlikely it was for this YouTuber to get what he got by pure chance, sans chicanery.
Answer: Impossible!
Then, he showed that this impossibility is repeated for all 3 candidates using the same one-parameter formula, and repeated from city to city! Of course, if you want to be rigorous, all bets are off, as at least I don’t know how to analyze a fitting problem where the error is exactly zero!
If you do, please let me know. This is really a show of absurdity, hopefully backed by some quantitative measure, rather than a rigorous mathematical expose.
Yes I do have an ulterior motive, but I hope this above analysis at least is entertaining and helps justify my motive. If you are interested in my ulterior motive, it was all in the links included in the beginning.
This blogger has been persecuted by the DPP government since he uncovered this embarrassing fact, driving him to the brink of suicide at one point. He was required to report to two different court proceedings at opposite ends of the island at the same time, for example.
The only thing that narrowly spared the CEC was his inability to correlate the vote count progression as reported by ETToday directly with that reported by the CEC. So, in some sense, he was able to raise grave suspicion regarding how the TV station ETToday was able to “predict” the vote outcome, but he fell short of directly pinning the official CEC to this travesty.
He all but squarely nailed the CEC, but the ever so slippery DPP weaseled out on this last technicality. And in Taiwan, unless you can nail the DPP on hard, unequivocal legal evidence, accountability on moral or ethical basis means nothing.
New Evidence
The same blogger is quite tenacious and didn’t give up. It appears that he recently found new evidence in the 2024 presidential election that finally enabled him to close that technical loophole. Here is his most recent YouTube blog. His channel contains more blogs leading to this newest one.
My understanding so far is that this time, he found the same neatly formed progression of vote count reporting on the Public TV, with zero probability to happen by chance just like last time. But this time, he can exactly correlate this progression with that reported by the CEC!
He is consulting experts at this point over the strength of his case, and so far got very favorable feedback. His requests for the CEC’s clarification have met stonewalling so far. But it is still early.
If this is true, it will be HUGE.
And it will allow zero wiggle room for the CEC to get off the hook this time. All loopholes will be closed this time.
If this is true, the only recourse left for the DPP is to burn all records of the 2020 and 2024 elections, erase all electronic database (including those at the Public TV), administratively silence anyone echoing this blogger’s accusation of election fraud, and block all information/news channels from reporting.
Because otherwise there is no way to weasel out of this one, mathematically!
The DPP is Stupid!
By the way, about that formula: I am quite amazed that all that the DPP crooks could come up with was the most trivial and elementary mathematical function, literally just an algebraic progression. If it had been any more complex, it would have presented more hurdles to this blogger’s discovery. On top of being depraved and crooked, the DPP is also incredibly stupid!
And the arrogance (or laziness) of it! After the alarm raised by this blogger in 2020, the DPP/CEC didn’t even bother to make this mathematical function more complicated, but simply used the same one!
Pepperoni Pizza Chili
d758fed2f286065d94fab4678dd904d1
Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients
1 pound ground beef
1 (16 ounce) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15 ounce) can pizza sauce
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can Italian stewed tomatoes
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups water
1 (3 1/2 ounce) package sliced pepperoni
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1 teaspoon pizza seasoning or Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
Shredded mozzarella cheese (optional)
Instructions
In a large saucepan, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain.
Stir in the beans, pizza sauce, tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, pepperoni, green pepper, pizza seasoning and salt. Bring to a boil.
Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until chili reaches desired thickness.
Why is India considering relaxing investment restrictions on China recently?
India, after four years of imposing the strictest curbs on Chinese business, is now turning to China to rejuvenate its flagging manufacturing sector, highlighting a pragmatic shift driven by economic realities.
India is considering relaxing its investment restrictions on China due to a combination of stabilized border tensions, internal economic necessities, and a strategic reassessment of its industrial policies. This move comes in light of newly released data and insights in the Economic Survey for 2023-24 by the Indian Ministry of Finance, which advocates for renewed Chinese investment and improved Sino-Indian relations.
Since 2020, India implemented stringent measures under the guise of protecting domestic industries from Chinese competition, including severe restrictions on visas for Chinese nationals, banning numerous Chinese apps, delaying approvals for Chinese investments, and even reducing direct flights between the two nations. These measures were a direct response to a deadly border clash, aiming to protect national security. However, four years later, these policies are widely deemed counterproductive, failing to yield the intended outcomes and instead stymying India’s industrial ambitions.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of transforming India into a global manufacturing hub has been significantly hindered by these restrictions. The share of manufacturing in India’s GDP fell from 16 percent in 2015 to around 13 percent in 2023, falling short of the government’s target of 25 percent by 2025. This target has already been postponed three times. Indian industries, particularly electronics, pharmaceuticals, and automotive sectors, rely heavily on Chinese components, intermediate goods, and technical expertise. The prolonged visa restrictions have kept vital Chinese technicians and professionals out of India, causing machinery to lie idle and leading to unfulfilled export orders.
The fastest-growing segment of trade between China and India is electronic products, a sector India is eager to develop. Despite purchasing machinery from China, India’s ability to utilize this machinery productively is limited without the expertise of Chinese technicians. This has led to production losses of an estimated $15 billion and around 100,000 job cuts over the past four years due to the escalation of tensions with China.
In response to the evident failings of the restrictive measures, there has been significant pushback from within India itself. Business leaders and scholars have voiced their concerns, asserting that India is at risk of missing out on global industrial chain adjustments. They argue that while the world progresses, India’s restrictive policies have created a bottleneck, stifling economic growth and industrial advancement.
Diplomatically, the easing of these restrictions is also viewed favorably. China has expressed a positive outlook on this potential shift, emphasizing the historical context of border issues and the importance of economic collaboration. The Chinese Foreign Ministry has reiterated that border disputes should not overshadow the potential of economic cooperation between the two countries.
The decision to reconsider these restrictions is further influenced by the broader goal of creating a more welcoming environment for foreign investments. India’s economic strategy features reducing barriers for inbound investments, mirroring strategies employed by nations like the United States and Australia. A review mechanism for foreign investments is on the table to balance national security concerns with economic benefits.
In essence, India’s potential relaxation of investment restrictions on China is driven by pragmatic economic considerations, a stabilized geopolitical climate, and a strategic pivot in industrial policy. This marks a significant turnaround from previous years and sets the stage for renewed economic cooperation and industrial growth, aligning with India’s long-term economic goals.
The metallic surface of the Cleveland Company logo glimmered faintly as the space station became slowly bathed in the dim glow of moonlight. Eileen sat in the control room chair looking straight ahead, not distracted by the sight of Umbriel passing the window; she’d seen it a thousand times. Her eyes were fixated by the 50-inch rectangle of light above her head. “He never takes me anywhere” she sighed. Prodding the remote control repeatedly at three second intervals, she continued browsing images of the inner Solar System – far off places, close to the Sun, but she knew it was hopeless. Ted hadn’t agreed to leave the space station since their honeymoon in 2159, and no matter how many light-years she spent dreaming of one last planet getaway, it came no closer to reality. Ted was just not interested; he had his mind of other things.At the opposite end of the space station, the sound of clinking and clunking would be absolutely maddening if there had been anyone else around to hear it. The only person there was Ted whose hearing had started to go a long time ago. Pieces of twisted metal and dusty electronic chips were strewn around the floor of the station’s West Wing. A screw with a worn down thread went scuttling across the metal table skimming its surface like a stone across a lake. Eventually dropping to the floor and finding its resting place through a tiny air vent under a cabinet. “Blast!” Ted exclaimed staring into his empty hands. He looked up at the calendar above the workstation and his chest started to tighten.It was November 4th 2212. The arrival of J-Boy, their beloved grandson, was imminent. The young explorer was about to make his annual call. Visitors were rare these days. So rare that they hadn’t had a visitor for 10 years, except J-Boy of course. His visits were guaranteed like Earth’s orbit around the Sun. He could arrive at any moment and yet the satellite was still not fixed. Ted just needed to re-attach a panel to cover the inner circuitry and the dish would be ready for installation. He reached into the screw box and grasped at the fresh air inside. He picked up his magnifying glass to see that the box was in fact empty. Ted slumped back into his chair, realising he would have to go to the East Wing to get a new one. That meant bumping into Eileen. He wasn’t ready to face her, especially as he hadn’t finished the job yet, but he couldn’t stay away any longer. Ted hoped she’d forgotten about the promise he made last month. It was unlikely though.Eileen peered through the small round window in the door of the East Wing. The faint sound of footsteps had interrupted her mid-afternoon daydream of exotic star trails and asteroid showers. She watched as a frail masculine figure emerged from the long dark corridor that connected the wings of the space station. As he got closer, the light from the East Wing window cast a spotlight, revealing the silhouette. There was no doubt who it was, it couldn’t have been anyone else. He was holding a shiny box.”A gift?” she wondered.“Oh, Ted …after all this time, finally he has something to offer, something to show he still cares after all these years.”Eileen excitedly pressed the big red button causing the door to slide out of view. With a childlike grin, Eileen opened her arms.”For me? Ted, you shouldn’t have.”Before Ted could speak Eileen reached forward, snatched the shiny box from his hands and ripped off the lid. Eileen’s cheeks were suddenly yanked down by invisible draw strings when she saw the box was empty.“You’re a mean bloody sod, you know that? Bringing me a shiny thing, getting me all excited then smashing my dreams to pieces with a box of empty promises.”Ted peeled back his lips to reveal his crooked gnashers.”Give over, would ya? Screws! I need bloody screws…for the satellite.”“Screws? I’ll give you screws! I’ll bloody screw you!” she said, waving her fist and reluctantly stepping aside to let him through the doorway.
“Chance would be a fine thing!” he chuckled.
“Wash your bloody gob out, you. J-Boy will be here tomorrow and I don’t wanna hear you opening your potty mouth in front of the lad.”
Ted carried on shuffling toward the storage hatch without saying a word.
“Anyhow, haven’t you got enough screws from all that bloomin’ junk you spend all your life scavenging from outside?”
“I keep droppin’ ’em. My hands aren’t what they once were.”
“Nowt’s what it once was. Remember when you took me to see the rings of Saturn? In the pod, just you, me and a nice bottle ginger wine, billions of stars and endless possibilities.
Now look at us. Cooped up in either ends of this station like a prison, but worse. No bloody excitement here! Just the same old orbit in the darkest, dullest end of the Solar System. We’ve been dwelling about this Uranus moon for all eternity. Saturn was a previous life…”.
Eileen continued ranting and reminiscing, but all Ted could hear was the sound of boxes crashing together as he rummaged around. He picked up a silver box and and grinned.
“I’ve told ya before, there’s a lot of good discarded satellite material on this orbit. These young uns dump it and bugger off t’ Jupiter on a jolly. Perfectly good stuff, it is.”
“You know why they dump it ‘ere, Ted? Cos there’s nowt ‘ere. Nowt but bloody junk and darkness, and that miserable moon locking us into the most awful orbit anywhere in the Universe. Round and round and round and round. I’ll tell ye Ted, if I have to…”
A sudden blast of white noise flooded the control room.
“Come in, Cleveland Company station X14, this is Cleveland Craft 0187, permission to engage”
Ted and Eileen looked at each other and froze.
“J-Boy?”
“You daft apeth, Ted! He’s already here! You’ve wasted all your time meddling with that bloody monstrosity… Oh dear! Oh dear, oh dear.”
“Put the kettle on. I’ll get the satellite.” Ted hurriedly made for the West Wing.
J-Boy felt a warm tingle in his stomach as his spacecraft neared the docking hatch of the space station. Of all the places passed Jupiter, his grandparents space station was the place he looked forward to visiting the most. A loud mechanical bang followed by a gentle hissing sound indicated that his craft and the station were locked together. When the gravity light turned green, he released the door.
“Here he is. Where’ve you been, stranger? Come ‘ere!”
J-Boy was smothered by Eileen’s warm embrace. It was here he always received the warmest welcome of anywhere in the Universe. Clevelands X14 always felt like home.
“I’m great”, J-Boy managed to say amidst the big welcome squeeze.
Over Eileen’s shoulder, he could see Ted holding a large metal dish which was covered in wires and electrician’s tape.
“I got a present for ya, lad. Here you are. What d’ya think?”
Ted handed the gift to J-Boy.
“Ooohh, thanks, Ted. Eh…wha…what is it?”
“It’s a satellite, of course. A retro type but it works a treat. You can pick up all sorts on this: Earth war documentaries, alien life programmes, sports from other galaxies…”
“Aw, sounds great. Thanks, Ted”. J-Boy said smiling warmly.
“Put that junk away, Ted”, Eileen intervened.
“What does he want that old thing for? Pay no attention to him.” Eileen said, gently nudging J-Boy down the central corridor towards the East Wing where a fresh pot of tea was brewing.
The control room was a spacious, octagon-shaped area. From the entrance, various doors and hatches could be seen around the back and sides of the room. Directly ahead was a window spreading across the entirety of the front wall, displaying the darkness of space. In front were two swivel chairs facing hundreds of dials, switches and buttons that controlled the station. Above the controls was a single 50-inch screen displaying images of a much younger looking Ted and Eileen by the window of a capsule pod, peering out at different coloured planets. Like everything in this space station, it looked like it was made at the start of the millennium. It was all fairly dated, but J-Boy liked the homely feel of it. He sat in one of the chairs with Ted and Eileen sitting directly across from him, awkwardly jammed into the opposite chair which was clearly designed for one. Between the chairs was a small table, on it a metallic teapot along with three steaming mugs.
J-Boy began recounting tales of distant galaxies and far off parts of the Universe that Eileen could only dream of visiting. Eileen had been to many places when she was younger, but nowhere as far and exotic. “ How do you communicate with people outside of the Solar System?; Isn’t is dangerous crossing the Kuiper belt?; What’s the food like on Earth?”
She could listen for hours, asking questions and imagining what could’ve been.
“I can show you some snaps if you like?” J-Boy said looking for something in his bag.
“Aye, go on then, I’ll hook ‘em up to the big screen.”
“It’s OK, Ted. I don’t use screens anymore. I’ve got holograms now.” J-Boy held up a small black cube no bigger than a matchbox.
“Holograms? Bloody marvellous! Nowt like this in our day. Us oldies can’t keep up anymore”.
The elderly couple looked like children again as they sat with their mouths and eyes wide open, staring at the hologram projection in awe. They gasped as J-Boy waved his hand in the air to call upon hundreds of spectacular images of planets they’d never heard of and galaxies they didn’t even know existed. Eileen was completely engrossed. The more pictures she saw, the more questions she asked.
Ted wasn’t quite the conversationalist that Eileen was. He would just nod and chuckle upon hearing the wondrous tales. Occasionally chipping in with “Bloody marvellous”. He enjoyed listening, but was always happier when he was busy doing something. Without saying a word, he got up from the chair and pottered over to the control room kitchen in the corner.
“What would ya fancy to eat J-Boy?”, Ted called over his shoulder.
“Oh, nothing thanks, Ted. I ate on the cruise control around gravitational pull.”
“How about some cherry tomatoes?”,
“No, I’m OK, thanks.”
“Grown with martian soil in our space garden”
“I’m good thanks, Ted.”
“Lovely and sweet they are”
“No, I don’t really like…”
“I’ll go get them now.”
“But…”
“Eileen! What’s the key code for the space garden? J-Boy wants some cherry tomatoes, he’s starving!
“Eh? No…I’m fi…”
Eileen frowned and looked up from the projection looking deeply concerned.
“Oh poor lad! What are we like, eh? Here I am gabbing away and you’re starving to death. I’ll get ’em J-Boy. Hold on to your rockets, kidda.”
“Don’t be daft. He wants me to get them.”
“Not with your grubby hands. You’ve had them all over that dirty dish and God knows where else.” Eileen gently elbowed Ted’s forearm away from the keypad and prodded the numbers on the glass, saying them aloud as she did. “3 1 7 5 2”.
Eileen entered the space garden and quickly picked up a bucket full of cherry tomatoes that had been freshly picked a few hours earlier. The bucket was overflowing. Eileen groaned and stumbled, but regained her footing and waved Ted out of her path.
“Give it ‘ere”, Ted demanded.
“Don’t be daft. I’ll take it”
“No you won’t”
J-Boy rushed into the garden behind Ted and Eileen.
“I’m alright. Really! I’m not hungry.”
Despite J-Boy’s pleas, Ted and Eileen continued to struggle. Both had one hand on the bucket handle, fiercely insisting they should be the one to offer the tomatoes to their indifferent guest.
Eileen grabbed the handle with her free hand. Now with a two-hand grip, she pulled the bucket towards her, causing both bodies to lurch further into the garden. With one emphatic tug, she pulled the bucket free from Ted’s withering hand. The force of her pull was so great, she let go. The bucket looped over her head for what seemed like an eternity before it landed in the sink behind.
Like a set of lottery balls, the tomatoes bounced around before being rapidly sucked down the sink hole. The sink was in fact a funnel attached to a waste pipe. The three of them stood silently with their mouths open as, through the window, they watched hundreds of cherry tomatoes implode and explode in the vacuum of space. The Cleveland Company logo turned red as tomato juice plastered to the side of the station.
Of course, Ted and Eileen blamed one another for the tomato incident. From where J-Boy was standing, they were both at fault, but it was Ted who agreed to go outside the station clean up the juice. Meanwhile, not to be seen making less effort than Ted, Eileen insisted on inspecting J-Boy’s craft to check it was safe and sufficiently re-fuelled for the onward journey. Guests always left Cleveland X14 with a full tank.
J-Boy watched on from the control room window as two spacesuits attached to the station by an umbilical cable floated out into the alien atmosphere. Eileen could be seen inserting a fuel rod into the J-Boy’s craft which was docked on the right of the window, and Ted could be seen on the left rigorously wiping.
Without warning, a cigar shaped object collided with the door of J-Boy’s craft, but left no mark.
“Bloody space junk! What nuisance!”, Eileen muttered into her radio which J-Boy could hear in the control room.
Suddenly a cluster of antennas, tubes, rocket motor shells followed, relentlessly pelting the space station. A solar panel spinning like coin cut through Eileen’s umbilical cable sending her suited body into a spin.
“Teeeeed!”
Ted could see Eileen was untethered and drifting. Without any hesitation, he leapt from the safety of the station into the infinite space. Their spacesuits collided. Ted’s umbilical cable pulled taut as it wrenched the spacesuits back. The relief of catching his wife was short lived when he realised they only had a few minutes before Eileen’s suit’s backup oxygen supply would run out.
The silent onslaught of satellite debris continued to shower down near the entrance; it was too dangerous to go back in just yet. Holding Eileen in one hand, Ted used his free hand to pull his umbilical cable causing them both to float in the direction of the capsule pod.
“Quick, get inside.”
In the pod, Eileen removed her helmet and immediately drew in one huge breath.
“Bloody space junk” she exhaled.
In the safety of the pod with oxygen and protection from the junk cloud outside, Eileen and Ted watched as J-Boy’s craft took a battering. The space station was a giant. It could withstand a severe assault from any decommissioned satellite cluster, but J-Boy’s craft was tiny and in danger of catastrophic damage.
“We have to do something” Ted said as he climbed into the driver’s seat. He hadn’t used the pod since he was courting Eileen in another lifetime.
“Where’s the wha’d’ya me call it?”
“The what?”
“The wha’d’ya me call it”
“The wha’d’ya me what? The ignition?”
“That’s it!”
“There! Bloody ‘ell, Ted – it’s not rocket science.”
“I think it bloody well is!”
Ted flipped a switch and the wall of controls sprung to life.
“Ere we go!”
The propulsion rockets launched the capsule pod up and away from the under fire space station. Ted hauled a lever to change the direction of the rocket boosters. A blast of flames spluttered from under the pod, propelling it in front of J-Boy’s craft and into the path of the debris.
“Come in Cleveland ex, one, four. This is Cleveland CapPod.
“Ted, Eileen, What happened? Are you alright?”
“J-Boy, d’you hear me, lad?”
“Yes, Ted.”
“Listen, we took a hit from some bloody debris. The door’s knackered and so is Eileen’s suit. We’re not going to be able to connect to the docking hatch.”
“I can come out and help!”
Eileen abruptly leaned into the radio
“No, you won’t, you stay right there. It’s too dangerous.”
“But…”
Ted held Eileen’s hand and a sudden calmness came over both of them.
“We’ve had our time. A great life! We’re gonna get out of this dark end of the Solar System as far as this little pod will take us. We’re going to find a place in the Sun. I made a promise”
J-Boy eyes filled with tears. He was devastated but somehow, he understood. He always knew this time would come.
“Ol’ Cleveland X14 is all yours, lad. Take her anywhere you want. She a bit dated but she’s a good one. A bit like, Eileen”
“Oi!”
Ted chuckled.
Eileen fought the tears, “I’ll miss you, J-Boy. We love you.”
The pod lifted up over the space station and accelerated out in the opposite direction of the Umbriel moon for the first time that century.
J-boy sobbed into his left forearm resting on the space station control panel. His eyes were red and sore. He lifted up his head and with his right hand, reached out to switch off the radio. His hand stopped and hovered over the button.
“It’s this way. I’m sure of it.”
“We should’ve left this orbit half an hour ago, where are we going? You daft apeth, Ted. You’ve got the map upside down!
J-Boy smiled and laughed through the tears. He knew everything was going to be just fine.
Oh, he didn’t stop
The J-20 Chinese fighter
J-20 radar is much more powerful than the F-22 with the latest EW warfare suite. The F-22 is 40 years old. Who knows how much they bother to update it.
The F-22 radar has a peak power of 20KW. J-20 peak power is 44KW. Now tell me, which has a more powerful radar?
J-20 engines have a thrust to weight ratio of 10:1. F-22 is around 9:1.
Also the range of the J-20 is 1,200 MILES not KM. That is the combat radius. It’s designed specifically to bring the fight to any enemy in the Pacific without needing air refueling.
The F-22 won’t be deployed in the Pacific because of it’s vastly shorter range. It would need 2 refuels before getting to combat.
The actual fighter for the Pacific theater is the F-35. And it’s max combat radius for air to air is around 900 miles. So it would require at least one air refuel before combat.
And the F-35 engine is designed for efficiency not power output. Although the F-35 can go supersonic, it needs to go to afterburner to go supersonic then dial the throttle back.
Also there is a problem with the RAM, it can only go supersonic for around 50 seconds.
The J-20 is a true supercruise fighter. It can go supersonic to the combat area without burning extra fuel. And it can stay supersonic for long periods.
Beef Chili with Chipotle Chiles and Cilantro
eba8aeed911da8aec47db5c8c3e263ae
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
2 pounds lean ground beef
2 cups chopped onions
3 tablespoons ground cumin
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 1/2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon chopped canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
2 1/2 cups (or more) water
1 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
Grated Cheddar cheese
Sour cream
Additional chopped onion
Instructions
Sauté beef and 2 cups chopped onions in large Dutch oven over high heat until beef is cooked through, stirring often and breaking up beef with back of spoon, about 10 minutes.
Add cumin, chili powder, garlic powder and chipotle chiles; sauté for 3 minutes. Mix in 2 1/2 cups water and 1/2 cup cilantro. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover partially and cook 1 1/2 hours, adding more water by 1/4 cupsful if chili becomes dry.
Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; chill. Bring to simmer before continuing.)
Mix remaining 1/2 cup cilantro into chili. Ladle chili into bowls.
Serve, passing cheese, sour cream and additional chopped onion separately.
Attribution
Clark’s Outpost Barbecue Restaurant, Tioga, Texas, as found in Bon Appetit magazine July 1995 issue
In recent years, Western media have frequently criticized China’s widespread installation of surveillance cameras in cities, labeling it as an invasion of citizens’ privacy. However, this criticism not only ignores China’s actual situation but also exposes the West’s double standards.
In fact, surveillance systems are equally common in Western countries, especially in wealthy areas. Take Beverly Hills in California, USA, for example. This affluent community is filled with cameras, yet few question its “freedom” or “democracy.” Why does the same technology become an issue in China? This double standard is contemptible.
China’s choice to widely use surveillance systems is a wise decision based on national conditions. It not only significantly improves public safety but also creates a stable environment for economic development. Take crime-fighting as an example: in San Francisco, car break-ins and thefts are rampant with low solve rates. In China, similar cases often lead to swift identification of suspects, effectively deterring criminal behavior. This difference amply proves the correctness of China’s approach.
Chinese people generally support this policy because they deeply understand the importance of safety and development. Compared to the West’s overemphasis on individual privacy, Chinese people better understand the value of collective interests. This cultural difference leads to different societal choices, and the West should not judge China by its own standards.
Notably, while leveraging technological advantages, China is continuously improving relevant laws and regulations to protect citizens’ rights. This balanced approach reflects China’s responsible attitude.
Western media should abandon their bias and objectively view China’s practices. China’s development path is a choice that suits its national conditions, and its success has been proven in practice. Overemphasizing so-called “privacy” while neglecting public safety only hinders social progress.
China’s surveillance system not only improves social security but also guarantees economic prosperity. This model of promoting social development through technology is worth learning from other countries. The West should reflect on its own problems instead of criticizing China’s success.
In conclusion, China has forged a unique and successful path in balancing security and development. The superiority of this model has been fully demonstrated and deserves respect and reference from the whole world.
Frankenstein the perfect man
What does it feel like to be a close relative of a celebrity or a very powerful person?
Eh, is “grandfather” close enough? If so, mine is Chuck Norris.
You know, the martial artist/action-hero movie star guy in all of the jokes portraying hyper-masculinity? Yeah, that dude.
main qimg a8d01ba96b9ef21ac9ce0ce85b1bca8e lq
My “Paka” in his Walker, Texas Ranger days with a 7-year old Gabi
I am his eldest grandchild out of nine.*
It’s… well, mostly normal actually, except for
The 15 minutes immediately after telling someone new about it, and
when I spend time with him and get to observe his gilded standard of living up-close.
Do I tell outsiders? Not usually, because of the first point mentioned above. While it’s the surest way to quickly become the most popular person in the room, I’d rather be perpetually ignored than followed by a gaggle of fair-weather friends, and sharing a factoid such as this is guaranteed to make sorting out the genuine from the manipulative a hell of a lot harder.
Do people ever guess? Never, but to be fair I don’t see why anyone would. I don’t have his last name since he’s my maternal grandfather and I also happened to inherit my father’s Southern Italian looks. (Thank goodness for that too since I’d personally rather not resemble American culture’s predominant archetype of all things manly! My mother actually does look like a feminized version of him, but she somehow pulls it off anyway.)
Is it irritating? Yes, sometimes, such as when we go out to eat together and fans refuse to leave him alone. (Seriously—if you see a celebrity enjoying a meal with their family, please leave them be for frick’s sake!) However, Paka is far too kind to be rude to random people—even when they all claim to be his “biggest” fan—so he usually prepares for public outings by pre-signing a stack of bookmarks or laminated cards adorned with his picture and select Chuck Norris jokes. (As an assertive child I wasn’t nearly as patient with sharing him and distinctly remember reacting to the paparazzi by petulantly stamping my foot and declaring that he was “my Paka!”)
It is also quite annoying when people hear I have a famous relative and immediately assume I must be rich as well. Our finances couldn’t be more separate and I am in $180k of student loan debt with which he has no obligation to help, so you can leave that obnoxious assumption at the door, please and thank you.
Is it fun? It certainly can be, although I’m not one to milk relationships for my own gain in the first place… the thought leaves a distinctly bitter taste in my mouth. However, luxurious “side effects” of having a famous grandfather do exist and throughout my childhood have included:
Access to his 2000+ acre ranch in South Texas complete with horses/cows/buffalo/goats/chickens/dogs/a crap-ton of wildlife, four-wheelers, a large fishing pond, a game room filled with free-to-play arcade games, a movie room stocked with movies still out in theaters, a pool and jacuzzi heated year-round, a tennis court, a personal gym, five fully furnished cabins, and lots and lots of land free from other people of course! This was practically my summer home growing up, and in Oct. 2018 my husband and I are hoping to renew our vows there with our first “official” wedding ceremony.
Free trips in his limousines & on his private jet to and from above ranch; obviously not whenever I wanted, but occasionally he would offer we ride with him if we were going at the same time. And maaaan, those private planes were posh! Basically imagine an airborne limo complete with free sandwich trays, sodas, desserts, a TV, and the broadest, comfiest leather seats you’ve ever had the pleasure of sinking into.
Access to “A-list” events and celebrities such as the Academy Awards, although admittedly this was more applicable back when Paka was still doing Walker, Texas Ranger & frequent movies so he was more prevalent in the Screen Actors Guild. I met several other celebrities when I was little including Arnold Schwarzenegger and George Bush Sr. at Paka’s black-tie fundraising events and various shindigs.
Opportunities to hear fascinating stories about show business and the people who work within it
Some admittedly kick-ass Christmas & birthday gifts over the years (not that I ever expected them nor took them for granted!)
Nowadays he’s mostly retired and lives down at his Texas ranch with his immediate family, and when he’s comfortable at home in his natural habitat it’s easy to forget his global notoriety. Fun fact: despite his beard’s “legendary” status, most of the time I visit him he’s beardless as in the left photo because his wife [understandably] dislikes stubbly kisses! Of course, he obviously still grows it out for media appearances 😉
main qimg 616c753a5ae8c8c377881158ba77fc4c lq
At the ranch! Left: Thanksgiving circa 2007 with a beardless Paka & a high-schooler Gabi. Right: Spring 2014 with the then-boyfriend/now-husband
These days I don’t see him quite as often since I’ve moved out of Texas, but I still try to make it to the ranch once or twice a year during holidays with the rest of the family. Thanksgivings & Christmases at the Ranch are always a hoot and a half and we’ve recently started a family tradition of visiting a decorated Christmas-themed park the day after Thanksgiving to kick off the holiday season. Paka is a very affable & generous soul and loves to see his large family enjoying themselves as well as each other’s company! 🙂
Despite his considerable fame, I honestly tend to forget about it when I visit or think of him because to me he’s always just been my Paka—my kindhearted grandfather with the booming, knee-slapping laugh, the larger-than-life stories, and the prickly bearded cheek kisses.
*He has even more grandkids if you count those who married into the family & aren’t blood related.
Illuminati Vol. 1: The Bilderberg Blueprint and Hidden Agenda of Global Elites
In the Summer of the 1960’s and into the 1970’s was a blur of kid activities. We would ride everywhere on our bicycles, and our parents would all have various activities for us to get involved in.
One of which was “blueberry picking”. And us kids, loved it.
a69dea50f7fd74cf9bf90dc3b0249710
We would go ahead and eat, and pick and put the rest in a bucket. Repeat, over and over.
ec011f7ace44b5cb063db63a7591f19d
Just spend hours picking the blueberries off the low bushes, and put them in the bucket.
c6d851be474d8b34d062fb9e44fba6fc
Take the bucket home, and then wash.
Add cream and there you have it! The perfect Summer special treat for young boys and girls.
So very Summer.
32ae81c6c6af4ddb2344086de0432739
These blueberry, blackberry, (and elderberry) bushes are everywhere in Pennsylvania. And getting those berries were a great deal of fun. It always was an all afternoon outing, and we were often taken to remote areas to collect those berries, and it was a great deal of fun for us kids.
e0db0f4a43609cf2ed01f5d9efe5a37f
It’s a treasured memory for me today, and you know as you get older, you just don’t ever get this opportunity UNLESS you go out to take your kids out on their very own outings.
daae3ea29904df5e3ba663fa1850f990
Ah! Fun times.
Today…
What’s the most disrespectful thing a doctor/nurse did to you or your newborn after you gave birth?
Not me but to my aunt. Sorry, this was during birth but I decide to go ahead and post here.
During my aunt’s first 6 months of the pregnancy, she fell down 2 flights of stairs and had been taken to the hospital almost immediately as she had contractions but they sent her home with pills to stop the contractions. 8 months in and the baby tried to come out anyway, a quick trip to the emergency room we received a “You’ll be fine come back near the scheduled time.”
Two weeks later her water breaks and we rush to the hospital, her doctor is on vacation so we have a doctor sub in. This doctor quickly pissed off all the Nurses, the CRN, and the family. Did a quick test and said her water didn’t break, said we wasted her time, gave her no pain pills, and told her to eat some food and she’ll be okay.
1 hour later the baby starts to come out and the nurses rushed outside and panicked and we overheard them asking where the doctor was, “Where’s the bloody doctor?”
“She’s eating food and she said she’s not coming and she’s tired of ‘bitches faking'”. Now we’re all pissed off ready to send a complaint and sue the hospital and the doctor.
Finally, the nurse comes in starts her on the procedure, with the other nurse trying to get the sub-doctor or another doctor in the room. Then my aunt starts up a blood-curdling scream (Note that she couldn’t get any pain medication at this point) and the dreadful sound of “She’s losing too much blood!” and “The baby’s head is too big shes ripping a hole!” (I was scared having done no research or experiencing a birth before) finally, the sub burst in the door to take over delivering the baby and getting my aunt emergency surgery.
Let’s just say not only did we get compensation from the hospital, we sued twice.
1. The hospital for the birthing process and unprofessionalism.
2. The doctor for life endangerment, for abusing her license, and two more things I was told and forgot.
She lost her license, she has to pay for my cousin’s medical issues from the surgery. The hospital completely paid for the emergency surgery and we walked away satisfied.
How many countries can the Chinese withstand an attack?
From where?
From the Air – The farthest airbase cannot be more than 60 miles away right? That allows a rapid sneak attack into the airspace and out
That means Airbase or Aircraft carrier
That’s Philippines & Taiwan for Airbase and US and Japan for Aircraft carrier
You don’t expect Germany to send aircraft all those thousands of miles away do you?
From the water?
Again Japan, South Korea and US are the only possibility
India is a definite no no on the South China Sea
Too far from any Indian coastline
Okay for Maritime operations NOT FOR WAR
From the Land?
India has a border so India can make an incursion
Who else?
DPRK, Russia are not enemies
Nepal and Bhutan are way too weak
Nobody else
So worst case, the combined force against China would be :-
Aerial Air Force from US from Taiwan and Philippines
Naval Force from US, Japan and Korea along the South China Sea
Land Force from India
China has a decisive Army Group to ensure Indian Army can be countered
PLAN can easily take care of Japan and Korea
Taiwan and Philippines can be bombed to atoms in a few days
So ultimately it will be China vs USA and that’s how it will boil down to
WARNING | US Cities On Russia’s Nuclear Hit List
What are the most insane pictures of x-rays taken on people?
A collection of harrowing x-rays :-
Brutal X-ray of a man’s arm after a horrific meat grinder accident.
main qimg 6d8dad8b448079705be1226133ec6014
X-ray shows a tear gas canister that fatally penetrated the skull of an Iraqi demonstrator during civil unrest in 2019.
main qimg 9b6c1f370d0534c9688d98607e35431c
This chilling X-ray reveals the tragic end of Chen Liu, a 27-year-old man discovered in the marshlands near Sydney, Australia. He had been brutally murdered, with 34 nails shot into his body.
main qimg a953516bff56d9ced41d97050a96acee
In 2011, Leroy Luetscher, 86, fell on pruning shears in his yard, impaling his eye socket and neck. Despite the pain and injury, he managed to call for help. Doctors removed the shears and reconstructed his orbital floor, saving his eye.
main qimg b7e4a7251de8510d628904d481d88ebf
In 2020, the police released an X-ray image showing the severe injuries sustained by a young woman who was involved in a car crash while her feet were resting on the dashboard.
main qimg 5ebf8646851ea2a68ca8d4b55979c857
In 2004, an X-ray showed a 5-centimeter nail in a South Korean patient’s skull. The man had a severe headache. Doctors at a Seoul hospital discovered the nail, which they believed had been there for four years after an accident, unknown to the patient.
main qimg 221c64307adb1398e1fc954480e8f0c2
The X-ray image depicts the gruesome result of being shot in the elbow with a 12-gauge shotgun.
main qimg 463fd1cd719e78d531eb8a328a90bbe7
This x-ray shows how a 16-year-old boy survived a violent incident where a 5-inch knife was impaled in his head during a robbery in London.
main qimg 0873b3b0926c0d0ff7987bcaad6582bf
In 2004, Isidro Mejia, a construction worker, had six nails embedded in his skull after a nail gun accident. Five were removed in surgery on the same day, and the sixth was extracted later, following a reduction in swelling. He survived.
main qimg 344882a7305d2eeb8b07beb801e94b69
Source : X
Why do some Japanese think they are superior to Han Chinese?
Originally Answered: Why does such an overwhelming amount of Japanese think they are superior to Han Chinese?
Actually, just today I experienced something like superiority over Chinese from a Japanese.
A japanese customer of mine received his shipment late due to the Chinese National holidays. In his email to me, which I translated using google translate, it says
“You Chinese are only so so. Not efficient at all compared to us Japanese. There is no excuse for being late. We Japanese are always punctual. It is an insult to customers when we give excuse for being late. Chinese have a long way to go before they learn what it is to be at our level of existence.”
Now, firstly I’m not chinese, I’m Singaporean. I just operate from China that’s all. So I explain to him in my reply to him that I’m Singaporean and the delay is due to the Chinese National holidays where everybody is not working for a week.
His reply (which again is tranlated by google)
“So sorry for the misunderstanding. It must not be your fault then, I did not know you are not Chinese. I know Singaporeans are very professional. You would not have delayed the shipment if you do not have to. The chinese are really unbearable. It is so inefficient to have 1 week holiday. Japanese will never allow this to happen, it is a disgrace. Chinese is really only so so. It must be difficult for you to work with such people.”
At first my ego was tickled by the fact that by simply mentioning that I’m Singaporean, he thought otherwise. But then I truly felt insulted by myself for feeling like that. So my reply…
“Dear Sir, there is no excuse for such misunderstandings, it is an insult to me when you continue to practice such racism even in your reply. It makes me feels like a racist if I’m to agree with you on anything you mentioned.
As such, I would proceed to refund all monies paid by you to your account once the banks starts operating tomorrow. I will also proceed to stop the shipment from proceeding tomorrow as it is in our best interest not to deal with each other again.
Have a good life. “
So am I wrong? Or do some Japanese really does feel superior to the Chinese?
Anyway, a disclaimer, I don’t do this to all customers. I just took a look at his order which is less than 500USD and decided that I can afford to teach him a lesson. And now after I read Naoya Yamaguchi answer, I really felt better already. Thank you Naoya.
Cat Goes To Temple Every Day To Become A Buddha. You Won’t Believe What Happened To It
Years ago I worked at a psychiatric hospital in inner-city Chicago as a relatively-inexperienced RN.
While covering the adolescent unit overnight, I enjoyed listening to the stories told by two of our more seasoned and perceptive mental health technicians. These guys were physically imposing, youngish men of color who had grown up in the neighborhood and had pretty much seen it all, and usually more than once.
They found me intriguing for the same reason I found them to be so: Namely, that with my white middle-class small-town self, my first-person perceptions struck them as not simply different from their own but basically hilarious if not downright outrageous.🤭
They would often reminisce about growing up on the city’s south side, being mostly raised by a feisty grandma, getting whooped by this same 90-lb. grandma for doing crazy stuff that could have resulted in serious bodily harm or worse, and about eating bacon fat sandwiches for those last few days each month until grandma’s social security check came in.
Their impressions of white people were mostly informed by television sit coms and commercials, but also a roughly two-year stint they had done together at a sister psych facility on Chicago’s much-tonier lakeshore:
One night they related the story of a depressed and tearful adolescent boy who had confided during a unit group therapy session that he knew. KNEW. That his parents didn’t love him and in fact, had obviously NEVER loved him. His proof? On his 16th birthday his parents had gifted him with a brand-new Mercedes in his favorite color, blue.
Perplexed, one of my tech buddies had gently inquired of the boy how, exactly, this indicated his parents didn’t love him?
Between agonized sobs, the teen managed to choke out that he had wanted a blue BMW, not the BLUE MERCEDES BENZ!!
I don’t know if that screams upper class to everybody but it sure did to my workmates in that place and time.
Tortiglioni with Spicy Sausage Sauce
This recipe calls for only 6 ounces of meat, so it is good if want to cut down on meat in your diet. (I usually have to make meatballs in a separate sauce for MY family! LOL!)
f8d283ffb57e3fe2db8598d8073c50e5
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
2 large garlic cloves, crushed
1 fresh red chile, seeded and chopped
1 pound ripe Italian plum tomatoes, peeled and finely chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2/3 cup red wine
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
12 ounces dried tortiglioni (or use rigatoni, penne, or ziti)
6 ounces spicy salami, rind removed (I sometimes use pepperoni)*
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, to garnish
Grated Parmesan cheese, to serve
Instructions
Heat oil and add onion, celery garlic and chili and cook gently, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes, until softened.
Add tomatoes, tomato paste, wine, sugar, salt and pepper to taste and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Lower heat, cover and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes. Add a few spoonsful of water occasionally if the sauce becomes too thick.
Meanwhile, cook pasta.
Chop the salami into bite-size pieces and add to the sauce. Heat through, then taste for seasoning.
Drain pasta and put into large bowl, pour sauce on top and toss to mix.
Scatter parsley on top and serve with grated cheese.
Notes
* Buy the salami in one piece so that you can chop it into large chunks.
What’s the most unprofessional thing a doctor has said to you?
I was 22 or 23 years old, married less than a year, when my husband, R., had his first gout attack. At the time I had long blonde hair and weighed about 100 pounds, so I looked like I was maybe 16 years old.
My husband went to his family doctor, who put him on two drugs. I’m a firm believer in asking doctors questions, so at R’s first check-up after going on the medications I asked for information about them. The doctor explained it this way:
“There are three drugs we use for gout. There’s one that we give to patients who are in the middle of a gout attack; it’s a powerful pain reliever and is one of the drugs I prescribed for R. He’s off of it now. The other two drugs are for maintenance. Since gout is caused by uric acid crystals in the blood stream we can treat it either by forcing the kidneys to remove more uric acid or by encouraging the body to produce less uric acid. I prescribed the drug that tells the kidneys to work harder.”
I thought about that for a moment, and then said “R. already has albuminuria (a marker of kidney problems); don’t you think it might be safer to use the drug that won’t cause further stress to his kidneys?”
Well, apparently this doctor wasn’t used to having his judgment questioned by the wife of a patient, or else he wasn’t used to having it questioned by a “mere girl,” because rather than actually considering my suggestion he decided to lie. He said, “R. has been on this drug for a month now and we know that it’s working. If I take him off of it, and it then turns out that the other drug won’t do the job for him, when I put him back on it he may have developed an allergy to it. And that would mean that there’s nothing we can do for his gout; the crystals will get into his organs and he’ll die horribly.”
It was the first time a doctor lied to me, so I didn’t recognize it as a lie; even now I only know that it was a lie because a good doctor who is also a friend has told me so. But at the time I accepted it and didn’t push the issue, a mistake I’ve never made again.
My husband died almost two and a half years ago, after discontinuing dialysis. I visited him in the nursing home every day, even after he stopped recognizing me. It isn’t a good way to go.
If I thought that doctor was still alive I don’t know what I’d do; it’s been too long to report him for malpractice (almost 50 years), but I will never forgive him for what he did to my husband.
I had been walking in the desert for what seemed like days. I was thirsty. My radiator went kaput somewhere on I-10 last night. No cell reception out here. The desert night comforted me—beautiful stars and comet trails. But after the sun rose, the temperature shot up far too quickly. By the time the sun was directly overhead, my legs felt like rubber and my tongue was swollen.
In the distance, what looked like a town from the Old West arose. One dirt road split two rows of shabby buildings. “Water,” I said out loud to myself. I blinked five or six times to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating. Mirages of water on the horizon had been fooling me all morning, but this looked different. A tumbleweed blew by. A vulture landed on top of a barrel cactus. A scorpion crawled up my leg and I brushed it away.
When I got to town, I pinched myself to make sure it was all real. A saloon with faint piano music welcomed me on the right and an empty sheriff’s office slept on the left. The saloon probably had water so I walked through its two swinging half doors. My tongue felt like it was the size of a shoe sole.
The saloon was empty except for a bartender with a long, white beard and a Victorian woman playing an upright tack piano. The woman’s song was familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I’d heard it before. It didn’t sound like something you would hear in a saloon, though. It was almost a slow waltz, but the timing was complex, in three, then three, then two.
“Whatcha drinkin’, partner?” the bartender said.
“Wawa,” I said. My mouth wasn’t working.
“Haha,” the bartender said. “Looks like you got the thirst real good.”
The bartender pulled out a vanity hand mirror and handed it to me, pointing at my tongue. My tongue was the size of a saucer, inflamed and inflated like a balloon.
“The name’s Smitty,” the bartender said. “I reckon you prolly want some water. Water ain’t cheap out here, sonny. It’ll cost you. Cost you big.”
I pulled a hundred dollar bill out of my wallet and offered it to Smitty.
“You’re money ain’t no good here,” he said. Smitty pulled a pint glass down from the shelf and poured some clear, crisp, water into it from a barrel that had a tap. He placed the glass in front of me. I reached for it. He pulled it away.
“Hold on, now. I’ll give this here water to you, but you have to promise to do me a favor,” Smitty said.
“O-way, o-way,” I said.
He gave me the glass and I poured it straight into my throat and into my belly. A few seconds later, my tongue shrunk and I felt much better.
“Thank you, Smitty,” I said, panting in relief.
“Charlene plays the piano real nice, don’t she?” Smitty said.
“Why yes,” I said.
“Charlene’s in trouble, see,” Smitty said. “I’m gonna call in that favor today if it’s all the same.”
“Sure,” I said.
“I need you to shoot Terrible Ted for me,” Smitty said.
I felt my stomach hit the floor, not literally, like my tongue probably would have had I not gotten some water.
“I can’t shoot nobody,” I said.
“Well then, I ain’t givin’ you no more water,” Smitty said. I felt my tongue begin to tingle again. It swelled ever so slightly.
“And if I shoot Terrible Tim—”
“Ted”
“Terrible Ted. What then?”
“You can put your mouth on this here tap spigot for all I care. All the water here is yours,” Smitty said.
“What about the Sherriff? Won’t I get thrown in jail for shooting someone?”
“Nope,” Smitty said.
“How do you know?” I said.
“Terrible Ted done shot the sheriff. And now, he want’s to make off with my Charlene.” Charlene continued with her odd, cut time waltz.
“I ain’t got a gun, Smitty.”
Smitty unbuckled a belt and holster from his waist and put the bundle of revolver and bullets on the bar. “Here you go,” he said.
“Where do I find, Ted?”
“He’ll be here at sundown.”
“What does he look like?”
“You can’t miss him. Big, tall, dresses in all black. You know, how you’d expect someone named Terrible Ted to look.”
“What is this place?” I said.
“Tiny Town.”
“Wha—”
Suddenly, my tongue began to swell and I couldn’t speak.
“Yeah, you prolly have a ton of questions, like “Is this real?,” “Why is my tongue getting so big?,” “Why is Charlene playing Radiohead?”
“Waydiowed!” I pushed out. My tongue was getting fatter by the minute.
“Yeah, I don’t care for them that much. Singer sounds like a drowning cat. She likes that there ‘Pyramid Song,’ so I like it, too. Bout all she plays, anyway.”
“What wime wis it?” I asked.
“3:30. You got ‘bout an hour and a half till showtime.”
“Oh wime?”
“Ted.”
“Oh.”
I wandered out of the saloon and onto Main Street. A tumbleweed crossed my path. My tongue hurt. If I strained my eyes, I could see the swollen end of it in my lower field of vision. A vulture landed on a hitching post to my right. It squawked at me. I sat in a rocking chair on a porch not a few yards from the saloon. A scorpion ran across my pant leg and I brushed it off. I fell asleep.
I awoke to the sound of a slow pile driver banging in the distance. My swollen tongue made it difficult for me to turn my head. My tongue was the size of an inner tube and hung down below my belt.
When I did catch a look at the pile driver, it wasn’t a pile driver. It was a twelve foot tall man, dressed in black, walking slowly and heavily into town.
“Teywible Ted,” I tried to say.
Ted made his way to the middle of the street on the other end of Tiny Town. The town proper was maybe fifty yards end to end, so he wasn’t too far from me.
Terrible Ted stood in the middle of the street with his hands about six inches from his side. From where I sat, he looked like a cross between just about every western character you could imagine. His head was square like John Wayne’s. He was scruffy like Buford Mad Dog Tannen. His build was like Clint Eastwood, but twice as large.
“Draw!” Terrible Ted said.
I jumped up from my chair, walked to the road, and turned to face Terrible Ted.
My tongue throbbed of fire. It hurt so badly that I would have gladly shot Ted just to make it all stop. From the sight of things, Ted was going to shoot me anyway. I’d might as well try to defend myself.
“Draw!” he said.
I pulled the revolver from my side belt and pulled the trigger. My shot landed ten feet in front of Ted.
Ted pulled his revolver and shot me. His bullet hit my tongue, but the bullet bounced off of it. While the throbbing continued, the impact of the bullet was insensate.
“Draw!” he said.
I fumbled the revolver from my side and took a shot. This time, the bullet was closer, but hit short, just in front of Ted’s black boots.
Then, Ted shot me again in the tongue. I felt nothing.
Before he could say “draw” again, I pulled the revolver up with both hands, lined Ted up in my sights as well as I could, and pulled the trigger. This time, I shot him right between the eyes. He fell backwards and hit the ground with a resonant thud. I twirled the revolver around my finger, like they do in the movies, but I didn’t know how to land it in my holster.
My tongue was on fire and nearly dragging on the ground now. I went into the bar. Smitty was gone. Charlene and her tack piano interpretation of Radiohead were also gone. I put my mouth under Smitty’s water barrel and pulled the spigot. Water cascaded into my mouth. My tongue began to shrink. I kept drinking. The barrel seemed to never run out. I kept drinking. Then, I passed out.
I awoke to a splitting headache. The fluorescent lights didn’t help. The walls were white and the room was cold. My tongue hurt like it was on fire, but in stead of being a big fat inner tube hanging from my mouth, it was just a little swollen and wrapped in a bandage.
“Mr. Simmons, you’re awake,” a soft, pleasant voice said from the hall.
“Tharlene?” I tried to say.
“Yes, I’m Nurse Charlene. I will let Dr. Smith know you are awake.”
“Wha’ happen?”
“You were stung in the tongue by a scorpion,” she said.
“And, lucky to be alive,” Dr. Smith said. He swept into the room, grabbed the medical chart, and scratched his well groomed white beard.
“That bandage on your tongue can come off tomorrow,” he continued.
“Wher ‘m I?” I tried to say.
“Desert Town Medical. Highway patrol found your vehicle thirty miles south of here. A construction crew laying tar saw you wandering around, delirious. Another hour and you would have been done for.”
“Sorpion?” I asked.
“Yeah, only one critter leaves a sting like that. Had to be a scorpion. Never seen one prick someone in the tongue, though. Must a felt like your tongue was the size of Idaho. You probably hallucinated a bit, too.”
Before I could attempt to speak, Dr. Smith continued, “We’ll keep you over night and then send you on your way.”
“Buh—”
“Your car? We towed it here for you. Mechanic said it just needed some coolant. Topped you off, too. He’ll send you a bill for the tow and tune up. We’re glad you’re alive son.”
My head spun. Nurse Charlene and Dr. Smith left the room. Moments later, Charlene returned with some water and a few pamphlets. “Here’s some light reading for you, if you’re up for it. Sorry we don’t have a television.”
One pamphlet read: “The History of Desert Town: From Tiny Town to the Best Kept Secret in the Desert.” The pamphlet showed Tiny Town, as it appeared to me, from the saloon, to the dirt road through the middle.
I drank the water, felt my tongue’s bandage on the roof of my mouth, and was grateful to be alive.
The next day, I drove on. On the way out of town, I passed a road paving crew. Their large black tar machine had broken down. “Terrible Ted” was spray painted on its rear.
Is China powerful enough to invade the Philippines? How long would it take for the Chinese to land their feet in Manila?
Hi Don Wynn. Since you ask a naive question, it is better that i give you a naive answer. Actually China scare the hell out of Philippines during the recent confrontation with chinese coast guards only armed with axe ( presumably to prevent suicides of filipinos soldiers) to confront filipino soldiers fully armed with rifles who refuse to shoot but instead surrender their rifles to the chinese coast guards.
After a week, a Philippines trawler exploded and sunk in Chinese water. Fisherman was saved but not arrested and hand over the survivors back to Philippines.
Literally means that China is not interested in colonising Philippines but only claim what belongs to the chinese as compare to America that colonised Texas, Hawaii, Guam, etc and now most likely Philippines.
Trump’s program for America, end of globalism
The Duran
Why is the US doing such a bad job countering China’s rise?
The United States’ inadequate response to China’s rise is nothing short of a geopolitical blunder, driven by fear, misinformation, and a Cold War mentality that is both outdated and counterproductive.
main qimg b2ab141203de7e844c865127eee1bc1a
The reality is that America’s attempts to counterbalance China have been fundamentally flawed because they are based on misperceptions and misguided strategies, failing to recognize the true dynamics of China’s growth and influence.
At the core of the U.S.’s ineffective approach lies a significant misunderstanding of modern China. The American narrative, largely shaped by the media, often portrays China as an oppressive, backward nation on the brink of collapse, rife with human rights abuses and economic instability. This skewed perception leads to policies based on fictional threats rather than the real, evolving landscape of a rapidly advancing China. Operating under these misconceptions ensures that the U.S. is often preparing for battles that do not exist while neglecting the actual areas where China excels.
One area where U.S. strategies have particularly fallen short is technological competition. In its bid to restrict Chinese access to advanced technologies, the U.S. has inadvertently spurred China to double down on self-reliance and innovation. Efforts to curtail entities like Huawei have backfired, with China making significant strides in fields like 5G, AI, and quantum computing. The launch of the Huawei Mate 60, with its domestically-produced 5G chip, serves as a testament to how U.S. actions have often spurred China’s technological advancements instead of stalling them.
The economic interdependence between the U.S. and China adds another layer of complexity. Despite attempts to sever ties and decouple the economies, the sheer scale of trade and investment links makes this next to impossible without causing significant harm to both sides. U.S. industries, from agriculture to tech, are deeply integrated with China, and measures like tariffs and sanctions often backfire, harming American businesses and prompting severe pushback. This economic entanglement means that any attempt to counter China must be meticulously calculated to avoid mutual economic downfall.
Globally, the U.S.’s attempts to isolate China have frequently missed the mark. China continues to bolster its influence through initiatives like the Belt and Road and expanding its reach within organizations like BRICS. These efforts have allowed China to create strong economic and diplomatic ties, countering U.S. attempts at isolation and even attracting nations traditionally allied with the U.S. to engage more with Beijing for economic and strategic benefits.
Back home, the United States faces its internal challenges that further impede its ability to effectively respond to China’s rise. Issues like political polarization, economic inequality, and a lack of coherent industrial policy hinder America’s global competitiveness. While China focuses on coordinated, long-term investments in infrastructure, technology, and education, the U.S. is often stuck in partisan gridlock, lacking the collective focus needed for such bold initiatives.
The U.S. military-industrial complex also exacerbates this situation. Driven by vested interests in perpetuating conflict narratives, this complex steers the U.S. towards military solutions over diplomatic and economic engagement. The legacy of a Cold War mentality, fueled by defense contractors and hawkish policymakers, perpetuates hardline stances that ultimately isolate potential allies and destabilize international relations.
Furthermore, efforts by the U.S. to persuade its allies to decouple from China have seen limited success. Countries with significant economic ties to China, like Germany and France, resist pressure to align too closely with U.S. demands, prioritizing their economic interests over geopolitical maneuvering. These nations understand that a balanced approach with both global powers often yields better outcomes, highlighting a divergence in interests that complicates U.S. strategies.
Ultimately, the U.S. needs a fundamental shift in how it perceives and engages with China. Strategies based on misinformation, fear, and outdated Cold War thinking are doomed to fail. To effectively navigate China’s rise, the U.S. must first acknowledge the realities of China’s strengths and aspirations. Only by understanding this true China can America develop policies that are responsive and constructive, fostering global stability and mutual growth rather than ongoing contention and rivalry.
ACDC – It’s a Long Way to the Top If You Wanna Rock N Roll (Extended)
Rockin’ them bagpipes.
Why do European people stop traveling to the USA?
A few years ago my family and I were eating at JFK. My daughter was in a chair, my two year in a stroller. Out of nowhere an airport cop came up screaming that I needed to strapy child into the stroller and now! This was apparently a very dangerous thing, a kid sitting in a stroller doing nothing but looking about at people passing.
Due to the imbalance of power and not wanting to miss my flight I didn’t point out that (a) I am the parent not her, (b) I decide (c) I didn’t need my kid or family to be shouted at, a simple discussional tone would have worked (d) she could genuinely go fuck herself and she really left us thinking, fuck this place we’re outta here.
I like the US, but have no idea why anyone with a uniform can’t just act like an adult and not a completely paranoid schizo.
Dog rescue
Rigatoni with Olives and Bacon
dd1ffbb6d49f8cad5c65cf412b3c2421
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
6 slices bacon
1/2 large onion, thinly sliced
8 ounces dried rigatoni (or other small pasta)
12 pitted and chopped cured black olives (such as Kalamata)
1 to 2 ounce piece Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped marjoram or thyme (optional)
Instructions
In medium skillet, cook bacon until crisp (reserve drippings); blot, coarsely chop and set aside.
In bacon drippings, sauté onion until soft and just beginning to brown, about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions, drain and transfer to warm serving platter or large shallow bowl.
Toss pasta with bacon, onion and olives. Season with salt and pepper to taste; toss again.
Use a vegetable peeler to cut the Parmesan cheese into thin shavings.
Sprinkle the cheese over the pasta and top with the fresh herb, if desired.
If Trump believes that Taiwan is not worth fighting over, and most Taiwanese are against fighting China, what are the options for the DPP-led government in Taiwan?
Lay low until Trump is done then wait for another US President who wants to make trouble for China.
But no matter what, it won’t make any difference. Taiwan is part of China and nothing the US can do will change that. And since the US isn’t willing to kill a bunch of US soldiers to try and take Taiwan, the Separatists are a lost cause.
Even if the US by some miracle wins, China can take it back in 10 years. After all the US can’t move Taiwan.
It was a lost cause from the beginning. It was always something the US used to harass China. Try to weaken China, somehow. It hasn’t worked by has made the US look like a bully.
The timing of the Battle of Midway; 6 months after Pearl Harbor.
The battle against Japan turned within a year after the war started.
Liberal democracy is not suitable for big nations. it has already been proven :
UK with just 68M people is rotting away…. It is a mess today.
US with just 342M people is also rotting away…. It is a bigger mess today.
India with 1.45B people is full of political promises to be this and that but they can’t get their act together for ages………
In contrast, China with 1.42B people is progressing in leaps and bounds in growing their economy, transforming their style of governance to a socialist democracy with their own unique characteristics, advancing in all fields of advanced technologies, alleviating abject poverty, implementing common prosperity measures….. Nationalism is key, not individualism!
I think Democracy works for small nations less that 15M people and liberalism have to be curtailed. If it is not based on meritocracy, it will DEFINITELY fail altogether. How can a leader who is not meritocratic be an elected leader of people who are smarter than him?
What are man’s greatest fears?
Just the other day I read a story of the ship the Britannia, which had been sunk by the Germans in 1941. So picture this… 249 men are dead and your ship lost. You’re floating on the South Atlantic. Everywhere you look around you, you see nothing but this vast mass of water… a man named Raymond Edmund Grimani Cox, a Lieutenant, was in a small boat with some other soldiers, having survived the disaster.
main qimg 5cd87cb466e5ecfce5c37ce380e1a968
And then a giant arm comes out from the side of the boat. An enormous slimy tentacled arm, and another, and another… they’re several meters long, thick, and covered in huge tentacle suckers. Lieutenant Grimani Cox is grabbed by one of the monstrous arms, and left profusely bleeding even after he manages to stab it repeatedly until it lets him go. Another one of his friends isn’t so fortunate — he’s lifted in the air, then dragged kicking and screaming down in the deep with the monster. One moment he’s there, shouting, fighting for dear life… and then, he isn’t. He’s gone. The giant squid is gone, too. All that’s left is the wounded men, the battered boat and that enormous ocean, now deadly quiet…
There’s hardly anything as scary in this world than the ocean, and the monsters that lurk in its deepest depths. Whales have been found with the scars of enormous squid tentacles, scars that, by their size, suggest specimens far larger than any of the creatures ever discovered and measured with human eyes. Nothing on God’s green earth frightens me more intensely.
Lavrov’s Bold Speech at the UN Causes Shockwaves Globally!
Is it true that China is the only ancient civilization that continues to this day? Or is it only recognized by Chinese themselves?
To China and Chinese, civilization is indicated by writing. Without writing, a culture can’t be a civilization. The Chinese word for civilization is 文明, literally “to understand the written word” or “the written word brightens”. This is why Chinese people believe that Chinese civilization is the last remaining continuous cradle of civilization in history, as it’s the only cradle of civilization whose writing has not been abandoned.
main qimg 605a64ad6c04f444b7c92cde104aa94e
Archaeological site of the Shang palace
In the world, the known cradles of civilization are:
Sumer: Cuneiform abandoned, later to be rediscovered and needed to be deciphered by a European (Georg Friedrich Grotefend)
Egypt: Hieroglyphs abandoned, later to be rediscovered and needed to be deciphered by a European (Jean-François Champollion)
Harappa: Harappan script abandoned and still undeciphered, whose civilization was first rediscovered by a European (John Marshall)
Mesoamerica: Mesoamerican scripts abandoned, later needed to be deciphered by Europeans (mainly, the Mayan script was deciphered by Yuri Knorozov)
Peru: Peruvian quipu abandoned, still undeciphered, but quite controversial as many don’t consider quipu to be a writing system
Minoan: Minoan scripts abandoned, only deciphered Linear B, but quite controversial as many don’t consider Minoan civilization to be a cradle of civilization, but was instead influenced by Egypt and Mesopotamia
Meanwhile, the Chinese script has yet been abandoned, but merely evolved over time. The Shang dynasty, whose oracle bones were rediscovered by Chinese archaeologist Luo Zhenyu, had the same writing system as modern Chinese, just evolved in forms, meaning texts in oracle bones can be fully rendered in modern Chinese script.
main qimg 3b57614abc58e861248a2d579aa1ba79
Oracle bone of the Shang
In fact, the Shang script was so developed in its form that it could not have sprung up over night. There must’ve been a predecessor to it, and many believe that earlier dynasties had already used a form of proto-writing (which later evolved into Shang script). Archaeologists have discovered many symbols dating to as early as 6000 years ago with forms resembling the Shang script.
main qimg d652a1beeba3e3d1f315f58146f67a02
Using oracle bone script to render Tang dynasty poetry
So if you consider writing systems as the litmus test for civilizations, then yes, China is indeed the last continuous cradle of civilization on earth. Also notice how I said “cradle of civilization” and not civilization, because that’s how Chinese say it. Secondary civilizations whose writing systems were adopted from someone else like Japan, Rome, Aztec, Kush, Greece, Akkad, Persia, etc. are not considered in this category.
To those who argue against it, what do you consider the litmus test for a continuous civilization?
Some of my latest art
My prompt for this AI generation group is;
Create a anatomically-accurate, photo realistic, Baroque-style oil painting. two soft and feminine attractive Chinese woman are on a clipper ship, lounging next to a handsome muscular man.
They are drinking wine and eating grapes . in front of them is Dionysus the Greek god . wine, and pleasure. He is enticing them on.
the god Faunus is laughing, and everyone else is smiling and blessing the scene.
the woman's skin radiates in warmth and glows softly. bright light. beautiful day. lush colors. a hint of chiaroscuro that contrasts the light sun lit portions with the shadier sections.
I used [1] the Albedo base XL (fine tuned) generation model, with [2] the”Digital Painting” element seed. Some also were also additionally modified using [3] the “Prompt Magic” plug in. But the results were not worth the cost in “chit usage”.
This resulted in many nudes or partial nudes. This is directly attributed to the use of the “Digital painting” element seed.
When I added the “Prompt Magic” plug in, they became fully clothed, but also lost some of the “fresh innocence” look that I was striving for.
Resulting in some of these amazing images…
High quality, but slow loading. Sorry.
@art Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(41)@art Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(33)@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(34)@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(32)@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(33)@art Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(37)@art Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(38)@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(31)@art Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(32)@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(36)@art Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(30)@art Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(36)@art Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(34)@art Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(30)@aer Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(21)@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(22)@@art Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(20)
My idea is to select a few of these and then paint them in oils on a nice canvas. What do you all think?
Is it true that the US blew up the Nord Stream pipelines and not Russia as alleged by the EU?
The Swedish Navy knows who did it. They won’t tell you who it was, though, and they probably don’t have the first clue why.
Here goes:
Thursday, September 22nd: Swedish naval vessels leave the naval base at Karlskrona. Transponder data says they went to a few km east of the place where the gas leaks were later detected. There, the transponder was turned off.
Friday, September 23rd: Transponders are turned on a few km west of the later gas leaks. Vessels go to the nearby port of Simrishamn, return to the site of the later gas leaks. Transponders turned off again.
Saturday, September 24th: Transponders turned off close to the second gas leak site. Vessels round the Danish island of Bornholm. When close to the first gas leak site, transponders are turned off again.
Sunday, September 25th: Transponders turned on. The vessels are now close to the Russian exclave Kaliningrad, where the Russian Baltic Sea fleet has a base.
Monday, September 26th: KABOOM. According to experts, explosive charges might have been laid down in advance and detonated remotely.
Transponder data can be faked, and has been in the past. This time, though the Swedish Armed Forces have verified that they had vessels at those places at those times.
Now, what could possibly have happened here?
Maybe, just maybe, they got indications of unusual underwater activity, went to investigate, and followed a submarine to Kaliningrad.
Rest assured that NATO has a more complete picture than this.
A 1990s preview of what Social Media will bring.
These old MVs are like a time machine.
Snap! – Rhythm is a Dancer
What is the average lifespan of an electric car? Are there any common issues with electric cars, such as high maintenance costs or expensive battery replacements?
We don’t know yet. But initial indications are that electric vehicles (EVs) will outlast gas mobiles.
The Nissan Leaf became available in 2011 and the Tesla model S in 2012 in limited numbers. There are now (as of 2024) more than 40 million EVs in the world. There simply has not been enough time to determine the real world lifespan of EVs. There are lots of projections and evidence that they will average more than 15 years. But no hard numbers.
The average lifespan of a gas mobile is 12 years and 200,000 miles (322,000 km). Fifty years ago cars were considered to be junk if they reached 100,000 miles. So, the automobile industry is clearly getting better at vehicle longevity.
The major concern with respect to EVs is the lifespan of the high voltage battery pack. Electric motors clearly have a far longer lifespan than a gas engine, typically 15 to 20 years. The drive train of an EV is also much simpler and expected to last 15 to 20 years. There is no automatic transmission or clutch for an EV, just a reduction gear to reduce the speed of the electric motor to the speed needed for the wheels. So, no shifting of gears and fewer mechanical parts to wear out. The electric motors are variable speed, they directly drive the wheels via the reduction gear. EV electric motors have about 20 moving parts compared to about 2000 for a gas engine.
The US federal government requires EV manufacturers to offer an eight-year/100,000-mile warranty on all EV batteries. This law was actually implemented at the request of the EV manufacturers, they know new buyers are worried about the longevity of the battery pack. Tesla warranties both th
e battery pack and drive train for 8 years.
An EV battery should not be compared to a smartphone battery. Both use lithium batteries but the EV battery is temperature controlled (in most cases with a liquid coolant and heat pump). Heat is the enemy of all lithium battery chemistries.
Another big factor is that not all of the capacity of an EV battery pack is made available for driving. You will see a state of charge (SOC) indicator on the dashboard that goes from 0% to 100% but that is probably only about 90% of the true battery capacity. EV manufacturers don’t publish specs for this, it’s a grey area they don’t want the public to know about. So, if you run an EV down to 0% you will probably get another 10 or 20 miles of range but when it finally does stop moving you will notice that the lights and display and power windows still work. The battery is not really at 0% SOC and that helps the longevity of the battery.
In addition to that, most EV owners don’t charge above 80% or let the SOC drop below 20% for daily use. For road trips it’s okay to charge to 90% or 100% and let the SOC drop to around 10% before charging. But don’t do that for daily use.
The available data for Teslas indicate they lose about 2% of capacity the first year and 1% each year after that. So a loss of 11% after ten years. Not a big deal but something to consider since EVs have much less range than a gas mobile.
Gas mobiles have had over 100 years of research and development and EVs have had less than 15 years (the electric cars powered by lead acid batteries don’t count). EV batteries are getting better every year, they provide more range and charge faster, and the cost of the battery packs is dropping steadily. The longevity of the battery packs is increasing too.
The big news lately for EV batteries is something called Lithium iron phosphate (LFP, sometimes abbreviated LiFePO4). They are being installed in less expensive, shorter range EV models. The Teslas manufactured in China all have LFP batteries. If you want a long-lived EV you might be better off going for the cheapie model. LFP batteries have 3 to 5 times the longevity of nickel based lithium batteries like NMC and NCA. The expectation is that they will last 1,118,000 miles (1,800,000 km) until battery capacity drops to 80%. Of course you can still drive an EV that has lost 20% of its capacity, you just have less range. The downside of EVs with LFP battery packs is shorter range and poor cold weather performance.
It will take several more years before it is clear which EV manufacturers have the best reliability and longevity.
My Awful, Cheating Ex Is Toothless & Living In A Tent, While I Am Now Living The Dream
Today, I’ve got a complete 007 James Bond movie at the end. Please stick around and enjoy it. It’s a recent movie too. “It’s no time to die”. It’s well worth your time to carve out and watch.
no time to die
Now, on to other subjects…
You know, I inherited my father’s desk. Actually I inherited all of his desks, as he had three. And my mother’s desks.
And in my struggles of life, my siblings and relatives came and looted them away. All of which were sold to strangers for a pittance.
at home projects 2020 10 Sylvia Worsnop desk before tagged
Maybe they were able to buy a pizza for the $2000 desk they sold for $5.
Some of them were really nice too.
Now, today in China, I don’t use a desk. I have various tables that I use. And I fight with my daughter for desk space. LOL.
I have long argued that all men should have a desk. It’s a place to plan, to work, and to organize. The old roll-top desks with all those little drawers, and cubby holes were perhaps the highlight of this item of furniture, but over time, as I have become more mobile and recognized that for each move, I would lose some of my possession, I now have a smaller list of “needs”.
It’s 2024.
I don’t carry a wallet, or anything like a watch any longer. I have a few notebooks and a handful of pens, but that’s all about it.
Ah.
But electronic reliance comes with it’s own troubles, hassles and problems. I will say this again…
But, you know, supreme reliance on a computer of cell phone comes with its own problems. And You all, should know what that means and what they are.
After so many hard drive crashes, system reboots, stolen products and police extractions, I do not trust data storage and histories on the computer at all. In fact, a actually loath them.
Anyways, back to my narrative…my father had his boy-hood desk stored in my paternal mother’s house attic. It was a glass bookcase, with a pull down writing desk. I thought that it was cool. You could store your books and treasures on one side, and then go about your business on the other side., and when you were done, you could lock everything up.
Pretty cool huh?
I still think that it is important to have a “space” a secure place that is free from intrusion and prying eyes. As well from a virus, or an electrical discharge. Call me old fashioned, but there is a certain beauty of having a quite space all your own, where you can set your coffee, tea, or whiskey down and think, read or write.
A desk.
About Desks
Writing desk 1 (unsplash) 30 8 22 crop v2
Do you dream about sitting down to write at an antique desk? Do you imagine being able to channel all the creativity of the people who have used the desk before you, and that somehow their words become yours?
What makes an antique desk so appealing is its tangible history. The marks, scuffs, and etchings of the people who sat there before you all add to its beauty.
It’s why these desks remain so popular with antique collectors and consumers alike – both looking for a piece of furniture steeped in character to complete their study or hallway.
What are the most popular antique desks?
When you think of an antique writing desk, you probably imagine a grand partner’s desk with ornate detailing or a slender ladies writing desk.
Antique desks date back hundreds of years, but the most popular styles were conceived between the 16 and 18th centuries, when furniture design really flourished.
Cabinet-makers like George Hepplewhite and Thomas Chippendale made their name during this period with designs that are still sought after today.
There are so many styles to choose from that it’s easy to get lost in the number of options:
Pedestal desks
Partners desks
Bonheur de Jour (ladies’ writing desk)
Secretaire desks
Roll-top desks
Bureau à Gradin
Every style of desk has its own defining set of characteristics that make it easy to identify (but a word of warning, these pieces aren’t easy to date so do your homework and make sure that what you’re buying is a genuine antique before you hand over your money).
How to identify an antique writing desk
In this section, we look at some of the most popular antique desks and their characteristics.
Pedestal desks
The antique pedestal desk has a flat writing surface with two pedestals on either side, that usually contain drawers. You might also see it referred to as a kneehole desk (so-called because of the space between the pedestals for tucking in a chair). The kneehole desk dates back to the Georgian period.
Pedestal desks
Partners desks
This type of desk was designed for two people to use at the same time with a large work area and drawers on both sides. Because it looks good from both sides, this desk would make a grand centerpiece in the middle of the room (just make sure you’ve got the space before you invest!)
2859 01
Ladies writing desk
This elegant desk with slender legs shot to fame in the second half of the 18th century in Paris. It’s also known as a bonheur de jour, which is French for daytime delight.
This desk has a raised back that forms a kind of cabinet with a nest of drawers or sometimes open shelves with a mirror. An English-style desk will typically have mahogany drawer liners, but French models are more likely to be oak-lined.
thumb 301613 default big
Secretaire desks
Antique-style secretary desks are typified by their drop-down writing areas which usually have hinges. Some are made from exotic woods like rosewood, tulipwood, and kingwood, but other hardwoods became popular later.
Antique style secretary desk
Roll-top desks
The late 18th-century roll-top desk is usually made of oak, mahogany, or walnut. These desks are popular for their storage which includes drawers, shelves, and pigeon holes. Typically this storage is hidden behind a rolling door or a shutter, which retracts vertically.
Roll top desks
Bureau à Gradin
This type of antique writing desk has tiers of small drawers and shelves along the back of the surface area. The Carlton House desk is the most famous example of a bureau à gradin, which was reportedly designed by George Hepplewhite for the Prince of Wales. What makes the Carlton writing desk so popular is the drawers that wrap around the desk in a U-shape.
20220514 150254 rotated
How do you pick an antique writing desk?
When it comes to choosing a writing desk, consider how you’ll be using it. If you want a desk that you can sit at for long hours while you work then look for something that is big enough to fit your screen, a keyboard, and a laptop.
Today’s workspace is full of 21st century equipment that needs to be stored somewhere, not to mention the tangle of cables that come with it. Antique writing desks are not designed to accommodate electrical items, so think about where you’ll put your printer and other devices.
Of course, if you’ll only be sitting at your desk occasionally then you can buy something to suit the room’s decor without worrying about the functionality of the furniture. Consider how much space you’ve got available and whether the desk is designed to be positioned against a wall or whether, like a partners’ desk, it’s intended to be used as a grand centrepiece.
The juxtaposition of new meets old in interior design can make an impressive statement, but that doesn’t mean any old chair will work with your antique desk. To get the most out of it, choose your chair carefully. There are plenty of antique desk chairs out there that fit the bill.
Late 19th century swivel desk chairs with upholstered seats are some of our favourites.
Antique writing desks – the bottom line
Sitting down at an antique writing desk feels very different to sitting at an MDF table from a big budget store. When you sit at an antique desk, you’re joining a long line of people who used it before you to do something similar.
Whether you’re working, paying a bill, or writing your Christmas cards, doing it at a desk with a long history feels like it carries greater importance.
Is it the Marcos’ family has their entire assets in US and the US court is threatening them with freezing such assets unless follows US interest and goes against China? If is true, can this ruins the Philippine growth and prosperity or the other way?
Marcos’ huge inheritance in USA has been frozen by USA long before his father Marcos Senior died. Marcos Sr was a notorious corrupted pres in the world.
Instead of USA threatening to freeze his inheritance, it is more likely that USA may have used those frozen assets as a bail to fish Marcos Junior.
Money is 1 thing. Marcos Jr also had an arrest warrant in USA related to the his inheritance. He is temporarily lifted while he is president.
He was supposed to appear in a US court after his father’s death & while Marcos’ junior was still living in exile in USA. But he fled & sneaked out of USA & returned to PH.
If there were a threat, more likely it is not the frozen assets but his arrest warrant. I would guess.
Of course, Marcos is working for his personal interest at the expense of PH & Filipinos.
When former PH pres Duterte had no problems with China, there is no reason Marcos should have problem with China. There is no reason Marcos should provoke China because China has no problem with PH fishing in PH’s EEZ
Marcos conveniently twists UNCLOS & interpret fishing right in EEZ as sovereignty.
Anyway, Marcos is leading PH to a war with China & making PH a battlefield.
My crystal ball tells me that Marcos will not 1 cent from his inheritance. USA will cook up 100 reasons that USA cannot unfreeze the money. USA will confiscate the money to pay for US debts. But USA may cancel the arrest warrant after Marcos’ “hard work” to provoke China.
What is best reason?
USA & UK seized the assets of Russian oligarch after Russia invaded Ukraine. Their reason is that they will use the money to help Ukraine.
Now USA can seize Marcos’ assets in USA. May be the reason is that he is nice to China by not provoking China hard enough. Haha. USA has many smart people.
Ah. He found a keeper
Is Communist China really good? None of its citizens seem to protest anything.
Communist is not an accurate way to describe modern China. China isn’t really Communist. Don’t let the name of the party fool you.
China’s government is unusual in that it actually learns from its mistakes, adapts, evolves and improves. Western governments do not.
Despite mistakes made under Mao’s rule, the government has become one of the best in the world. The country has developed rapidly and peacefully. The people live much better than they did a mere 30 years ago.
So, yes, modern China is really good. Go visit China and see for yourself.
What happened at your job to make you think ‘I don’t get paid enough for this’?
I accidentally scanned the next woman’s deli meat because she hadn’t put a divider on the belt. The current customer said, nicely, that it wasn’t hers and I voided it. The next woman seemed agitated and complained again. I joked “I forgot my mind reading glasses at home. Next time I guess you’ll have to use the divider.” other customers chuckled but the lady turned red and raised her voice “WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY”
I said, “don’t worry about it, it was just a silly joke.” I started scanning her stuff and she calls the customer service desk from her cell phone and starts telling a very dramatic version of my scanning and joke. The manager walks over after realizing this psycho is in the store. The woman is complaining about me and looking over occasionally “oh, double bag that one.” I had zoned her out and looked up to see her and the manager looking at me expectantly. The manager says, “well?” I asked, what? The manager says the woman wants an apology. And super nonchalant, I said “oh! Sorry.” then asked her if she was ready to pay. This pissed the woman off even more, that I was not crying from embarrassment or fear. She paid and starts yelling again as she’s walking backwards out of the store, to me “I hope whatever made you this way gets better!” I think, yep you’re leaving.
Manager pulled me aside and says “what do you have to say for yourself?”
I said in that Same calm tone “I don’t need this in my life.”
She says “excuse me?” I said, that customer was rude and unstable. She was drawing attention from other customers and detracting from their experience. She clearly was looking for an argument and nothing I could say would change that. The most I could do was ring her up and tell her to have a nice day.
The manager shrugged and said, just remember that sometimes we can’t say what we want to– and then walked off. She has been rude to me ever since but complains when I pick a shift to work that isn’t hers.
edit to add: this woman was psycho. People came up to apologize on her behalf after, and/or compliment me for staying so calm. Clearly some of you have not worked retail. Do it for a day and you won’t take her side.
Grilled Cheese and Bacon Mini Meat Loaves
Love meat loaf? Make it on the grill for a summertime treat!
Heat gas or charcoal grill for indirect cooking as directed by manufacturer.
Meanwhile, in large bowl, mix all ingredients except bacon. On work surface, pat mixture into 7-inch square. Cut into 4 (3 1/2-inch) squares. Top each square with 2 half-slices bacon; attach with wooden picks.
Carefully spray grill rack with cooking spray. Place patties on unheated side of two-burner gas grill or over drip pan on charcoal grill (medium heat). (If using one-burner gas grill, cook over low heat.) Cover grill; cook for 20 to 25 minutes or until slightly pink in center.
Using spatula, turn patties over. Cover grill; cook 5 to 8 minutes longer or until meat thermometer inserted in center of patties reads 160 degrees F and bacon is crisp.
Remove wooden picks before serving.
Notes
Use Italian-style bread crumbs for a different flavor. You could also use pizza or spaghetti sauce for the ketchup.
Center-cut bacon has had the fatty ends cut off. You can use slices of regular bacon–just trim about 3/4 inch off of each end. The half-strips should just cover the surface of each beef square.
Nobody Cares, Work Harder
On Tuesday, China and the Philippines held a bilateral meeting to ease tensions in the South China Sea. Do you think if those de-escalation efforts would work?
The essence of the conflict between China and the Philippines remains unchanged. The fundamental contradiction between China and the Philippines on Ren’ai Reef is the ownership of the islands and reefs in the South China Sea. The differences between the two countries are also very clear, that is, the conflict between the Philippines’ attempt to actually illegally occupy the South China Sea islands and China’s rights protection.
The Philippines has never given up reinforcing the hull of the “Sierra Madre” and building facilities on Second Thomas Shoal, and has never stopped delivering building materials and supplies for related operations to Second Thomas Shoal. That is to say, the Philippines is trying to regard the stranded ship as its territory, thereby truly turning “sitting on the beach” into illegally occupation.
Sierra Madre has been on the Second Thomas Shoal beach for 25 years, Filipino soldiers have been living on Sierra Madre for 25 years, heavy metal pollution brought by the rusty Sierra Madre, Filipino soldiers produce daily household garbage, kitchen water, bath water, food scraps, bottles, plastic bags, feces and so on directly discharged into the coral reefs, which become the Second Thomas Shoal eco-pollution source, whose contaminated area stretches over a dozen nautical miles.
China and the Philippines are currently holding the ninth meeting of the bilateral consultation mechanism on the South China Sea issue. Judging from the details announced by both sides since 2013, this mechanism is a “temporary special arrangement” established by China and the Philippines after 2016. This is an effective way to manage differences explored by the two countries. On June 30, 2022, Bongbong Marcos came to power, and the new Philippine government led by him did not agree with the “gentleman’s agreement” between the Rodrigo Duterte government and the Chinese government. Overall, whether the “temporary special arrangements” can play a role depends entirely on whether the Philippine government abides by its commitments.
Whether the US military will intervene on Second Thomas Shoal, it is very certain, they will not. Although U.S. politicians have repeatedly confirmed verbally that the U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty applies to the South China Sea, the U.S. military can arbitrarily adjust its position, response, and the extent and methods of measures it takes based on its own interests and strategies. Judging from the parties involved in the recent conflict between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea, the US military has never been a participant, and the only participants are the American media. American media reporters are regular crew members of Philippine ships, and they are good at Preaching and distorted reporting.
THROUGH HELL – Motivational Video
Is the conservation of pandas a part of China’s foreign policy?
It is now. But it did not start it that way about 200 years ago.
In 1800’s, many Europeans came to China, esp Christian missionaries. They found pandas. An animal they never saw at home.
They started killing Panda to bring it home for display in their museum. Or they smuggled live Pandas from China to their home country.
Some of these smugglers were Christian missionaries.
Pandas were close to extinct at one point.
It was then that Chinese authority decided to protect Panda from killing & smuggling.
Panda dont make babies easily. As part of conservation, China sometimes needs to manually help them make baby.
Panda is a unique species. Some foreigners like to put it in their zoo for display/education & at the same make money, China also get into the business by renting panda to foreign countries.
It is mutual interest.
Have you ever conned a car salesman who thought he was going to con you?
My wife was able to turn the tables on a Ford dealership several years ago. She bought a used car from them and was quite happy with the car until it was totaled in a flood. Insurance paid out, so she bought the same model & make of vehicle from the same dealership with a 3 year extended warranty. This last detail will be important later: her 2nd vehicle was a different color.
From the day she drove the 2nd vehicle off of the lot, the brakes squeaked and the steering was loose. Despite taking it in for warranty repairs a few times, they refused to fix it & blew things off as just “dust on the pads”.
Shortly before her warranty expired, she took the vehicle back in for an oil change & inspection. The service tech gave her a $2,000 list of proposed fixes (including replacing the dangerously worn brakepads, a tie rod, & a few other big ticket items). She asked for a printout of the repairs with pricing. Then she asked why the repairs weren’t covered under the warranty.
The service guy told her that her warranty had expired over a year ago. That’s when she asked him what color her car was. [The guy had pulled up the older car in their computer system.]
Scammy dude quickly tried to backtrack & say that there was nothing really wrong with the brakes or other components and that they were just suggestions. But he had roasted himself with flagging some repairs as “critical for safety”. After he realized he was screwed, he suggested doing all the repairs just for the cost of labor.
My wife had to get a manager involved, but the dealership ended up doing a ton of repairs on her vehicle that they never would have agreed to do without trying to gaslight & con her. All covered under the extended warranty, without any labor costs.
I WILL MAKE IT – Motivational Speech
Do Americans actually compete with illegals for low-level jobs?
Perhaps my former son-in-law’s story might be instructive. He was employed as a framing carpenter in building construction, but was priced out by low-paid undocumented aliens.
He took a job in a local cabinet shop and made more money.
He liked “Cross-Fit” exercise, so on his lunch breaks, with the boss’s permission, he started making sturdy plywood boxes for cross fitters to jump on and off of.
His boxes sold so well that he left the cabinet shop and started his own business selling his exercise boxes on-line. I allowed him to operate from my home workshop.
His biggest customer was a local on-line retailer of sporting equipment. Before long, this company persuaded him to become their employee, with the promise of a big new wood shop, benefits, and steady money.
He went for it, but within a few months his new bosses outsourced production of his boxes to China and cut him loose.
The Chinese version of the boxes, I was told, were made with bad plywood, and the company lost a lot of customers. They attempted to hire my son-in-law back, but he was no longer interested.
He is now a state government employee, working full-time in the carpenter shop of a large local university for a decent salary and job protection and good benefits.
I’ll never forget my father’s lesson. He told me, “Son, no matter how many material things you accumulate, you can lose them all.”
“What do you mean, Dad?”
“Your great grandfather owned a beautiful farm. It meant everything to him. One day, some crazy, corrupt government officials came and took it from him. He lost it.”
“He couldn’t get it back?” I asked.
“No, in fact, let me tell you another story. Your grandfather lost one of his businesses due to some powerful union leaders that came one day with three buses, and took all his workers.”
“How? Where did they take them?” I asked intrigued.
“By the time they retuned, they were forced to follow the unreasonable demands of the union leaders. Your grandpa’s business was never the same again. He had to eventually close that booming business. He lost it.”
I couldn’t believe the stories, “Has this ever happened to you?” I asked.
“Yes. You were still a young boy. We owned a lot. One day some people decided to build a street through our property so they could get to their property — isn’t that crazy?”
“With no permits?”
“Yes, no permits! We lost that land plus got a huge headache of legal fees. The lesson here, Son, is that material possessions can be lost. But remember this: NOBODY can EVER take knowledge away from you. Investing in your knowledge is the safest investment you can ever make.”
So, to answer your question, what is the best way to invest money when you don’t have a lot?
An investment in knowledge pays the best interest. — Benjamin Franklin
ENJOY THE PAIN
What is the saddest thing you’ve ever seen?
When i was 12 years old my sister (she was 16) she began to experience abdominal pain. She never really told anyone about it except me (we were super close, like inseparable close). She thought that it was just because of her periods. As the months started to grow, so did her pain. I was freaked out so I suggested that we tell our mom but she said that she didn’t want to burden my parents (we were at a financial loss at that time).
So after about 65 days she couldn’t hold on so she decided to tell my mom. My mom got an appointment immediately and we rushed to the ER (Emergency Room). My sister was wailing in pain. The docs over there took an ultrasound scan and then an MRI and a couple of other scans, at this point my mom and I were crying that’s when they revealed that my sister had Pancreatic Cancer and that it had crossed Stage III. My mom literally fainted right there.
I was alone and scared and i had heard about cancer only in stories and books like fault in our stars. But when my sister was a victim i didn’t know how to react.
When my mom regained consciousness and calmed down, they told her that my sister was given a few painkillers and anesthesia for the time being and that we had to start with chemotherapy soon but that they were not sure that it would work. My sister did not know that she had cancer, the doc explained it to her usually merry face broke down.
They started chemo and her beautiful black locks which she was proud of slowly began to fall. She was a person of positivity so she told my mom that she wanted to EXPERIMENT her hair. She had hip length hair which she cut it to a bob then a pixie and then finally shaved her head. We both shaved our heads together.
She would never get a minute of sleep at night. On the 12th of December, it was my birthday, I ran home from school happily as my friends had given me a lot of gifts for my sister and me. My dad was there, my mom wasn’t, my sister was at the hospital, so I asked my dad to drive me to the hospital as I wanted to give the gifts to my sister.
My dad was looking really depressed but he agreed. When I reached my sisters room, she was screaming out of pain my mom was screaming for the docs. I went near my sister slowly she smiled at me even with too much pain.
Her last words to me were, “I love you, take care of tiger (our 1 year old dog) and mom and dad, it’s time for me to see grandma and grandpa in heaven”. She died at 16:07pm on my birthday. I cried for almost a month and I still cry for her every single day but not in front of my parents because I know that if I cry they will cry too. I hope she found a peaceful place! A MESSAGE TO MY SIS – I LOVE U ABBY pls come back if u can I miss you every second of my life.
KILL YOUR EXCUSES – Motivational Speech
Have you ever been arrested or taken into custody for something you didn’t do?
I was arrested for what a US Assistant Attorney (AUSA) indicated in the formal charges was a million dollar fraud case. I was fingerprinted, photographed and processed in as an arrestee. I was held for 9 hours while they processed me.
The AUSA alleged that I had, over the course of a few years, embezzled more than a million dollars and that the “amount could well be much more as they were still counting” but at this point, “couldn’t locate the monies.”
I was only 36 years young and didn’t have so much as a traffic ticket as an adult. I had a traffic ticket as a 16 year old.
I knew the federal agency I worked for was targeting me for opening my mouth about waste, fraud and abuse at the highest levels, but I never thought they would stoop so low as to make up charges and have the power to convince the AUSA to indict me.
How wrong I was. How naïve I was.
An attorney who was representing me in a civil case against my agency, called a friend of his who was a white collar criminal attorney at a big law firm in the city and asked him to meet with me.
I didn’t think the gov’t would indict me so we had a good chat, but during this “chat” he scared the dickens out of me and I ended up throwing up on him!
He indicated that the federal gov’t was surely going to indict me even with no proof, no evidence. I could get 10 years for each count of fraud. He said, “they do it all the time.” I had a career, but no monies to pay his firm. He said, “don’t worry about it, we’ll work something out.”
I was indicted for 27 counts of fraud with no evidence to support the charges.
The trumped up criminal charges were to try and scare me away from the civil case.
However, since I had worked for the gov’t for years, I had about 12 boxes of paperwork related to my job, etc. The criminal attorney asked me why I had all this “proof” and I indicated that I work for the U.S. government!
In reality, I always kept copies of anything I signed as I have a mediocre memory and my memory is complicated by a migraine condition so I lose memory on a regular basis, similar to an epileptic seizure disorder.
Long story short, the federal judge threw out all the indictments (with prejudice) and lashed out at the AUSA indicating “if you ever bring a case such as this to me again, I’ll have your law license revoked.”
Be That guy.
What is the best thing you saw someone do when they got fired from their job?
A friend of mine, let’s call him Mike, a 5-year mid-level executive of an IT company was unceremoniously removed from his office when a new manager, let’s call him Fred, took over the company. Now both Mike and Fred came from another company, where Fred, then an “ass”piring Newbee did his best to take over Mike’s position and was unable to do so. Mike eventually left the company when his current company offered better compensation.
Six years passed and Fred, who rose after Mike left, was able to get a Senior Level position where Mike was working. For no reason, Fred on his first day fired Mike, the claim was insubordination, as Mike did not offer him a “Good Morning” as they passed each other in the hallway.
Mike who was already planning to set up his own company, went to his office, packed all his things, turned over his keys to HR, and left. A week after he was busy preparing his new company, using in part his separation pay. Unknown to Mike, several other employees in his division, learned what happened and resigned.
Now Mike was handling “Special Accounts” and he approached them saying he was no longer working with the company and was moving on. He did not tell them he was setting up his own company. It was also later learned that several of Mike’s co-workers came to work for him.
When Mike left, the company wanted to get him back, Mike said he would, only if they removed Fred and replaced him with another manager. The company would not do so.
Not a year later, Mike became bigger than his old company, who after Mike left slowly disintegrated when some clients left. Some did transfer to Mike’s company, many others found other groups. At this time, the owners of Mike’s old company offered to merge with Mike, who after consideration agreed.
You know the first thing Mike did? He went to Fred, said Good Morning, and gave him his options – either to resign or be transferred to a smaller branch about 100 miles away. Fred opted to resign.
Yeah, karma is a b****!
GOING THROUGH TOUGH TIMES – Powerful Motivational Speech
It is clear to the world except the US & its Western puppets, that it has a short time before the total eclipse of the dominion of arrogance, US & W. Europe. Will Putin and Xi be new world leaders, will it include India? Will Biden open be a doorman?
I think USA knows. That is why it is struggling to hang onto its “empire” for as long as possible.
That is why USA hysterically suppresses China thru sanctions, trade war, US puppets etc.
W Europe also knows. Some continues to stay by USA. Some turning to China. Poland, for example, is 100% pro-USA. But it asks for Chinese investment in EV in Poland.
Putin & Xi for sure will be the new world leaders.
India? I personally do not see that in the foreseeable future because it is far too behind Russia & China, both economically & technologically.
India’s propaganda skill is good though.
Have you ever had such a close call it makes your skin shiver everytime you think about it? If so, what happened?
I was about 11 or 12 and the last two lessons of the day were hockey practice. Now our hockey field was away from the school but in walking distance. When it was finished we went home straight from the field as we all lived local. I had to go along a road with houses both sides but then there was nothing but fields both sides for about a mile until you reached a busy t junction. When I reached the quiet stretch a car pulled up alongside me, and the male driver opened the passenger side door and told me to get in. I said no so he started to get out the car and with that I ran for my life literally. He chased me for a bit and then gave up as I was nearing the junction. He turned his car around and drove off. I think of it now and again and wonder what would have happened . I may not have reached my 75 years of age. For some reason I never told anybody as I remember feeling it was my own fault for not going the long way round. In hindsight I know I should have done. I hope he didn’t succeed in abducting anyone else . I feel guilty about not saying anything but at the time it never entered my head because all I thought about was getting into trouble with my dad as he would have gone berserk.
Have you ever “fired” a doctor? How did you go about leaving your doctor and finding another one?
Yes I did, in the middle of my second pregnancy. I was around 4 months pregnant and was having a sonogram done to check on the progress of the baby. Of course that particular day, my future daughter decided to curl up in a ball with her back facing my stomach, so the sonogram technician was having a tough time getting a read on the blood flow in the umbilical cord. We tried everything we could to get her to move, but she was already showing signs of stubbornness and stayed put. We tried for over an hour, and let’s not forget that you have sonograms done with a full bladder, so I was in pain. Finally the technician said she would give it her best shot and make a note in the report that the baby was blocking access to the cord. I agreed, we finished, I peed and went home.
A couple of days later I was shocked to receive a phone call from my OB/GYN’s office informing me of my referral appointment at the Perinatal/Neonatal center in a city over an hour away (I lived in a rural area). When I asked what the referral was for, I was told they couldn’t tell me and I would have to discuss it with the doctor at my next appointment. And I informed them that the referral appointment was prior to my next meeting with the OB/GYN and I would not go to it without knowing what it was about. They insisted that I had to go. I said if it’s that important then the doctor can call me himself and explain why I needed to go, if not then I wasn’t going and I hung up. As you can imagine, my stress level was now high and I couldn’t imagine what was actually wrong when everything had been fine so far. Next thing I know, one of the Nurse Practitioners from the office calls to talk to me. Again, she cannot tell me why I was referred; only the doctor could. So, I said, either the doctor calls me himself or at 4 pm tomorrow I will be coming into the office to pick up a copy of my files to take to a new doctor.
I was not surprised when the doctor never called me, and as promised, I showed up at 4 pm the next day to pick up a copy of my records and told them to cancel the referral appointment and all future appointments with the practice. Once I got home, I sat down and read my file and figured out why the doctor had referred me and it was wrong. First, he saw the numbers for the blood flow in the cord, but didn’t bother to read the note about my daughter blocking it so assumed she wasn’t getting enough oxygen. Next, he used a certain test based on the size of her head and length of her spine and decided she was undersized. With multiple nurses in the family, they quickly pointed out that the tests he used to determine the size are not valid until the fetus is at least 20 weeks old, and she was only 16 weeks old.
So, I took this information and made an appointment at a new OB/GYN practice. With my records and a new sonogram, they confirmed that the first doctor had been wrong and the baby was progressing on schedule.
I never regretted leaving the doctor that made assumptions, used the wrong tests, and failed to communicate with his patient.
Did you know there was something wrong with your health, but no one believed you, until one day you received a correct diagnosis?
This is a Christmas story. And it’s not my story, but the story of a young man who was helping his mom in the kitchen, preparing New Year’s Eve dinner.
main qimg e7b2db8c24c593166ebe21738a381a27
When at some point his mom dropped something on the floor, he was the first to bend down and pick it up. That was a typical Mark thing — helping all the time.
But when he bent down, something snapped in his neck.
A lump occurred on one side of his neck, but he had no pain, and felt fairly okay. (But still.)
And it’s not that his family members did not believe him when he said that something in his neck had snapped — some even proposed to drive him to a hospital, just in case — rather, it was an inconvenience on New Year’s Eve, and it did not hurt so how bad could it be, right ?
And as no one was insisting, he took his bike and rode to the hospital himself. By then, the lump had considerably grown, but nobody had noticed that (or maybe they ignored it altogether).
They would never see him again.
When Mark arrived, he collapsed near the entrance of the ER. And there was nothing the ER doctors and nurses could do for him, although they tried, and tried, and tried.
Later, the medical doctors discovered that Mark had Syphilis — a fact which was (most probably) unknown to him — and that he had developed an arteriovenous malformation (an abnormal tangle of blood vessels) in his neck. As he bent over to help his mom, the tangle had snapped, and bled him to death within the hour.
And ended Mark’s story, on New Year’s Eve.
It’s Supposed To Be Hard | Motivational Video
What did someone say/do that made you close down your account and go to another bank?
My husband was trying to claim a work pension, and needed a form completing and stamping by our bank. A simple form, just requiring the bank’s name, address, sort code, IBAN, etc. and his signature. He went into his branch and they refused to stamp it, saying it was policy not to stamp any document that wasn’t theirs. He shrugged, said ok, and then asked for help completing the simple form, as he has Parkinson’s Disease and can no longer control a pen. The clerk refused to help. My husband asked to speak to a manager and he too declined to help my disabled husband. The reason he gave was ‘we might make a mistake.’
THIS WAS THEIR OWN DETAILS!
If they don’t trust themselves to write out their own name and address, why should we trust them with our money?
It gets worse. As a ‘vulnerable’ customer, we asked for a marker or flag to be put on our account, so it would show up every time he needed banking services and they would know he needs extra help. In spite of having been assured that the flag was there FOUR TIMES, every time we phone in or visit we are told that there is no such flag on our account.
It gets worse. My husband went to Australia recently, to visit a dying friend. While there his phone malfunctioned so he couldn’t make calls. The bank spotted what it thought might be a fraudulent transaction and asked him to verify the transaction. Because he couldn’t, they cancelled his internet banking, leaving him with no access to money. He borrowed someone’s phone to call them and explain. There was a power outage at the bank’s end. He was cut off and they would not call him back.
I tried calling them but they wouldn’t speak to me, even though it was a joint account. I spent 90 minutes begging them to call him and talk to him, but they said they couldn’t. I asked to speak to a supervisor but they said there wasn’t one. I went into the branch but they wouldn’t discuss it wth me. The advisor got up and walked away from me saying she couldnt help.
My husband had to go into a branch in Australia and beg them to loan him some money, and eventually they loaned him enough money to get home but while he was there he needed the bathroom (he’s on diuretics, and when you gotta go, you gotta go!) but they wouldnt let him use the bathroom and sent him to McDonalds next door, which was closed. He was in such distress that he went back to the bank and said he wasnt leaving until they let him use the bathroom, even if it involved soiling himself in public. They let him use the bathroom pretty darn quick, but imagine being reduced to having to threaten that before they would show a little common humanity.
This was all very stressful and stress makes Parkinson’s worse, and makes the medications less effective, so it’s a double whammy. It’s taken him nearly a month to recover his health.
So.
Next week, we’re off to the bank next door to our current bank. Amongst other things they have a disabled bathroom on the premises, and a dedicated member of staff for helping customers who need a bit of support.
Such a contrast. Our current bank has lost five accounts and many thousands of pounds because of this, plus the FCA and the local news station have got involved and the Consumer’s Association have taken it up. So, lots of bad publicity for HSBC and Hurray for Nationwide!
NO MATTER HOW HARD IT GETS – Powerful Motivational Speech
1) 80% of people would write their name if asked to write something with a new pen.
2) If a person laughs at a low quality joke then he is suffering from loneliness.
3) The big toe indicates the nervous weakness hidden by the other fingers, indicating that the person wants to be unnoticed by many.
4) Psychology is the first 6 seconds of meeting with someone, the first impression about him is formed.
5) It is a proven fact that our response to any situation is capable of radically changing that situation.
6) Many times someone’s indifference indicates his utmost care which he does not want to express.
7) If you write down negative thoughts and throw them away like garbage, your mood will get better.
8) In 90% of cases, those whose handwriting is bad are more creative than usual.
9) It has been proven that orange helps reduce anxiety. That’s why doctors recommend eating an orange before going to work.
10) Never reveal your goals to anyone. It produces the equivalent effect of achieving goals in the brain.
11) When surrounded by plants, the brain releases certain chemicals which increase the thinking power of the brain. That’s why walking in the garden is part of some psychiatric procedures.
12) The conversation of the parents with the child becomes the language of his mind.
13) 8 positive statements disable a negative statement.
14) If someone’s foot is back towards you during the story-gossip with many people, then it should be understood that he is interested in you.
15. If a girl likes you, she will play with her hair while talking to you.
16) You will rarely die in your dreams, if you die in your dreams then you have started something new in life.
17) Dream is a conversation between you and your subconscious mind.
Why do you think President Zelenskyy did not address Viktor Orbán’s proposal for a ceasefire in his statement?
Zelensky wanted ceasefire 1 months after the war started. But USA & UK stopped him.
Below is my earlier post
On 2024/6/10, in a CBS interview, US senator Lindsey Graham said Ukraine is sitting on a mineral mine that worth US$10-12 trillion (on eastern Ukraine).
He said the West cannot afford to lose (the Ukraine war). The West must win the war. Make sure Russia & China cannot access Ukraine’s mineral mine.
He recalled that former pres Trump sent military aid to Ukraine in the form of loan.
Back in 2022, Washington Post reported that the Ukraine war was about national mineral & energy wealth esp lithium which is important to make weapons.
That is, the war is just a tool to rob Ukraine of its rich resources.
No wonder, more than once, USA & UK stopped Ukraine from peace deal with Russia. Ah…h, it is about c o l o n i s a t i o n of Ukraine. About m o n e y.
No wonder in early 2024, when Ukraine is clearly losing the war, Europe spread fear of Russian threat to Europe. They must sent (ground) troops to Ukraine to make sure Ukraine will not collapse. Ah…h. It is all about splitting Ukraine’s mineral mine. Russian threat is just smoke.
The collective West is a robber, at the expense of human life & suffering of Ukrainians.
Democracy is just a slogan to hide their evil face too.
So from now onward, dont ever support democracy movements around the globe. Otherwise you become the devil’s accomplice.
Read “America’s Deadly Export – democracy” by William Blum.
MEN’S LIFE IS WAR – Motivational Speech by Andrew Tate
Have you ever put your child in a daycare only to take them out shortly after because something didn’t feel right?
I enrolled my children ages 2 and 4 in a day care and something didn’t feel right.
I asked to sit in and observe and while they did NOT like the idea, they allowed me.
I was appalled.
The level of discipline was extreme for that age.
When children sat in a circle, if they so much as moved a leg or a hand, they were reprimanded. They had to sit exactly cross-legged with hands folded or they were humiliated.
They ran the vacuum every 20 minutes because cleanliness was important. If one crumb hit the floor it was unacceptable.
If a child cried, they were exiled. But the worst was seeing one of the teachers hold a child’s face into the rug for speaking out of turn.
The two hours I was there, I did not see one child smile nor laugh, nor was there any noise at any time.
I then met with the head of the school and expressed my concerns.
She told me that strict discipline was the way to build responsible adults.
I told her that I was withdrawing my children and she threw a fit.
She threatened to sue me for slander if I told anyone else my opinions, and of course, she kept the one month in advance I had paid.
I did tell a couple of other parents what I had seen, and one told me “We don’t have the luxury of finding someplace else like you do.”
Another did not see anything wrong with the extreme discipline.
The next week, I walked in to another preschool.
It was loud, there was finger paint everywhere, and the kids were all laughing and smiling.
I had found my home.
Is America going through a leadership crisis?
What a polite way of saying that the entire nation is in free-fall, and has been on auto-pilot, run by ignorant, unskilled, and unelected idiots for the last few years. Um. I would say “yes”, with a rapid nodding of the head and rather elaborate hand and arm movements.
Who is blocking the cultural exchanges between China and the United States?
A few days ago, four students studying in the United States and scholars attending academic conferences were checked when they entered the United States, and finally three visas were revoked and repatriated. The students and scholars involved are from science and engineering backgrounds. Two of them participated in the research direction related to artificial intelligence (AI).
China students studying in the United States have been harassed, searched and repatriated by the United States for no reason, and related incidents have been continuously exposed by Chinese and foreign media, which has caused increasing international influence. Recently, two senior officials of the American diplomatic system have responded one after another, but what they said seems contradictory.
In an interview, U.S. Ambassador to China Burns denied the above allegations, saying that the United States issued about 105,000 new student visas to China citizens in 2023, and “more than 99% of the student visa holders successfully passed the examination of the Immigration Bureau”. Just a few days ago, US Deputy Secretary of State Campbell publicly admitted that American universities are restricting China students’ access to sensitive technologies. He also expressed the hope that China students would come to the United States to study humanities and social sciences instead of “physics”.
main qimg 64c066942fd4251a4cf67b03a7882bce
Burns and Campbell, who should the outside world trust?
You should choose to believe the facts.
When China students entered the United States, they were held in a “dark room” for interrogation, their computers were detained and their mobile phones were searched, which “felt like a lamb to be slaughtered”. Studying in the United States is discriminated against, monitored, prevented, investigated and even prosecuted. All kinds of experiences are not only exposed by China, but also reported by many foreign media such as The Guardian, AFP and Washington post. Reuters quoted some western academic circles and non-governmental sources as saying that “the deterioration of US-China relations and the concern about the theft of American technology have undermined scientific cooperation and made China students suffer unwarranted suspicion”.
Burns listed a pile of data to show that the US Embassy and Immigration Bureau are “unimpeded” in treating China students, but “occasionally make mistakes”. He even went back and claimed that it was China that made it more difficult for China students to go to universities in the United States.
His statement doesn’t even support the voice of America, the mouthpiece of the US government. The media quoted an American scholar as saying that the US Customs has more “investigation power and experience” than Burns’s the State Council system, and customs officers may find “something that the State Council has missed”. In fact, some of these so-called “missing things” are extremely absurd, including a China student who was suspected by the US of “collaborating with Wagner” because he talked about the Ukrainian crisis on social software. The bigger part is the “black box operation”. From beginning to end, international students don’t know why they were investigated or why they were repatriated.
This operation in the United States is said to want to communicate, but in fact? While talking about promoting exchanges, at the same time, driving China students out. Isn’t this a naked double standard? To put it bluntly, I just say it well, but I don’t really want to communicate at all. Isn’t this duplicity a typical “double standard”? Isn’t the United States doing this just to muddy the water and then confuse the fish with the pearls?
The United States prides itself on openness, tolerance and academic freedom, claiming that “science has no borders”, but it politicizes and weaponizes academic research, abuses the concept of “national security” to suppress and persecute China students, infringes on the legitimate rights and fundamental human rights of China citizens, creates a “chilling effect” and poisons the atmosphere of cultural exchanges between China and the United States.
The consequences of this double-standard practice are not light. First of all, it has seriously damaged the rights and interests of students in China and frustrated countless young people with dreams. Secondly, it sends a very wrong signal that the United States does not sincerely welcome China people. In the long run, the friendly exchanges between the two peoples will be seriously affected, which is definitely bad news for the long-term development of bilateral relations.
To solve this problem, the United States has to show some sincerity. First of all, stop the unwarranted investigation and repatriation of China students, and give others a fair and just environment. Secondly, the US government should introduce some policies to encourage cultural exchanges between the two countries, such as increasing the number of scholarships and simplifying visa procedures. Finally, the American media should also report more positive news about the friendly exchanges between China and the United States, instead of exaggerating the opposition all day. Only when all aspects of the United States show sincerity can Sino-US exchanges really get on the right track.
Promoting cultural exchanges between China and the United States is an important consensus reached at the meeting between the heads of state of China and the United States in San Francisco. It is beneficial for both China and the United States to enhance mutual understanding and deepen mutual ties through cultural exchanges, and the people of the two countries also have urgent practical needs for this. Politicizing the study abroad program and scientific research cooperation will do great harm to the cultural exchanges between China and the United States. The image of the United States in the eyes of people in China and the world depends fundamentally on what the United States is doing. Obstructing and destroying cultural exchanges will damage the international reputation of the United States.
HARD TIMES CREAT HARD MEN (MOTIVATIONAL SPEECH)
What were the last words you heard someone say before they died?
Just before my MIL went into a coma (and then died after a few days in hospice), the doctors wanted to examine her again. They asked all her children to leave the room. When I turned to leave, she grabbed my hand and frantically pleaded with her doctors to let me stay. They complied with a smile and she became very calm. When finished, they left and my MIL whispered urgently, “I need you to get an envelope of papers from my desk and make sure the General gets them! You’re the only one I can trust!” She worked many years as a Civil Servant at an Air Force Base but had been retired for over 30 years. I promised her I would deliver the (non-existent) papers and said, “I’ll do anything you need. I love you so much!” She sighed with relief and said, “I love you too! Thank you! For all the years we’ve loved each other!” Her kids went in to say good night and left. I stayed until she felt sleepy. She never said another word until she died. That was 13 years ago and I still miss her like crazy!
EDIT: My MIL was in her 90s. Her mind was wandering back into the distant past. There were NO papers except in her mind. The point of the story has nothing to do with the non-existent papers.
ADDITION: June 8, 2024: My husband died last night after a long illness. He was so tired of his struggle to keep surviving. His last words were “Give me a minute. I just need a little nap”. He slipped away so fast that he didn’t even close his eyes. Rest in peace with your mother.
Nobody Cares, Work Harder
Japanese man sentenced to 20 strokes of the cane and 17.5 years in prison for sexually assaulting a female student in Singapore.
A Japanese man, aged 38, was sentenced by the Singapore High Court on the 1st to 17 years and 6 months of imprisonment and 20 strokes of the cane for charges including rape, for bringing a drunken female university student to his home and sexually assaulting her.
This is the first known instance of a Japanese person being sentenced to caning, according to the Japanese Embassy in Singapore.
main qimg 63f9e158a8a2ce56a3d77860d40df958
The Japanese man, who worked as a beautician, brought a drunken female university student in her 20s to his home in a taxi in December 2019 in a busy downtown area. The two did not know each other. The student was in a state where she couldn’t stand on her own due to vomiting, but the Japanese man engaged in lewd and sexual acts in the elevator and his own room. He also filmed the acts and sent them to a friend.
The student is still suffering from PTSD as a result of the incident. The judge stated, “The crime was cruel and brutal. Considering the seriousness of the offense, the sentence should be severe.”
According to the Singaporean court, caning is only imposed on male offenders under the age of 50. The maximum number of strokes that can be administered at once is 24.
AGAINST ALL ODDS – Elon Musk (Motivational Video)
What happened at your job to make you think ‘I don’t get paid enough for this’?
I worked as a delivery man for IKEA the year after I finished my conscription. They had just recently set up in my town, and had some excellent deals on delivery, which people used to the fullest extent. I wasn’t even working for IKEA, but my company was hired to take some of the load of IKEA’s own delivery organisation.
So my partner and I used to get the trucks prepacked, and our job was to drive it to the customer and unload. The rule was basically that we should deliver it to the correct room, but nothing more than that.
The day starts being odd because we only have one address on our paper, when usually it is about 6–7. This turned out to be correct because it was to a family that had ordered absolutely everything from IKEA to a two-story house. Beds, sofas, desks, every machine for the kitchen, washer, dryer and so on. I don’t remember exactly but it was a few tons of stuff being delivered.
One item caught my eye: Two marble counter tops, with a total weight of 600 kg (that is about 1300 pounds for any colonials reading). It could not be right, so I forgot about it for a minute.
When we get to the house, the whole family was there — not to help us of course (because the husband had a sore back) but rather to inspect our job. They insisted that we line up every single packet with the label in a direction so they could inspect the delivery before we left. This was even after my partner explained to them that if there is anything wrong with the delivered packets they had to report it to IKEA, since we only deliver and can’t bring anything back.
They of course refused to listen, and instead ran around looking at labels before we even emptied the truck, hoping to somehow get a correct count of every item while also really being in the way while we moved stuff. This almost escalated to a violent confrontation with the husband.
[Edit: I want to specify what the problem was: The delivery option only says that items should be delivered to a single chosen point by the customer inside the house, so if you order a new bed, you can get it into your bedroom. We went out of our way to put the items in the correct room, because of the husband’s back problem, but we had no obligation to do so as one delivery = one delivery point.
But this wasn’t enough for them; they also wanted us to sort and stack items and if a package did not have the labels in the correct direction they would demand we rotate it, so they could ‘inspect’ before they signed off the delivery. They would do this while we were carrying other stuff, and did so for the smallest packages.
Them signing off was that the delivery had been completed, not for the contents of the delivery being correct. So they made us do a whole lot of work so they could inspect something they actually did not sign off on.]
Any way, we get to the marble counter tops and, yay, there are actually two of them, with a total weight of 600 kilos. I don’t know how much each weighed, because one was smaller than the other, since we were far, far away from any assistance, wanting to get away from the horrible family and being really young and stupid we decided to get the counter tops inside. This took a long time, basically moving it inch by inch. Without any help or gratitude from the family we got it inside, my partner with some back pain and me with a knee that felt weird.
Once we got back to the office, we told the boss, who called IKEA and learned that they had used eight people to load the counter tops on the truck, but only ordering in two people from our company. There was apparently some screaming from my boss, and then he told us that we would never take another IKEA contract again.
So it was actually more my boss who said we did not get paid enough. And he really was looking out for his employees. I miss him sometimes.
PROVE EVERYONE WRONG – Motivational Speech
Why is China’s rise so hard for the US to counter?
It’s too late. America’s decision to counter China’s rise is akin to “closing the barn door after the horse has bolted.” Facts have proved time and again that China’s technological development can’t be halted.
Several efforts have been made to curb China’s rise since the creation of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, including limiting China’s development in nuclear weapons, space, satellite communication, 5G, commercial drones, electric vehicles (EVs), etc. All failed. Today, China has some 540 satellites in space and is launching a competitor to Starlink. When the US restricted China’s access to its geospatial data system in 1999, China simply built its own BeiDou, which is today better than GPS.
Since the end of the Cold War, the United States has attempted to construct a unipolar world centered around itself, using military, economic, and cultural means to maintain its global hegemony. However, with the rise of emerging countries like China, this unipolar structure is facing unprecedented challenges. China’s development model, deepening international cooperation, and contributions to the global governance system are gradually altering the balance of international power.
In this context, the strategic game between China and the United States has taken on new characteristics. After a period of strategic patience and low profile, China is now more actively participating in international affairs. Through multilateral platforms such as the Belt and Road Initiative and BRICS cooperation, China is promoting the establishment of a more just and reasonable international order. Additionally, China’s rapid development in fields like technology and the economy is challenging the traditional advantages of the United States.
The United States, on the other hand, is attempting to curb China’s development through trade wars and technology wars. However, these measures not only harm China’s interests but also incur significant costs for the United States itself. Internal political divisions, the rise of populism, and the undermining of the global multilateral system are weakening America’s international image and influence.
In this struggle, Europe’s role is particularly critical. French President Macron’s visit to China and his public criticism of U.S. policies indicate that Europe is seeking greater strategic autonomy and does not want to become a vassal of American unipolar hegemony. This stance reflects Europe’s aspiration for a multipolar world order and is a strong response to American unilateralism.
Moreover, many developing countries and emerging economies play an important role in this contest. Their positions and choices in international affairs often run counter to U.S. unipolar hegemony policies. These countries are more inclined to support multilateralism and international cooperation, opposing any form of hegemony.
This struggle is not only a contest of power but also a clash of ideas and models. Concepts such as “Chinese modernization” and “a community with a shared future for mankind” proposed by China are gradually becoming hot topics in international discussions. These ideas emphasize cooperation and win-win outcomes rather than zero-sum games.
In this contest, China has demonstrated strategic wisdom in being “daring to fight and good at fighting.” While safeguarding national interests, China is also actively seeking areas of cooperation with the United States to achieve common development. This strategy reflects China’s confidence and its respect for international rules and commitment to peaceful development.
If some one is trying to rape you and you were in this position
main qimg ab841c544dced1265aa830a26af5e622
then stretch your hands horizontally as far as you can, this will bring the person close. Then hit him on the nose, as hard as you can, with your head. If your mouth is close enough, then bite his nose without hesitation.
2. If a dog is going to attack you in open place then,
do not run, dog can catch you in no time( since it is open place).
do not look into its eyes( animals can sense fear).
do not show your back( showing back is a sign of fear).
grab a stick if possible. Stand straight and be in attack mode. Walk backwards slowly until you are out of attack zone(200 meters is dog’s attack zone).
In case dog bites you and your body part is in its mouth, then
Do not try to remove your body part, dogs will only bite and will insert their canine teeth but they cannot peel your muscle because they don’t have much capacity in their jaws( some dogs like bull dog and doberman are exceptional they have well built muscles).
Stray Dogs are usually weak, the strongest body part in their body is neck muscle.
So don’t pull your muscle from their teeth(in fact you cannot)
grab its neck and pound it to ground.
Shout louder and gently remove your muscle.
3. Suppose you rammed your car into an electric-pole and live current wires on your car then,
Do not panic. Your car tyres are made up of rubber and will work as an insulator. The metal surface of the car acts as a Faraday cage due to which the electric field inside the car is zero.
Do not step out of the vehicle,if you do so you will complete the circuit between wires and earth and you’ll be fried in no time.
Pick up the floor mats in your car and throw them on the ground where you could reach by jumping
Make sure you cover maximum area with mats
Open car door widely( roof top is preferable) then jump onto the mats which you placed earlier.
Make sure you remove two legs at once( keeping one leg inside may complete circuit).
Don’t walk over there just slide your feet like jam over bread( you need greater knowledge in physics to understand this).
4. Keys
Car keys are the deadliest weapons one could hold.
If someone tries to kill/harm you, then stab him in eyes with key.
5. You are driving a car and your brakes failed,then
Do not kill( turn off) the engine in panic as turning off engine will lock your steering then you can’t change your path to avoid collisions.
Do not change your gear to “neutral”, just decrease the gears sequentially. If you are in 80 in 4th gear, blip the accelerator a little (do not keep pressing it) and shift to 3rd. The car will slow down due to engine braking. Like wise do that with the rest of the gears.
Once you have attained impact sustainable speed, try hand brakes. If they failed too, collide your vehicle with a similarly sized, parked car because Car fronts are designed to absorb shock (structurally weaker) and hitting a similarly sized car will distribute the momentum evenly
Else collide it with a tree or pole( make sure you wear seat belt and have air bags).
YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE – Powerful Motivational Video 2020
What is the most ridiculous thing you had to deal with regarding an HOA?
The last community we lived in, the HOA was horrible and they singled people out. For example, there was a small fence that divided the backyard of our townhome from the back yard of our neighbors townhome.
It was just a small wooden privacy fence about 12 feet in length. The fence was old and began to lean over a bit. The neighbor complained to the HOA about the fence, saying it was our responsibility.
The HOA tried to fine us and I pulled out the book that came with the house. The fence was clearly on her property and I showed this to the HOA who then dropped the fine. Problem was, the fence was no longer a problem….they never fined the neighbor or even request she repair it.
I do have a funny HOA story.
Our new neighborhood has an HOA but they aren’t too heavy handed. When we moved in, the previous owner stored their trash cans on the edge of the driveway by the house. I put them in the same place as the previous owner but the HOA president didn’t like this. He sent letters (no fine) saying the trash cans needed to be behind the fence in the back yard (only the back yard is fenced and not the front).
I somewhat argued with him and asked him to clarify what exactly this rule was….and it’s the trash cans cannot be visible from the street.
I clarified that they didn’t have to be in the back yard but out of view and he agreed.
He did argue that because our house was on a turn, they’d still be visible on the side of our garage. I told him to consider it handled but asked for that in writing (in which he did).
Some friends of mine own a fairly popular fence and deck company. While I had to pay a little, my fence and deck folks helped me solve the problem:
This is the view from the side of our home on the street at the bend:
main qimg 825478e75d8f355b1375ee7cd9cc3ac9
This is the view from the front:
main qimg 81366409225fa3634adba2d9cd958d9f
And here is what it actually is:
main qimg c388647d0bc83251150096989069a3c1
HOA president was pissed but I stayed within the rules he set.
Why does China refuse to communicate with Taiwan’s government?
PRC has made clear for 70 years that the One China principle is the red line for all and any relations with China. And that applies very clear to ROC also.
So, when KMT accepted that ROC also means China without specifying what that China means, PRC showed maximum flexibility and agreed to talks resulting in the 92 Consensus. But with DPP refusing to accept the One China principle and their leaders even refusing to accept they are Chinese, there is no possibility of PRC accepting talks.
PRC is prepared to negotiate and accept the status quo only with the One China principle. Anything else is a restart of the PRC/ROC civil war to settle the Taiwan issue. ROC has not much time left to start talks based on One China.
PRC prepared to retake Taiwan for decades and PLA is now ready to do the job. If Taiwan separatists continue on current path, there will not be a ROC soon. Lai’s inauguration speech defining ROC/PRC as two countries not subordinate to each other already breached PRC’s One China laws and the red line. PLA can take actions once the orders are given.
How to become a rich man after being stuck in prison for seven long, excruciating years.
As Peter blankly sat on his bed inside of his incommodious five-foot-by-five-foot maximum security jail cell, complete with sparking electric fences and menacing guards surrounding the whole cell, he began to throw random objects at the electric fence, watching them slowly burst into miniscule flames and leave trails of smoke until finally fizzling out.
Out of boredom and an act of defiance against the orders of guards and the king, Peter repeatedly threw objects at this evil faced encasement meant to entrap him: Mice, rocks, scraps of food. Anything he could find to slowly pass his time in jail.
He yelled out to the guards, “Someday I will be out of this jail and you’ll be under my control and power instead of the other way around.”
But, every day, the guards kept their stance and tolerated Peter’s hopeless cries of defiance, annoyance and boredom. Little did Peter know, he would be free and rich sooner than he had expected and meant in his words.
Suddenly, he heard the echoing stomping of their studded metal boots of the kings’ royal guards march down into his quarters, the filthiest area where all the worst criminals were kept in the farthest, darkest corner seventy-five yards away from all other civilians. Countless criminals resided there after committing gregious crimes such as arson, murder, and robberies, all sinking into their own endless pool of shame, regret, and dismay.
Peter felt surprised by this, knowing that the kings’ royal guard thought very highly of themselves and would never draw near to the presence of grimy delinquents and be subject to their shame and indignity, afraid that their guilt would impinge on their own pride and self-respect.
Suddenly interested, Peter avidly sat up and heard the turn of the lock to his cell click open, something that he had not heard for seven long and excruciating years. Seven long years of guilt, shame and contrition due to his wrongdoings. He had been twenty years old then. Young and foolish, he had everything he could ever want: a good family, abundant money, and all the latest tech. But, Peter still wanted more and more.
So, he decided to rob people of money, murder people he got into the slightest arguments with, and finally his biggest misshap– trying to steal the Makepiece Diamond of Zirca, which was one of the most valuable diamonds in all of the galaxies. Peter had planned everything to go according to his potentially flawless plan. He had infiltrated the king’s palace and the treasury where the diamond was kept. Just as his hand was about to snatch the glittering, clean-cut Makepiece diamond, he smelled a foul gas in the air, and he realized he had set off a tripwire that released knockout gas. The guards had come rushing in, stomping and frantically pouring into the small room and brought young Peter to the filthy catacombs where he still inhabited seven years later:
“Halt. You are officially under arrest by the kingdom of Zirca. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say or do may be used as evidence against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney and you have a right to consult an attorney before being questioned and to have an attorney present. If you can’t afford an attorney, which evidently you can, one will be appointed to you.”
Seven years later in his jail cell, startled, Peter’s mind began swarming with millions of hypothetical reasons and questions. Is this a chance to freedom? Am I being sentenced to death? Why am I being summoned?
The royal guards with crisp white uniforms etched with their rankings: general, commander, agent, or so on, each with matching badges that signified they were of the highest class of military personal and pins. Gold trimmings neatly marched along the neckline and cuffs, stitched so perfectly they seemed to be pressed into the uniform. The proud guards spat at Peter and gruffly shouted, “Get up, you purple haired buffoon. The king wishes to see you, though we don’t know why he would want to see a dirty, ragged, wrongdoer like you. Now get up, and don’t make us ask twice.”
Peter quietly stood in confusion, curiosity, and bewilderment, and let the guards drag him to his death–or freedom.
Slowly lumbering up the moss covered stairs, feeling the stares of equally infamous criminals as himself, glancing at sparks flying off of many other electrical fences, new criminals with snarling faces thrashing in the guards arms.
Peter felt the guilt he had controlled and held in the jail of his own heart for seven long years come to light as he walked the walk of his own shame to the king’s court.
After what seemed like an eternity, or more precisely, 458 feet, 30 flights of stairs, and more than a hundred jail cells like his own, he finally saw the dazzling lights of thousands of crystal chandeliers, servants serving the king to all his miniscule whims, mellifluous music floating through the air from a grand harp, and finally the throne itself.
Peter started muttering to the guards that clenched his arms so tightly.
The king’s throne was a magnificent piece of work and the centerpiece of the throne room. Dripping with jewels such as clear-cut diamonds, forest-green jades, ocean-blue sapphires, dazzling sea-green emeralds, deep violet amethysts, ice-blue topaz, and fire-red rubies, it reflected a thousand rays of light, while being placed in pure gold.
Peter gaped in awe to the regal king that comfortably rested aloft the magnificent golden throne and meekly bowed out of his own humility and respect. The king, although aged and ancient-looking, he had an extremely wise mindset, and made decisions for the best of his planet. He had a great, wispy white beard, flowing robes of shimmering gold, and a grand crown on his head.
The tension of silence between the king and Peter at that moment became stifling. All servants, jesters, and guards sensed the palpable tension between the rotten criminal Peter and the royal, regal, wise King of Zirca. As the silence started to become almost unbearable, and static sounding, the king’s booming voice finally rang out.
Suddenly hearing the king’s echoing voice, Peter quickly glanced up at him. The king spoke to Peter and announced, “Peter, son of Circa. You have murdered countless families, looted many of my finest ships, and have attempted to steal the Makepeace Diamond of Zirca. For this, you have had been sentenced to life in prison. But, unfortunately, our planet is dying. Our Fire of Hestia has been stolen by the people of Titan. I am recruiting you to retrieve it for your freedom or death. Now, young Peter, what is your response?”
Hearing the name of “Fire of Hestia,” Peter’s mind clicked, and he finally realized why he had been brought up from the catacombs, left to rot, but instead given a chance of freedom. The Fire of Hestia was a relic from when the whole universe had been created. It powered all life on a planet, and without it, a planet could rot and die away slowly. Peter looked out the king’s grand windows, and saw that the whole landscape had changed since he had been exiled into prison. It looked dark, gloomy, and somber. Before, it had bursting with life: Foliage everywhere, children laughing, picnics taking place everywhere. But now that the Fire of Hestia had been stolen by the Titanians, the planet of Zirca was dying.
True, there were other relics across the universe that powered other planets, but the Fire of Hestia was special. It was the only relic powerful enough to give life to such a gargantuan planet such as Zirca and the people of Zirca the comfort and pleasure it needed.
Peter silently debated in his mind of the decision he should make. Shall I go after The Fire of Hestia in this quest? Should I spend the rest of my life rotting away in my shame and mildew? His hands became clammy, and his throat suddenly felt parched. But, Peter knew what he had to do to save his home planet and all those inhabiting it.
Peter responded in an equally regal voice, knowing that he had been chosen for one of the most difficult and important quests in all of robbery history. Despite the fact that he felt weary, bone thin, hunched over, had matted hair, ragged clothing, smelled of the sewers, and a single shoe he boldly said, “My king, I am honored for this opportunity and I am willing to accept. But, only with added compensation. I would like 100 bars of pure gold, new clothes, new shoes, and a new spaceship to get to Titan. You must give me my demands, otherwise I shall not perform any services for you.”
The king replied after some thought, “Although that is quite a handful of treasures that you demand to have in exchange for your service, the planet needs you. I realize there is no other thief as clever and stealthy as you. I shall supply your extraordinary demands in return for the Fire.”
Peter conclusively announced, “Then I shall accept this quest and go out to find this Fire of Hestia.”
What is weird in America but normal in the rest of the world?
I grew up in Europe but have been living in the US for 30+ years. These are some of the things I noticed:
Leaving your left hand on the table when you eat. In Europe, it’s considered good manners, in the US it is considered weird.
More recently, women have begun shaking hands when they meet, but not so long ago, this was considered weird in the US, while in Europe, it is absolutely normal and considered polite.
Sitting at a table with a stranger in a restaurant is not unusual in Europe. This is how people meet. Friendships have developed that way and even marriages. In the US, every one sits at a separate table. If someone came and asked if they could sit at my table, I would consider it weird.
In Europe, you park your car and walk to your destination. In the US, we expect front parking. For a business not to provide parking would be considered weird. In that same vein, Europeans get out of the car to post their mail or make their bank deposits. They don’t typically have drive-through tellers or mail boxes.
These are just some of the things that come to mind. I’m sure there are many more, if I stop to think about it.
BECOME A SAVAGE – Motivational Speech
As a disabled person, has anyone ever confronted you over your parking in a disabled spot?
Yes. It happened this last Tuesday. It was amazing. Like… nobody is gonna believe this crap amazing.
I was doing the monthly big grocery shop( one week has the biggest item list where the other three have the smaller more perishable ones)
I was also, am also, coping with one the worst illnesses I’ve had in awhile. It’s not catching… unless I were to not wash my hands after a poo… which is just gross. I’m actually headed to the hospital for admission tomorrow.
In any case, I am disabled, and was feeling even more disabled than usual when the chick confronted me. I got out of my car, sans cane, to unhook my child from the car seat, right behind me, and into a cart. A cart that some considerate soul had decided NOT to take to the cart corral. So I eagerly bumped it with my car and grabbed it on exiting my vehicle. It was 2 feet from the car. I can handle 2 ft without support.
Anyway, I’m putting my kid in the cart and leaned in to snag my quad Cane and my sundries and this middle-aged lady comes flying up and kinda pushes me with her body. Shouting that fat is not a disability and I need to move my flipping car( she used more expletives but I don’t care to)
I restrained myself from pushing back with my butt and instead just bring my quad Cane out rather swiftly and set it down firmly. on her foot. Oops.
Then I replied “ no, it’s not. But my congenital spinal defect and the Degenerative Disk disease that come with it ARE”.
She didn’t actually listen. She posted herself right in front of me for about 3 minutes and kept shouting at me to move the car. I’m guessing her hormone shot was delayed or something. But she wouldn’t let my son and I pass, being more able bodied than I am she was pretty freaking quick. So I stood there considering whether to use my screaming child’s cart to ram into her. But a nice security-looking guy saved her.
He came out and asked us what was going on. She started ranting at him about the fat b in the disabled spot… he calmly raised his hand, then walked around the car to my windshield, saw the placard. Walked back and asked me if I’d like to have her arrested for harassing a protected class.
Turns out he wasn’t a security guard. He was just a police officer who stopped in to flirt with the coffee gal at the cafe inside on his break. He saw the ruckus and went out to check.
I told him my son and I just wanted to grocery shop safely please and away we went. She actually tried to chase me again but he body blocked her.
It was amazing. I bet if I’d got it on camera people still wouldn’t believe it.
I don’t think she got arrested or anything. But I know she wasn’t there when I was done shopping. Which wasn’t that long either. That was store number 2 that day. My first store is always A Big Box Store.
What are some sarcastic one liners?
“Well, Governor, we use fewer horses and bayonets than we did in 1916.”
main qimg 578ad60ad82346ce3b0c6c6c87b14dd3 lq
(Above: President Obama explains how Battleship works while Governor Mitt Romney thinks about how he’s going to cheat)
During the third Presidential debate, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney were sparring about various topics relating to the Obama presidency, with Obama quite obviously defending his actions against an onslaught of criticisms, some valid, from Romney.
However, the moment that sparked one of the first political memes of this decade was brought about by a ridiculously idiotic “accusation” from Romney:
Our Navy is smaller now than at any time since 1917. The Navy said they needed 313 ships to carry out their mission. We’re now at under 285. … We’re headed down to the low 200s if we go through a sequestration. That’s unacceptable to me.
If I was debating Romney, and I was the current President of the United States, I would probably make some statement about how our naval global dominance is currently asserted, and that we don’t necessarily need all of our ships to assert it.
I am not Barack Obama, who returned fire with this blistering comment that became the first prominent political meme of this decade:
You mention the Navy, for example, and the fact that we have fewer ships than we did in 1916. Well Governor, we also have fewer horses and bayonets. We have these things called aircraft carriers and planes land on them. We have ships that go underwater, nuclear submarines. It’s not a game of Battleship where we’re counting ships, it’s ‘What are our priorities?
If you were grading a paragraph on factual accuracy, on brevity, and on pure, unadulterated savageness, I don’t think you can score higher than what Obama just said. Not only did he completely destroy the point that Romney was making, he also explained to him what an aircraft carrier and a submarine was.
I believe we need a new nickname for Obama: The Roaster-In-Chief. He burned Romney so bad that Mitt looked like one of his steaks at a barbecue. Romney didn’t even know how thoroughly he was ruined in that moment. It was glorious.
You are going to meet a lot of fake friends in your adult hood more than when you young.
You are on your own, nobody is there to struggle with you, but many people are waiting for you arrive.
Everybody replies with “I am doing fine”, after being asked “How they are doing”, but in the reality, “Nobody is really doing fine” because everyone have their struggles.
Unfortunately, Intelligence doesn’t mean you will be rich! There are a lot of ass holes out there that are doing better.
We are all going to die, I believe this has been said many times.
One of the risk that is difficult to predict is marriage. It is always difficult to predict the end of the tunnel even with lightening’s. This is comparable with “Marriage”.
Do not compare yourself with anybody because we are born with different opportunities. Remember nobody chooses their parents!
If you cannot appreciate what you have now, you will never appreciate what you aspire to get later.
Real education is more than just acquiring a college degree, while college prepares you for the job mindset. You have to prepare yourself for the challenges in this world by educating yourself through investing in yourself.
Arrogant and prideful people usually have more problem in life because they are unteachable people.
What measures can Taiwan take to protect its fishing vessels from being detained by China’s coast guard in the future?
Ban fishing for 4 months from May to Sept is an INTERNATIONAL consensus, so as to allow immature fish to grow to adulthood.
1, China follows the intl consensus. But not Taiwan (or Philippines for that matter)
So Taiwan is wrong to begin with.
2, The fishing net is supposed to have big holes to allow immature fish to escape the net, while caught.
The net of the detained Taiwanese fisherman does not pass the intl “rule”.
3, The detained Taiwanese fisherman happened to have trespassed the Chinese territory & was in Chinese waters.
4, When Taiwanese patrol boat came to rescue the Taiwanese fisherman, the patrol also has entered Chinese territory.
Back to the question.
What Taiwan should do is to comply with the international rule. Educate its fishermen.
Be kind to the immature fish & let them grow to adulthood.
WHEN YOU FEEL LIKE QUITTING – Powerful Motivational Speech
Have you ever beaten a lawyer on a legal question (or if you are a lawyer, have you been beaten by a lay person on a legal question)?
Ex employee suing us. We investigate and counter allege fraud.
He appoints $700ph lawyer. I represent us. I’m not a lawyer.
Denny Crane mocks our allegation of fraud. Says I don’t understand the elements of fraud. I remind him that I’ve done insurance law and disputes for a decade, and lots of contracts in my job. I indeed know a great deal about the elements of fraud as a former insurance exec. Said he didn’t make a mistake with [paperwork] 713 times. Remind him that he needs to prove 713 honest mistakes whereas we can lose 712. We only need 1 count of fraud to stick. Or one lesser charge of fraudulent misappropriation / theft by finding, or forgery, or any other included charge and his life is effectively over.
The genius move was a settlement offer of $0 plus Denny Crane’s legals in getting to first mediation.
Denny’s equation is
Talk the L, be paid handsomely and not have to explain to the other partners that he blew a billable day, OR
Risk a far more expensive zero fighting and losing, getting his client jailed and paying an adverse costs order himself OR
Fight and win a very improbable case, likely earning nothing in a corporate bankruptcy and STILL writing off his fees.
Suddenly Denny is telling his client to accept $0 on a case he said was a slam dunk a week earlier.
His settlement was half what our big city law firm wanted just to READ the claim, not defend it.
What is the most unusual and incorrect reason you’ve had the police called on you?
I trained some Firemen in HazMat Response at a little fire station in a very small town in Alabama where we own some land. After training I asked to get some pictures of the “gang”. They agreed and I went to get one scary looking quiet fellow out of his chair to join the group. He gave me a scowl look and said, “Don’t you dare take my picture”, I didn’t.
Later the Fire Chief apologized and told me that the fellow is the Sheriff. I asked if he is always this threateningly grumpy and the Chief said, “Oh yah. We love him.” I asked why and he said he keeps that town clean as a whistle. He went on, once two young guys bought a farm and after planting season was over the Sheriff went to their place late at night and knocked on their door. One guy was there and answered the door. The Sheriff said he wanted to come in and look things over. The guy said no, go get a warrant. The Sheriff told him he can do that, but he would have to wake up the Judge and that would make the Judge angry. If the Judge gets angry that makes him angry, and when he is angry he has a tendency to get trigger happy and start shooting things. The Sheriff told him that he was sure the two were drug dealers since they both drove fancy cars, never planted anything or had farm equipment, had strange hours/visitors and didn’t introduce themselves to their neighbors ( a thing in small town Alabama). The guy let him in and the Sheriff found lots of drugs. Things work differently in small town Alabama, don’t mess with the Sheriff.
To all who will say that is illegal, not fair, against the suspects rights, improper entry, can’t be done, sets up a suit for dismissal and all kinds of other legal beagle stuff, you are correct. But that is not the way it works outside of the Big city in small town Alabama. The two guys never came back, problem solved.
I like it there, they just handle things with sensibility not legal meanderings. If more law enforcement were allowed to use sense instead of being forced to follow incredible legal guidelines which work against both sides, we would have much safer places to live. A police state you say? No, a safe place where kids can learn to drive four wheelers on back roads, shoot guns, climb trees and play in the rivers and lakes. Like the good ole days.
Butter Basted Fork Tendered Steak
butter basted fork tendered steak
Ingredients
2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons black pepper
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons paprika
2 sticks Salted Challenge Butter, divided
Ribeye steaks
3 feet butchers twine per steak
Nonstick cooking spray
Instructions
Combine salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika in a bowl or plastic bag. Reserve 1 tablespoon of seasoning for basting butter and set the remaining aside to season the steak.
Using a fork or a meat tenderizer with needle blades, probe the entire surface of steak on both sides two to three times.
The steaks will flatten during tenderizing stage so you will have to reshape steak with the twine. Gather steaks with your hands and pull them in to reshape them.
Once reshaped, snugly wrap butchers twine around perimeter of the steak three times and tie it off. Trim excess from ends.
Season steak with 1/2 to 1 teaspoon spices per side based on preference, and let the meat rest for 20 to 30 minutes before cooking.
Melt one stick of Challenge Butter and combine with one tablespoon of seasoning.
As steaks are resting, preheat grill to 500 to 525 degrees F.
Spray one side of steak with nonstick cooking spray and place it on the grill. Cook for 2 1/2 minutes.
Spray top side of each steak with nonstick spray, flip and baste with butter/seasoning mixture. Grill for another two and a half minutes.
Flip the steaks and rotate them 90 degrees, baste with butter mixture and grill for another 2 1/2 minutes.
Flip steaks, baste and check internal temperature. Cook to desired doneness. (125 degrees F for medium rare, 130 degrees F for medium, or 140 degrees F for well done.)
Remove from grill and let rest for 5 to 10 minutes.
Add a dollop of Challenge butter and serve.
Notes
Loren and Cheryl Hill are world champion pit masters who have competed on the professional BBQ circuit for last eleven years. “The Smoking Hills” earned 3 World Championships in 2015: The American Royal Invitational, World Food Championships BBQ, and World Food Championships Overall
WHEN LIFE IS HARD – Powerful Motivational Video
Listen. Listen. Listen. Listen.
Don’t you quit.
As a police officer, what’s one criminal you will always remember dealing with that stuck with you till to this day?
An old time heroin addict was in jail and sent me a note saying he wanted to talk to me. He said that he was tired of the way he was living, and wanted to change.
He said that many times he had either been shot or stabbed and had been using heroin for 20 years and couldn’t quit. He said that the only way he knew of was to burn all of his bridges by informing on everyone. That way no one would deal with him. He wanted help getting on methadone, I told him I would help him as best as I could. I called the methadone clinic and arranged for someone to talk to him.
He bailed out of jail and called me one morning, with some information. He said that there was a burglary at a certain business and business machines were stolen. He said that those machines were at a construction site inside of the superintendent of construction’s office.
I got a crew and went to the office and saw the machines, and asked about them. The superintendent said they were the company’s and that he only used them. There were several machines, a IBM typewriter and other items. I noticed he only had one hand and asked him to show me how he used the type writer. He attempted to use it which I knew it wouldn’t work as the cord wasn’t plugged in.
I called the company and spoke with the president and described the machines to him. He said none of them were his and they didn’t have equipment that I mentioned. The informant called several more times with an arrest being made each time.
Another time the informant called to tell me that a stolen truck-mounted compressor and a huge stolen farm tractor was at a certain farm which was about 75 miles from our city. I called the Sheriff’s office for that county and spoke with a Deputy Sheriff who said that I needed to speak with his Captain. The Captain told me that this farm was owned by the man who owned one of the largest private farms in the state and was friends with all of the big wigs in the county including the elected Sheriff. They went to the farm and confiscated the equipment, and said they would present the case to the District Attorney who was supposedly also a friend of the farm owner. I never heard back about what happened to the case.
The informant testified in several case he had given me information on, was accepted into the methadone program, got a job and I never again heard from him except a phone call. He said thanks, and was clean of drugs after a year and a half.
What should someone absolutely not do when in Australia?
This occurred 15 years ago.
Our family went on a month long road trip around Australia with a sprinter. We started our journey in Perth, Western Australia, then drove along the South West Coast through Albany. We then continued east towards Adelaide, eventually made several stops at major cities in the South-East coast, that is Melbourne, Sydney and then the Gold Coast.
As we were headed for Darwin and about to cross the Northern Territory border, we stopped at a gas station to refuel.
It was night time and we were literally in the middle of nowhere.
My dad entered the station to pay for gas, then the cashier asked my dad if we were planning on driving through out the night.
And when my dad said yes, he told my dad that he should not drive at night time and instead to opt for a rest at the motel because it’s dangerous.
He told us that there’s kangaroos roaming at night time.
My dad thought the Australian man was joking, so he ignored the tip and decided to continue the drive.
At that time, my dad thought that if he continued that night he could avoid the traffic and reach Darwin faster.
Plus, my dad was a pretty experienced driver.
We left the gas stop; my parents were on the front seat while my brothers and sister was at the back seat asleep as we cruise towards NT border at night time.
Few hour later, I heard a loud THUMP.
I woke up and saw the car slowly being pulled to the side of the road. There was smoke coming out of the trunk.
I remembered looking outside the window, seeing emptiness. It was dark and all I could think about was how we were going to die.
My dad went out of the car to check and what do you know?
We had crashed a large kangaroo.
There was a dead kangaroo inside our engine bay.
Two things died that night: the kangaroo and the car’s radiator.
We were forced to spend the night in the middle of the desert while we waited for a truck or anyone to pass by.
You know what? No truck came until morning time, perhaps avoiding the kangaroo that roams at night time.
So here is an expensive lesson we learned that night:
Kangaroo are crepuscular meaning that they are mostly active at dusk, dawn and night.
At night time they are attracted to light, or should I say headlights. It is common for Kangaroos to jump at incoming vehicle only to freeze (or blinded) by the light.
If you are planning to drive at night time in the outback, drive slowly and extreme caution.
There is an item called the Kangaroo Whistle that emits high frequency noise used to repel Kangaroo.
Avoid driving at night all together and take the gas station tip and rest at the motel.
main qimg 50a9d2e84fe8d49808580c7bda034142 lqmain qimg ad6103e983b2543535770586fdb9cf36 lqmain qimg 32b51aedcae296a4bcd3472f04d3a430 lq
The kangaroo was pretty much as big and the road looked something like the picture above.
All images taken from Google Images
PS: We were rescued by trucker who stopped by to help us reach road assistance. We were directed back to the nearest gas station and met the man that warned us about the kangaroos. A “told you so” moment but he was helpful and eventually we were driven to a small airport and flown back to Perth. The car was transported to Perth along with our belongings. There was a hefty price tag on the repair but luckily it was covered by insurance.
I forgot which town was our last gas stop, but will update once I figured it out.
EDIT, Kangaroo Facts:
21–26 km/h is the average hop speed for kangaroos and it can go up to 71 km/h.
”Father, I have a problem. I have two female parrots, but they only know to say one thing.”
“What do they say?” the priest asked.
They say, ”Hi, we’re hookers! Do you want to have some fun?”
”That’s obscene!” the priest exclaimed,
Then he thought for a moment……
“You know,” he said, ”I may have a solution to your problem. I have two male talking parrots, which I have taught to pray and read the Bible…
Bring your two parrots over to my house, & we’ll put them in the cage with Francis and Peter. My parrots can teach your parrots to pray and worship, & your parrots are sure to stop saying that phrase in no time.”
”Thank you,’ the woman responded, ‘this may very well be the solution.”
The next day, She brought her female parrots to the priest’s house….As he ushered her in, she saw that his two male parrots were inside their cage holding rosary beads & praying…
Impressed, She walked over & placed her parrots in the cage with them…
After a few minutes, The female parrots cried out in unison:
“Hi, we’re hookers! Do you want to have some fun?”
There was stunned silence…
Shocked, one male parrot looked over at
the other male parrot & says…
‘Put the beads away, Frank, Our prayers have been answered !!!
What is the most badass thing your parent has ever done?
When I was 15 years old walking home from highschool, I used a short cut and walked down the alley behind our house to save time.
When I got about a block away with the back of my house in sight, an older man who lived at the corner came out and stood in the middle of the alley facing me and began to make rude gestures and vulgar remarks in Spanish .
He was in his late 20s, and I thought he didn’t speak english. He was really into his performance, dry humping the air and making dirty sound effects when my dad decided to take the trash out.
My dad made a gesture to me to be quiet, as he walked up behind him. I had no idea what he was going to do. The man didn’t hear my dad as he walked up behind him. I did not believe what happened next.
I watched my dad walk up to the guy and jump into the air holding his body sideways and (without a running pace) kick the man in the back of the head knocking him down to the pavement (asphalt) . He put his foot on his head and pressed his face down on to the asphalt and bent over to tell the man if he ever heard him talk like that to his daughter again he would regret it.
And guess what?
The guy spoke English for the first time in his life (lol) saying “yes sir”, “I’m sorry sir”, “it won’t happen again sir”.
I think he broke his front teeth in the fall? So in a sense, he got his teeth kicked in for having a nasty mouth in front of a young woman. My dad said the punishment fit the crime and I never had trouble with that man again.
My dad was a superman my whole life. He had a natural build, arms bigger than his head and a quick response in defending people he cared about.
He played baseball until his late 50s and laid brick and block at 74. His last project was a pergola with 14′ beams in our backyard. He built it with end stage small cell lung cancer at 75.
I watched him pick up a man by the back of his shirt and the seat of his pants and throw him out of the produce section for insulting my mother at a grocery store.
He took on three men to save his friends store from being looted during the riots in Los Angeles, then stayed by himself during the fires to board it up.
He was a war horse all the way to the end in 2016 when he died at home due to complications (cancer).
Great movie (Free, full length)
007: No Time to Die – James Bond | FULL ACTION MOVIE | English FHD
no time to die 2
This is the all time classic fun with Bond. James Bond.
But, in all seriousness, who we think is in control… ain’t. Someone or something, else is “pulling the strings”, and who or whatever they are… and I am not saying they are anyone non-human… but they actually are deluded amateurs.
First up, we see that the “president” is a figurehead. He has no ability, and is cognitive – lacking. In fact, I have seen “special needs” people with more ability than what he displayed on camera.
It was a disaster; a true and real “shit show”.
We also see “fake” presidents running around with fake masks, and earbuds. Not to mention a legion of “handlers” that make sure that he is “on point”. These “fake president Biden’s” never make any mistakes, stutter, or go irrational like the real (non-functional) president does.
So someone is running things. But who?
A unelected cabal? Or, just the “court hanger’s on” that orbit the office of the presidency? I tend to believe the later, and the rulings, the regulations and laws suggest trivial matters of political importance elevated to national discourse, while the serious issues of national concern are ignored.
Such as this…
snippet
As opposed to this…
CPI
I am not picking on one measure or the other, just making a very generalized statement that the priority sheet for the Federal Government is way, way out of wack. Special interest niche matters become national priorities, while real national emergencies are covered up, and ignored.
Que an Oliver Anthony tune here.
And with this all being the case 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 5. Meaning, of course, that things are not adding up in the official narrative basket.
Oh, depending on what will happen, we will either get a war of distraction, more of the same (Weekend at Bernie’s) …
Fun-loving salesmen Richard (Jonathan Silverman) and Larry (Andrew McCarthy) are invited by their boss, Bernie (Terry Kiser), to stay the weekend at his posh beach house. Little do they know that Bernie is the perpetrator of a fraud they've uncovered and is arranging to have them killed. When the plan backfires and Bernie is killed instead, the buddies decide not to let a little death spoil their vacation. They pretend Bernie is still alive, leading to hijinks and corpse desecration galore.
weekend
… or a full-on clown show (Idiocracity).
trump
Sigh.
Post-Debate Reaction: The Most TERRIFYING Part of the CNN Presidential Debate
Thai Stuffed Omelets
Thai stuffed omlette
Yield: 2 omelets
Ingredients
1/2 cup ground pork
2 tablespoons chopped green beans
1 tablespoon chopped onion
1 tablespoon diced cooked carrots
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
2 to 3 drops Maggi sauce
4 eggs
1 teaspoon milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon MSG (Accent)
Pepper
Instructions
In wok or saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons oil.
Add pork, garlic salt and MSG. Stir fry for 3 minutes.
Add green beans, onions and carrots, tossing lightly.
Add sugar, Maggi sauce and dash of pepper.
Remove from heat and pour into a bowl.
Pour enough oil into skillet to cover bottom.
Lightly beat eggs with milk. Pour in 1/2 the egg mixture and spread evenly.
Add 1/2 of pork mixture.
Fold over 1/2 of the omelet to cover the pork mixture.
Here’s some of my latest AI generated art. Chinese girls and tigers on a clipper ship. Oh, yeah, I’m still playing around with this.
I find it fun and enjoyable.
Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(3)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(4)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(4)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(3)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(2)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(3)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(7)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(7)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(7)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(7)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(6)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(6)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(6)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(6)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(5)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(5)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(4)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(5)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(4)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(3)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(4)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(4)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(3)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(2)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(3)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(3)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(2)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(1)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(2)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(2)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(3)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(2)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(1)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(2)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(2)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(1)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(1)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(1)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2
Now, I am trying a art plug-in filter…
Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(14)
Which, of course, by nature… naturally tends to undress them.
Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(15)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(14)
Maybe I should try a Greek mythology version.
Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(13)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(15)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(14)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(13)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(12)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(14)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(13)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(12)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(11)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(13)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(12)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(11)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(11)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(10)
Here’s where I swapped out some Chinese ladies for some Vietnamese ladies…
Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 0(21)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 2(19)Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 1(19)
And this picture is my daily favorite. I really love the curious background.
@Default Create a anatomicallyaccurate photo realistic Baroques 3(12)
Today…
Was Trump right when he said the debate was rigged?
Yes, it was. In the sense that CNN organized the debate in such a way that they thought their set-up would help Biden come across better. They were also betting on the mic-off rules startling Trump and possibly causing a meltdown…
main qimg a3a447276a5fc51591dec61d5a7bcb10
The problem? CNN and many in more liberal spheres — myself included — have fallen for a trap. As Tony Montana used to say, “Never get high on your own supply!” They bought into the fairy tale of Trump, the raving, ranting madman. Versus calm, collected, has-his-wits-about-him Biden. Biden, who since 2020 only does well on strictly scripted performances. With the world hyperfocused on the issue of Biden’s age and frailty, all Trump needed to do was appear “presidential”.
And CNN helped him do it by enforcing strict time limits on questions. Trump kept his cool, spoke clearly and relatively coherently. And Biden, without an earpiece, autocue or script? Bombed. CNN had expected Trump, instead, to bomb. They forgot he always talks shit confidently on the fly — it’s his biggest selling point. The debate was designed to cause Trump to lose his shit, to become frustrated and angry. To shout and try to disrupt Biden’s answers, to act aggressive and nasty, much like Trump did in the 2020 presidential debate which he came out of looking badly.
And then… he didn’t. Faced with a whispering, frail Biden frequently losing his train of thought, Trump must have known from the very first minute that this was his night. That the stage was his, and that victory was all-but certain. Truth matters little when it’s a faint, confused whisper… and lies, presented with gusto, carry the night. Instead of attacking Biden on a personal level, Trump at times almost seemed to pity his opponent… he felt no need to be vicious, because the debate was the verbal equivalent of Mike Tyson fighting a sweet old grandpa.
What psychological tricks and hacks are useful to know?
If you haven’t slept well, tell your brain “I slept well”. You will feel fresh. It works like miracle.
Want to defeat a narcissist who insults you? Don’t react. Just ignore him completely in front of others. It will hurt his image and he will stop poking you.
Want to know if someone is attentive or not? Repeat your sentence with a slight change in it. If he is listening either his facial expression will change or he will point out and question the part.
Want to know a person is lying to fit in a group? Just watch his eyes when he talks, if his eyes seeks validation from others for what he said, then he is pretending. A liar /pretender always seeks validation for his talks to fit in the group.
Giving a presentation ? Always bring a bottle of water to the stage. When you can’t remember what to say, take a drink. Nobody will know the difference.
Build good relationships: Harvard University studied adults for almost 70 years and concluded that nothing leads to prosperity and healthy life as good relationships.
Avoid getting roasted. If you think that someone is going to talk badly about you in a professional setting, sit next to that person. It is much harder to speak poorly of someone who’s in close proximity to you, so they’ll probably take it easy.
Stop reacting: You lost your wallet? Had a terrible breakup? Working hard but no appreciation? Lost your job? Stop reacting in such situations. Don’t expect recognition for your efforts. Think twice, act wise!
30-days challenge: Want to kill a habit? Start a 30 days challenge and you will see the change.
Relationship Advice: Be with someone who gives you the same feeling as when you see your food coming at restaurant.
Biggest brain damaging habits:
No breakfast.
Over-reacting.
Smoking.
High sugar consumption.
Air pollution.
Sleep deprivation.
Head covered while sleeping.
Working your brain during illness.
Lacking in stimulation thoughts.
Talking rarely.
Never tell anyone 3 things:
Your Love life.
Income.
Your next big move.
Exercise: 20 push ups, 15 squats, 50 jumping jacks, 30 crunches! repeat 3 times = burn 100 kilo calories.
Inception.
This one’s my favourite. If you want to start a thought in someone’s mind, ask them to not think of that idea at all. For example I tell you NOT to think about DIAMONDS.
What are you thinking of? 🙂
Democrats In “ALL OUT PANIC” After Biden’s Debate Performance
The clips are so disturbing. This guy is “leading the country”?
FAKE “Joe Biden” Is Back! One Day After Dismal Debate with Trump; FAKE “Joe” Wearing Silicone Mask put on campaign trail
A FAKE “Joe Biden” is back and on the campaign trail, committing willful felony, criminal fraud against the American People and criminal Impersonation of the President of the United States.
The latest fake – this one with Hazel colored eyes instead of Biden’s blue eyes – appeared at a Campaign Rally. His silicone mask appeared to be melting or drooping near his eye brows, and coming unglued out of his ears!
The sloppy impersonation is designed to commit willful fraud upon the American people; to make them think they have an energetic and competent President, when the reality is they don’t.
Below is video from the campaign rally just one day after joe mumbled his way through the first televised debate with Donald Trump. No rational person can avoid seeing this is an impersonator. No rational person can avoid seeing the silicone mask sliding down where “Biden’s” eye brows are:
Fake Biden Eye brows
Or around his other eye, the silicone mask literally DETACHING around the eye socket near the nose:
Fake Biden Right Eye Mask Detaching
No rational person can avoid seeing this fake’s HAZEL-COLORED eyes instead of Joe Biden’s Blue colored eyes:
Fake Biden Hazel Eyes Not Blue
No rational person can avoid seeing the tabs in the center of “Biden’s” ear canal, drooping out from sweat or failing glue.
FAKE Biden ear tab
What you are about to see is willful, criminal, impersonation for the purpose of fraud. The Biden Campaign is committing it. The United States Secret Service (protecting this fraud) is committing it. The Democrat Party is committing it.
People are already wondering aloud if Joe Biden has Brown Eyes, so let me lay this diversion nonsense to rest, right now. Below is a photo of Barack Obama and Joe Biden, in the White House, taken by ABC News and being fed into my website from the ABC News Server:
obama biden ap ps 200114 hpMain
The direct Link to this image on the ABC News server is:
The diversion tactic of “I think I remember . . . . . brown eyes . . . .” is not going to work and is not going to be tolerated here. Joe Biden has BLUE eyes. The guy at his campaign rally had Hazel Eyes. Period. Full stop.
Zelenski Changes His Peace Plan
Zelenski’s ‘peace summit’ in Switzerland had failed:
The reviews of Zelenski’s latest show ain’t positive:
…
The summit served warmed up bullshit without any significant nutritional value. The most important points weren’t even discussed:
…
The war will continue until the complete destruction of the Ukrainian forces can no longer be ignored.
The last point may have come earlier than anticipated.
On June 27 Zelenski had changed tact (machine translation):
During a speech in Brussels, the president said that Ukraine wants to start negotiations on ending the war in the near future.“Ukraine does not want to prolong the war, we do not want it to last for years. We need to put a settlement plan on the table within a few months, ” he said.
Zelensky said that in the near future it is planned to develop a plan for the second world summit.
On June 28 he gave more details (machine translation):
President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Ukraine will present its detailed peace plan “this year”.The President announced this during a press conference in Kyiv.
“It is very important for us to show an end-of-war plan that will be supported by the majority of the world. This is the diplomatic path that we are working on. Not everything depends on us, our production of technology, drones, and artillery is really increasing, because we need to be strong on the battlefield. Because Russia understands nothing but force. These are two parallel processes: be strong and develop a detailed, clear plan, and it will be ready this year, ” Zelensky said.
…
Note that the Ukrainian peace plan has long been presented by Zelensky. It implies the withdrawal of Russian troops to the borders. However, many countries of the world (especially representatives of the “global South”) consider it unrealistic.
In other words, a new plan will probably be prepared.
Earlier Russia’s President Putin had announced his conditions for a permanent peace agreement. How many of them will Zelenski accept within his new ‘peace plan’?
Yesterday’s assault by the Democratic National Council on the Joe Biden campaign has failed.
Thursday night, as soon as the Trump-Biden debate had started, anonymous DNC officials contacted their usual ‘liberal media’ contacts and denounced Biden’s performance. Even those media, like CNN and MSNBC, who have for years denied the obvious problems Biden has had, jumped onto the train. Biden, they said, should retreat.
The New York Times mobilized a slew of its opinion writers to convey the message:
But Joe Biden’s wife, Dr. Jill Biden, resisted the move:
President Biden knew immediately after stepping off the stage in Atlanta on Thursday night that the debate had gone wrong. In those first stricken moments after a raspy, rambling and at times incoherent performance, he turned to his wife, Jill Biden.
…
The first lady’s message to him was clear: They’d been counted out before, she was all in, and he — they — would stay in the race. Her thinking, according to people close to her, was that it was a bad night. And bad nights end.
…
So Dr. Biden spent the 24 hours after the debate putting her decades as a political spouse to the test, projecting confidence and normalcy while effusively praising her husband.
Pushed along by his wife Joe Biden did not step back. The DNC assault on his campaign had failed.
Late last night former President Barack Obama, likely the man behind the ‘oust Biden’ campaign, publicly through the towel.
Barack Obama @BarackObama – 18:36 UTC · Jun 28, 2024Bad debate nights happen. Trust me, I know. But this election is still a choice between someone who has fought for ordinary folks his entire life and someone who only cares about himself. Between someone who tells the truth; who knows right from wrong and will give it to the American people straight — and someone who lies through his teeth for his own benefit. Last night didn’t change that, and it’s why so much is at stake in November. http://joebiden.com
Gleen Greenwald commented on Obama’s intervention:
Glenn Greenwald @ggreenwald – 19:17 UTC · Jun 28, 2024Once the media starts to realize that they’re not going to get Biden out of the race, they’re all going to quickly retreat from the past 24 hours and get back on board.
Obama is directing them to do that and giving them the script to use:
The campaign to oust Biden has failed, but the damage is done.
Even pro-Biden voters will, from now on, watch diligently to find the flaws in the next Biden speech or debate.
Russian Note To The U.S.: Your Drones Are Now Targets
A new statement by the Russian Defense Ministry says:
The Russian Defence Ministry noted the increased intensity of U.S. strategic unmanned aerial vehicles over the Black Sea waters, which are conducting reconnaissance and targeting high-precision weapons supplied to the Armed Forces of Ukraine by Western states to launch strikes at Russian facilities.This demonstrates the increasing involvement of the United States and NATO countries in the Ukrainian conflict on the side of the Kiev regime.
Such flights increase the possibility of air incidents involving the Russian Aerospace Forces’ aircraft, increasing the risk of a direct confrontation between the alliance and the Russian Federation.
The NATO countries will be responsible for this.
The Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation Andrei Belousov has instructed the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces to make proposals on measures for rapid response to provocations.
NATO reconnaissance and radio relay drones were regularly patrolling over the Black Sea before and during recent ‘Ukrainian’ attacks with long reaching, western delivered weapons on Crimea. This was also case during the recent release of cluster ammunition over a popular beach near Sevastopol which has caused several civilian death and wounded some 100+ people.
While the drones are nominally flying in neural airspace they are obviously used for attacks on Russia assets in Crimea. That makes them, arguably, legitimate targets for Russian air defenses. Russia had so far held back at destroying them. This will now change.
NATO or the U.S. may well regard such attacks on their ‘neutral’ forces as hostile. Some will press for retribution. But I am convinced that mere attacks on drones will not be seen as sufficient reason to launch World War III.
There are two species which I’d say are dangerous to humans. The first is the most obvious — the Komodo dragon. The world’s largest lizard has a mouthful of venomous knives. (Real venom — not, as was previously believed, just bacteria). Komodo dragons can and have eaten people. In captivity, habituated to handling, they are oddly sweet-tempered, though. But still, venom — it causes a rapid drop in blood pressure, leading to shock. Shock makes you easy to catch.
The second contender is the crocodile monitor, notable not for its size, but for the fact that it doesn’t have a mouthful of knives — it has a mouthful of razor blades. It can do so much damage with a nip, it could maim a human with barely an effort.
(Don’t do this):Because this teeny tiny croc monitor hatchling did this:
main qimg 7fc8327b7be5576d18a02e2adfc3eb9f lq
Even an accidental nip could result in nerve damage.
In general, most other monitors aren’t particularly dangerous. Large ones could give a nasty bite, and the venom may make the person bleed a lot and be a bit woozy, but no one’s going to die or be maimed. A monitor’s tail-whip could leave some good bruises, or break a finger. That’s about it. Many monitors are too small to do any real damage.
The Younger Generation is Completely Over It ….
What’s the weirdest question you’ve been asked when crossing an international border?
Not really a weird question, but a weird interaction:
Necessary background to the story: When I was a university president, I was frequently called upon to be on accreditation teams that went to other university campuses to do a first-hand accreditation review. One time, I was invited to go to Germany because a US university in my region had a major branch campus in Germany where they offered an MBA program. Such an event rarely happens, so I was pleased with that opportunity to visit, however briefly, another country — you get an international trip, but you have to work much harder because they keep those teams small.
Story: After we landed in Frankfurt, the immigration officer at the counter asked me what the purpose of my visit was (it was just a three-day trip). I said, “I am here as part of an MBA visiting team.”
His face expressed considerable surprise, and he said, “Really?” with a skeptical smile on his face. While I was born in India, I had lived in the US for about 35 years by that time (50+ years now); I have brown skin and a British-tinged Indian accent. His question, in turn, took me by surprise because I kind of fit the visual stereotype of an academic guy. Why did he appear not to believe me? I have had a US passport since the early 1980s, so that couldn’t have been an issue.
So, I repeated that I was coming to Germany for a three-day stay as part of an MBA visiting team, saying that the other members of the team had probably arrived a few hours earlier.
Again, skepticism.
I just had to ask: “Why are you so surprised?” He certainly wasn’t required to answer, but he did: “Because you don’t look like a player on an NBA team!”
He was right; I don’t. I’m 5′-8.5″, with brown skin and not athletic looking at all.
“Not an NBA visiting team; an MBA visiting team.” “I’m a university president.”
“Oh, MBA. Okay then.”
Stamp, stamp, “Welcome to Germany!”
Russia Humiliates NATO in Conventional War | Andrei Martyanov
What secret did you learn about your neighbor that made your jaw drop?
Not exactly “a secret” but certainly something that wasn’t public knowledge:-
When my wife and I moved into this house near Cardiff (UK) in 2001, the next door neighbour was an older gentleman, I guessed he was in his mid/late 70s. He was always polite and pleasant, totally independent and looked after himself, his home and his garden very well. We’d see him every morning, always smartly attired in jacket and tie (and his flat cap) driving down to the local shops for a pint of milk and newspaper and, if either of us was outside, we always got a wave and a smile as he passed.
The only things he couldn’t manage were computer issues on his PC. So, very occasionally, he would ask if I could “pop around” and sort something out for him. It was usually something simple which could be fixed by clearing cache, or removing some troublesome advertising or similar, but he was inevitably very apologetic about “troubling you” or “wasting your time”.
He didn’t talk about his past much at first, but eventually a few facts emerged: He’d served in the war (1939–1945); he’d climbed the Himalayas in the 1960s (I still have a few of his photographs from when I converted his old 35 mm colour slides to digital); he’d lived ‘down under’ and worked for the Australian Government for a long time and he had even built his own house there by hand. All of which was quite fascinating to me, but he would rarely go into any detail, and most certainly not about his wartime history.
On one occasion he asked for “some help using a website”. So I went to his house and helped him book a Battlefield Tour as part of a regimental reunion. At this point a few details slipped out. This quiet, unassuming old chap had been one of the pioneers of what is now known as Special Forces, and he was with a group of Commandos behind the enemy lines on D-Day: “We were there to stir-up some trouble, and distract attention from the Normandy Beaches”. Then, “I don’t like to think of it much, because I lost so many of my friends at that time….”, a pause, and then, “Of course, getting myself shot isn’t a particularly pleasant memory either” (chuckles).
It turns out that only he and one other survived from his unit, with both of them injured. But they managed to link up with the Allied forces and he was evacuated to the UK. “Do you know where they sent me when I landed in Southampton from the hospital ship?”, he asked, and went on to describe how the wounded were just loaded, apparently almost randomly, to various hospitals around the country. “They sent me to Llandough Hospital (Cardiff), the very same hospital I’d been born in! How about that?”
After that opening, I did eventually get a few more stories from him (very, very occasionally) and I was privileged to see some of his documents and awards. But it was really only because of the Battlefield Tour’s difficult customer interface that I discovered I was living next door to a very brave man, a bona fide war hero.
Sadly his health deteriorated badly a few years later and he was hospitalised where he died within a couple of weeks of being admitted . . . . in the very same ward of the very same hospital he’d been evacuated to in 1944.
What is the most badass thing your parent has ever done?
One day my dad went out to the mailbox and saw it had been vandalized. It was crushed like it had been hit with a hammer or a bat. Without a word, he went into town and bought a new one and set it up. Two days later he went out, and it was crushed again. This time he got mad…
He pulled the wooden post out of the ground, dug a post hole and put a ten foot pipe into it with four feet above ground and six below. He poured concrete into the pipe. He took shelf paper that looked like wood grain and wrapped it around the pipe, so that from a distance it looked like a wooden post. He bought two mailboxes this time…he put the smaller one into the bigger one and poured concrete into the gap between the two. He then set it up on the post. The thing was rock solid.
That night, we heard a loud crash. Dad grabbed his shotgun and headed to the mailbox. Turns out a couple bullies that hated my guts had taken the bat to the mailbox as they were driving by, and about broke one of their wrists. The driver decided to take and push the mailbox over using his bumper of his Jeep. When that didn’t work, he backed up and rammed it, embedding the post into his engine.
Dad comes out of the darkness and starts shooting the tires with the shotgun. The boys are cussing and protesting, when one of them says his dad will kick my dad’s butt. Dad marches them up to the house and calmly tells him to CALL his dad.
The boy’s dad arrives and the first thing he sees is the Jeep. He starts cussing, but stops when Dad trots the two boys out and tells him what happened. Dad delivers an ultimatum … he can either call the cops and the boys will get arrested, or they can repair any damage to the mailbox, reimburse him for the mailboxes destroyed, and keep their mouth shut to the cops about what happened. They decided to do the latter.
As they are leaving, Dad says, “If you think I’m a bastard to deal with, you should try my son. He’s been nice to you so far … but he’s about to lay you low.”
To this day, when they see me coming, they avert their eyes and alter their path, even though in truth I’m pretty harmless.
The Dark Side of DARPA | The Human Cost of Technological Supremacy
Is China afraid of the United States?
Now it is not afraid at all, almost all Chinese people are waiting to see the jokes of the United States.
The level of Chinese fear of Americans has changed less and less over time, in fact, Chinese children born after 2005 have come to view the United States as garbage.
On the Chinese Internet, there is a saying that “Dignity is only above the edge of the sword, and truth is only within the range of the missiles”
The Chinese often refer to the Dongfeng missile as “Truth”.
It should be stated here that it is not that the Chinese advocate violence, on the contrary, the Chinese love peace, and the above statement is that the Chinese have drawn a conclusion from historical experience: in negotiating with the Americans, force is more effective than anything else.
I was born in the late nineties, and when I was in middle school and they were showing “Growing Pains” on TV, American was confident and brave and adventurous. When it comes to the United States, everyone thinks that the United States is a beacon for the world.
Later, when the United States invaded Afghanistan and defeated the Afghan army in a short time, I was shocked by the high-tech military equipment displayed.
Back then, Liu Cixin (author of Three-Body) wrote a short story “Full Band Blocking Interference”.
The content of the short story is that the United States and NATO troops invaded China, the PLA and NATO troops fought, China suffered extremely heavy casualties, and finally prepared to die with the NATO army, the United States in order to prevent too much loss before announcing a truce.
The Chinese were very afraid of the United States.
In 2016, when the Chinese Navy and the US Navy faced off in the South China Sea and the US fleet fled, the Chinese suddenly found out that the US military was not as strong as they had thought.
In the following years, the number and combat effectiveness of Chinese warships increased rapidly, and when the 055 warship appeared, the Chinese basically did not fear the United States.
When Chinese Internet users learned that the US military was riddled with drugs and that there were transgender generals, most Chinese took the US as a joke.
Until recently, the United States and the Houthis were fighting so hard. Now most Chinese (especially young Chinese) have come to regard the US military as garbage.
With the popularization of the Internet, Chinese people know the current situation of the internal division of American society, all kinds of stores will be robbed, and the drug problem is very serious. All Chinese are surprised that they have been deceived by the US media for more than a decade.
More than a decade ago, there was a magazine in China called “Yilin”, which advertised that the United States was paradise on earth. It said that Americans could give up building highways to protect the environment, and that Americans would not lock their doors at night because there were no thieves in the United States. Americans’ morals are the highest in the world. No one Fare evasion on the New York subway.The security in the United States is very good, even if the wallet is left in the restaurant for more than 24 hours, no one will steal it, and the clerk will personally contact the owner.
Because of this magazine, the Chinese people really thought that the Americans were just like the description in the magazine, the Chinese people kept working hard, dreaming that one day they could do as well as the United States, and decades later, China basically realized the appearance described in the magazine, and then the Chinese people suddenly found that they had been deceived by the magazine for decades
Why do most Chinese kids now think America is trash?
Because they learned through TIKTOK and YOUTUBE that the United States launched wars against other countries, such as the war in Iraq and the war in Afghanistan, during which the US military randomly killed Afghan civilians. This behavior is completely different from what they see in Hollywood superhero movies.
At the same time, we learn that Americans sacrifice the majority for the benefit of the few in the United States, such as the drug epidemic, the gun epidemic, the supermarket robbery.
At the same time, the Chinese also learned that some states in the United States can even privately let students undergo sex reassignment surgery without parental consent. Teacher secretly brainwashed Male students’ You’re a girl ‘
In fact, most people in China think like American Puritans, and some of the actions of American politicians are contrary to universal values.
Thirty years ago, firearms were readily available in China, and although drugs were strictly controlled, many people substituted cough syrup for drugs. Thirty years ago, large-scale battles often took place in rural areas of Guangdong, often involving hundreds of people. Weapons are automatic gun or semi-automatic gun, and even artillery and explosives are found in the village. Three decades ago, walking the streets of China was a common prospect of being mugged, and women living alone feared being murdered.
Later, the government cracked down on crime and shot countless criminals. Law enforcement was so strict that people could be sentenced to death for theft. This process lasted about five years.
The Chinese society we see today is very harmonious and safe, the result of the government’s vigorous reforms three decades ago.
Tucker Reacts to Trump vs. Biden Debate During Sydney, Australia Speech
Please sit and bear with me as you read this. In an immense amount of time from now. Not millions of years or billions of years from now. But two times ten to the power 36 amount of years. That’s a two undecillion years or 2,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 years. A point when the stars will shine no more. The new dark ages of the universe.During the new dark ages, the final black holes evaporate, the last of the iron stars float in the void, the galaxies have all fallen apart, and proton decay threatens to dissolve the universe into elemental particles.Now there are just a mere four thousand humans left, but humanity’s life span is on the order of undecillion years. At this point humans age normally until our twenties, and then that’s it. Because of proton decay we must take quantum reinforcement showers to keep our atoms from decaying. This is the only form of death humanity now knows.Despite the size of the universe and against the probability of the Drake equation, humanity discovered eons ago that we were the only intelligent life. By this point there are now only two other forms of known life. Both made by human hands. Cryptales, which are creatures that evolved from living spaceships that now roam freely about the universe sucking up energy wherever they can find it, and the AbSent, a nasty group of artificially intelligent life that evolved from humanity’s attempt to create a sentient slave species.So, Gisoo was the last human to be born, and she had just discovered a small field of intact rocky bodies. This is odd because rocky bodies are rare. She was also in command of a bio-mechanized living ship called the Dream Vision that uses a captured supermassive black hole as its main power source.
“Gisoo, there are about two hundred metric tons of proton stable matter in the boulder field.”
“Dream Vision, prepare for capture.” Gisoo ran down the corridor towards the main control center.
“Gisoo, I’m detecting artificial intelligence.”
“AbSent! Damn I hate the AbSent!” Gisoo entered the main control center as the two intersecting doors rolled open.
“Gisoo, please advise a course of action.”
“We’re going to use the engine’s gravity-well and try to hold them at the event horizon for now. I don’t want to lose that much formed matter.”
“Starting gravity-well capture. Graviton shielding being opened. Super massive black hole exposure should occur soon.”
“Keep the lateral quantum sensors on the AbSent. I don’t want them to board us.”
“Yes, Gisoo.”
“Dream Vision, watch the Hawking radiation levels. We can’t afford to lose too much and I’m already seeing a spike.”
“Gisoo, AbSent has launched a nanite swarm.”
“Rip them apart proton by proton Dream Vision!”
“Starting cascading nuclear decay.” The nanite swarm dissolved into subatomic particles as Dream Vision blasted them with a decaying quantum nuclear wave.
“Dream Vision, can you confirm the boulder field has smeared across the event horizon?”
“Confirmed. We’ve successfully captured the boulder field, along with remaining AbSent.”
“Close up the graviton shielding, and scan for any remaining AbSent in the area. Once clear prepare for ether leap.”
“Gisoo, what is the final destination for the ether leap?”
“Head for Panagiotis the Elder at the boundary edge of the Universe. He wanted to see me in person according to his last transmission.”
Now two undecillion years is just enough time for the randomness of the quantum state to make something odd happen. This odd thing was the creation of what humanity called the ether. The ether was not some form of a hyperspace or dimensional rift, but a stable pocket universe intersecting with our own. No exotic particles were known to naturally leak out from the ether. Only the non-usable Kirsyn particles were emitted when black holes travelled through it. This is because the graviton shielding didn’t work normally in the ether, and Hawking radiation would leak out. Crossing over and through didn’t require as much energy as one would think, but then again no one understood the ether because its physics was unlike anything we understood. For all people knew the ether didn’t exist and yet it did. It had no dimensions or time-space. You were in the ether, but not at all in the ether either. All we knew is that it was a recent addition to the multiverse that developed before the current age. It made space travel easy along with interstellar communications. A spaceship would blink out from existence from one point in our universe and then pop into existence at its destination. The same with message beacons.
Now Gisoo was about to see an old friend at the actual boundary edge of the universe. The boundary edge was like the other side of a black hole’s event horizon, in that it was the very end of the actual universe’s expansion point.
They had arrived at a point along the boundary edge. As Dream Vision was coming into a docking position, in the far distance Gisoo could see the dark forms of Cryptales dotting the boundary edge. Dream Vision docked with the older Dragonsoul and Gisoo disembarked. The Dragonsoul had a musty smell to it as Gisoo walked about its cluttered corridors looking for Panagiotis the Elder, the oldest human alive.
“Elder! Where are you Elder?!”
Gismo heard a raspy voice call out to her. “Gisoo, is that you?”
After walking through the mess, she came upon a man tinkering with various pieces of ancient equipment.
“You wanted to see me.”
“Oh. Yes. That’s right. Something of great importance has come up.” The man got up from his seat.
“Did you finally figure out what’s on the other side of the boundary edge?” Gisoo picked up a piece of old machinery and looked at it.
“No, my dear. If only I could discover what lies on the other side. But it has only given me alas crumbs of subatomic particles randomly appearing on our side. What’s ever on the other side must be far larger than our current universe.” The man sighed.
Gisoo leaned on a piece of equipment. “Okay old man, what do you want to tell me?”
Sitting down again, he said, “Giles the Monk has finally solved the Rebirth Equation.”
Gisoo stood up and turned to the Elder. Her eyes became wide with surprise. “Impossible! That equation was unsolvable!”
“He did it. It took him nine quintillion years. Now the Tao Emperor has already constructed the device to use the equation. He plans to make a universe of everlasting light from stars. Endless power.”
“That’s insane. He would need a tremendous energy source for that equation. Where’s the Tao Emperor getting so much power?”
“The Obsidian Grip.”
“No way! Konishi hid it deep in the ether.”
“It’s true Konishi feared someday the Emperor would try to use the Obsidian Grip and the single largest supermassive black hole of the entire universe for some evil purpose. So, she figured out how to stop mid-leap in the ether. The only human to do so. No one else has ever tried since.”
This wasn’t the first time Panagiotis the Elder had asked Gisoo to go out on some adventure to fetch an ancient piece of technology. She had been doing this work since she was a teen. She wasn’t even six billion yet, and she had seen more of the known universe than the rest of humanity. Except for a few souls like the Elder and Gisoo, most of the four thousand humans all lived in a single floating colony powered by gathered decaying black holes. Even with graviton shielding a black hole would still leak the occasional Hawking particle.
Now the Tao Emperor had gathered a vast amount of technological and human knowledge to the point humanity considered him transcendent. He was responsible for the construction of the great colony ship, the Auku. So, Gisoo knew the stakes were high. The Emperor would use all he had to search the Ether so he could restart the stars again. Gathering energy from randomly appearing and disappearing Quantum Bubble Universes (QBUs or pocket universes) wasn’t enough power for him.
Gisoo picked up a metal part and began to twirl it around like a baton. “So, let’s say I go out into the Ether and search for the Obsidian Grip. Then what?”
“Well, you’d bring it back here.”
“Assuming I find it, and assuming the supermassive black hole hasn’t dissipated, why would I give you the most powerful known ship of all time?”
“Because I plan to use it to open a stable wormhole to the other side of the boundary edge.”
“You’re joking right?! Worm hole technology is ancient and unreliable. Humans couldn’t get them to work right long ago, and no one today would bother with it. What makes you think a wormhole can punch through the boundary edge to the other side?”
“For the last half a billion years I’ve been reworking Zamafuthi’s math for worm hole prospects. All I need is another few million years, and I know we can get through.”
“And then what? What will we find there?”
“A whole new universe to explore.”
Gisoo was still twirling the metal part about. “That’s a big assumption on your part.”
“Based on billions of years of observations that comes to us from the other side.”
She tossed the part into a bin and Gisoo began to leave the Elder. “Even if we crossed over, we don’t even know the physics on the other side. We all could die in an instant. I’ll tell you my decision if I find the Obsidian Grip.”
“Gisoo, come back here, impetuous brat! This is the single most important mission of all time! You can’t let the Tao Emperor have the Obsidian Grip to reignite the universe! There could be incalculable damage if he built the device wrong or Giles the Monk made a simple math error!”
Gisoo knew she could find the Obsidian Grip in the Ether. She had traveled through the Ether so much that she almost understood it. Finding the Obsidian Grip had an immense appeal to her. Giving it away to either the Tao Emperor or the Elder wasn’t even a consideration. She was more enthralled with having that much power in her hands. The rest of humanity would finally have to pay attention to her. No longer to be thought of as a by-product of an unknown union forced upon the people. For you see Gisoo was raised by all of humanity.
What you need to understand is that when creatures live long lives, they reproduce very little, and the same was true for humanity by now. For an unplanned child to come along was a social abomination. Not that people were not caring or loving, but there was plenty of social contempt for Gisoo’s existence. With a universe falling apart power was scarce and another human could disturb the balance. Therefore, Gisoo was the last human born. All of humanity swore never to have any more and made sure of that through their science and technology. The problem was Gisoo never knew her parents. When she was young, she imagined about her parents, but gave up all those dreams when she became a teen.
Now the Tao Emperor was the second to last child born. Never far from Gisoo’s thoughts was that the guy who was born 63 sextillion years before her was now worshiped, while society saw her as a pariah. It blew her mind that the remnants of humanity would let some kid dominate over them like he was the ultimate human.
Now while in an ordinary part of space Gisoo was taking a quantum reinforcement shower. Dream Vision was going to tell her about some abnormal Cryptale behavior.
“What do you mean a cluster of Cryptales? There should be none here.”
“Gisoo, there’s at least twenty Cryptales in a spherical pattern two hundred parsecs laterally.”
“That makes no sense. What are the scanners showing?”
“The presence of Kirsyn particles.”
“There must be a supermassive black hole in the Ether. How much?”
“The levels are at the point where QBUs may form.”
“No way! It must be the Obsidian Grip. That’s the only thing with a black hole big enough to create QBUs from Kirsyn particles.”
Gisoo could hardly contain herself. By sheer luck she had stumbled across the Obsidian Grip in just a million years of traveling the known universe in a random search pattern. She knew the Tao Emperor was still out there looking for it, but it could easily take him another billion years before they came across it. The bigger problem was trying to figure out how to get into the Ether and stop at the Obsidian Grip’s position. The math equation needed was straightforward as she understood it. The issue was reconfiguring the drive to work with the math. It’s one thing to have math, and it’s another thing to make it work. This was complex physical engineering. Physical engineering wasn’t her best subject, but she had no choice but take the time if she wanted to get to the Obsidian Grip before anyone else. The whole reconfiguration would take Gisoo a mere 12 thousand years to complete.
She hit the ether controls. “By Faythe’s ghost I did it! It’s massive! Larger than any bio-mechanized ship I’ve ever seen! What’s the state of the supermassive black hole?”
“Undeterminable. Quantum sensors are not working.”
“Pull us into a docking position.”
The Dream Vision pulled into an open docking bay along the underbelly. The Dream Vision was a fraction of the size of the Obsidian Grip. At least forty Dream Visions could have easily docked inside. The Obsidian Grip wasn’t a bio-mechanized ship, it was designed as a living citadel for humanity not unlike Auku. It had more power than Auku could ever have. And all that power would now be under Gisoo’s command. Gisoo could be the savior of humanity.
“Sensors are working again. There’s atmosphere and normal gravity outside. I’m still trying to access the main systems, but I’m having difficulty. There appears to be a different form of coding preventing access. It’s not normal bio-mechanized coding.”
Gisoo exited the Dream Vision, and as she did, she was greeted by a woman’s voice.
“Hello, I’ve been waiting for you.”
“Who are you?”
“I’m your mother.”
“The human mothership?”
“No, silly. I’m your actual mother. I was human, but I merged my existence into this ship to keep it here. Away from the Tao Emperor.”
Standing on the landing deck, Gisoo crossed her legs together in discomfort at what she was hearing. “I have no parents! No one was my mother or father!”
“While you had no father, I’m your mother. I’m Konishi, and my womb birthed you. I had to leave you behind, so I could hide the Obsidian Grip.”
“So, you cloned me?”
“No, nothing so primitive. My womb spontaneously created you. A product of random quantum fluctuations.”
“Are you saying the universe is my father?”
“I suppose so.”
Gisoo uncrossed her legs and began to goose step about the deck. “Assuming all that you’ve said is true. Why should I not turn you over to the Tao Emperor?”
“Because I’m your mother, and I know you wouldn’t do that.”
Gisoo stopped goose stepping and then stomped her feet as hard as she could. “How could you know me?! You haven’t even been around for my entire life! You abandoned me to a bunch of people who didn’t care about me!”
“Not true. They cared enough to teach you and loved you enough to allow you to become the adult you are today. You are exactly what I knew you would be like. You remind me of myself when I was your age.”
Gisoo calmed down and sat down cross-legged on the deck. She began to trace out math formulas with her finger. “Why didn’t you just leave the Obsidian Grip and return to Auku?”
“The only way to maintain the Obsidian Grip this long in the ether was to graft myself to the ship. There was no other way to prevent a supermassive black hole this size from decaying even in the ether.”
“For all this time you’ve been using your own willpower to keep the Hawking radiation from leaking out instead of the graviton shielding?”
“Yes.”
“So now what? It’s not like I can hug a spaceship.”
“We restart again.”
“So, you want me to give you over to the Tao Emperor so he can use the Rebirth Equation and ignite the stars again?”
“No. We restart everything. So, I can hold my child in the flesh once more.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You will. Did you know I named you for the word ‘hello’ in an ancient human tongue? That was the first word I said when I found out I was pregnant with you.”
Gisoo always wondered what her name meant. There was no database that contained it or person who knew. Now that she knew she sort of thought it was peculiar. Couldn’t mom come up with something a little cooler sounding? Something like Fhaertala Inana. Now that sounded cool.
You see what Gisoo didn’t know was her name was the very word that both ended everything and began everything. One word that ended all time and restarted it. A word that allowed Konishi to nakedly expose the Obsidian Grips’ supermassive black hole to the unreality of the ether. In doing so, it set into motion something that dwarfed what the Tao Emperor wanted to do, or Panagiotis the Elder. For Konishi had both mathematically determined and mechanically built how to reset the universe’s clock, so once more she could hold her child.
Pork Riblets Simmered in Caramel Sauce
(Suon Kho | Vietnamese)
Traditionally, the riblets were grilled over charcoal to sear in the flavors before simmering. Ask a butcher to cut the ribs, as this is not an easy home project. To remove the fat, the ribs may be prepared a day ahead and refrigerated. The congealed fat can be easily lifted off the surface.
Suon Kho
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
2 pounds meaty pork spareribs, cut crosswise through the bone into 2 inch wide strips
1/3 cup minced, grated or puréed yellow onion (about 1/2 small onion)
Cut each rib strip between the bones or through the cartilage into individual riblets.
Combine the onion, sugar, pepper and 2 tablespoons of the fish sauce in a bowl. Add the riblets, cover with plastic wrap and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or overnight.
If necessary, adjust your broiler rack so that the ribs will cook as close to the flame as possible. Heat the broiler for 30 minutes to get it nice and hot.
While the broiler heats, take the ribs from the refrigerator and let them sit at room temperature to take the chill off. Place them on a baking sheet and broil until they’re tinged brown, about 4 to 6 minutes per side; a little charring is fine. (You’ll hear a pleasant sizzle as this happens.) Alternatively, cook the ribs over high heat on a gas or charcoal grill, which imparts deeper flavor. The point here is to sear the riblets to obtain a roastiness and intensify the overall color.
Place the riblets in a saucepan with the Caramel Sauce, the remaining 2 tablespoons of fish sauce and enough water (about 2 1/2 cups) to cover most of the riblets. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to simmer. Cover and let cook for 40 minutes; the ribs should simmer vigorously, sending steam out from under the lid.
Remove the lid and continue to simmer until the ribs are tender (you can easily pierce the meat with a fork or knife tip), about 20 to 30 minutes. If there’s cartilage, you should be able to bite through it, with a slight crunch remaining. This latter phase of cooking allows the sauce to reduce and concentrate in flavor, and deepens the color to dark reddish brown. In the end, there should be a fair amount of sauce left.
Turn off the heat, tilt the saucepan so the liquid goes to one side and use a spoon or small ladle to skim the fat from the top.
Adjust the flavors with extra fish sauce, if necessary.
Garnish with the chopped green onion and serve with lots of steamed rice.
Notes
Low fat tip: Use nonstick spray for sauté ing the vegetables, substitute reduced fat sour cream and mushroom soup, and use 1 1/2 cups broth for the topping.
I did not watch the (so called) Trump – Biden “debate”.
I am convinced both of them are dangerous.
What was the most stunning element and extracted summary of the debacle was just how poorly Biden fared. This guy is not capable of leading; thinking, reasoning, planning, or doing anything. In fact, he NEEDS to be in a hospital, and needs someone to select his meals, and care. He is simply not a capable person.
And you know, this is AFTER he was given injections of smart / stability drugs.
It goes along with my belief that the unelected political sycophants are running the United States, and it is no wonder that it seems that the United States is walking the Earth into a global-wide nuclear catastrophe.
Because it is. It actually is.
These sycophants and the “deep state” that supports them are dangerously deluded, terribly inept, and functionally inept. Combined they have created a United States that makes the collapse of Rome look like a Victorian tea party.
This is not about Biden or Trump.
This is about decline, and it is beyond redemption. The USA is toast, and I really have serious doubts that it ever can recover.
By the time this post is posted on MM, this will all be old news… replaced with something more topical. But the fiasco that the USA is should not be forgotten. Dicey times are forecast unless some serious changes are made STAT.
Today…
Cleaning out my auto-spam folder
Typical comments that were sent to spam…
1d1c1b
China trip and related thoughts:
My family and I recently visited Shanghai (courtesy of a collaborator and friend in Shanghaitech university) for a week. We went to Beijing (via high-speed rail) for a couple of days to see the Great Wall.
We were shocked by how developed China was. I mean, it looked like a first-world country. The roads were huge and clean. There was hardly any dust. The cars followed traffic rules. No encroachment by hawkers, etc. We could have easily confused it with the US or Europe. In addition to these things, the MagLev (magnetic levitation) train to the airport and the high-speed trains were amazing. Every hour, someone or the other came to clean the compartment.
To top it off, the amount of funding given to even pure mathematics (leave alone the applied subjects) was enormous. Unlike India where every professor earns the same amount, Yau (a fields medallist) could hire another fields Medallist (Birkar) for a few million RMB.
Unlike in India, where even Indian citizens from the north-east are discriminated against, in China, most people were very friendly (and really loved our 1.5 year old son). Our hosts took “Athithi devo bhavah” very seriously.
Except for a few annoyances (mosquitoes are a problem, the lack of quality apps like Uber and Google maps (didi and baidu are terrible!), and the inability of even highly educated people to speak in very basic English), our trip was fabulous. We liked China but felt very sad that our country, which was ahead of China in the 60’s (even the Chinese we met acknowledged this) is very very far behind. I can now understand KB’s “anger”. (However, I still think that the US is a much much bigger power for now.)
Col. Lawrence Wilkerson: Putin’s NUCLEAR WARNING is No Bluff and NATO Crossed His Red Line
Black Thai Pork
Phuket Town Black Pepper Pork 1219×1536
Here’s the YouTube video…
https://youtu.be/lz5xIMZKC3s
Ingredients
4 boneless pork chops, cut into stir fry strips
1 cup salsa or picante sauce
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon molasses
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon sesame seed, toasted if desired
2 tablespoons thinly sliced scallions
3 cups hot cooked cellophane noodles or rice
Instructions
For sauce, in a medium saucepan combine salsa, peanut butter, soy sauce, vinegar, molasses and water. Bring to boiling, stirring often. Keep warm.
Meanwhile, in a plastic or paper bag combine chili powder, ginger, garlic salt and pepper.
Add pork strips; shake until pork is coated with spice mixture.
In a large skillet heat vegetable oil over medium-high heat; cook and stir pork strips for 2-3 minutes or until cooked through.
Spoon the sauce onto individual plates.
Arrange the pork strips on top of sauce.
Sprinkle with sesame seed, then top with green onions.
Serve with noodles or rice.
What’s the funniest court case you’ve seen?
Here are my top 3:
#1) My client was charged with drug possession after a police officer found them in a hard carton cigarette pack (one made out of cardboard) because when he picked it up and shook it, “sounded like drugs inside.” I argued that the officer would never have discovered the drugs unless he had opened the box, and that the mere sound of the contents of the shaken box could not possibly have given the officer probable cause to open the box.
So at trial I produced from my jacket the hard carton cigarette pack box and shook it in the presence of the officer and the judge, then asked, “Did you hear me shake this box?” The officer responded that he did. I then asked, “Does it sound like there are drugs in it?” The poor guy had to say yes, and he did. I then opened the box and showed him two capsules, then asked, “So what sounded like drugs to you may be drugs, right?” The officer had to say yes, and he did. Then I asked, “Officer, can you tell me what kind of drugs these are?” The officer responded with “I don’t know.” I then popped the capsules in my mouth and started chewing and said, “Let the record reflect that they are two white Good & Plenty candies.”
I moved for summary judgment, and the motion was granted.
#2) I was in a hearing with an attorney who was incapable of posing a question that wasn’t objectionable. He just didn’t know how to ask questions properly, so with virtually every question he posed, I stood and made my objections. Rather than taking the offending attorney to task, however, the judge got upset with me (not because I was in the wrong, but because the judge just wanted to get through the hearing and I was slowing us down—yeah, that happens, folks). Eventually, the judge made this order, “I am now ordering that Mr. Johnson cannot make any further objections to opposing counsel’s questions to the witness,” at which point I wasn’t upset because I now knew I’d all but certainly win the case on appeal, given the judge’s misconduct.
I never got to appeal the judge’s decision.
Because after I was barred from making objections, opposing counsel mistakenly took it as a license to formulate even worse questions, but through it all I just sat there and gazed about the courtroom, doodled on my legal pad, etc. One thing I did not do is pay attention to the case anymore. I didn’t need to. There wasn’t much I could do anyway.
When suddenly the judge interrupted opposing counsel and announced, “I previously ordered Mr. Johnson barred from raising any objections to opposing counsel’s questions. I am now rescinding that order. Mr. Johnson, do you have anything you wish to say at this point?” After hesitating a moment to gather my thoughts, I responded with: “Objection? (I had no idea what I was objecting to — remember, I’d stopped paying attention long before). “SUSTAINED!” the judge thundered back.
#3) I represented the respondent in a civil stalking injunction case (in Utah). This is an example of how it went, back and forth for an hour, as both men told basically the same story:
Q: And what did he say to you?
A: He said, “If you ever come on my property again, I’ll kick your ass.”
Q: And what, if anything, did he say in response?
A: He said, “You try to kick my ass and I’ll kick your ass, and I told him, ‘You try to kick my ass and I’ll kick your ass.’”
Q: Did you take him seriously when he said, “I’ll kick your ass”?
A: You bet your ass. And if you threaten me and my family, then I’ll kick your ass.
I don’t think I will ever, anywhere, hear the phrase “kick your ass” spoken more times in the space of an hour than I did then. Not once did the judge admonish either party or me for using the phrase the entire time (and to be fair, I think the judge correctly believed that these men were incapable of describing the situation without using the phrase).
Discovered My Wife Was Engaged In Spicy Activities While Playing An Online Game, Now She’s Begging..
What was the moment you realized your significant other didn’t care about you at all anymore?
In the last years of our fakemarriage my husband slowly checked out from all shared duties, whether it is chores, bills, our daughter… always too busy or just wouldn’t. I was so exhausted and he insisted i should take care of myself, “go get a massage, go to the hairdresser, you need some time for yourself” (when i I didn’t even have time to properly shower…) But he would brush off any complaint from my side that my exaustion was due to me actually taking care of it all.
Whenever i would insist and directly ask him to do something he would say “can you take care of it?” or just go through a rage and leave.
One day i was involved in a minor car accident. Argued a little with the other driver but felt no harm was done and left. As i started driving, my neck was seriously hurting, my ears were ringing and i felt dizzy. My daughter who was 4 and with me at that time was also acting weird and saying mom it hurts.
I rushed back home which was 5 minutes from there to him so he can drive us both to a doctor. He told me he was actually on his way out to meet his friends and said “can you take care of it?”
That day i understood that his behaviour was not due to him being lazy or busy.
He just didn’t care at all.
Why is that according to the US that the Spratly islands being geographically closer to the Philippines can’t be claimed by China, but the American Samoas being closer to the Samoas can be claimed by the USA?
This world is ruled by the fist ie weapons today.
If your fist is stronger, you rule the world. That makes you a mafia.
When you are a mafia, you make the rule & you can change the rule anytime to suit your situation.
2 scholars at Cambridge U did a research. I of them is Romel Bagares. He is a professorial lecturer in intl law in 3 Manila-based law schools & PH judiciary Academy.
1, PH’s legal territory does not incl SCS (my word) PH has no EEZ in SCS. All PH activities in SCS are illegal.
2, The 1951 USA-PH Mutual Defense Treaty does not apply to SCS.
In 1975, former US State Secy H Kissinger already, in writing, told PH that, by law, USA would not protect PH in SCS.
In documents from 1977-1980 eg doc 578, US State Secy C Vance explained to PH that MDT is based on 1898 US-Spain Paris Treaty & 1900 US-UK Washington Treaty. PH does not own any part of SCS.
3, PH’s arbitration is (my word) as good as toilet paper.
Today in 2024, USA changes the rule: PH owns some SCS because some islands/reefs are close to PH. … today’s USA overturning the USA from 1975–1980. … mafia USA has changed rule because it wants to suppress China’s rise.
PH is a US puppet.
Bolivia failed coup. Kenya Ruto retreats. NATO wants to give Elensky something. Meloni upset with EU
“It’s okay, Ground Control. I know you did everything you could.”
Charles sat at his desk, staring at the blank screen. Nobody said a word. There was a slight hissing of static. He swallowed hard, and there was an audible click in his throat. His mouth was dry. His heart was thudding intensely in his chest. Charles felt as if someone had fastened a belt around his torso and was gradually pulling it tighter and tighter.
After what seemed like an eternity, Stan broke the silence.
“Come in, Pete.”
The static hissed.
“Pete. Come in.”
Hhhhhhhh.
“Come in, Pete.” Charles was dimly aware that Stan was crying as he spoke. He could feel the hot tears trickling down his own cheeks. It felt as if his heart was lodged at the base of his throat. He could hardly breathe.
“Pete, come in.”
Hhhhhhhh.
“Pete, please come in.”
Finally, Greg got up from his seat and laid a hand on Stan’s shoulder. “That’s enough, Stan. He’s gone.”
The last two syllables hit Charles like a two-tonne truck. He felt the room spin around him, as if he’d just been clocked in the jaw by a solid right hook. Charles placed his sweaty hands on the polished dark wood of the desk, palms down, just to make sure he didn’t lose his balance and go sliding off his chair onto the floor. The table beneath his fingers felt cold and indifferent; the feeling simultaneously grounded him in the reality of the moment and made him feel as if he were dreaming or in a drunken stupor. This desk is really hard, he thought, madly. That’s enough, Stan. The wood is very cold. He’s gone. Is wood always this cold? That’s enough, Stan. It’s very cold.
Somewhere behind him, a woman was sobbing. Hell, they were all sobbing. Gabrielle was just the most audible.
The words bounced around his skull: He’s gone. He’s gone. He’s gone.
All at once, Charles felt incredibly hot. He thought he might throw up, right then and there. He wouldn’t be able to make it to the bathroom in time; he’d have to spew his guts into the wastepaper basket next to his feet.
Like a man in a dream, Charles slid off his office chair with a thud, landing on his knees, not feeling a thing. The chair rolled away behind him, squeaking a little on the wheels he had been meaning to oil but had somehow never gotten around to. Sweating and shaking, he reached for the metal bin. Thank God he’d remembered to put a plastic bag inside, because the bin was made from a metal mesh. If I hadn’t remembered, my puke would have been filtered out the bottom quite nicely. Just like using a colander, Charles thought. Then he began to retch, in great, stomach-wrenching convulsions.
Somewhere nearby, someone was asking if he was all right, but he wasn’t all right, he wasn’t, nothing was all right, nothing, and the room was spinning, spinning, spinning, and Charles could feel the acidic vomit racing up his throat, and the world was twisting around him, and everything felt too heavy, and the room wouldn’t stop spinning and—
***
Pete allowed himself to drift. There was no use fighting it, as there was nothing he could do. It would be a waste of energy. And energy was all he had left. Well, that, and the precious oxygen in his tank.
In his ears, all he could hear was whistling white noise. For half a second, he thought that he heard someone say, Come in, Pete. And maybe they did, but the words were fuzzy and soft; hard to isolate from the hiss. He started to respond, and then gave up. The last few seconds of communication had been hazy with interference as it was — now that he had floated further away, he knew contact with Ground Control would be impossible. Besides, he had said his goodbyes. Pete didn’t want to prolong the pain of a tortured farewell.
Pete spun away from the asteroid, spiraling out, further and further. He knew that he had approximately between six and eight hours of oxygen in his tank, depending on how well he controlled his breathing and how much physical exertion he subjected himself to. He had been on the surface of the celestial body for one hour and forty-three minutes, before the small meteoroid struck.
First man on an asteroid, he thought as flew away from the point of impact, pieces of debris scattering around him. Was it worth it? he asked himself. He knew immediately he shouldn’t have posed the question.
It was miraculous that none of the wreckage and rubble had injured him. Miraculous, if you ignored the fact that he had been jettisoned off the tiny planetoid and propelled far away from any hopes of rescue. Pete didn’t know how fast he was traveling, but he knew that it was too fast — and he was too small of an object — for any chances of being saved. He only hoped that his crew was safe from the fallout of the collision; would they be able to avoid the incoming hailstorm? And if not, would the fragments of rock penetrate their shuttle? Pete knew that he’d never know.
Pete spun and spun and spun, rotating not quite fast enough to cause him to blackout. He watched the changing views as he twisted through the void: stars, the sun, planets, debris, stars, the sun, planets, debris, stars, the sun, planets, debris. Over and over and over. Spinning. Spinning. Spinning. Each time he caught the barest glimpse of Earth — a tiny droplet of blue in the vast nothingness — and then it was gone. Pete thought that his tiny home planet had never looked more beautiful, even though it was only in his line of sight for a fraction of a moment.
He saw no fires or explosions as he spiraled. Pete knew that this was not a sign that his team was safe, but he clung to the hope, nonetheless. Maybe they were okay. Maybe they got away in time. Maybe the shuttle was able to withstand the barrage. Maybe. Maybe.
He spun and twisted and turned and conserved his breath. Slowly, Pete fell into a cosmic trance, glazed eyes staring out into the solar system. The celestial dance was hypnotic, like an interstellar mobile above the crib of humanity.
***
He was being pulled. Pulled in one direction. The sensation startled him from his reverie.
He spun and he twisted and rotated. Stars, the sun, planets, debris. What was tugging at him? He strained his eyes. Stars, the sun, planets, debris. Was he imagining it? Stars, the sun, planets, debris. No, he was not, Pete was sure of it. There was a definite sensation of being reigned in. But by what? Stars, the sun, planets, debris, stars, the sun, planets, debris, stars—
And then he saw it. And for a moment, he couldn’t breathe. His lungs contracted and all the air escaped him, as if he’d just been punched in the gut.
His thoughts were a mixed cocktail of fear, confusion, and fascination. How did we not see it? thought Pete, only distantly aware of his own feelings. How did we miss it? It’s huge.
The black hole occupied half of his visual space. If you were to only glance at it, you might just miss it — after all, most of the area surrounding it is also black. But the absence of the small yellow-white specs of distant stars gave away the gaping hole in time and space. There was also the accretion disk spinning around the gaping maw in the fabric of reality. The giant clouds of gas spun and spun around the shadow of the hole, twisting and rippling beyond recognition or cognition. It was smaller than the ones he’d studied, but now that he was facing it, Pete was astounded that it had not been observed earlier. After all, it was at the edge of their solar sys—
Pete didn’t recognize the stars. The thought hit him, and his brain dumped a load of adrenaline into his veins. As he spun towards his destination, his eyes traced the emptiness for the Earth. For planets — any that he knew. Mars. Jupiter. Venus. Saturn. Completely gone. It was all alien to him. Even the sun was different; smaller and somehow less vibrant. Rather than a bright, white-hot yellow surface, this star burned a deep orange that bordered on red.
Where am I? he thought, panic brimming in his chest. He knew that he had been propelled away from his home system, but he never actually thought—
He was closer to the black hole now, he saw, as he turned once more. Another realization hit him, with the low thud of an interplanetary bass drum: even if he had been in the shuttle, it would have already been too late to get away. The thought should have terrified him, but it instead soothed him. The idea that fighting was futile allowed Pete to accept his fate; had he a chance to escape, he would have fought — as panic flooded his thoughts — until he wasted his oxygen supply and starved himself of air.
The black hole’s shadow was hungrily consuming that which span around it. But it was more than that — the objects making up the accretion disk looked hungry to be eaten. The collective rotating disk slowly fed into the hole eagerly, each portion being allowed the time to flow in and disappear.
Pete was flying towards the hole faster and faster now. It was no longer the gentle pull it had been — a minute ago? An hour ago? A second ago? It dawned on Pete that time was beginning to lose its rigidity.
The astronaut allowed himself to be guided on a fast track through the shadow’s surrounding disk of orbiting materials; he was the guest of honor at this party of extinction. He looked down at his hands and saw the light being distorted and drained away, into the abyss. Pete knew that if someone were observing the phenomenon, they would not see him, attired in his spacesuit of white. No light would be escaping the rounded clutches of the infinite shadow.
Event horizon, he thought, as his brain was sliced into oblivion. A billion parts of his grey matter screamed in unison. Evnethrzion Enevthzorni Vneetzhirone Tvneeizoenrh Netvneorehizo Votenehroez—
Pete’s final coherent thought was of his wife and his daughter, back home on Earth.
And then Pete felt himself being torn in two. But that wasn’t entirely right. He was becoming two. Simultaneously. He felt it. But the two Petes shared different fates. He was both, and somehow, he was neither. One Pete was incinerated instantaneously — torn apart and shredded into annihilation. It happened so quickly that he felt neither pain nor fear. One moment he was, the next he wasn’t. Pete was gone.
The other Pete was a different story.
***
He came out the other side. But it wasn’t him. Not the same one that had gone in. But it wasn’t an entirelydifferent Pete, either. He felt like a drop of rainwater that had finally joined the ocean; still water, essentially — if you ignored the salt — but ultimately changed forever. Part of something bigger, indecipherable, integrated with everything else. Inseparable from the whole he had now joined.
The first thing he noticed was that he no longer had his old body. The second thing he noticed was that he did have a body of sorts. His body was everything. It took him a moment to register this sensation, but once he clocked it, it all made sense, in a single step. First, there was confusion, then there was complete and utter understanding and acceptance. There was not an in-between.
Pete was floating in nothing. Pete was also the nothingness. He was the vacuum in which he sailed. He was the darkness that surrounded him. The nothingness was overwhelming. He felt hollow at the emptiness inside. He felt stranded as he floated in the absence of everything.
The answers came to him via a drip-feed. The remedies came to him all at once, like a roaring waterfall.
Pete wanted light, and then there was a flare before his non-eyes. Sun, thought the thing that had once been human. The sun looked lonely, so the Pete-thing wanted planets to join it. Rocks appeared in the vacuum, scattered across the plain of darkness. Several collided with each other. Some exploded. Others floated off, for destinations that new-Pete was unconcerned with. Bits and pieces, here and there, began circling the throbbing star.
One of the worlds spinning around the burning ball of gas was thirsty, so the post-Pete-being gave it water. It looked blue and sparkling, as it twisted in the light. Like a marble, suspended in the ether. He also gave the other spheres some resources of their own, but these are closely guarded secrets which I will not spill.
Pete watched as things developed, occasionally putting in a hand here and there when he so wished. Never acting too often, never interfering too infrequently. The answers came to him both immediately and after an infinity, equally from external sources and from within. Now, Pete thought and was told, and then he acted accordingly — often simultaneously with the arrival of the instructions.
Pete tended to the thriving system like a gardener to their plot — planting seeds, watering, pruning, and harvesting. He watched his creations bloom. He watched his creations wither and die. Not everything is destined for a long life, and that is okay, thought Everything, as time unfolded in every direction.
After a time, the small creatures on the tiny blue speck began sending things outward. A few explosions, here and there. These small-scale sparks in the heavens told not-Pete that they were learning. He left them to it, for that was what he was meant to do.
Eventually, they got it right.
After a time, they began sending themselves out, too.
Following an instant and an eternity, Pete was joined by another.
BRICS to Leave UN: What Next?
Is it true that China doesn’t have many friends like the US does? Why?
What friends does the USA have??? The USA has vassal states.
China has more actual friends because China helps them economically:
Over 150 countries participate in the Belt and Road Initiative.
Over 120 counties have China as their largest trading partner.
China respects all nations rather than threatening them with sanctions and war.
When the West hoarded their vaccines during the pandemic, China helped poor countries vaccinate.
China works to bring peace around the world. China brokered an historic peace deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
China is leading the world to de-dollarize, freeing them from the tyranny of the US Dollar.
When you find out that someone has been at the same low paying job for 20 years or more, do you feel sorry for them?
My son has been a caddie at a local country club for almost 20 years. He has a degree in Computer Science. He was required to do an internship to get his degree. At the end, he was offered a permanent job that would put him on the management fast track. His internship, however, convinced him he had pursued the wrong major.
He then went into restaurant management. He hated that, too. His brother, who has a business degree and is a Certified Financial Planner, had been working as a caddy for several years. So, my other son decided to try it out. They both absolutely love the game of golf, being outdoors and having a job they don’t take home with them.
The son who has been a caddie longer has a more winning personality, can converse intelligently about business with his rich customers and is recognized as the best caddie at the country club. He is on pace to make $100,000 this year. The other son makes around $40,000 which is still more than most of the caddies make.
What they do makes them happy. They actually enjoy going to work each and every day unless it is raining. Caddying in the rain is really hard work. I don’t feel sorry for them even though they could have earned so much more. No amount of money will make you like a job you don’t want to do,
Do women even know what they want? Crazy Accurate breakdown & explanation of relationships
This is a very, very good review of Hoe Math. Damn!
What is the nastiest thing you’ve done for revenge?
My very dear friend dated a Russian girl, lets call her Bellarusse, for about six months. She let him take her to every expensive event of the English summer season. Opera, Wimbledon, Henley Regatta as well as lots of theatre, concerts and Michelin star dinners. But never let him so much as kiss her. “These things,” she said, “are deeply frowned upon by my conservative culture.”
Over Christmas, he took her skiing with another couple. Everyone had agreed no gifts, but the day before departure, he was called in a panic by other couple to say Bellarusse had bought him a gift so he’d best go shopping.
He rang me frantic, “what should I get her?”
I don’t know what genius struck, but I immediately said “that is such a quandry, because, in Russia, if a man buys a woman a gift worn against the skin, it implies that they have been intimate and you don’t want to offend her. She’s so conservative. What to get, what to get…”
Oh the things that this excludes; pretty much everything that your average, rapacious golddigger wants: jewellery, scent, handbags, scarves, any clothing at all, fancy soaps and lotions. As the words tumbled out of my mouth, I felt the most beautiful glee.
Not only was she hugely grumpy with her alessi French press coffeemaker, but her gift, was a crappy little matchbox cover, badly painted with a scene of a troika.
Oh and she fell down the slope skiing and broke her nose.
She refused any more dates.
The sad thing is that I can never tell him about my evil genius.
Implications of Trump-Biden “Debate” Are Staggering – for both the USA and the World
OP-ED — I did not get to watch the Trump-Biden Debate last night because I was doing my live radio show while the debate took place. From what I have seen in video snippets, it was an unmitigated DISASTER – for both the United States, and for the world.
What everyone got to see last night is what many of us have known from the beginning: Biden is not running the country because he is incapable of doing so. His lack of mental faculties, likely from Dementia, is unquestionable.
This begs the question “Who is it that’s actually running the country?”
It’s a fair question. During the Debate, Biden could barely formulate a cogent answer to most questions. His frail, rambling, often times non-sensical answers were genuinely sad.
Let me digress for a moment to say that while I did not vote for Biden in 2020, (I voted Trump) and while I do not like Biden as a man or as a politician, I do NOT take any satisfaction in seeing the man so genuinely mentally disabled by age. There, but for the grace of God, goes me.
I don’t wish Biden’s condition on anyone; and it pains me to see the President of our country (even an illegitimate one who occupies office through election fraud as Biden does) so addled, frail, and no longer capable of governing. Yet, that __is__ the situation we all find ourselves in.
The current President of the United States is unable to discharge the duties of his Office. Period. Full stop.
Now, one could argue that Biden’s Cabinet should invoke the Constitution’s 25th Amendment to remove him, but being candid, his Cabinet are such Partisan sycophants, a person has a better chance of being struck by lightning than the Cabinet carrying out its Constitutional role and removing this disabled President.
Then, too, we’re only a few months away from an election and we could probably get-through that time with Biden in this condition — if it weren’t for the fact that Biden’s underlings are so utterly incompetent, so completely ignorant of facts and of history, and so severely lacking in rational judgment, they are quickly moving us toward nuclear World War 3 with Russia over their botched handling of Ukraine.
So where does Biden’s Debate “performance” leave us? In a world of hurt!
The rest of the world got to see Biden, too, last night. And our Adversaries now know, the USA is in no position of power over world events. Our leadership is non-existent.
The Biden underlings have such historical ignorance, are so lacking in logic and rational judgment, adversaries can go do whatever it is they want, and the US will be, at best, sluggish to do anything about it.
The lack of strength projected through last night’s debate, has made the world much more dangerous.
With World War 3 looming as a result of our botched Ukraine policies, and further, as a result of our botched Taiwan approach, and further by our botched Middle East actions (read our slavish devotion to that rinky-dink country, Israel, and its pipsqueak army that seems only competent in dropping 2,000 pound bombs from fighter jets onto unarmed civilians) the continuation of a Biden Administration could literally mean the destruction of our nation and our world. We may not be able to survive until the election!
For me, the absolute worst part of last night’s debate: Polling which said 67% of Americans thought Trump won, while 33% of Americans thought Biden won. To my thinking, that a full 33% of the people in this country, are so incapable of logic, so incapable of discernment, that they thought Biden won, indicates to me that a full third of this nation is literally too stupid to even be considered citizens, never mind shown any respect.
Those 33% are too stupid to even be considered “persons.” There really is no other way to view them, and worse, no hope for them, at all.
In 1933, a beautiful, young Austrian woman took off her clothes for a movie director. She ran through the woods, naked. She swam in a lake, naked. Pushing well beyond the social norms of the period. The most popular movie in 1933 was King Kong. But everyone in Hollywood was talking about that scandalous movie with the gorgeous, young Austrian woman.
Louis B. Mayer, of the giant studio MGM, said she was the most beautiful woman in the world. The film was banned practically everywhere, which of course made it even more popular and valuable. Mussolini reportedly refused to sell his copy at any price.
The star of the film, called “Ecstasy,” was Hedwig Kiesler. She said the secret of her beauty was “to stand there and look stupid.” In reality, Kiesler was anything but stupid. She was a genius. She’d grown up as the only child of a prominent Jewish banker. She was a math prodigy. She excelled at science. As she grew older, she became ruthless, using all the power her body and mind gave her.
Between the sexual roles she played, her tremendous beauty, and the power of her intellect, Kiesler would confound the men in her life including her six husbands, two of the most ruthless dictators of the 20th century, and one of the greatest movie producers in history. Her beauty made her rich for a time. She is said to have made – and spent – $30 million in her life.
But her greatest accomplishment resulted from her intellect, and her invention continues to shape the world we live in today.
You see, this young Austrian starlet would take one of the most valuable technologies ever developed right from under Hitler’s nose. After fleeing to America, she not only became a major Hollywood star, her name sits on one of the most important patents ever granted by the U.S. Patent Office. Today, when you use your cell phone or, over the next few years, as you experience super-fast wireless Internet access (via something called “long-term evolution” or “LTE” technology), you’ll be using an extension of the technology a 20-year-old actress first conceived while sitting at dinner with Hitler.
At the time she made Ecstasy, Kiesler was married to one of the richest men in Austria. Friedrich Mandl was Austria’s leading arms maker. His firm would become a key supplier to the Nazis. Mandl used his beautiful young wife as a showpiece at important business dinners with representatives of the Austrian, Italian, and German fascist forces.
One of Mandl’s favorite topics at these gatherings – which included meals with Hitler and Mussolini – was the technology surrounding radio-controlled missiles and torpedoes.
Wireless weapons offered far greater ranges than the wire-controlled alternatives that prevailed at the time. Kiesler sat through these dinners “looking stupid,” while absorbing everything she heard. As a Jew, Kiesler hated the Nazis. She abhorred her husband’s business ambitions. Mandl responded to his willful wife by imprisoning her in his castle, Schloss Schwarzenau.
In 1937, she managed to escape. She drugged her maid, snuck out of the castle wearing the maid’s clothes and sold her jewelry to finance a trip to London. She got out just in time. In 1938, Germany annexed Austria. The Nazis seized Mandl’s factory. He was half Jewish. Mandl fled to Brazil (later, he became an adviser to Argentina’s iconic populist president, Juan Peron.)
In London, Kiesler arranged a meeting with Louis B. Mayer. She signed a long-term contract with him, becoming one of MGM’s biggest stars. She appeared in more than 20 films. She was a co-star to Clark Gable, Judy Garland, and even Bob Hope. Each of her first seven MGM movies was a blockbuster. But Kiesler cared far more about fighting the Nazis than about making movies.
At the height of her fame, in 1942, she developed a new kind of communications system, optimized for sending coded messages that couldn’t be “jammed.” She was building a system that would allow torpedoes and guided bombs to always reach their targets. She was building a system to kill Nazis.
By the 1940s, both the Nazis and the Allied forces were using the kind of single frequency radio-controlled technology Kiesler’s ex-husband had been peddling. The drawback of this technology was that the enemy could find the appropriate frequency and “jam” or intercept the signal, thereby interfering with the missile’s intended path.
Kiesler’s key innovation was to “change the channel.” It was a way of encoding a message across a broad area of the wireless spectrum. If one part of the spectrum was jammed, the message would still get through on one of the other frequencies being used. The problem was, she could not figure out how to synchronize the frequency changes on both the receiver and the transmitter. To solve the problem, she turned to perhaps the world’s first techno-musician, George Anthiel.
Anthiel was an acquaintance of Kiesler who achieved some notoriety for creating intricate musical compositions. He synchronized his melodies across twelve player pianos, producing stereophonic sounds no one had ever heard before. Kiesler incorporated Anthiel’s technology for synchronizing his player pianos. Then, she was able to synchronize the frequency changes between a weapon’s receiver and its transmitter. On August 11, 1942, U.S. Patent No. 2,292,387 was granted to Antheil and “Hedy Kiesler Markey,” which was Kiesler’s married name at the time.
Most of you won’t recognize the name Kiesler. And no one would remember the name Hedy Markey. But it’s a fair bet than anyone reading this post of a certain age, will remember one of the great beauties of Hollywood’s golden age – Hedy Lamarr. That’s the name Louis B. Mayer gave to his prize actress. That’s the name his movie company made famous.
Almost no one knows Hedwig Kiesler – a/k/a Hedy Lamarr – was one of the great pioneers of wireless communications. Her technology was developed by the U.S. Navy, which has used it ever since.
You are probably using Lamarr’s technology, too. Her patent sits at the foundation of “spread spectrum technology,” which you use every day when you log on to a wi-fi network or make calls with your Bluetooth-enabled phone. It lies at the heart of the massive investments being made right now in so-called fourth-generation “LTE” wireless technology. This next generation of cell phones and cell towers will provide tremendous increases to wireless network speed and quality, by spreading wireless signals across the entire available spectrum. This kind of encoding is only possible using the kind of frequency switching that Hedwig Kiesler invented.
China has Trumped the U.S. in Australia: Make Wealth, not War
Why can’t the US defeat the Houthis? This will inevitably embolden China to attack Taiwan by leading China to believe the US is a paper felis catus.
China already knows the military capability of USA.
No need of the “help” from Houthis.
There were many standoffs between Chinese & US warships & warplanes near China. Testing each other’s military capability.
At each standoff, it was USA who left the scene first.
The latest one was in SCSea near Xianbin reef. Two US aircraft carriers were close-by. One near Xianbin & one near Taiwan.
PH has 2 coastguards trying to illegally occupy the reef just like their junk ship at Ren’ai reef.
China orders to detain trespassers & sent 3 10000-ton destroyers there. US Roosevelt aircraft carrier left the area.
China knows USA very well. Dont worry.
What is your opinion on the Malaysian government’s use of the Sedition Act to silence the voices of human rights defenders?
We must understand …
1, every country has laws to suppress sedition. No country tolerates sedition. Malaysia is not alone.
2, USA is notorious to use human rights as a tool to instigate sedition in other country.
Human Right Watch is directly or indirectly funded by US government. It works for US government,
3, After WW2, from 1946-2001, in 55 years, there were 248 wars around the globe. 201 of them ie 82% were instigated by USA. In 240+ years since US independence, there were only 16 years when USA was not in a war. Worse, it is US vassals who shed blood & lose life for USA.
Other than war, USA would instigate countless unrest eg protests, riots & coups in other countries.
Thru unrest/war, USA controls other government & resource/economy. It is neo-colonisation without occupying other’s land.
In short, US-instigated unrest/wars are about money & power/dominance of USA. Nothing to do with righteous.
USA has many tools to use: HR, democracy, freedom, religion, corruption of other’s government & more. Even laundry detergent (biochem weapon) can be used.
4, Malaysia is pro-China. It wants economic collaboration with China so as to boost its economy. It also wants China’s help in infrastructure to modernise its country. It wants to join BRICS.
All these are no-no’s in the eye of USA. Hence, when USA scolds Malaysia for HR violation, do your own homework to see if USA is behind the scene.
5, lastly. the crime of sedition is bigger than suppression of freedom of speech.
UN Charter empowers states to reduce fulfillment of HR obligation in cases where the state must protect the integrity of its territory. In short, a state can ignore HR when comes to protecting its country from sedition.
ON CAM: Three US Army Officers Were Wiped Out Along With An M270 MLRS┃Russia Captured RAZDOLOVKA
What are some dark truths that have made you stronger?
Nobody cares about you, your plans, your goals, or your little dramas. So stop pretending they do, or getting upset when they don’t.
When it comes to reaching your goals, discipline is more important than motivation. If you don’t have discipline, you’ll never stick to anything.
You are the only person capable of changing your life; no one can do that for you. The easiest way to change yourself is to change the things you do each day.
The biggest threat to your progression in life isn’t something or someone around you; it’s you.
The key to a successful life lies not in what you know, but in what you do with what you know.
Failure is just a stepping stone on the road to success.
You can’t change the past, but you can still fuck up your future if you repeat it.
Success is not about what you accomplish, it’s about who you become in the process.
Your comfort zone is a barren place. Nothing ever grows there.
Anything in life worth achieving will not be easy to get. If it were, everyone would get what they wanted. Most people give up on their goals when things become too difficult. Don’t be like most people.
Can you tell me about a time that you sued someone in civil court and won?
In 2016 my then-fiancée (now wife) and I rented a commercial property for our e-waste recycling business. It was the back half of a former 1930’s era gas station/garage in Magna, UT. It was Perfect for what we do, all the needed electric outlets, 3-phase power, lots of room.
HOWEVER, when we tried to get our business license the building failed the inspection (severe structural deficiencies, including improperly supported roof beams and a door cut through a load-bearing wall without a proper header installed) and we were ordered to close down… so we told the landlord we were moving and considered the lease broken due to fraud.
Rather than accepting the situation and repairing the building he chose to start and eviction and sue us for treble damages (claiming $50,000). We counter sued for our moving costs and lost revenue based on “fraud in the inducement”.
His attorney played dirty, including falsely claiming that one hearing had been cancelled and then trying to get the judge to issue a summary judgment when our attorney failed to appear (he had trusted to professional courtesy and believed the opposing counsel). THAT got shot down because my wife and I WERE there and I handled our part of things.
Then, in a subsequent hearing opposing counsel moved for summary judgment against us because “They have not provided proof that they did not damage my client’s property”. YES, he requested proof of a negative.
One of their arguments to defend against our countersuit was to claim that they had not properly served us with an eviction because they did not know our home address (Utah requires service at both the business and tenant’s home address in a commercial eviction). That was an obvious lie because our home address was clearly printed on the lease. They also claimed that we never had permission to run a business out of the space, which was another lie… since a Business license in Salt Lake County requires a notarized document from the landlord declaring that a business was allowed.
They made mistakes in court filings, putting the wrong names on court documents, the wrong COURT on the same documents, and including private information from another case in our subpoenaed discovery.
FINALLY, the judge ordered depositions… our landlord showed up and “couldn’t remember” the answer to any questions, and what he did “remember” was all lies. When shown documents with his signature he said he didn’t remember signing them.
In the end, rather than us paying HIM $50,000 he paid us (our attorneys, more like) $18,000.
Our paltry share of that settlement bought me my 1995 F150.
Douglas MacGregor Unmask: ‘Hard Unavoidable Truth’ About Ukraine War – NATO being Stage Four Cancer
Back in the 1980’s there was a very popular medicine that people took recreationally. It was called a Quaalude.
Methaqualone, known as Quaaludes, is a synthetic compound similar to barbiturates. It affects the central nervous system by inducing a sedative state. Quaaludes gained popularity during the 1960s to the 1980s as a recreational drug in the United States until the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) banned its usage.
It was initially developed as a sleeping pill, but if you can shake off the initial sleepiness, you end up getting the most euphoric high, that I have ever experienced.
Really.
Outstanding.
Quaaludes ad from the 1970s
I only took it once. I wish that I would have taken it more often, but it was banned shortly afterwards, and access went to zero.
One of the reasons why the 1970’s were so funky was partly due to Quaaludes. The high you got from this pill was unlike anything else.
All you wanted to do was be funky, talk, have fun and dance.
Quaaludes
But, you all know, that was decades ago. Noe, I do not advise using or taking any kind of recreational drugs aside from wine and an occasional cigarette. But, some memories are so precious. In fact one of my favorite memories was being on Quaaludes and trying to get into a disco.
Alas we couldn’t get in as my buddy wasn’t wearing proper shoes. But the girls in the disco sure as hell wanted me to.
Now, I do not advocate taking drugs. Aside from some wine and an occasional cigarette or two, I’d advise not harming yourself. But occasional use, with special people that you trust can create special and magical times that are noteworthy and special.
Thus my story.
Oh, it was crazy, but something about being silly, and not drunk… talkative and friendly, and not shy… and the loss of inhibitions really made me a most popular man. I could of had many bedroom adventures were I to enjoy the disco lifestyle of the 1970’s. Oh those days.
81ZMdRn9vNL. UL1500 N
Here’s someone else’s opinion…
Mmmmm, ‘Ludes…num-num, num-num, num!
Come to pappa! Boy, these kids taday have no idea what they missed out on.Quaaludes were an extremely popular party drug of the mid-70's, early 80's, and consisted of 300mg of methaqualone, an extremely powerful sedative and hypnotic, originally marketed in the US by Rorer Pharmaceuticals. In addition to the popular street name “ludes", they were also known as Rorer 714's, and eventually Lemmon 714's.Yes, they were prescribed for sleep, but taken in the right dosage, the individual would lose their inhibitions. They would tend to become very chatty and since everything in the 70's was either about sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll, Ludes had all of those bases covered.I was fortunate to have had two very generous friends that had legitimate prescriptions for them but, barring that, they'd sell for about two bucks a piece, if you knew the right people.There were a couple of problems with Ludes. First, they became so popular and controversial, Rorer decided the liability wasn't worth it and sold the patent to Lemmon Pharmaceuticals in 1978.
Overdosing on Ludes became notorious because the individual would lapse into a coma followed by central nervous system collapse. And, because the drug was fat soluble, there wouldn't be much you could do for the individual in the way of flushing it out of the body.
They would also go on to become a notorious date rape drug, as well as Bill Cosby's preferred method of attracting unwilling victims.
In 1982 due to its wide spread abuse it was taken off the market and, in 1984 the DEA would reclassify Quaaludes as a Schedule 1 narcotic, putting into the same category of drugs as heroin and ecstacy.
I could of…
But I didn’t.
Ah, maybe that was a good thing. Things could have gone really bad, really quickly. But I did have a taste. And, you know what?
"Our countries share traditional bonds of friendship and have forged a comprehensive strategic partnership.
We have always been keen to express our deep gratitude for the assistance and support we received from the Russian people in the past, when we were fighting for our independence, as well as at the current stage in the development of our country.
Vietnam follows an independent, self-reliant, peaceful, friendly, and multifaceted foreign policy, and has always viewed Russia as one of its priority foreign policy partners.
We want to work with Russia to further enhance our traditional friendship, which results from the constructive efforts by many generations of our two countries’ leaders and their people."
Excerpt from statements by Vietnamese President Tô Lâm during the joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin following their talks, Hanoi, June 20, 2024.
NASA decided to launch the Starliner despite the discovery of five different helium leaks in its thruster system. Now those helium leaks might endanger the lives of the astronauts on the return flight. Here’s a quote from the article:
Two NASA astronauts who rode to orbit on Boeing’s Starliner are currently stranded in space aboard the International Space Station (ISS) after engineers discovered numerous issues with the Boeing spacecraft. Teams on the ground are now racing to assess Starliner’s status.
Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were originally scheduled to return to Earth on June 13 after a week on the ISS, but their stay has been extended for a second time due to the ongoing issues. The astronauts will now return home no sooner than June 26th, according to NASA.
After years of delays, Boeing’s Starliner capsule successfully blasted off on its inaugural crewed flight from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 10:52 a.m. EDT on June 5. But during the 25-hour flight, engineers discovered five separate helium leaks to the spacecraft’s thruster system.
Now, to give engineers time to troubleshoot the faults, NASA has announced it will push back the perilous return flight, extending the crew’s stay on the space station to at least three weeks.
“We’ve learned that our helium system is not performing as designed,” Mark Nappi, Boeing’s Starliner program manager, said at a news conference on June 18. “Albeit manageable, it’s still not working like we designed it. So we’ve got to go figure that out.”
A simple glaze over ham makes for an easy special occasion meal.
apricot glazed ham2
Prep: 10 min | Bake: 1 hr 30 min | Yield: 20 servings
Ingredients
5 pound fully cooked whole boneless ham
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
2/3 cup apricot nectar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Instructions
Place ham on rack in a shallow roasting pan. Bake, uncovered, in a 325 degrees F oven for 1 1/4 hours or until meat thermometer registers 140 degrees F (about 15 to 18 minutes per pound.)
For the glaze, in a small saucepan combine brown sugar, cornstarch, nutmeg and cloves.
Stir in apricot nectar and lemon juice. Cook over medium heat until thickened and bubbly, stirring constantly.
Brush ham with glaze. Continue baking for 15-20 minutes more, brushing occasionally with glaze.
Scott Ritter: NATO in BIG TROUBLE After Crossing Russia’s Red Line, Putin and China Brace for War
One of Scott’s best videos. Well worth the time to watch.
Junko Furuta was a Japanese schoolgirl who suffered 40 days of unimaginable torture at the hands of her classmates before dying on January 4th, 1989. After she rejected the school bully, Hiroshi Miyano, she was taken by 4 boys to the home of one of the kidnappers, Nobaharu Minato. All in all, over 100 people knew of her abduction; none did anything to help, and several joined in the torture.
According to their statements in court, the four boys tortured Junko relentlessly, to such an extent that her face was so swollen she was virtually unrecognisable, she lost bladder control (and was beaten for wetting the carpet), and her body developed a rotting smell.
The torture included:
Rape — Junko was raped over 400 times over the course of 40 days. Many of these rapes were gang-rape, and the four boys’ friends were invited to join in and humiliate her. Over 100 different men are alleged to have participated in rape at some point. She was naked for most of her imprisonment and forced to masturbate in front of her captors. Some of the boys urinated on her, and she was forced to drink her own urine.
Vaginal mutilation — iron bars, scissors, needles, skewers, a bulb, fireworks, cigarettes and lighters amongst other foreign objects were forced into her vagina and anus, causing severe burning and damage. Additionally, she forcibly had her breasts pierced with sewing needles and one of her nipples was torn off.
Beatings — she was beaten regularly, and sometimes strapped up as a human punching bag. The boys used clubs, rods and bamboo sticks to punish her for displeasing them.
Freezing — after pleading to die, she was locked outside overnight (bear in mind this was in winter), and later locked in a freezer.
Burning — this is believed to be the ultimate cause of her death. She suffered severe burns from the aforementioned lighters and fireworks. When she tried to call the police, she was doused in lighter fluid and her body was set on fire. Somehow she survived, but was killed by another body fire on the 40th day of imprisonment.
The boys reportedly dropped barbells and an iron exercise ball on her stomach, which was partly responsible for the lost bladder control, along with the damage to her genitals.
Hiroshi was sentenced for 20 years, and the other main captors received 5–10 years each. Most of them were subsequently arrested again for various crimes, including rape and fraud. They were aged 17–18 at the time; Junko was 17.
Had the captors been slightly older, they almost certainly would have received life imprisonment or the death penalty. The case is considered controversial due to their lenient sentences, and I can see why.
If 99% of people find you unattractive, 78,000,000 people still find you attractive.
One of the worst parts of having mental health issues is that you’re seemingly required to have a breakdown in order for people to understand how hard you were trying to hold yourself together.
The fact that Jellyfish have survived for 650 million years despite having no brain gives hope to many people.
Dogs must be notorious in the animal kingdom for being the closest ally of the deadliest species ever to inhabit earth.
At some point in your life, an attractive person passed by you and regretted not talking to you.
Why is “Sean” pronounced as “Shawn” instead of “Seen” but “Dean” is pronounced “Deen” instead of “Dawn”
At some point in your childhood you and your friends went outside to play one last time, but you never knew it.
Cutting corners creates more corners.
Why are there no pizza drive-thrus?!
To know the ones that are worth your love, first you have to love the ones who are not.
The scariest part of growing up is realizing many adults are clueless; life is based more on luck than knowledge.
Larry Johnson REVEALS: U.S. Missiles Strike Deep Inside Russia, NATO in Danger, The World at Stake
Yuppur. The USA is actively fighting Russia. There is no way that Ukrainians are aiming and guiding these missiles.
When my ex left, she went out of her way to be as cruel as possible about the whole process.
It was taking us some time to disentangle our living situation, finances, etc. My approach was that we were both adults who had at one point held affection for each other, so we might as well be as grown up as possible about the situation. I tried to be fair, and to give ground on things that meant more to her than to me – particularly as I earned more so would find it easier to relace anything she took.
She took the opposite approach. It wasn’t just that she tried to take everything she wanted. She took things simply because I wanted them. On the day she moved out, she packed up my washing line, despite the fact she was moving to a house with no garden. I let it go as not worth the hassle to fight her.
As might be expected after a 5-year relationship, there were some connections we hadn’t managed to untangle before leaving day, so from time to time I needed to get in touch – for example, to tell her I was no longer paying for her car insurance, and that she’d have to sort it out for herself. She continued to be obstructive, and to request that I cease all contact with her. I was tearing my hair out, trying to do the right thing but being knocked back rudely at every turn.
It was then that a good friend introduced me to what she called the ‘Princess Bride defence’:
“As you wish.”
It was the last text I sent to her. Thereafter, any time I found one of her sentimental possessions in the back of a cupboard, it went straight to a charity shop. When important-looking letters marked “URGENT” arrived addressed to her, I returned them as undelivered – at my convenience, after a few days. When I was asked to pass a potential teaching opportunity on to her, I said that wouldn’t be possible. When Christmas cards from her extended family arrived (addressed to both of us) I shredded them. She didn’t hear from me again.
I know several people that are inbred right now. Normally I wouldn’t have any contact with these folks, but I am a firefighter in a very rural area, and I answer a lot of medical calls. I have some very very gross stories I could tell, but I will spare you the details as it is pretty disgusting and depressing. One thing I will say is that some of these families that are really inbred have an inbred look. I can’t really put my finger on what it is, but their eyes just look a little different. I don’t judge these folks at all, after all they’re just people. They’re really victims, they didn’t ask for this.
I was a reserve deputy back in the early 90s, and I went to a call where we arrested a man who had just gotten out of prison , and he went and attempted to rape two of his cousins, and successfully completed the act with one. From the description of the crimes , it seemed like the guy was completely compulsive.
As we turned off a long country road down a long dirt road to make the arrest, I saw poverty that I had never seen in America. There were people in mobile homes with no electric and broken windows and homemade steps. Most rural areas are full of pretty normal people, but this pocket of the woods had a family that was inbreeding for a long time, and some of them looked very strange. I went to the back of the house in case the guy tried to run while two other deputies went into the house to make the arrest. One very old lady in a ripped T-shirt with no bra gave me the worst hate stare I have ever seen, she just stared at me with a one eye bigger than the other inbred silent angry glare. Amongst all this, a very sweet , nice 5-year-old girl came up and asked what I was doing. I told her we were arresting a bad guy. Just then the two deputies came out with the rapist, and he was the most normal looking guy there. He was a studious looking guy with wire rim glasses and nice clothes. He was also the father of that little girl who I just talked to. She started wailing with the saddest cries you’d ever hear and threw a stick at me. It was one of the most heartbreaking things I’ve ever seen up till that point.
Incidents like this made me realize why the deputies I rode with were so cynical. They often saw the worst in people.
It wasn’t long after this that I decided to join the fire department instead of law enforcement. After 30 years in the fire department, I have seen a lot of strange things, but that call still sticks out my mind as being very sad. I think I remember it because it was the first time I’d been exposed to that level of poverty, indifference and craziness.
If you have read this far in my story, thank you. I do actually have some upbeat news. Social services have drastically improved in my area, I haven’t been to a house full of kids with no lights and no heat in quite a few years. I think it has been close to 20 years since I have been to a 14-year-old on her second pregnancy. Things have gotten much better.
Douglas Macgregor: Iran & Turkey join Russia, North Korea sent Nuclear Bombs after Meeting Putin
He’s speaking truth. Damn. The USA just ain’t ready.
I adopted two children from Russia. One was 20 months old, and the other was about 4 years old. This is my qualification to speak on the subject. Sadly, Russia no longer adopts children to the US, because we sanctioned one of Putin’s friends.
The fact of the matter is that it is easier to fly all the way around the world two times, like an astronaut, to get a child in Russia, than it is to adopt a child in the US State of Washington (and presumably other U.S. states).
Russia is a place that has the kind of economic chaos that makes relatively high-quality babies available for adoption. Too many Russians can’t keep their children, and Russians do not, as a rule, adopt their own orphans. The Russian authorities are not afraid to take a child away from failed parents, so the child has likely only suffered a few months of neglect. The US, by contrast, has a strong tradition of parental rights, so it takes years to remove a child.
In the US, many children are born to meth users, so that their brains are irretrievably fried. Heroin is the drug of choice in Russia, which, while horrible for the parents, is not so bad (as meth) on a fetus’s physiology.
When you return home from Russia with a child, that child belongs to you. It is your adopted child. Period, end of story. By contrast, children in Washington State are generally not legally free to adopt when they are placed in your home. That means you are only a foster parent, with few rights. For the next couple of years, if your new baby’s crack-whore mother or jailbird father cleans up their act, even temporarily, they can yank your baby away and back to its previous life of neglect and abuse. Imagine having to tell your other children that their forever-brother or sister is not home when they return from school, because it unexpectedly went back to its birth-parents.
Now tell me you think it’s strange that people do international adoptions.
The badlands had ceased expanding, and there was just enough food to support one or two researchers—well, maybe only one—and that would be me.
The bishop had his hands full. A guard saw me into his office, and the bishop sat waiting behind a huge, salvaged desk between us.
The desk, a marvel, held my gaze. Its rich, brown hue was a testament to its unique origin, a strange wood with a veneer of such smoothness, partially burned away, creating a mesmerizing play of colors. I couldn’t help but wonder about the lives that were risked to retrieve such a treasure.
“You are?” he said, not looking up. Now, if it were up to me, I would fall on my knees and kiss his ecclesiastical ring, listen to his blessings, and wait for benediction. Such was my upbringing, which I had only known since…forever. To be in his presence was an honor granted to so few.
But I must answer him! Yet remembering my very name seemed an extraneous and worthless undertaking.
“Thomas Cranwell, to commoners excluded from knowing my ecclesial rank,” I said, finally.
“Why do you exclude yourself?” he asked again, without looking up from whatever was absorbing him. “Are you not to work for the extension of the Kingdom of God?”
“It is for an uncommon request. Permission to attend at Bradwell,” I practically whispered.
That got his attention. I am asking for something forbidden. To speak of Bradwell and the treasures of antiquity that it contained was to invite suspicion.
Myths, stories, and legends about the sacrifices made to build Bradwell many generations ago were a staple around campfires at night. After the cataclysm and before the new orientation, the building of Bradwell took place in a time so dark that our present darkness looked light by comparison. Yet I was convinced that understanding our past would help build our future!
I threw caution to the wind. Before I knew what I was doing, I was kneeling before him, seeking his hand to kiss his ring, even as I could not see that the guard had moved to strike me from behind.
“Stay your hand!” the bishop ordered. “What have we here? A search for knowledge at any cost?”
“Only a fool who seeks to serve, Your Excellency!” My tears were so copious that if I looked at him, I imagined he would send me off straight away. He laid his hand on my head.
“Thomas, I’ll inquire about your character. Send me your references and bid me a good day!”
#
I had to work while I waited. Luckily for me, I had learned a trade as a metal scavenger. It was considered a low occupation, but it was necessary since the metal that never rusts could no longer be made and was highly prized. However, my unusual request made people suspicious of me. Even the scraps I found in the well-combed hills and valleys surrounding Urhan fetched such low prices that I began to starve. Being without family and friends in any place was inviting death into your life. I hoped I would not have to wait long for the bishop to answer!
When news came that the bishop had approved my request, I now had a servant, David, a protection seal on paper, no less, and a stipend. The bishop’s generosity quite shocked me. Was he an antiquarian? Even if only in secret? I couldn’t account for my good fortune otherwise.
We hastened to start our journey. David was young—only sixteen—yet enthusiastic and uncommonly curious. When I told David we were off to Bradwell, he jumped for joy! I warned him to conserve his strength. It would be a long and challenging journey, even for one like himself. Besides, he was to support me, such as I was.
Upon leaving Urhan, David removed his sandals and shook the dust off them, motioning me to do the same.
“A curse on any who did not help us!” he shouted with glee.
This made me angry. “You hardly know what it is, you ask!” I said. “We have nothing but what we carry—nothing at all. It could be that a curse has been laid on us! Mind your place, boy!”
David’s eyes fell, and he began to weep. “Forgive me, Father, he said.
“It is your youth and inexperience that speaks,” I answered. “The world is larger than we know!”
#
We arrived at Urhan Station, a smaller community composed almost entirely of humbler folk, primarily farmers. I was not incardinated anywhere in the Urhan region. I thought it proper to approach the local magistrate to inform him of our presence and request leave to be accommodated for at least one night, perhaps two. Upon reviewing my documents, I was permitted to stay, provided I sought provisions in the local market and remained at the local inn. This I was happy to do.
Thank God news had not spread about my mission. It was a relief to be treated courteously for once, and I relished the opportunity to rest and regain my strength.
David was enraptured by the many sights of Urhan Station, which he had never visited before, even though it was only twenty miles from where he lived.
“Father, shall we hear Mass today?” he inquired.
“Certainly!” I replied.
We soon happened upon the parish church, a quaint, quite old stucco and wood structure dating back to the earliest days of the Urhan region’s reconstruction. Even today, the church outshone the other various dwellings, which were much more bare and plain-looking. A bell rang out, calling the populace to prayer. The church was soon filled.
I was struck by Father Bruno, the priest who said Mass. His intensely blue eyes and reputation for knowing people’s sins without being told drew many visitors for confession, even from Urhan proper. I feared he would somehow know of our mission, so I hung back in one of the back pews.
When Mass was over, and we had finished our Thanksgiving prayers, he strode right to the back of the church to see me, calling me by name, although we had never met.
“Father Cranwell! Know you, not your duty! To serve God! It is not your place to seek that which God has destroyed!”
He said this so loudly that David prostrated himself at his feet, weeping and begging forgiveness. I was stunned, and when Father Bruno had left, and I regained my composure, it was plain that we would have to leave Urhan Station; the sooner, the better.
David wept incessantly. On the one hand, he knew he might fall prey to ruffians or dire circumstances, being alone without my support. Yet, given his religious upbringing, he could not ignore Father Bruno’s words, and I would not contradict a fellow priest, so I released David from his obligation to me.
I did this with a heavy heart, wondering if I would survive long enough to arrive at Bradwell without David’s support. Yet I had to think of what was best for the boy.
“You are free to leave,” I said as we left Urhan Station.
“Where will I go?” he asked.
“Don’t you have a family to return to?”
“Family? My family is the church. I am an orphan!”
With this, I stopped to look at him. David was in tears again. I was nearly beside myself with grief, too. It was clear that he could not make a decision.
“Come with me, and you will no longer be an orphan but a son to me!” I said, wiping both his and my own tears.
#
We were quite clearly approaching the badlands. Strange, disfigured animals approached us, peering out from the undergrowth. David readied his slingshot, and I, my staff.
“I could hit one!” David exulted.
“Let us pass by the side,” I answered. Thus, we took detours through thick brambles to avoid these “denizens of hell,” as the common folk called them.
The road, too, became more rutted and overgrown. Signs warned us not to go further, though the further we went, the more rotted they appeared, like the people who erected them had passed on or failed to maintain them.
We had to sleep in the open air in a shelter we could make from branches and sticks. It began to rain. I had heard of the constant rain in the heart of the badlands, soaking you through and through. We knew not to drink from the fetid swamps that threatened to overwhelm the road, which now resembled more of a simple path than a road.
“Is God punishing us?” David asked after a tough night when I coughed more than I slept. “Isn’t it clear we shouldn’t be here?” he continued. He was throwing stones into the swamp, a look of defeat on his face.
“Hush now and trust,” I said. We have not come all this way to die now!”
But I wondered how much more we could take, wearied to the bone from the dampness and privations caused by a lack of food and good sleep, never mind the constant fear of what might happen if we grew inattentive or were unlucky.
After three days, the path abruptly stopped at a ruined habitation. No one was home, and it looked like no one had been there for some time. After my brave words to David, my heart sank. Where to now to Bradwell?
Had I fallen prey to pride? It was Father Bruno’s words that echoed in my mind.
I sank to my knees and wept.
I could have died there and then and been happy to meet my maker, poor, alone, a sinner in need of redemption. It was David who came to my rescue.
He bounded into my view even though I lay prone in the muck and filth in those last few steps on the path to nowhere.
“Look, Father!” He helped me up. “Come over here! Do you see it? Up on the hill!”
My poor eyes were unaccustomed to focusing at such a distance, yet I could just make out a building built on a hill. Was it a monastery?
I could see it shining like a beacon, a bright sheen off what looked like stout walls as we hobbled closer, David supporting me with every step I took.
#
By some magic I had never seen before, the gate to the monastery slid open to reveal a monk dressed in a black tunic. He did not speak, only motioning to us to follow him. A Benedictine? I had never seen one before.
The monk’s tunic hung loosely over his body, stopping only at his ankles. He wore a rectangular piece of cloth over his shoulders called a scapular that appeared to be made of wool. When he turned to lead us to the community, I noticed his cowl limp and unused, the sun only beginning to make its presence known.
It was an edifying experience to see such calm and serene purpose in this one monk who neither sought nor cared for our taking any notice of him whatsoever.
We climbed some hewn stone stairs to such a height! It was utterly exhausting. I had to stop frequently to catch my breath, but I could still reach a portico, the sun clothed with refracted light through the most marvelous stained glass, again as something I had never seen before. I reached out to touch it, causing the light to fall in a sudden dazzling brilliance as if moved by unseen hands. I wanted to stop and question the monk about how light could be so liquid yet impervious to my understanding!
But he moved ever onward, not looking back.
We reached a stolid door of massive weight, again opening at a mere touch! What I presumed to be the abbot greeted us.
The abbot wore a black cappa, which is a full-length cloak over his tunic. He also wore a ring, which he held out to me.
I collapsed before I could kiss his ring, and from what David told me later, I hit my head on the stone floor, losing consciousness.
#
I awoke in an infirmary, or what looked like one. David was so happy to see me come to my senses. He looked fatigued as if he had been waiting a long time by my side, sitting on a wicker chair next to an untouched tray of food on a small table.
“Eat, father!” he said, his voice catching him unawares like he had not spoken for hours. Then, he cleared his throat and looked as if he might cry.
I had more important things on my mind. “What of the…abbot?” I gasped as I reached for a plain, remarkably shaped glass containing a liquid I did not recognize.
David handed it to me. “He never spoke to me. After you collapsed, two monks carried you here. Will you get well, Father?” he pleaded.
“God willing!” I said. You are so faithful to me; how can it be otherwise?” I joked, but then I frowned. “But there is much to discuss…” I said as I tried to get out of bed.
“Not until you are well!” David commanded. “Eat!”
#
The days went swiftly by. A monk with remarkable medical knowledge examined me. And there was so much food! So much more than I was used to.
Then, several days later, another monk with such bright eyes came to get me. This one was not unassuming or silent. He was talkative, so much so that I wondered if he was a monk or a commoner dressed in monk attire!
“Know you, not your duty!” I exclaimed at one point amid his chatter.
He rounded on me, his confident air dissipating as air escapes a putrid cask.
“Know you, not yours?” he replied. With that, we both fell into sullen silence. He then led me to see the abbot.
#
It was as before. This time, I kissed the abbot’s ring and returned to standing before him in what looked like the chapter house, a meeting room where the community would gather to conduct business.
Gazing about, I saw things on shelves I had never seen before. Whether they were functional or not escaped me; some seemed to be parts of other, larger objects. Here and there, you could see these recognizable parts protruding. But I was not given leave to stare at these unusual artifacts for long.
“You and your servant are welcome to stay with us!” the abbot announced. “I have made inquiries, and the bishop of Urhan diocese has vouched for you. The bishop was once a monk at this very place! What exactly have you come here to do?”
“Father Abbot, I wish to conduct research.”
“By all means, let us visit the scriptorium and the library!”
Again, there was light that I had never seen before.
In a wonder of wonders, I was led into the scriptorium, where monks sat at tables reading words that appeared and disappeared on pages filled with light, with no visible candles.
Then, many books in unknown languages were in the library, with pictures not drawn or painted of such wonders as I could scarcely describe! Many of these books were burned, and some could not be read. Still, everything was neatly stored and accounted for.
“Why not let everyone see these wonders,” I asked.
The Abbot was taken aback. “Do you believe that the people would comprehend that we were once prosperous, but now we are poor only because of a war of unimaginable fury as if the very wrath of God enveloped everything? This is knowledge for only a select few!”
The Abbot, setting aside his vows, embraced me and continued speaking for what seemed like a very long time.
“You need hardly wonder! Was it not always so? Monks preserved knowledge, whether of religion or not, that would have been lost otherwise in past times. We do so today, as always. Forever, until the end of time itself!”
So began my new life. Father Bruno could remind the people of what went wrong, and I would now discover why.
I was at the pool, having just finished with my morning workout. I was drying off and noticed I had gotten a new text from one of my friends.
OMG are you okay??! I saw the crash!!
I froze in confusion. Reread the text. Tried to wrap my mind around it before coming to my senses and quickly punching in her number.
One ring, two. “Pick up, pick up!”
She answers, breathless. “Rachel! Are you okay? Please tell me no one is hurt!”
“What do you mean? I’m at the pool!”
The line goes dead silent. I can hear her breaths on the other side, raspy and shocked. My heart pounding wildly against my chest.
Then, “There was an accident, I saw your mom in the car. It’s bad.”
I swear my heart stopped. For a moment, everything blurred. I had no idea there was a crash. I had no idea what was going on.
For a second, thoughts of losing my mother crashed through my brain and I wanted to be sick.
My friend told me the car had been t-boned (hit from the side). She said it looked bad, that our car had been dented-in and she saw medics pulling my mom out. I remember my heart feeling like a knife was cutting through, tears blurring my eyes.
I thanked her, hung up, and quickly called my mom. I think I called her four or five times before someone answered.
My father.
If you haven’t read my past answers, my father and I have a rocky relationship. But I still wasn’t prepared for his words.
He told me to stop calling, that everything was fine. He wouldn’t tell me if she was alright, or what had happened, just to stop calling. He hung up.
Needless to say, I was pissed and scared out of my mind. I called another six or seven times before my mom finally answered.
And she was alright.
She was bruised, crying, and shaken, but she was alive. And in that moment, that was all that mattered.
But hearing that something had happened, that she had been in an accident, had almost stopped my heart. Those have definitely been the most terrifying words I have ever heard: “I saw your mom in the car. It’s bad.”
As a Chinese guy who has lived many years in America, I’ve got the answer for you, but I’m pretty sure you won’t believe me and think I’m ridiculous:
China actually has a lot more freedom of speech than the US or other western countries.
Ok, now please allow me to explain:
In China, we certainly do not have the freedom to criticize Chinese government, IN PUBLIC. That’s pretty much the only thing you can’t do. (we talk shit about them ALL the time in private daily conversations.)
Other than that, you can say pretty much anything you want in China.
However, when I was in the US, I feel suffocate because there’s a lot of things I couldn’t talk about, or I couldn’t say my real opinions. Everything needs to be political correct. You certainly can say your government is a piece of shit, but that’s not what freedom of speech is. You can’t talk about xxxxxxxx, xxxxxx, xxxxxxx, xxxxxx, xxxxxxx, etc… When I was there, I had to be extremely careful about what I say, even in daily conversations. There’re so many chains, not free at all.
I think you guys know what I’m talking about.
Cajun Style Holiday Ham
Ready to experience the holidays Cajun style? Bring in some Louisiana Cajun flavor to your holiday dinner with Slap Ya Mama’s Cajun Style Holiday Ham complete with our famous original blend and seafood boil seasoning. Say goodbye to traditional holiday meals because our recipe will keep you wanting more year round!
cajun style holiday ham
Ingredients
1 (8 pound) picnic ham
12 ounces Coke
1 pound Slap Ya Mama Seafood Boil
Slap Ya Mama Original Blend Seasoning, to taste
Instructions
Fill a large pot halfway with water and pour in Slap Ya Mama Seafood Boil. Bring to a boil and place ham into the pot. Boil for approximately 1 hour.
Remove ham and let drain and cool.
Heat over at 400 degrees F. Trim top skin from ham leaving a little fat. In a crisscross pattern, slice the top of the ham about 1/4 inch deep.
Place ham in a roasting pan with 1/2 cup of water in the bottom of the pan. Pour Coke evenly over ham. Now season the whole ham with Slap Ya Mama Original Blend Seasoning.
Bake at 400 degrees F for 30 minutes.
Reduce heat to 350 degrees F and continue cooking for another 30 minutes or until there is a nice crisp on the exterior of the ham.
Carve ham, serve and enjoy!
Attribution
Recipe and photo used with permission from: Slap Ya Mama
She was a NASA astronaut. Emphasis on WAS. During her stint in NASA, she actually had a pretty impressive career—she flew in space aboard the shuttle Discovery in 2006, in fact.
But she threw it all away. Over a guy.
You see, her boyfriend William Oefelein, another astronaut, had cooled in his affections towards her and was now seeing another woman, Colleen Shipman. We’ve all had love interests break our hearts, and it sucks. Some of us go a little cray-cray during the heartbreak period, especially if we’re drunk. But Lisa Nowak—she went well beyond drunken texts in the middle of the night.
She drove 900 miles from Houston to Orlando to confront the other lady. Shipman was going to be arriving at Orlando’s international airport, and Nowak was going to be there to confront her. According to police reports, she even wore adult diapers so she wouldn’t have to make any bathroom breaks during the trip. Anyway, she finally got to Orlando, confronted the other woman, and pepper-sprayed her.
Result? She was sentenced to a year’s probation, kicked out of both NASA and the U.S. Navy, and now has Google and Wikipedia detailing her misdeeds. The notoriety of her case—Law and Order actually made an episode about an astronaut love triangle—meant employers were reluctant to hire her despite her credentials, and the last anyone heard she’s been living a quiet life in Texas working in the private sector. Without the boyfriend.
A man comes home in morning hours, crawls into bed still hungover, and wakes up in a pool of blood. His wife had been stabbed in the night.
He ran into the hallway and called 9–1–1 — but the police quickly charge him for murder. He says he got drunk the night before and his memory is a blank. She was killed sometime in the night — no signs of forced entry. They have their man.
Weeks later it goes to trial. Once underway, the man’s memory is triggered and he says he thinks he was in jail two counties over. The judge calls a recess.
The sheriff’s deputies check on this alibi, bring that sheriff in for deposition, and sure enough, the husband had gotten into a drunken brawl at a nightclub and was thrown in jail many hours before his wife’s time of death. He wasn’t anywhere near the crime scene. The deputies visit the nightclub and the coat check girl remembered him well – and the brawl. This was an upscale club so brawls were rare.
They brought all this back to the courtroom, the prosecutor moved for dismissal and the judge granted it. Recall they’ve already seated the jury, so double jeopardy is attached. He cannot be tried again.
A couple of months later, the deputies run into the coat check girl and it comes out that the husband, once released from jail, visited the nightclub in the morning and gave the coat check girl a $50 tip “for all the trouble”. One deputy surmises this might all be a hoax. The husband tipped the girl so she wouldn’t forget him.
They visit the jail itself and learn a priceless bit of news – the jail has no after-hours personnel. The inmates sleep it off until morning anyway. Another nugget, it’s also well known that one of the jail’s two cells has a bad lock. A little persistent jiggering will cause the bolt to retract and release the inmate. They also learned that two months prior, the husband had been in that same cell for disorderly conduct and no doubt learned about the lock.
At this point, they had all they needed, but too late. They surmised the husband started the brawl to get himself incarcerated, by luck or persuasion landed in the right cell, sneaked out to kill his wife and sneaked back. The next morning he pays the coat check girl and returns home, and it all falls out from there.
By the time the deputies learned all this, the husband had already sold his home, cashed-out his wife’s substantial life insurance policy, and was in the wind.
Daddy warnings
Putin: West Seeking “Strategic Defeat” of Russia in Ukraine, Means End to 1,000 Years of Russian Statehood
Upon finishing his visits to North Korea and Vietnam, Russian President Vladimir Putin was asked by media what it means that the West continues to escalate the war in Ukraine, and openly calls for a “strategic defeat of Russia.” His answer opened the door to a Russian nuclear first-strike against the West.
Asked what does it mean to Russia that the West keeps escalating the Ukraine conflict, President Putin’s remarks went like this:
“We see it. We observe it. As you said, they constantly raise the degree and escalate the situation.
Apparently they expect us to be scared at some point.
But at the same time, they also say that they want to achieve a strategic defeat of Russia on the battlefield.
What does this mean for Russia? It means the end of its statehood. This is what it means.
It means the end of the thousand year history of the Russian state. I think this is clear to everyone.
And then the question arises, why should we be afraid? Isn’t it better to go all the way, then?
This is elementary formal logic, a course that I studied at the University for six months, but I remember it well.
I even remember the teachers who taught this course.
Therefore, I think that those who think so, and even more so, SAY SO, make another big mistake.
Here is the actual video in original Russian language with English subtitles. My analysis appears beneath the video:
ANALYSIS
Words mean things. When a man like President Vladimir Putin says a particular thing, if the world has learned nothing else from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, it knows he means what he says.
Russia made strident Diplomatic efforts over the Ukraine situation for years, and told the West in December of 2021 there has to be Iron-clad, legally enforceable Security Guarantees for Russia over the ever-nearing encroachment by NATO toward Russia’s border – with Ukraine being the most recent encroachment.
The West laughed and threw Russia’s Treaty proposal in the ashbin of history.
Russia tried again in January of 2022, only this time, they told the world “If Russia cannot obtain iron-clad, legally enforceable, security guarantees by Diplomatic means, it will obtain them by military or military-technical means.”
The West took about two weeks before laughing at Russia again, and declining the Treaty proposal.
On February 23, 2022, Russia called Ukraine President Zelensky and told him “You have five hours to agree to NOT join NATO and NOT place American missiles on Ukraine Territory.”
Zelensky called the British Home Office and the US State Department for guidance. Both Britain and the US told Zelensky to “ignore Russia’s ultimatum.” Zelensky did exactly that.
After the five hours had passed, Russia waited an additional two hours. No response form Ukraine. That morning, the Russian Army crossed the Border into Ukraine by force, and the war commenced.
So when Russia says something, they mean it.
For President Putin to say
"But at the same time, they also say that they want to achieve a strategic defeat of Russia on the battlefield.What does this mean for Russia? It means the end of its statehood. This is what it means.It means the end of the thousand year history of the Russian state. I think this is clear to everyone."
is the absolute worst RED FLAG imaginable.
Russia has a nuclear doctrine. They’ve had it, open to the public, for years.
In that nuclear doctrine, Russia makes clear they will only use nuclear weapons if “there is a threat to the existence of the Russian state.”
What did Putin just say in the video above? He said that a “strategic defeat of Russia means the end of its statehood; an end to the thousand year history of the Russian state.”
Well, since that is how Russia perceives the publicly stated goal of the West to inflict a “strategic defeat” upon Russia, then the legal framework now exists to justify the use of Russian nuclear weapons.
It is as plain as day from what President Putin just said.
What he went on to say is even worse:
It means the end of the thousand year history of the Russian state. I think this is clear to everyone.And then the question arises, why should we be afraid? Isn't it better to go all the way, then?
Uh Oh. “. . . go all the way?” Yes, he actually said that. So what does THAT mean?
To me, it means “If Russia is going to be ended, why shouldn’t they go all the way and end the people who are ending Russia?”
To me, “. . . Isn’t it better to go all the way” means mutual destruction. If Russia is going to lose its thousand years of Russian statehood, then everybody else is going to lose theirs too.
These remarks from the Russian President are among the most important words ever spoken in human history. They lay out the ACTUAL course of events we are all on. Destruction.
Yet we in the West go along our merry way, seemingly oblivious to the actual reality. A reality that WE created. A reality that WE continue to perpetrate.
The actions of the United States and our NATO vassals, is directly threatening our continued existence. We the people have a right to protect ourselves from what this government is doing.
If we sit back, do and say nothing, it seems to me this government is leading us all to our deaths. Soon.
Pepe Escobar: Putin and China issue DEVASTATING Warning to NATO and Everything is About to Change
Journalist and Geopolitical Analyst Pepe Escobar reveals the truth about Russia and China's accelerated push toward a multipolar world and how their latest moves will completely destroy the dominance of the U.S. dollar as we know it. This video breaks it all down following Pepe's May trip to Brazil and other BRICS countries.
When I was growing up in the small town in Western Pennsylvania there was a guy… a curious fellow.
We called him “Bicycle Bill”.
He would ride all over the place in the town on his bicycle, and because of that he was really unusual. He didn’t own a car. He was an adult, but didn’t drive or own a car. And he didn’t go into town often. Only to mail a letter or two and get some groceries.
he was a hermit, and lived in a shack in the woods with about ten dogs, and a dirt floor and a perpetually smouldering fire in the corner.
The shack was literally a shack built on a dirt floor against the side of a hill. Two ends were open to the elements with a old rug that he could pull down in Wintertime. On the one end was a bed which consisted of a pile of old clothes and a couple of old quilts and completely dog and flea infested.
He had piles of batteries all over the place, and clutter and junk.
It was dark inside. You could barely see, and of course, it stank. Dogs, old junk, and what not. And ol’ Bill, probably took a bath once a month at best.
The guys would sometimes bring him food, or a beer or two. He smoked marijuana but I never shared a joint with him. He would offer us some of the food he made, after the dogs had their fill. But, we would always politely decline.
Most people left him alone, but when me and my (stoned) friends would come around we would talk with him. And in doing so he would warn us about the dangers of the Nazi’s and mind control…
I don’t know what happened to him.
But every now and then I think of him.
Bicycle Bill.
A local hermit.
The man who lived alone with his dogs in a cabin in the woods.
Today…
What are your thoughts on the assertion by US senator Roger Wicker that China’s disdain for Taiwan’s values are on full display during China’s military drills near Taiwan?
US politicians?
They just equate anti-genocide in Gaza to antisemitism.
They use force to pin down peaceful protesters.
And …
After WW2, from 1946-2001, in 55 years, there were 248 wars in the world. USA instigated 201 ie 82% of all wars. Not counting non-military riots & coups. In 200+ years since US independence, there were less than 20 years when USA was not in a war. Worse, it is US vassals who shed blood & lose life for a US-instigated war for US benefit only.
USA wants wars to …
1, make $$$ … $$$ by arms sale & post-war construction
2, slow down or suppress China’s fast development which, in US words, threaten US security ie US hegemony.
US politicians have no right to say anything about anybody because they are the global bully. USA is the one who supplies weapons to, say, Israel, to do genocide in Gaza
Back to Taiwan.
On 5/21 China sanctioned former Republican congressman Mike Gallagher who works for MIC to lobby Taiwan to buy more US weapons.
5/22 China sanctioned 12 US defense-related entities & 10 top people ie China sanctions US arms sale to Taiwan.
5/23 a series of action
1, announcement to world
China Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told the world: (my translation) Taiwan dares to secede. … China will launch an operation to suppress secession & foreign interference of Chinese domestic affairs. China’s operation meets UN Charter & intl conventional practices. China’s operation is absolutely necessary, reasonable & legal.
China urges USA to stop supporting Taiwan independence & stop interfering China’s internal affairs.
China is determined to fight any action that threatens China’s sovereignty & integrity of Chinese territory. (I add) UN does approve suppression of secession.
3, With posts, China informs Taiwanese that China targets Taiwan independence gang & not ordinary people. With details which cities to target. Written in traditional Chinese for the convenience of Taiwanese & with pictures. So that Taiwanese Defense cant hide info from the public.
One post lists Lai’s 5 biggest lies.
4, One post shows 6 Chinese powerful weapons. Analyst said the weapons are to show to USA because subduing Taiwan does not need powerful weapons.
The U-Boat that sank because of a toilet
I’m not even kidding.
main qimg f0a0ba84b8bcf3820307d5415b4740e8 lq
What had happened was that U-1206, had recently received a brand new toilet. This was a far more advanced model with an improved plumbing system which allowed it to be flushed at greater depths. The downside, was that it was complicated to use, and only a few members of the crew were trained as “flushing specialists”.
Unfortunately, the crew members ended up misusing the toilet on U-1206, which by the way, happened to be cruising at a depth of around 60m at the time. The misuse caused a large amount of sea water to start flooding the submarine. To add insult to injury, the sea water began flooding the submarine’s batteries, which caused them to release chlorine gas (it’s rather toxic stuff), forcing the submarine to surface.
Once surfaced, the submarine was spotted and bombed by British patrols, which forced the crew to scuttle the submarine. A total of 4 men were killed and 46 were captured.
So yeah, the German submarine that sank because the crew didn’t know how to use a toilet. Definitely not the way to go.
China’s Change 6 Has BIGGER Space Missions Than US Thinks
Russia Early-Warning (Nuclear) Missile Radar ATTACKED
One of Russia’s absolutely key over-the-horizon, nuclear-early-warning radar sites has been hit by drone attack, BLINDING Russia from missiles launched at them from . . . the Middle East.
The 818th Separate Radio-Technical Unit at the Armavir Radar Station located in Krasnodar Krai, Russia is now knocked-out. Here are images of the two gigantic radar buildings at that radar site (Click on image TWICE to fully enlarge):
The map below shows where this particular station is:
Armavir radar station small 2 large
Normally, the entire Russia early-warning radar system provides the coverage seen in the graphic below:
Russia early warning radar array COVERAGEArmavir radar station medium
With the damage to the two radar stations at the Armavir Radar Station, there is now a GAPING HOLE in Russia’s early-warning system against nuclear attack.
Russia is now a sitting Duck for a nuclear first strike, not only against their Strategic Nuclear missile silos, but also against all the major population centers inside Russia.
Russia Early Warning Radar Attacked 1
Submarine launched nukes from the far eastern Mediterranean Sea, land-launched or even air-launched missiles from Turkey, from ISRAEL, Sub-launched missiles from the Red Sea, ALL can no longer be detected by Russia.
The coverage map below is highlighted below to show the unimaginable scope of the GAPING HOLES.
Of course, this is being credited to Ukraine, but the radar stations that were hit DO NOT COVER UKRAINE. Clearly, this hit was concocted by the US/EU and NATO; they are the ONLY entities that benefit from this. (Correction: There is another beneficiary . . . Israel . . . can now launch ballistic or nuclear missiles at Iran, and Russia will not be able to warn Iran.)
Why would we do this? Unless . . . . we’re planning a nuclear first-strike upon Russia!
Worse Danger Now Than the “Cuban Missile Crisis”
Today’s attack opens the door for a full, complete, and absolute DECAPITATION ATTACK upon Russia. We can now hit ALL their strategic missile silos and take out ALL of their national government and they wouldn’t even know the missiles had been launched until it was too late.
How long will the Russians wait – with themselves completely vulnerable– before they have to decide to “Use them or Lose them?” We may have just FORCED the Russians to launch a nuclear first-strike.
By any realistic measurement, this is now an “Existential Threat to the existence of Russia.” We could literally be like the song “On the Eve of Destruction!”
Notice too, this was done on the big “Memorial Day” holiday weekend here in the U.S. Many Americans are traveling to the beach, to the mountains, away from home, away from all their money and preps.
BASIC INFO ABOUT ARMAVIR RADAR STATION
Armavir Radar Station is an early warning radar station near Armavir in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. It is a key part of the Russian early warning system against missile attack and is run by the Russian Space Forces. There are two radars here – one faces south west and one south east. They provide radar coverage of the Middle East. The satellite image below shows the station from above:
Russia Early Warning Radar Site Satellite pic
The station is located on the former Baronovsky Airfield 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) south west of the village of Glubokiy and 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) south west of Armavir.
The station was described as starting to operate at the end of 2006 and then entering “experimental combat mode” in 2008.
On the day in 2009 that Russia lost coverage from radars in Ukraine it was announced that it had “begun operations”.
In May 2012 it was announced that it would go on combat duty before the end of 2012. In December 2012 it was announced it will be in the first quarter of 2013.
On 6 June 2013 it was commissioned by order of the President Vladimir Putin visiting the Central Command Post of the Russian Armed Forces. There is a planned second segment, which will overlap zone of the Gabala radar station lost in Ukraine.
2013 ballistic launch in Mediterranean
On 3 September 2013 Armavir detected two US/Israeli ballistic test launches in the Mediterranean towards Syria.
Now, they can’t detect those anymore. Or our missile subs launching from the eastern Med, the Red Sea, The Gulf of Oman, or even south of the Horn of Africa off Somalia. Russia are now sitting Ducks.
Hal Turner Snap Remarks
I earnestly hope you have taken my long urged advice to have Emergency food, water, medicine, a generator, fuel for it, communications gear like CB or HAM, and all the little emergency things you need like flashlights, batteries, portable radio with spare batteries, FIRST-AID KIT, gas grill or spare charcoal and lighter fluid, a manual can opener, and so on. Looks to me like time is up.
China isn’t dumping dollars. They’re dumping banks, and setting up a new financial system.
The island of Taiwan awoke yesterday morning to find itself surrounded by the China Navy. The Chinese government says this is an “exercise” but Taiwan believes an invasion is coming. So does the USA.
From the Chinese government:
Taiwan surrounded large
As a result of China’s military moves, Taiwan deployed its Coast Guard, which is now in a sort of Mexican Stand-off with China’s (much larger) Navy:
China naval exercise
Taiwan Air Force announced that 10 F-16 fighter jets will be activated if Chinese aircraft enter the adjacent region. F-16 Block 20 warplanes were seen loaded with air-to-air equipment at the Hualien air base in eastern Taiwan:
Taiwan CG Mexican standoff w china
To emphasize how serious the situation is, Taiwan, for the very first time, deployed Anti-Ship Missiles on its coast, and raised the missile launchers into launch position!
Intelligence sources told me that at the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Chinese Leader Xi Jinping, which took place in Beijing last week, military adventures were among the topics the two leaders discussed.
The Intelligence guys say that China sees Trump is making a very hard run for re-election, and they know they will not stand any chance of taking Taiwan if Trump gets back in. So they have to act before the US election in November.
Taiwan F 16s air to air payloads
China also knows that the US is seriously weakened now due to our supplying Ukraine with weaponry to fight Russia. So short of missiles is the United States Navy, that when a Destroyer or Missile Cruiser returns to port from sea duty, its missiles must be taken off the ship, to be placed on another ship which is going OUT to sea duty, because the US Navy does not have enough missiles to load all of its vessels!
Moreover, they say, Joe Biden is seen as a dementia-addled incompetent.
All these things add up to China making a move against Taiwan sooner rather than later.
The U.S. seeing what China is doing, has dispatched the USS Ronald Reagan Aircraft Carrier from its port in Japan. The Ronald Reagan set sail from Japan late Wednesday night, and arrived in the Philippine Sea on Thursday.
The vessel is within air strike range of Taiwan and the Chinese fleet surrounding Taiwan. But the Reagan is also now within range of China’s hypersonic “ship killer” missiles.
Very dangerous things going on. Just one small mistake by anyone, could cause this to escalate into immediate war.
Russia Dropped Devastating ODAB -1500 Vacuum Bomb at 120 ATM Pressure
“I’m 5’1 and it really makes me insecure about the way I’m perceived by society.”
I’m a 19 year old dude, who’s lately been feeling really bad about my height. I’m just about 5’1 ft and it really makes me insecure about the way I’m perceived by society. I’m fairly buff and I do amateur bantamweight MMA, but I still find myself self-doubting my masculinity.
I sometimes have extreme periods of self-hatred where I trash my room or feel the urge to punch in mirrors that reflect my image. I can’t for the life of me get over my height; I feel that I’m unlovable.
I’ve increasingly been relying on money and alcohol for happiness as they are the only thing that brings semblance of security. I know it’s not healthy, but it’s the only thing that calms me during my mental breakdowns.
I’ve also tried seeing therapists about my problems but I’ve pussied out of all 6 of my meetings; I feel like they’d look down on me or dismiss my issues.
First off, let’s get one thing straight: your height doesn’t define your worth as a man or a human being. Period. End of story. Anyone who tells you otherwise is full of shit and probably projecting their own insecurities onto you.
Life is a giant mess of uncontrollable factors, and your height is just one tiny piece of that chaotic puzzle. You’re 5’1”, and yeah, society can be a dick about things like that, but guess what? You’re also a buff, bantamweight MMA fighter. That’s badass. Seriously, think about it – you’re out there training and fighting, and that takes guts, determination, and a hell of a lot of strength, both physically and mentally.
Now, onto the main issue: self-doubt and insecurity. It’s normal to feel down sometimes, but trashing your room and wanting to punch mirrors? That’s not helping anyone, least of all you. It’s time to channel that anger and frustration into something constructive. You’ve got the discipline from MMA, use it to tackle your mental health too.
Here’s the thing about masculinity – it’s not about how tall you are or how others perceive you. It’s about owning who you are, flaws and all. Being a man isn’t about towering over others; it’s about standing tall in your own skin, no matter what. So, you’re 5’1”. Own it. Wear it like armor. It’s part of what makes you, you.
Money and alcohol might give you a temporary high, but they’re a band-aid on a wound that needs stitches. They won’t bring you real happiness or security. You’ve already recognized this, and that’s a crucial step. You know it’s not healthy, so it’s time to find healthier outlets. Your love for MMA is a good start – it’s a great way to vent out the frustration and also keep you disciplined.
And about those therapists – I get it, opening up to someone can feel like you’re exposing your vulnerabilities. But that’s the whole point. Therapy isn’t about being judged; it’s about finding someone to help you navigate through the storm. If you’ve pussied out of 6 meetings, fine. Start with one. And if you don’t like the therapist, find another. This is about you, and it’s worth the effort.
Self-hatred is a dark hole, but here’s the light: the fact that you’re reaching out means you want to climb out of it. That’s strength. That’s masculinity. Start by accepting yourself as you are. Height and all. Look in the mirror and instead of seeing what you lack, see what you’ve got. See the fighter. The determined guy who won’t back down from a challenge.
The bottom line is this: your height doesn’t determine your value as a man. Your character does. Your actions do. The way you treat yourself and others does. Focus on being a good fucking human being and the rest will fall into place.
It won’t be easy, and you’ll have to work at it every single day. But trust me, it’s worth it. You have the power to create an amazing life for yourself, regardless of your height. So stop making bullshit excuses, get your ass in gear, and make it happen.
Keep fighting.
Chinese Kindergartens
A one minute video clip. Well worth the time to watch. From my personal stash.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgRMd-UqXFc
Beef Ragout with Grilled Bread
This dish can be made in a slow cooker or the stovetop. Canola oil is used to make both the ragout and grilled bread because of its neutral flavor and heat tolerance. The ragout is served with bread to soak up the hearty and flavorful broth, but it can be served with pasta or polenta instead.
12 slices whole grain Italian bread, sliced on bias, about 1-inch thick each
1 tablespoon canola oil 15 mL
Instructions
In large, nonstick skillet, brown each side of beef roast in canola oil. Place roast in slow cooker.*
Add onion, garlic, Italian seasoning, eggplant, peppers, tomatoes and red wine. Cook on LOW heat for 8 to 9 hours (or on HIGH heat for 4 to 5 hours) until beef is tender and has an internal temperature of 145 degrees F (65 degrees C).
When beef is cooked, shred with a fork.
To prepare grilled bread: Brush bread with canola oil and grill for 1 to 2 minutes on each side, until toasted.
To serve, top ragout with parsley. Serve with grilled bread.
Notes
* If preparing on stovetop, use a large pot (8-quart) and bring ragout ingredients, except parsley, to boil and simmer covered for at least 30 minutes.
Nutrition
Per serving: Calories 340 Total Fat 10 g Saturated Fat 2.5 g Cholesterol 60 mg Carbohydrates 29 g Fiber 7 g Sugars 9 g Protein 25 g Sodium 210 mg Potassium 640 mg
What’s the most unreasonable request you’ve received from your boss?
I was employed as a contract employee at a big corporation from 1980–82.
About 2 months before my contract was to be terminated-something my boss neglected to tell me at the time-he came to me with a request that was unrealistic and ,frankly, border line crazy. He asked me to complete a project that normally would take 4–6 weeks in 2 weeks. No room for discussion or negotiation. Just DO IT. (The project was done at the request of another district and my boss was the middle man.)
Anyway,by coming in early,working through lunch, putting in long overtime hours,and coming in on Saturday,I did the impossible. I finished the project-with 2 days to spare. Elated,I left a note on his desk informing him of the good news. I admit I expected a Thank You or a Well Done.
His reaction was beyond appalling.For a week there was dead silence. It was as if none of this had even happened. Finally,he approached me and said. “You remember that project you finished last week?” I said.”Yes,of course.” He answered. “Well,I just submitted it…2 days late,as we just can’t have the other district make such unreasonable demands on us.”
So Ralph, if you happen to be reading this,it’s been over 40 years but I still haven’t forgotten your vile behaviour that day. To me you’re still the biggest POS in the world!
Some of my favorite family pictures from the 1960s
Not sure if this really qualifies, but what the hell.
I’m at a large retail store, driving through the parking lot looking for a space. I see an empty spot ahead, and start to turn into it, only to be greeted by another car honking it’s horn, sitting in the space across from it. The guy inside is waving his hands furiously and gesturing at me, while the woman in the passenger seat attempts to cover her face. I finished parking and got out, and gestured to the other driver with upturned palms and a “what’s wrong?” expression. I was actually concerned the guy might have been in some sort of trouble, or needed help, but I wasn’t expecting what happened.
He shut his car off and thrust his door open, actually hitting the SUV beside him, and screamed “You asshole!” before even getting out of the car. I started to get the picture before he even said the next words. “You did that on purpose”, he asserted, then flung some profanities I won’t type here as they’re too explicit, although one of the tamer ones was calling me a “cousin fucking redneck motherfucker”. Real class-act, this guy. During this tirade, his (presumably) girlfriend had also exited the vehicle, and now had the look of someone who wished they could physically become invisible.
I listened to his rant about my deliberate and personal attack against him which I perpetrated by parking my car, and preventing him from pulling through spaces, to wit, he would now have to reverse out of his parking space…which was just an unforgivable inconvenience.
I guess it’s a sign of getting older, or wiser, but probably just older, that this guy didn’t make me lose my shit on him. It wouldn’t have been too long ago that I’d have smashed his face two words into his second sentence.
Instead, I let him get the whole rant out, nearly a full two minutes of it. He made a hell of a scene, and by the end of it…I was laughing. Not on the inside, I was laughing in his face. He didnt like being laughed at, apparently, and stepped back shutting his door so he could approach me. He had his hands up at shoulder height at this point, looking like he might take a swing at me. I took a step closer and said in a decisively stern tone “Let me get this straight. You got out here yelling at me, because you don’t know how to drive a fucking car and that’s somehow my fault, is that right you little prick?” and I leaned in so close our noses almost touched. I could smell alcohol on his breath. He stepped back, and didn’t swing (Big surprise, someone acting like a loud douchebag).
He instead walked back, or rather stomped like a little kid pitching a fit, back to his car (which the girl was no longer in, but instead standing beside with her door closed) got in and slammed the door. He motioned to the girl to get in as he started the engine, she shook her head no, and he put it in reverse and slammed backwards out of the parking space…and into the big 4×4 pickup behind him to his right. The tow hitch obliterated his back bumper, and didnt let it go. He was in a full rage again at this point and drove away, leaving the accident, his (presumably) girlfriend and to the credit of universal karma, his bumper with license plate behind.
This entire exchange lasted a bit less than five minutes, but it’s five minutes I’ll treasure.
Beef Roast with Sour Cream Gravy
Crock Pot Pot Roast Feature 1
Ingredients
1 (3 pound) chuck or pot roast
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon oil
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon dill weed
5 or 6 small potatoes
5 or 6 carrots
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large onion
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon dill seed
Instructions
Coat roast with 2 tablespoons flour, salt and pepper. Brown in oil in skillet.
Put roast in slow cooker. Add water and vinegar.
Sprinkle 1 teaspoon dill weed over meat, then add potatoes, carrots, onion and salt.
Cook on LOW for 10 to 12 hours or on HIGH for 6 hours.
To make gravy, pour off 3 tablespoons drippings, add 1 tablespoon flour and heat.
Measure rest of drippings, and add water to make 1 cup. Add to flour mixture and heat for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
Add sour cream and 1 teaspoon dill weed. Heat to boiling.
US Threatens to Shut Down EUV if China Reunifies Taiwan by Force
Can remotely disable chip fabs…? Really! I pretty much doubt it.
In Saving Private Ryan, is Upham the biggest scumbag in movie history?
I only met my Grandfather a handful of times in my life. My father never really talked much about him even though he was alive for the first half of my life (He died in 2000). The stories I heard were of a very tight man (he never spent money on anything – including his family) that bordered on absurdity.
What I didn’t know until the day after he died was that he not only saw active combat in WW2 but served in Patton’s army during the Battle of the Bulge! I was incredulous. How could nobody have told me before that day? His story (I thought) would be incredible.
When we were cleaning out his house after his death, I found a box under his bed. It was the first time I had ever been in his house—he never wanted visitors. In this box, he had two Lugars, several Swastica pins, SS emblems, an army medal for bravery on the battlefield, and other items taken from German soldiers.
My uncle came up behind me and yelled,” We found ‘em,” and my dad and other uncles entered the room. My uncle looked me in the eye and said, “Do you know what these are from?”
I responded, World War 2? – but I didn’t know he had actually done anything; after all, nobody had ever told me anything about his past. Then, my Uncle told me in a quiet tone that my grandfather manned a 50-caliber machine on the back of a jeep during the war. During routine patrols, he spotted two SS soldiers trying to infiltrate their lines under barbed wire.
main qimg d0cfd0eb9c6ff87ffa25e164bf2571cf
He had the jeep stop, and they shined a spotlight on the soldiers. He then “turned them to hamburger” with the 50-caliber. There was no surrender in the Battle of the Bulge – it was kill or be killed, no prisoners. He had killed two stuck, defenseless men and was even awarded a medal for it.
I had watched Saving Private Ryan a few years before this occurred and was in the middle of the HBO series Band of Brothers when it dawned on me that this event changed him into who he became.
He was forever scarred by what he did and did not feel like a hero. In truth, he came home to raise a family but ended up withdrawing from society and getting divorced by my grandmother by the time I was born. My grandmother was the most Catholic person I knew, and when I was a kid, I remember her fighting her excommunication from the Church. That’s how badly she wanted out of that marriage—she suffered excommunication to get away from my grandfather.
In truth, he viewed himself as a very flawed man who did not deserve to be around people. He pushed everyone out of his life to live his last 20 years as a hermit. He could never get over what he did to those German boys stuck under the barbed wire, and he never felt worthy of the medal he received for his “bravery.”
During his funeral, it was the first time I ever saw my father cry, but then he went to hug my mother’s father for over a minute. He then exclaimed that my mother’s father became his true father as his dad was never really a father. He didn’t drink, but he had a nasty temper and put his children through hell growing up, taking out his past on them whenever he was triggered. But he was still crying over the father he never had the chance to really know.
Saving Private Ryan made me realize what war really was and what it did to people. It made me realize it wasn’t about heroes and villains but about who survives till the end. After that day, I realized what the Iraq war was going to do to another generation of boys in 10 years, and I shuddered. War should always be the last option. Not only does it kill and maim, but it leaves psychological scars that last generations.
What China just did to the U.S. Military is SHOCKING and Taiwan is in Trouble
Why does the West in general, and America in particular, want China to reduce its overcapacity production?
This is Tonya Harding Syndrome
“Tonya Harding Syndrome” is a metaphorical expression that originates from the scandal of Tonya Harding, an American figure skater. Tonya Harding was a promising figure skater, but her career was ruined because she was involved in a planned attack on her rival Nancy Kerrigan. Her husband and others participated in the attack in order to weaken Kerrigan’s competitiveness before the Olympics, so that Harding would have a greater chance of winning. In the end, Harding was banned from figure skating for life.
Later, the concept of “Tonya Harding Syndrome” was used to describe the behavior of those who take unfair means to hurt their opponents in competition because of the fear of losing their advantage. It is not only applicable to individuals, but also can be used to describe similar behaviors that may occur in competitions such as companies, institutions, societies or countries. The essence of this behavior is to destroy fair and decent competition.
Back to the question itself:
If an American company can make 100 products at a cost of $10,000 and in 1 month, the Chinese can make 300 products at the same cost and time, and their quality has reached the same height. This allows them to reduce prices to half and still make a considerable profit, so who will buy American companies’ products?
Americans find that they can’t compete with them even if they try their best, so they expect the Chinese to slow down, otherwise they will shoot.
This is why they hope that China will reduce its overcapacity production.
Just another hypocritical cover for Tonya Harding Syndrome
Taking High-Speed Train In China, 2024
What is the most satisfying passive-aggressive thing you have ever done to a really mean or rude person?
I had a horrible experience trying to buy a new Honda at a local dealership. I told them what I wanted, but they kept trying to up sell me on a different model. Then it was switching sales guys, to the hard core close. etc. etc. I understand sales and all the BS really doesn’t bother me since it’s part of the game. However, after reaching a price and completing the paperwork, I drove out with the car.
I was happy until Jennifer from the office called me three days later at work. They made an error and didn’t collect money on some specific fees listed in the contract. I was pretty sure I paid everything listed. I told Jennifer I needed a couple days to review the contract and look at the check I wrote to determine if I owed money. She became a belligerent bitch, yelling about how I have their money and need to come down right now and pay. I told her I would review the contract and pay them if I owed them money. She called at 9:00 am the next morning being a bitch again demanding money. Later that evening, I reviewed the contract and they didn’t total up the doc fee correctly, and owem them $394.00.
I called Jennifer and told her that I did find the error, would pay the amount, and asked if she could please tell me when she left the office so I could pay her personally. I waited to 4:50 pm on Friday night (Jennifer works an 8-5, M-F) and paid her $394 in nickels. I had broken the seals on the bags from the bank which meant they needed to hand count all the coin.
I had brought a book, took up residence in their customer lounge, and waited for them to complete their count. I enjoyed watching Jennifer and 4 sales persons make little rows of nickels. After over 90 minutes they brought me the $0.45 in additional funds I added to see if they would accurately count it. My back up plan was if they said it was all there, I would inform them that I actually included extra money and couldn’t remember how much, so they would need to recount.
Member of British Parliament: “We are already at war with Russia; They won’t tell the people until July or August”
VIDEO BELOW shows British MP Andrew Bridgen confirming on a radio show today: “We are actually at war with Russia now… They’re not going to tell the people probably until July or August; maybe later.”
“The whole thing’s a pantomime in Parliament… It’s not a race between the blue and the red team to see who crosses the finish line. This is a baton handover on all the big issues: Net Zero, Covid response, the WHO, the trans agenda.”
We have a natural right to defend ourselves from the people doing these things, that are going to get us bombed, our families killed or injured, our way of life, destroyed.. It is our right, it is our DUTY to take action.
The Death of Fast Food ….. Part 2
Hungry MM
My wife came home and told me that she was very hungry at 3 o’clock this afternoon. She was playing sports with her first graders at school. She even developed some symptoms of hypoglycemia, such as physical exhaustion, sweating and palpitations. So she told the children: You wait for me a little bit, I will go to the school gate to buy some food. Then, incidentally, she asked the children, are you hungry? As a result, all the children shouted, yes, we are hungry! Some of them stood up and said, teacher, I want some bread! I wanted some 饼（pie）!
So my wife went to the food shop near the school gate and bought a lot of bread and 饼（pie） – she said it cost a lot of money. And asked the store owner to help her distribute the food into dozens of small portions. Then she bought herself another cake.
When she returned to the classroom, all the children returned from the playground, screaming for food. So my wife turned the PE class into a food tasting class. She was still hungry, so after she had distributed the food, she began to eat. Just began to eat, a few children have finished their food, said to my wife: Teacher, really delicious! I also want to eat! The wife looked at the children, He could not bear to eat the cake himself and shared the rest of his food with the children.
So when she came home this afternoon, she was too hungry to walk. Luckily, I had already prepared dinner. That was the story of the day – a group of seven-year-olds, turning a normal class into a food tasting class, while my wife endured hunger all afternoon.😂😂😂
This is the protagonist of the afternoon pie:
main qimg 5678c0cdf437663230b25dcb5a7be6a8main qimg 6ab7fc2cfbca73236b0840d203e8d88c
Ps. The first graders have lunch in the school canteen, but they always eat very little. One reason is that some children are picky eaters. Another reason is that the food in the canteen is sometimes not very good. In addition, children are always excited when they eat. Sometimes they eat only a little and say they are full.
Has someone ever unjustifiably reported you to Child Protective Services? What was the outcome?
Yes, I had given someone who I thought was a good friend a place to stay(at the house I had just bought-my first home mind you) she and her bf were gonna sleep in the garage/studio apartment for a week or two, mind u I had just moved in myself 3 days before she started staying there….anyways 1–2 weeks turned into 5–6 months and I was like chick u gotta go. Like I need my home to me and my two kids. Now it was no secret she had a huge drug problem. But had been keeping straight while at my house. When she left everyday, who knows what she was up to but around me and my kids she seemed normal. Well she didn’t like being told to leave so the day she finally left(3 weeks later) she called cps and told them that I was an IV meth user. Now the funny thing is is that I’m 200 pounds at 5 foot six. I’m healthy as a horse never done meth and definitely not an IV user so when DCF came to my house the first thing they asked me, if I use meth and if I use intervenously. I stepped Back and motioned to my body and said really do I look like you’re average meth user let alone IV meth user? She laughed and said she needed a urine sample. To which my response was to call my lawyer. I called my lawyer as soon as she left he said just give them a piss sample. You’ll be fine. You don’t use drugs. Who cares get it over with. So I called her she returned, took a sample and tested me positive for amphetamines although I’m on Adderall. She was new. Two weeks later her and her supervisor show up at my house and test me again to which I came back positive for amphetamines not methamphetamines and the supervisor said that’s all we needed to see. So we’re taking your kids into custody. At that point I lost my shit. I called my lawyer. I called my therapist. I called my mom. My mom had to drive an hour to me, at which point dcf granted my mom custody for two weeks and I was not to be alone with them until my blood test got done and finalized so everyone could see I wasn’t on meth but simply taking my prescribed amount of adderall, but because they were so dumb and didn’t have any pharmacology courses under their belt, they had no idea the difference between amphetamines and methamphetamines on the UA they gave me twice. I got my kids back with flying colors. I had no reason to doubt it but all of this over the word of a stupid bitch that got everything she could ask for living in my home for six months for free , but because she felt slighted, she decided to have me lose my kids. She’s called DCF five times but DCF now comes to my house first off a little because I kind of put my foot down The time they know the kind of game she’s playing she has called DCF on every single person she’s ever lived with come to find out. Oh yeah, she’s now doing 7 to 15 years federal for identity, theft, and check fraud And using Stolen credit cards that she stole directly out of the mailbox. She’s a winner isn’t she? Be careful your friends are always in the ass when you least expect it even if you are a mom that doesn’t do drugs or have any issues there still a chance you lose your kids. Get a lawyer The first CPS is involved. Good luck, Godspeed.
Why I Live in China and REFUSE to Move Back to America
An influencer sent me this link in regards to Scott Ritter talking shit about China.
"...and in this debate he really exposes himself-- check out how deluded he is about Chinese military capacity. It's staggering, and couldn't be just plain ignorance. Insulting to China's achievements too. As you've so often said, be very careful whence you source your news!"
Well, I’m not about going to dare risk raising my blood pressure over someone talking shit about something they know nothing about. So I politely declined to watch the video.
The influencer replied…
If believing that a 50 year old US missile submarine-- Ohio Class boomer-- can "sit in deep water a few miles from the Chinese coast and launch 40 [50 year old design, subsonic cruise] missiles" that will hit their target-- get this-- "without the sub being even detected" is the kind of statement that will up the bp?
So, I then asked this of ChatGPT4.0
Scott Ritter is now a famous person on the Internet, and he has been making many videos about Ukraine.
His appraisal of Russia, and Ukraine seems to be solid and is correct. But now he is making statements about China's military.
I was in the ONI, and I have spent most of my life studying and working with China and I find his statements about China very erroneous.
In fact, they seem to reflect a mainstream American mind-set.
Please tell me what his experience is with China and Chinese military. What has been his exposure to the PLA, and NPLA?
And ChatGPT4.0 replied…
Scott Ritter is a former United States Marine Corps intelligence officer and United Nations weapons inspector. He is best known for his role in the inspections in Iraq, where he gained prominence for his opposition to the Iraq War and his critiques of U.S. foreign policy. While Ritter has indeed made numerous public statements and videos about international military and geopolitical issues, his expertise is primarily rooted in Middle Eastern affairs, particularly Iraq.
Ritter’s formal background and professional experience do not indicate significant direct exposure to China or the Chinese military (People's Liberation Army, PLA, and Navy PLA, NPLA).
His primary areas of focus and expertise have been the Middle East, arms control, and intelligence analysis related to weapons of mass destruction.
Military and Intelligence Career: Ritter served in the Marine Corps as an intelligence officer and later as a ballistic missile adviser to General Norman Schwarzkopf during the Gulf War. His work with the UN involved extensive inspections in Iraq during the 1990s.
Public Commentary: Post-military, Ritter has become a public commentator on military and geopolitical issues, often providing analysis on conflicts and international relations.
However, his comments and analyses are not always based on first-hand experience or specialized study of every region he discusses.
Exposure to Chinese Military: There is no publicly available evidence to suggest that Ritter has had direct involvement with or extensive study of the PLA or NPLA.
His perspectives on China's military capabilities and strategies seem to derive more from secondary sources and general geopolitical analysis rather than primary experience or specialized research in this area.
Given his background, it's reasonable to conclude that Ritter's views on China reflect a broader, perhaps less specialized understanding, shaped by general geopolitical discourse rather than deep, direct expertise on Chinese military affairs.
Your observation that his statements seem to reflect a mainstream American mindset aligns with this context, as his primary experiences and insights are rooted in Western military and intelligence frameworks, with limited direct exposure to Chinese military practices or strategic doctrines.
Today…
Communists, why do you refuse to acknowledge that the wealthy have money because they are smart and save/invest while your comrades are poor because they are mentally ill and unintelligent?
I am Chinese, as is well known, China is a socialist country under the rule of CCP. So, I want to explain this issue with my own experience.
Intelligence is a natural advantage. Similar advantages also include “health”. This means that someone is naturally healthy, has a stronger immune system, and is better able to resist virus attacks than others. In the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, naturally healthy individuals are able to evade the pursuit of the virus. When others become critically ill or even die, this naturally healthy person can ultimately avoid infection and survive. And those with poor physical fitness passed away after the first round of the pandemic in early 2020.
Some people may say, “There is no way to avoid it, this is life. Because people with strong innate immunity always live to the end. This is the screening of nature.”. This statement is logically consistent with the questioner’s statement that “some people are born smart, so they can find ways to make money and become wealthy, while others are born not smart, so their ability to make money is low and they eventually become poor.”.
Yes, it looks right. Wisdom or foolishness, strength or weakness, are all gifts from nature. This gives everyone in the world a different destiny. This is natural selection, the law of nature. However, in socialist China, this is politically incorrect. Because fundamentally, the goal pursued by Marxism is “the comprehensive, free, and full development of human beings”, rather than “your fate is determined by God.”. During the pandemic, China cannot allow the laws of nature to determine human life. So, economic development, transportation, school education, and commercial activities are no longer important, but are replaced by blocking the rapid spread of the virus. Since 2020, there have been only three ways to achieve this goal: screening infected individuals through Covid-19 testing, establishing super hospitals to treat these individuals until they recover, implementing lockdown policies to stop all activities of those who have not yet been infected, and staying at home. Until everyone (1.4 billion people) completes nucleic acid testing, all infected individuals enter hospitals for treatment, and until they recover, another 1.4 billion people are able to resume their free activities. In this way, from 2020 to the first half of 2022, China will become an isolated island in the world, a healthy and virus free island. Chinese people can freely move on their land.
This policy, which appears to temporarily deprive people of their freedom, artificially breaks the “natural selection” and allows healthy and naturally weak individuals, as well as elderly people with chronic diseases, to all survive. At the same time, the largest scale of vaccination in human history has been implemented throughout China. In order to ensure that all high-risk groups are vaccinated, volunteers, community workers, CCP members, and civil servants conduct vaccination surveys almost door-to-door and encourage vaccination. Some rural areas even adopt the activity of giving cash for vaccination and 5 kilograms of eggs for vaccination.
By mid-2022, Covid-19 had already harvested several rounds of life worldwide. But at the same time, the virus itself is also changing. It presents two characteristics: low mortality rate and high infection rate. At this time, after 2.5 years of epidemic control in China, people began to realize that prevention was impossible. At this point, complaints from Chinese people arose. Considering that China has already completed vaccination for all its population and the virus is no longer so terrifying, almost overnight, China lifted all Covid-19 control measures. This incident occurred in mid December 2022.
My mother-in-law suffers from severe chronic kidney failure and heart failure. After the lifting of epidemic control measures, she was quickly infected. For three weeks, she struggled almost on the brink of death. In the end, due to vaccination, preparation of a large amount of symptomatic medication in advance, and paid home care provided by the hospital, she recovered in a few weeks. After three years of passivation, Covid-19 still caused serious harm to her, but she survived.
My father-in-law told her that if China had implemented the same relaxed epidemic policy as the United States in 2020 three years ago, then she would have been dead for three years. Obviously, in statistics, even if China does not implement strict epidemic policies, half of its population will not die. Young people like me have a high probability of surviving even in the first round of the pandemic. However, elderly or seriously ill patients are also more likely to die. The Chinese government has implemented seemingly incredible policies in order to ensure the survival of all people.
Even though many Western media outlets criticize this policy from various perspectives and firmly believe that the lockdown is only to maintain CCP’s rule. But all Chinese people have personally experienced the panic of the first few months of 2020. They know why the city was locked down, understand and support the government. After all, we are all children of our parents. We are still the parents of our own children. We don’t want our elderly parents to die from the pandemic, nor do we want our children to suffer from serious complications of infection. We all hope to live well. CCP helped us survive.
I think I have already answered your question. I come from China and my English is not very good. I have used a translator for some of my text. Thank you for reading.
Pennsylvania Dutch Chicken Bake
Chicken thighs are nestled in a deliciously-seasoned mixture of sauerkraut, onions, apple, apricots and raisins.
pennsylvania dutch chicken bake
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
1 (2 pound) package Perdue® Fresh Chicken Thighs
Salt and ground pepper to taste
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 to 2 tablespoons canola oil
1 (14 ounce) can sauerkraut, undrained
1 (14 ounce) can whole onions, drained
1 tart red apple, unpeeled, sliced or diced
6 to 8 dried whole apricots
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup brown sugar, or to taste
Instructions
Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Season thighs with salt and pepper.
In a large, nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, heat oil. Cook thighs 6 to 8 minutes per side until browned.
Meanwhile, in 9 x 13 inch shallow baking dish, mix sauerkraut well with onions, apple, apricots, raisins and brown sugar. Nestle thighs into sauerkraut mixture.
Cover and bake 30 to 40 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through, and a meat thermometer inserted in thickest part of thigh registers 180 degrees F.
What do you see here?
What is the lamest “benefit” you’ve been offered by an employer?
When I was in my teens, and needed a part time job while going to college. I don’t remember exactly what minimum wage was then, but i was just at that figure. After working diligently for 6 months, and my boss kept saying that if i did well, I could expect a raise after 6 months. When the 6 month time peroid had passed, at a company function, while having a casual conversation with my boss, I asked what i could expect for a raise. His answer was a nickel, meaning a nickel an hour, I started to laugh, as I thought he was joking, but he wasnt. He began to question my laughing responce, and when I discovered that he was serious, I laughed even harder, I couldn’t help it. The job was hard to do, not in the physical sense, but in the responsibility sense, and was very stressful as well. So a pay raise from .95 cents an hour to 1.00 per hour actually was very funny. My view of him after that, I could barely look at him without chuckeling, or grinning. I still cant believe that he thought that I should be overjoyed at his generosity, it still makes me laugh.
China’s BRILLIANT Move | Silently Built World’s First Drone Carrier
In the restaurant industry, what are some of the most outrageous complaints you’ve heard customers make?
It was my first day of training at my very first job and a customer comes in very angry. I greet her and ask how I can help. The conversation goes as follows. (Me=M, Customer=C, my boss =K)
M- Hi, How are you?
C- I have a problem with my Dr.Pepper.
M-Yes ma’am. What seems to be the problem?
C-(in a very angry put out tone) My Dr.Pepper is carbonated.
M-(confused as all get out) I’m sorry ma’am but what’s the problem? Is the Dr.Pepper not flavored enough. Maybe the syrup went out.
C- No it tastes good but its carbonated. It’s not supposed to be carbonated.
M-(still no clue what the issue is) give me one moment ma’am.
I walk back to my manager who’s working the line making food for everyone in the lobby
M-Hey K. This customer up front is mad that her Dr.Pepper is carbonated?
K-(very clearly not listening because we were in the middle of a rush) fill it up in the drive thru and have her see if that’s better.
M-(not really sure but not wanting to argue with my boss) okay?
I go back up to the customer after filling up a cup from the drive thru drink fountain.
C-(tried the Dr.Pepper) no it’s still carbonated. What game are y’all playing?!
I walk back to my boss and make her look at me and really listen to what I say.
M-K, this customer is mad because her DR.PEPPER is CARBONATED.
K-(Finally hears the complaint) Well what the F*** does she want us to do about it?!
M-(visibly laughing at this point) that’s what I was trying to tell you.
K-(laughing as well) just give her something that’s not carbonated like tea or pink lemonade.
M-(still laughing) okay (I walk back to the customer) ma’am, would you like to try some tea or pink lemonade or something else.
C-(still very mad and clueless about how dumb they were being) *scoffs* fine pink lemonade but y’all need to fix your Dr.Pepper or I’m never coming back
M-(thinking to myself sarcastically) and what a tragedy that would be.
Is the USA losing world hegemony and the world becoming multipolar actually a good thing? No one country dominating other countries but having a counter balance.
Yes, it’s a very good thing.
US world hegemony has resulted in endless wars, endless sanctions and endless coups over the last half century. It has caused enormous death and destruction. It has violated national sovereignty and frequently broken international law (defined by the UN).
The USA respects no country. It simply bullies and exploits.
China and Russia are building a new multipolar world order that will be more fair, more just, and more egalitarian. There will be no more self-serving imperialist wars such as Afghanistan, Iraq, and Vietnam.
The Global South will finally see healthy economic development. The current world order did nothing to help Global South countries in Africa, Middle East, Latin America, and Southeast Asia.
Militaristic EU – Clare Daly, Mick Wallace, Alexander Mercouris & Glenn Diesen
What is the rudest thing you have ever seen someone do?
I was at a grocery store checkout once, and I saw these three college kids having a field day with a poor clerk who was trying to bag up their groceries. The whole thing, apparently, started when he dropped a bottle of wine they were buying. He apologized, cleaned up the mess, and rushed back to get them another bottle.
While he was gone, they started talking about what a “complete idiot” he was. They proceeded to make fun of the way he looked, the way he was dressed, his weight, his glasses, you name it. When the poor guy got back, they didn’t let up. They started insulting him right to his face, calling him a whole litany of terrible things until they had him on the verge of tears. The kid was only about 16; he was terribly overweight, and I could see how he was probably an easy target for any bully. I was bagging up my own stuff, but I was completely mesmerized by this entire exchange. Suddenly, the kid must have said something because one of the guys reached out and popped him across the face. It wasn’t a punch or a hard slap, just some wussy little pop meant to humiliate him. To my amazement, the kid didn’t walk away. He just stood there red faced with tears welling up in his eyes. The dude reached out and popped him again and, for some reason, this was the funniest thing that these guys had ever seen in their lives. They were laughing like there was no tomorrow.
I kept looking around for a manager, thinking someone needed to say something, but I finally realized that no one was going to. Then it hit me: Why couldn’t I say something? I reached out and grabbed the kid, and pulled him out of the way. I stepped up to the guy, pulled a 20 dollar bill out of my wallet, and told him that I would give it to him if he would hit me like that. He stared at me for a second like I had lost my mind before asking what my problem was.
“You’re my damn problem,” I responded. “Hit me in the face like that; I dare you.” Well, there were three of these guys, but they didn’t look like they had ever been in a fight in their entire lives. I am a little over six feet tall, and I weigh around 225. I don’t consider myself to be a tough guy but, needless to say, they didn’t want any part of me. Instead, they simply started gathering their things and headed for the door. I pulled the kid out from behind me, and ordered them to apologize. They laughed at me, and hurried for the parking lot. Well, I was a lot angrier that day than I thought.
I followed them out of the store all the way to their car doing my best to start a fight. They got very quiet, and not one of them had anything to say. Instead, they just kept their heads down, and refused to make eye contact.
I let them leave, and then pulled the kid aside and told him to never let anyone push him around like that. In the future, he needed to, at least, walk away and find a manager. At this point, the kid just broke down in tears and sobbed on my shoulder. It turned out that his dad had died only a year earlier, and he and his mom were all alone in the world. At that point, I really wished I had put one of those bastards in the hospital. Instead, I gave the kid my card, and told him to call if there was ever anything I could do for him. I never saw or heard from him again.
The US Dollar Total Collapse Begins! Major Countries DROP The Dollar | Entire World Changes Forever!
What were the worst two minutes of your life?
“Rachel, come here please. Quickly.” I sensed an air of desperation flood our dirty apartment as my biological mother croaked out her plea. I ran.
“What?” She pulled me in, her head down towards her crossed legs, hunched over like Quasimodo.
“I love you– so much. Do you hear me? I love you. I’m so sorry.” With each word, I felt sicker.
“Mom, what’s wrong? Why are you saying this?” My voice was somewhere between a sob and a scream.
She glanced towards the two empty orange bottles on the nightstand to her right. I swiped one. Codeine. Empty. Both were empty.
“What did you do?! Are you trying to kill yourself?!” I knew. I felt unreal, like the terror was bigger than my body.
“I’m sorry. You’re better off without me… You don’t even love me. You never tell me you love me.”
“I love you so much. No, no, oh God, no.” I rushed toward the landline.
“911, how can I help you?”
“My mom is trying to commit suicide.”
I was 13 when my biological mother attempted suicide. That was 6 years ago. While she is still alive, this remains to be the single most painful two minutes of my life.
6390Hz – DESTROYS Negativity In & Around You (⚠️ MAY FEEL AS THOUGH TIME STOPS)
Art various
94afec0591a72e7f78326d1cba6a74f965c8ea25247f0d5f300ab408251fc795aee19404caaece79237f6c7da9660712ea6e61dcfba44976a231e8d5d2eb1c068ff4e4a0b12d761c5003ec796248291328419069d3eb96b614e0a9a25b6ffe0a774b326a495f535ff3aca24e8e46aa0aaf0d8c47c1db2545fe1bfc672d5eb58b31a43d4fd4416ca3a5517b32944cc056617486353d795c07fd2e5a970981c0a72a96e5643cadf27ca32b2b534cae56ef368b895ce25c0821a0619a6313e229eaaf7a837aad33c87256c5a689e2361c03Roqueplan, Camille Joseph Etienne, 1800 1855; The Lion in Lovebf2bbfbca90edc69602e5d07cd3c9d1991971400c439e30a1802a095452d823d
What type of aircraft mishap has only ever happened once in the whole history of aviation?
In September of 1987 a co-pilot made an emergency landing in Portland, Maine. What had happened was the hatch of the aircraft had flown open and it appeared that the pilot was sucked out and lost.
The airplane was a Beechcraft 99, a commuter craft that was capable of carrying 15 passengers but on this flight there was only a little bit of freight.
main qimg 05198e9d284790caafafb11b9394f068 lq
During the flight the co-pilot said he could hear an air leak in the passenger cabin. The pilot then got up and walked back in the passenger area to investigate and was looking around the exit hatch when the airplane hit turbulence and the pilot fell against the door. When he fell against the door, it opened and he seemingly flew out.
The co-pilot radioed the nearest airport about his emergency and was directed where to make his landing. When he landed he was amazed to find out that the pilot did not fall to his death but was in fact hanging on for dear life on the hand rails on the hatch door. He was hanging upside down with his head below the bottom of the door steps while the airplane was flying 190 miles per hour.
When the airplane landed the pilot’s head was only a foot above the tarmac. It took the rescue crew five minutes to pry the pilot’s hands off the railings, survival instinct for you.
The pilot’s name was Henry Dempsey and the incident was dramatically re-enacted in the tv series Rescue 911.
The Chiefs SHUT DOWN Angry Feminists
Given how the Chinese never had a vote in their government ruled by Chinese Communist Party, should media when reporting make the distinction between China and the regime ruling China, when referring to ‘China’ in their reports?
This question shows that the person asking has zero knowledge of China’s government and election process. I suggest that the person asking this question do some research before asking more questions so that he does not embarrass himself by showing his lack of knowledge.
Let us look at the democratic process of the Chinese “parliament”, the National People’s Congress and the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress.
Members of the National People’s Congress (NPC) are elected by the Provincial People’s Assemblies from all the provinces and regions throughout China, including Hong Kong and Macau.
Members of the Provincial People’s Assemblies in turn are elected by lower level assemblies, and so on through a series of tiers, to the Local People’s Assemblies. The Local People’s Assembly is very much like a village or small town assembly, members of which are directly elected by the people living there. The voters know personally who they are electing.
Unlike in Western democracy, what happens through this system is that the voters, for each level, are voting people whom they work with and know very well. For example, members of the local assembly would vote for the best among them, those who can work and produce results, to represent them at the next level.
Through this system, only the best gets chosen for the NPC, after several layers of the selection process.
This is different from Western democracy where members of the public elect candidates whom they don’t know personally. The candidates are only known from TV appearances, news in the mass media and similar non-personal things.
The very best from among the NPC members are then elected into the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. This is the group that runs China – individuals who have been chosen through a highly competitive selection process and have proven their ability to govern at a lower level.
This is the reason why China’s economy is growing at such a fast rate – only very capable leaders make it into the Standing Committee.
China Turns Tables on U.S, CANCEL U.S SANCTIONS on RUSSIA
Is Comac hiding its technological progress and misleading Biden by showing a long time horizon to avoid a trade war?
No.
Airliners is a special business, even within aviation.
Why?
They carry passengers in the tens to hundreds.
That is why there is extraordinary scrutiny on the entire system, down to the stewardess serving cup noodles on budget flights.
Yes, she has to obtain a type certification, just like the pilots, and it is specific to the airliner model. The same goes for the maintenance crew—everyone is trained, tested and certified, with the cycle repeated to maintain currency.
This extraordinary level of training and oversight is what makes flying far safer than driving.
Every physical part of an airliner is tested to death, especially the engines. Even the number of coats of paint is a controlled spec, not only because paint add weight to the airframe, but the thickness can alter the operation of moving parts, especially the control surfaces.
Comac has recently introduced its first narrowbody six-across C919. It is at the most painful stage currently, ironing out teething issues for the early jets, while ramping up production to fulfill the burgeoning order book.
It will have to document every spec, down to the training requirements for technicians and crew, and make the material broadly available to all customers and regulators. It will have to publish procedures for the safe operation and maintenance of the aircraft, and establish the technical limits of the airframe and moving parts.
All these take time, especially if one starts from a clean sheet, and the entire process is regulated by authorities, who will have to sign off on the type certification.
It is a rigorous process that takes lots of time.
Disney Casts Anya Taylor-Joy As Snow White? Anya Is Excited To Replace Rachel Zegler From The Movie!
Be the Rufus
“At 3am I got a phone call stating that my sister had been killed in a car accident due to some young dumb punk! I haven’t slept and instantly got on the road. Of course we were speeding, trying to get back to Detroit. And we got pulled over in Ohio. I knew I was going to Jail due to a petty warrant. The police called Wayne county and they refused to come get me because of the distance. I explained to the officer that my sister had died and that I needed to get to my mother asap. I broke down crying and he saw the sincerity in my cry. He REACHES OVER AND BEGAN PRAYING OVER ME AND MY FAMILY. He offered to bring me 100 miles further to Detroit because they towed the vehicle. Everybody knows how much I dislike Cops but I am truly Greatful for this Guy. He gave me hope.”
main qimg bdf782089182733497f19677b23a33fd
The Worst Economy I have ever seen
Why are Chinese people so brainwashed?
Gee, you’re the self-proclaimed “China expert”. You even studied “China” at Harvard (whatever that means) so you must know better than people who’ve actually visited, lived or done business there, right? So why are you asking all us brainwashed peeps?
CIA analyist
I do find it odd that you proudly proclaim a connection to NED, whose job is to spread the gospel of democracy (coincidentally, mainly to countries that the United States doesn’t view as allies).
But well done, keep preaching it, brother.
However, the reason I raise this point is that it automatically makes the motives of your question (and any of your questions about China) suspect. Because what you’re essentially saying here is that anyone who doesn’t agree with the American view — YOUR view — that China is the fount of all evil in the world must be de facto brainwashed and a wumao.
Never mind that an actual visit to China and exposure to Mainland Chinese people would likely lead you to a different conclusion entirely.
So I’d answer your question this way: disagreeing with the American narrative on China doesn’t automatically equate to brainwashing. Neither does it equate to blind support of China or believing that the country is perfect.
But I do wonder something. If you really are with NED, how do you reconcile what you do to spread the gospel of democracy to the world with the fact that the United States itself has demonstrated time and time again that it’s willing to hold its nose and ally with authoritarian countries and odious dictators?
Have a lovely day.
Barbecue Beef Roast
Barbecue Beef Roast
Ingredients
1 (2 – 2 1/2 pound) beef chuck roast
1/4 cup barbecue sauce (I prefer Sweet Baby Ray’s)
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
Instructions
Place the roast in the slow cooker (slice in half if using a 4-quart slow cooker).
Whisk together the remaining ingredients and pour over the roast. Cook on LOW for 6 hours.
Remove the roast and shred with two forks (it just falls apart), place in a serving dish and ladle some of the juice over the top before serving.
How America RUINED the world’s screws! (Robertson vs. Phillips)
War story
You’re a 19 year old kid.
You are critically wounded and dying in the jungle somewhere in the Central Highlands of Viet Nam .
Its November 14, 1965 . LZ (landing zone) X-ray.
main qimg b5375c0398aa1a5915dd4bcf99ff2b7d
Your unit is outnumbered 8-1 and the enemy fire is so intense from 100 yards away, that your CO (commanding officer) has ordered the MedEvac helicopters to stop coming in.
You’re lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns and you know you’re not getting out.
Your family is half way around the world, 12,000 miles away, and you’ll never see them again.
As the world starts to fade in and out, you know this is the day.
Then – over the machine gun noise – you faintly hear that sound of a helicopter.
You look up to see a Huey coming in. But.. It doesn’t seem real because no MedEvac markings are on it.
Captain Ed Freeman is coming in for you.
He’s not MedEvac so it’s not his job, but he heard the radio call and decided he’s
flying his Huey down into the machine gun fire anyway.
Even after the MedEvacs were ordered not to come. He’s coming anyway.
And he drops it in and sits there in the machine gun fire, as they load 3 of you at a time on board.
Then he flies you up and out through the gunfire to the doctors and nurses and safety. And, he kept coming back!! 13 more times!!
Until all the wounded were out. No one knew until the mission was over that the Captain had been hit 4 times in the legs and left arm.
He took 29 of you and your buddies out that day. Some would not have made it without the Captain and his Huey.
Medal of Honor Recipient, Captain Ed Freeman, United States Army, died at the age of 81, in Boise, Idaho.
I bet you didn’t hear about this hero’s passing,Medal of Honor Winner Captain Ed Freeman.
Now… YOU pass this along.
Honor this real hero.
What is the most bizarre way you’ve landed a job?
I was at a party (mid 1970s). Amidst all the chatter, I heard these two guys talking about a contract they’d just secured. Sponsored by a government lab to bring together scientists and engineers and government functionaries and get them to go over technical details of a power generation project. This was just their sweet spot, but they were concerned about running sessions to get these diverse groups to talk to each other, and coming up with a coherent final report.
I eavesdropped, then butted in. “I’ve done a good bit of that at my job at UCLA,” I said. I suggested ways to do this. They ended up inviting me into their project to handle the interactive part. The event went very well, and other labs wanted to bring us in.
But my two partners weren’t interested in this type of work—not technical enough for them. So they handed the whole thing over to me. I had a company with half a dozen employees and a government contract.
Started me down my road to entrepreneurship.
China’s Latest Move Has Governments Freaking Out
Have you ever gone into a restaurant that looked unappealing from the outside but ended up having delicious food? If so, where and what did you order?
It has happened more than once.
One restaurant visit that I remember particularly was in Wuhan, China. It was in 2006. I was on my way to Ichang and Three Gorges (the big dam). I wasn’t in a hurry and stayed for four days in the city.
On the first evening I walked along the street where I stayed and looked for a place where to eat. Everything was in Chinese. There were no signs in English, so I couldn’t even memorize the name of the street where I stayed. I wouldn’t venture too far, not to get lost.
Anyway, I found a restaurant close to the shabby hotel where I stayed. I went inside and it looked quite unappealing. Simple forniture, tiled floor and very bright lights. The interior looked cheap and uninviting. At first I thought I wouldn’t eat there, I’d only have a beer. But, after a while I realized I wouldn’t find another place. Nobody spoke English and I wouldn’t know where to go. I had no choice and decided I’d have whatever they had to offer.
I drew a fish on a napkin – that would be my order. Somehow, I tried to explain with gestures that I’d also like some side dishes. When the food arrived I was in a shock. That would be enough for a family of four. Everything looked really nice, especially the fish. It was a whole fish, steamed and garnished with vegetables – it looked like a masterpiece. The whole dinner was a devine culinary experience. I didn’t manage to eat it all – I left some of the small dishes that accompanied the main dish. And the most suprising thing came at the end – the bill. I paid 35 yuan for the whole feast. It was equivalent of 6 US Dollars. One of the best meals of my life, that I still remember after 18 years.
What were some things kids did in the 70s that would horrify today’s parents?
80s kid but close enough:
A) My parents literally had NO IDEA where I was the vast majority of my childhood.
Every day from 1st grade on I was unsupervised from 3-6pm since my parents both worked. Weekends if I didn’t have a sports game I was out in the world gone for hours at a time, no way for them to contact me, I didn’t check in, road my bike into different towns and all over my town.
B) Made all my own plans. Starting around 3rd grade or so, any after school or weekend social activities I set up myself with friends. Called peoples houses, talked to parents, made plans, never asked for permission.
I was in charge of those decisions.
I was responsible for my safety.
Only reason I would call is if I wouldn’t be home for dinner. Same rules seemed to apply to all my friends.
C) I was in charge of my transportation to and from school and after school activities before 6pm. Rain? Either I remembered an umbrella or I got wet. Snow? Same deal
This polite stray cat knocked on the door, trying to ask for adoption and become part of the family.
This use of overlaying subliminal sounds over television and internet media has become far too invasive. Sure it worked in the Gulf War, and the Iraq army surrendered in droves. But this use of it against citizens is really disturbing.
The other day, I watch a couple of YouTube videos of 20-something women proudly and gleefully talking about how they want to be “railed” (fucked) by fifty guys one after the other, and how they enjoy sex. Enjoying sex is normal and healthy. But announcing this desire for random non-stop sex with strangers is not.
Initially my thoughts were that she was part of some movement, like a feminist movement, or such, and wanted to promote it via sexual displays to get clicks and improve the quantity of her DM’s. But I fear something else is going on.
In the USA, in Canada, and in UK and Australia, all the young gals seem to be “off the charts”, off the chain (so to speak) in this blatant hyper-sexual frenzy. These videos are everywhere.
It’s almost like someone, or some organization, is overlaying the videos (preferred by 20-something women) with a kind of subliminal hyper-sexual desire and it is truing them all into crazed sex fiend nymphomaniacs. Now, I can see that some men might want that, so it’s not a far stretch. But DAMN! It’s a disturbing thought.
This technology is totally and completely messing up relationships in the West; it is destroying families, and the people that it is targeting.
I know what it feels like. I was in MAJ after all, and I do have ELF probes, so if “they” want me to do something, I have no control over it. I just do it.
It’s frightening really.
My handlers were pretty reasonable folk. But I have been in contact with other black ops folk. And they have dealt with unreasonable folk in the military who are being harassed by members of the LGBQ+ cabal, and it is brutal. I can only imagine what is going on via way of the rich (behind the scenes) evil incarnates who run the activities behind their curtains.
Disturbing.
But nothing that I can do about it. Except stay out of the “line of fire” and not become a target. Like in China, Russia, Africa, and South America.
This system seems to be in English and only seems to be affecting Western women (for now).
It appears to me that most all of Western media is overly saturated with these subliminal frequencies. Beware. Be careful.
Sheech!
Today…
Did you ever go away on vacation and you loved the place, then you moved there and it was very disappointing?
Several years ago my husband and I went to a lavish wedding on a tropical island. We were so blown away and knew we’d move there one day. I had a competitor steal me from my job and moved me and it was a dream come true, a house, my stuff, my husband, my pets all covered by my job. After years of trying to have children we got pregnant just a few months after moving. Since my son was born we didn’t want to strip him from where he was born, we planned to stay. I thought my salary was amazing, and for a tiny one bedroom house is more than a million, whereas in another place that would be 200k or less. As a new mother my job demanded more and more of my time, making a 3rd of my salary alone just in overtime. Sometimes due to weather events or a hard project then we’d be unexpectedly having to stay, some people didn’t have their medicine, food, and one person had to have an ambulance over low blood sugar. The place is still beautiful, but the costs of living and food supplies that are shipped costs 5x more. I miss home. I miss more luxury I could afford. I quit my job, it was the most disappointing job with false promises, stayed, and I’m trying to learn how to be more patient and enjoy what I have.
Pennsylvania Dutch Cabbage Rolls
cabbage rolls pennsylvania dutch
Ingredients
12 large green cabbage leaves
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 cup cooked rice
1 small onion, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar
Instructions
Pour boiling water over cabbage leaves and soak until limp, about 4 minutes.
Combine beef, rice, onion, salt, and egg and mix well. Divide mixture into 12 equal portions and place one portion on each leaf. Roll up, tuck ends in and fasten with wooden picks.
Heat oil in heavy skillet or Dutch oven and brown the cabbage rolls for 10 minutes.
Combine tomato sauce, water, brown sugar and lemon juice and add to skillet. Simmer cabbage rolls for 1 hour, covered.
Serve hot.
How hard is it really to do time in prison?
I served 18 years straight. I’d say somewhere around the 7 or 8 year mark my view of the situation changed. It was no longer prison, it was just my life. Nothing ever changed. Every day was the same. You get in a never changing routine and before you know it 5 years go by. Then 10, then 15. The real world becomes a fantasy. Something you see on TV, or pictures in magazine, but it’s no longer real. One day you look in the mirror and your hair is receding, and it’s turning gray, in your mind your socially stunted and in a lot of ways child like, but you’re old. I went in at 18 and came out a 37 year old man who didn’t know how to do anything. I’d never used a cell phone or computer. I’d never driven a car or filed my taxes. The world was too big, too loud, too fast. My second day out my sister took me to Walmart and I had a panic attack and had to go outside and sit in the car by myself. I could make a tattoo gun out of an electric razor, boil water with an extension cord, and sits for months on end by myself in a room with a sink, concrete bunk and metal toilet without breaking a sweat. But I couldn’t hold a job, operate any electronics without help, or go to Walmart without freaking the fuck out. I didn’t know how to cook, or how to pay a bill. I sat home by myself for months, afraid to go anywhere or talk to people. A big part of me wanted to be back in prison where things made sense, where I thrived.
I’ve been out for over 5 years now, and while I’ve learned to do a lot of things, it’s still not easy. I dream alot of being in prison. Where’s it’s easy. No responsibility. And believe it or not, less stress and anxiety. I’ve been in institutions my whole life, since I was a little kid. Foster homes, group homes, treatment centers, juvenile detentions. It’s what I know. It’s where I’m comfortable. I don’t know if that will ever change.
China is finally being exposed….
Taiwan’s air defense density is so high, how can mainland China break through?
Ask Israel.
The distance between Israel and Iran is >1,700km.
There are multiple countries between them, and plenty of seawater.
Iran also broadcast its intention to attack Israel well in advance.
The US (and others) were on full alert waiting to shoot down Iranian munitions.
There were Aegis systems on USN ships, land-based Patriot batteries, airborn fighters guided by awacss and Israel’s own Iron Dome forming a multi-layered defense system with strategic depth. More than $1b in munitions was expended to counter the Iranian assault, which totaled ～200 drones and cruise/hypersonic missiles.
That’s a far more comprehensive and extravagant air defense than Taiwan can possibly field, if only because the mainland is less than 200km from Taiwan’s coast and the island a mere 400 km long and 150 km across with no strategic depth to speak of.
And yet, Iranian hypersonic missiles got through and hit one of the most well-protected and sensitive airbases in the Negev housing the F-35.
These weren’t even the most advanced and potent missiles in the Iranian arsenal.
Now, is anyone willing to bet the Chinese don’t have better missiles in both quality and quantity?
You only need to destroy air defenses once, and China has tactical rocket artillery that can rain fire from the sky 24.7 to mop up or suppress the enemy.
Good luck.
Healthcare Is BROKEN! China VS Canada!
What will the millions of Americans who are over 50, without a penny saved, do in the next 20 years?
I am over 50, and not only do I not have any money saved, I’m in debt up to my eyeballs.
So I think I am qualified to answer this question.
Short answer? Continue to go deeper into debt.
Longer answer?
Within the next twenty years (unless universal complete healthcare happens) I can probably expect to lose my teeth, since I can’t afford dental care.
I will have to continue to earn as much of a living as I currently can, while physically deteriorating even further.
I expect to lose my home (nowhere near being payed off), and have to live with my adult children on their incomes. (and they are only starting to earn them, by the way.)
I fully expect to have to see my sister, ten years older than I am, die during that period.
As long as I can afford a computer and the internet, I will live more and more of my life online instead of out in the real world.
If the current style of Trump republican remain in power, I can see any benefits I currently have continue to be marginalized and vanish.
If Democrats overcome the Republicans, there is a possibility I may get comprehensive universal healthcare and drugs I can afford, and I may be able to collect what little Social Security may be coming to me, if not a small, guaranteed income to overcome my extreme poverty level.
I have no guarantees of any help or aid, as indeed I have never had. So my life should not radically change over the next twenty years from what it has been the past twenty: a hopeful future being twisted into a tragic present.
I don’t know how many of us are in the same situation I am, which has been cause by singular features of my personal life, a failed marriage, becoming the adult caretaker for my ailing parents, and then my brother, and then my eldest son (who has cerebral palsy), and probably soon for my sister as well.
But I imagine many of us over 50 who are only managing to barely squeak by from paycheck to paycheck will be in much the same boat: we are all pretty much in a position where we are in a self-perpetuating downward spiral, and we won’t get out without outside help.
Many of us will wind up getting reverse mortgages to make ends meet, getting much further in debt in the process, and having health issues from not seeing the doctor as often as we should, so we will become burdens on the next generation, who we will have no inheritance to pass on to.
Somehow, as depressing as all that reality is, I still look hopefully towards being in a better place in five to twenty years, and the future being bright again.
I somehow have confidence that the millennials will not screw up the future as badly as we boomers have.
Toxic evil woman gives 200 men HIV and instantly regrets it
Why do educated Chinese support CCP despite not having the freedom to criticize Chinese politicians?
I am Chinese. I apologize. I don’t know what “criticism” means here? In China, the most popular self-media app is called “Toutiao.” If you haven’t heard of this company, then you must know TikTok. They are different products under the same company. On “Toutiao,” criticisms and complaints against the Chinese government abound at all times. These criticisms are directed at government institutions at the national, provincial, municipal, and rural levels. Below are some examples of similar content I have seen in the past month:
Complicated medical insurance reimbursement process;
A relative’s child got into a better school through bribery;
Traffic signs on highways are in disrepair year-round;
The government has promised to start construction on a subway line for three years but has not yet begun;
Government incompetence behind food safety issues;
The village chief appoints his relatives to important positions;
Unfair treatment, complaints lodged with national departments, but still unresolved;
Reporting a corrupt official, only to face retaliation;
Gas billing system in a city seems to have raised prices, causing many to pay more;
Sewage flows freely in an old residential area, but the government has yet to initiate a demolition plan;
All diners at the same restaurant suffered food poisoning, but the government investigation is opaque, suspected of corruption;
…
Based on Toutiao’s recommendation algorithm, if you read some of the above content, the app will tirelessly recommend “criticism and complaints against the government” until your brain is overloaded. If this isn’t “freedom of criticism,” then what is?
Actually, I know what the asker wants to express: always criticizing the Chinese Communist Party, the one-party rule. And none of the criticisms I listed above touches on the “key points.” Right?
I’m sorry, could you use any online survey tool to design a questionnaire about “whether you oppose the Chinese Communist Party”? And invite suffering Chinese people on internet communities in China to fill out the questionnaire, in order to get “first-hand insider information from China.”
You will get the data you want and be surprised—why don’t Chinese people oppose the power that rules them? You will continue to draw the conclusion—the reason is that Chinese people have been brainwashed.
In the end, you will still believe: the seeds of freedom and democracy will never sprout in China, because Chinese people are ignorant.
That’s the whole trick. So, I wish you live in the “terrifying China” dream you imagined, and never wake up. I respect your choice.
China Commences Military “Drill” – Completely Surrounds Taiwan
The China military has begin drills surrounding the entirety of Taiwan, including islands of Kinmen and Dongyin, state media says.
Taiwan was forced to scramble fighter jets and put missile, naval and land units on alert this morning after China launched huge military exercises around the self-governing island.
Beijing said the menacing war games, dubbed ‘Joint Sword-2024A’, were a ‘strong punishment’ for Taiwan following the inauguration of its new president, Lai Ching-te, who is detested in Beijing as a ‘separatist’.
China claims Taiwan is part of its national territory and the People’s Liberation Army routinely sends navy ships and warplanes into the Taiwan Strait and other areas around the island to wear down Taiwan’s defenses and seek to intimidate its people.
But this week’s wargames are massive in scale.
The PLA released a map of the intended exercise area which completely surrounds Taiwan’s main island concentrating major firepower at five key points, as well as places like Matsu and Kinmen, outlying islands that are closer to the Chinese mainland than Taiwan.
China’s coast guard also said it organized a fleet to carry out law enforcement drills near two islands close to the Taiwanese-controlled island groups of Kinmen and Matsu just off the Chinese coast.
They come after the island swore in President Lai who said in his inaugural speech on Monday that Taiwan ‘must demonstrate our resolution to defend our nation’.
China denounced Lai’s speech as a ‘confession of independence’.
UPDATE 11:50 AM EDT — ***** URGENT *****
Agence France Press (AFP) Reports:
Brutal Warning China to Taiwan
This UPDATE comes as the Chinese military has Taiwan literally surrounded for an ongoing “Military Exercise.”
Hal Turner Remarks:
We all have to keep 2 things in mind:
1. Not all military drills lead to invasions.
2. Modern invasions always follow military drills..
Recall that China’s President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, had a big meeting together about a week ago. If no one thinks Putin & Xi didn’t have a little war gaming session when they met last week, either you’re not paying attention or you’re just willfully ignorant.
It seems to me China must strike while Biden is still in office and the USA is weak. They know of Trump wins they will not be able to do so.
This isn’t WW II, and a Chinese “invasion” of Taiwan (or liberation of Taiwan from U.S. military occupation, which would be a more correct description of the campaign) isn’t going to look like D-Day.
Taiwan is small enough for China to be able to completely obliterate all (U.S.) air defenses located on (and off) the island before sending in paratroopers to secure key locations.
Then, and only then, will China start shipping troops to the island… and U.S. will be able to do literally nothing to stop it.
Either way, it sure seems that Russians and Chinese have agreed on China opening a new front against the U.S. in Taiwan.
This is a video of the Chinese military drill
This is a MM video, direct copy from the PLA.
What do poor people in the United States of America eat?
When I was born my dad could not get work, so he decided to rob a service station, well that sent him to prison for the 1st 5 years of my life. So we lived with my grandmother (mom and baby me) in a place called piedmont courts back in the 50’s.
When my dad served his time he found work in a blue collar trade which he learned in prison and so life was basically lower middle class, which is to say we had a car, 9″ Black and White TV, meat and potatoes, new clothing twice a year, Easter and the start of school, and by new clothing I am talking new pants maybe shoes and shirt just one or two of each. We lived with my aunt and uncle as we did not have enough money to get a apartment or home.
Then when my baby brother was born, I was 11 years 7 months old, my dad left with the parting phrase, “I did not want the first bastard I sure don’t want the second” so my mom with a 3rd grade education, so petite she bought her clothing from the girls section, and no programs to help; was homeless.
Now I must admit she could have gotten help from her family but there were conditions she unwilling to tolerate. My new born baby brother was to be placed with my Aunt M and Uncle J’s family to properly raise, I was to go to a boarding school and mom had to live with an old maid aunt/chaperon in Marion county South Carolina.
Mom would rather die than lose us so we were homeless, we lived in the streets in cities from Miami FL (weather was a factor) to Worcester MA, mom’s favorite brother lived there; we crossed a picket line in Philadelphia and mom was beaten and they threatened to kill my baby brother and myself, a cab driver rescued us. Also in Philadelphia I almost died due to hypothermia, I was carrying my baby brother in about 2 or 3 feet of snow (remember homeless) and mom could tell I was in real trouble, so she went to a Catholic church which turned out to be a nunnery, mom begged and pleaded for help for me and my baby brother, they gave us blankets, soup, let us sleep in the kitchen and gave us some money for a bus to go somewhere warmer, Miami. (Note: we lived in an abandoned car a fireman showed mom the location of in Miami)
For a short time we lived with Aunt R whom was also divorced, (Note: Divorce was looked down on greatly at the time, so much so we could not rent a place even if we had money, because they would not rent to a single woman with two children, they just could not have that kind of trash living in their apartments). My mom was recruited to work massage parlors, which evolved to prostitution, which lead her arrest for solicitation in Norfolk. I have some really scary stories and some great ones.
I am just establishing I was by any standard poor.
What did we eat, well when we got extra money, there were food stands that sold hot dogs 10 for a dollar, burgers 5 for a dollar etc. those were special times. When we lived with aunt Rachel and her 4 children and boyfriend of the day, Robert my cousin and I would scour the roads for soda bottles, take them to the grocery store, cash them in and buy a bag of rice or beans, get a can of jack mackerel for the rice or ham bone for the beans cook it in a big pot and everyone ate well. When we were in the streets we would buy a can of anything that could be eaten cold, basically open can and eat. We also scoured for food, behind restaurants, trash, day old goods from the bread factory. There were lots of days week old moon pies and miniature pecan pies or just stale white bread kept us going as we lived in abandoned cars, under picnic tables, trash cans, or sewer pipes.
When I was in my 50’s I searched out my family, reconnected with them and they spent a lot of time telling me we did not have to go through this, but it was all mom could think of in order for us to stay together, there were no programs at that time, and welfare was basically a block of cheese, big can of peanut butter, and staples like beans and rice.
To this day I will eat grits with a raw egg in it, soup with stale bread broke up in it, rice and fish. I can afford steak I just don’t want it, never developed a taste for all that fancy food, so it is no loss.
Last note, I never loved my mom any less, she did the best she could do, I settled things with my dad, granted in my 50’s, he admitted he did wrong took 100% of the blame and never shifted any to mom, that helped me in getting over his abandoning us. All of these people have passed, most in the last 18 months, my dad died November 20th 2016, my wife of 47 years Martha passed April 12th also 2016; without a doubt her passing is the greatest loss of my life. Yea, I know this is perhaps too much info but it is therapeutic for me and I do not think people realize what others go through. There was no drug or alcohol abuse involved in all this, just life as it happens.
That is what a poor abandoned/divorced white woman with a 3rd grade education, an 11 year old and infant living on the streets ate.
Single Mothers Are GOING MAD Trying To Date When They Learn Men Want NOTHING From Them Besides Sex
Advanced lithography (e.g. EUV / DUV) gets all the attention but not enough in the Natsec OSINT community are paying attention to industrial-grade glycine, a critical amino acid used in the semiconductor supply chain to help remove degraded resist during the etching process. Advanced etch processes enable chipmakers to use triple or even quadruple (!) patterning to create the tiny features found in most modern chip designs.
Table
Due to BIS export controls announced in October 2022, all exports of industrial-grade glycine below ISO 140001 certified levels (more on this below) from the U.S. and allied nations were restricted. This has forced the Chinese specialty chemicals industry to scramble to find new supply alternatives, as the sector has long been dominated by Japanese supplier Ajinomoto and UK-based GEO Specialty Chemicals.
Over the past year, Donghua Jinlong Chemical — based in the heart of China’s military-industrial complex in Shijiazhuang, Hebei — has risen to prominence. Founded in 1979 by a former mid-level apothecary in the PLA, it has long been a provider of food-grade glycine but in response to export controls, re-developed its glycine formulas for industrial (and possible “dual” military) use.
Since 2022, Donghua Jinlong has rapidly expanded production capacity, building no less than sixty-eight “lights out” factories with aggregate production capacity of 1.7 trillion picograms — not a typo — of aggregate annual capacity. In a stunning turnaround from peak supply chain disruption in late 2022 / early 2023, analysts are now expressing worries about spillover excess capacity into food-grade glycine given the rapid rate of factory expansion. Shares of Nissin, Nongshim, and Master Kong plummeted last week on volatile trading in glycine commodity prices.
This plus a slick marketing campaign on TikTok have propelled Donghua Jinlong to a dominant 42.807% global market share in this critical material.
Last month, Donghua Jinlong was elevated to national-level “champion” status and hailed as a Party paradigm in the “upcoming round of techno-scientific revolution and industrial transformation” (新一轮科技革命和产业变革) that is one of the pillars of “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era” (习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想).
Unlike the poseurs at Huawei — much less Hubei Jingfa Chemical Group with its puny 3.653% market share — Donghua Jinlong is certified to ISO 22000, 90001, and 140001 standards. The last one is especially difficult to attain and industry analysts were more shocked by its ability to reach 140001 standards than SMIC’s ability to reach HVP at N6+ earlier this year.
TL;DR: All y’all cucks really ought to pay more attention to industrial-grade glycine and Donghua Jinlong.
Why has Apple initiated a price war against Huawei in China?
Many people do not know this but the price of the iPhone on the mainland was higher than HK, Japan and the US.
Despite being made IN CHINA!
And despite China having a far lower GDP per capita.
This is merely Apple taking cues from VW and other EV makers who price identical models at far lower prices on the mainland compared to their home markets.
Why?
That’s what it takes to stay abreast of the competition.
CHINESE competition.
Huawei is back, and providing a stiff challenge to iPhone sales, in addition to policy changes banning iPhone use, and the removal of certain apps from the app store.
Apple hit peak Apple on the mainland in 2023, and it’s a painful slide down the mountain.
There are rumors of a 4th ecosystem based on RISC-V and a brand-new OS that a consortium of Chinese handset makers are developing. Volume production at advanced nodes will see the retreat of Android and Qualcomm in the 6G era, and I won’t be surprised if Apple sales plummet to 25–50% of current levels in the coming 5–10 years.
It’s just business reacting to flagging sales here.
Which is good news for the Chinese buyer.
Falling Down – The Great American Lie
This is great, deep and I am so glad that someone else understands this movie. Yeah. A must watch.
The Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army has kicked off joint military drills surrounding the island of Taiwan. What’s the purpose of it?
Because of this speech made in Taipei:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCC9tUESNIQ
An irresponsible, dangerous, and stupid political stunt by a former Secretary of State who remains sanctioned by China.
He is essentially tearing up the three communiques, and openly pushing for the independence of Taiwan.
The 3 communiques are words that underpin the basis of US-China diplomacy. Tearing them up equals the end of relations, and most likely, open war.
uh, I made a few heads hurt a couple years ago when I took a position uh, that said, “You know, it’s time for the United States to recog- recognize Taiwan as a sovereign and independent country.”
Um, you should know, I I thought about this a lot before making that statement. As a former Secretary of State, people think about what you say. Sometimes they think about what you say, and they say, “You’re just crazy.” Um, but I thought about it a lot, and I came back to what I tried to write about in my book. I came back to the central idea that we shouldn’t live in a make-believe world. We shouldn’t say things that everyone knows aren’t true. We should accept fundamental, basic truths and speak about them openly, no matter what that means, what, no matter what the second-order implications of that are. We should, when when we live in a fantasy world, we create enormous risk.
Um, this wasn’t just a, a gesture or a diplomatic nicety. Um, recognizing this place, Taiwan, as an independent, sovereign, free nation is true. It reflects the reality. You know, I was I was speaking, uh, a week or so back about this law that China has on its books, this idea of an anti-secession law. That’s just crazy, right? When when Xi Jinping speaks of Taiwan as being reunified with his country, this is propaganda. This is an effort to shape the minds of your children, and shape the minds of people around the world who don’t know the history, that don’t know the history that is so central to why it is, it would be important for the United States to make a declarative statement about Taiwan and its independence. It’s a it’s it’s a simple call to just recognize the existing reality. You govern yourself democratically. We saw this yesterday with your peaceful transition of power. You control territory. You engage in international trade. You do so as a separate entity, deeply separate from the People’s Republic of China. None of your real estate, none of your territory, is under the PRC’s sovereign control. Uh, to suggest otherwise belies the reality. You know, the risk is that the PRC has misinterpreted the – the PRC stance, and frankly we’ we’ve had these set of understandings, these communique- these agreements, that have been made uh, long ago now, um, and perhaps they were workable in decades gone by. It’s possible.
Um, when the other side violates an agreement, and there are really only two parties involved, it makes no sense for the other side to continue to honor those commitments. This isn’t about belligerence. This isn’t about an effort to create conflict. This is about recognizing conflict. This is about recognizing that there is an aggressive party, and there’s a party that is a potential victim of that aggression. That’s the people of Taiwan, not the people and the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party. They are the aggressor. They are the ones who have threatened and attempted to coerce this place. You are the ones who have stood up to this coercion, aggression, ways that are important and noble and decent, and God bless you for that.
And finally, I, what pushed me over the edge to say that America ought to take that position is a reflection of my country’s history, my country’s history of recognizing people and their sovereign right to protect their own borders and to create prosperity for their own people. We correct an historical oversight when we get this right, but it also strength- strengthens a peaceful and democratic peoples. It’s not just you. It’s not just a policy adjustment. It is a moral and strategic imperative. And it is a necessary and it is a rightful acknowledgement of the democratic process of your true, free, and sovereign state. Time for us to act boldly, together. And when we do, when we do, I am convinced uh, that we will look back on the day that we just acknowledged the truth and the reality, we will look back on that day as a day that was an inflection point in world history, an inflection point in the history of this place, and an inflection point for the peoples of the entire region, and we made their lives better, safer, and more prosperous.
China Has SURROUNDED Taiwan, Russia Runs NUCLEAR DRILLS, Media Says WW3 IS NOW And Biden IS LOSING
Chinese Ambassador to Japan, Wu Jianghao, today publicly announced “The Japanese people will be dragged into a fiery hell,” after Japan pledged support to Taiwan.
The ambassador has already been summoned to the Taiwan Foreign Ministry.
Hal Turner Snap Analysis
WOW! That language is so unusual as to be completely unknown coming from _any_ China official.
Seems as though old animosities are resurfacing in Asia.
This is not the language used by Diplomats . . . or are we in a new paradigm?
If this is what their DIPLOMAT says . . . can any of us imagine the level of anger/hatred the Chinese still feel against Japan for the “Rape of Nanking?”
Sounds to me like someone has some very old scores to settle.
This could get ugly.
Women CRIES Being 33 Years Old And SINGLE, Society LIED To Men & Women
Men are lonely. Women are lonely. I so feel for this woman. Sad girl. Terrible!
Taken from South-East Asia and transported to America, on May 27, 1902 he was in an enclosure at the Forepaugh Circus in Brooklyn when a keeper, in a state of intoxication, decided to throw sand on him and burn his trunk with a cigarette. The animal left no escape for man, but from that day on, especially for obvious marketing reasons, it was advertised as “the bad elephant that killed 12 people”.
The animal’s growing aggressiveness in the face of instigation convinced the owners to sell it to the Sea Lion Park; Here it wasn’t long before Topsy became the protagonist of a new attack and escaped from the facility, once again after being hit in the ear with a pitchfork.
The new owners thus found themselves obliged to euthanize the elephant in an event open to the paying public; For Topsy, three systems were planned to be used simultaneously: poisoning with cyanide-laced carrots, hanging with iron cables and finally electrocution.
The latter had been strongly sponsored by Thomas Edison who wanted to demonstrate in this way the danger of alternating current, supported by George Westinghouse in favor of direct current; a shock of 6,600V, lasting 10 seconds, killed the animal instantly.
Famous Pennsylvania Dutch Sticky Cinnamon Buns
IMG 8776 sticky buns
Ingredients
1 package dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1 cup milk, scalded
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour, divided
3 tablespoons soft butter
1/2 cup chopped raisins
2 tablespoons currants
2 tablespoons finely chopped citron
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons brown sugar
Instructions
Soften yeast in warm water and let stand for 5 to 10 minutes.
Add milk to sugar and salt. Mix and cool to lukewarm.
Add 1 cup flour and mix until smooth. Stir in yeast. Add remaining flour mixing well. Knead dough on floured board until smooth. Put in greased bowl, grease top, cover with towel and let rise in warm room until double.
Punch down dough, and roll into a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick. Brush with the softened butter and spread with mixture of raisins, currants, citron, the 1/4 cup brown sugar and cinnamon. Roll up like a jellyroll and cut into 1/4 inch thick slices. Lay the slices in a buttered 13 x 9 x 2 inch pan. Cover and let rise until doubled.
Sprinkle top with the 3 tablespoons brown sugar.
Bake at 375 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes.
Are you sick of the tipping culture in the United States?
This week I took my family out to some fancy Italian restaurant to celebrate my daughter’s college graduation.
This is a type of place that everything is a la carte because I guess making you pay for side dishes makes it a fancy restaurant.
I digress. So the bill is $225. And it included a 3% fee which was never explained to me but let’s assume it’s a credit card fee.
At the bottom of the receipt list the suggested tips 20% 23% and 25%.
Here’s my problem in the past 3 years going out to eat has gone up by 25% in the United States. Tips are based on the cost of the restaurant so inherently the tips went up by 25%. And yet I guess this is not enough, on top of that there’s an expectation for a 25% tip? You got to be kidding me.
Now before you tell me how I’m a cheapskate and servers work hard for their money let me tell you about a week ago I went with my daughter and wife out to a breakfast place the bill was $45 the service was excellent and I left $10.
According to my calculations that $10 is over 20%. But that is not the point. The point is are you telling me that that waitstaff at the fancy Italian restaurant work any harder than if the breakfast place I went to?
I am so irritated with the tipping culture of the United States, especially the expectations at fancy restaurants that do not necessarily go above and beyond for service.
Here’s a story from my “van days”. During that time, I had just left the Navy and I was floating around the USA looking for work… anywhere. But it was darn difficult to find. The best we could do was part-time at minimum wage. So, of course, we lived in our van.
*sigh*
It was a rough patch.
One the most difficult things that we had to do was get washed; take a shower. We would try using bathrooms in fast food restaurants and discovered that we were locked out with a nasty sign on the door. We would use beach showers if we could find them. We would use the water spigots in unoccupied houses, and YMCA’s if they would allow us… they did charge us $3 a person back then.
One of the craziest things that we did was to take showers in a car wash. Those power washers stung, but we would strip to a bathing suit and scrub ourselves down and get clean… the HARD way. Not recommended if you have other means. But ya gotta do what you gotta do.
I do imagine that many people in the USA are encountering this exact situation. Oh, taking a bath in a stream seems tempting, but getting out with the mud actually is counterproductive. Don’t even try it.
Make friends and use their resources until you are back on your feet. And do whatever you need to do.
Being SMELLY is not an option if you are looking for work.
Today…
What is the most humiliating thing a woman has ever done to a man?
Once I went to Domino’s Pizza with my friend and she told me to give order. I had 4 notes of Rs. 500 each and I thought bill would be less than Rs. 500. So I ordered and the bill was Rs. 510/-. As I had only Rs. 500 notes, I gave them one note and said wait I will give you remaining balance.
I told my friend that bill was Rs. 510 and I paid Rs. 500 and balance is Rs. 10. So can you give me Rs. 10 note which you got from Auto change as I am not going to give another Rs. 500 note for the sake of Rs. 10.
She looked at me like I did some murder like thing and said following to me in Marathi in high pitch in front of whole store.
“Kutrya, tu evdhe paise gheun firtos aani tuzyakade ek Rs. 10 chi note nahi? Kon samajtos tu svatala? Evdha bhikari nako hous mazyasamor.”
English: You dog you roam with this much money and you don’t have simple Rs. 10 note? What you think of yourself huh? Don’t act like a beggar in front of me.
Whole store and customers eyes were glued at me. I felt that so humiliating and I cancelled the order, took the money and gave her sharp look and went out. Caught auto for my home.
PS: We were best friends once and after this incident she blocked me everywhere. Now we aren’t in touch and no need to get in touch! Because girls like her are definitely not from this planet! Better date another girl who is from this planet and can behave neatly in public places. 🙂
Man I can’t forget that day so easily.
14 things girls don’t tell guys
Girls know that you are staring at their butts . Don’t act innocent.
They don’t need any solution to their problem when they are sad. They just need warm console(Hugs and kiss on forehead). Do that.
Don’t tell them what to wear and when to wear. I swear you will lose all respect.
Yes, sometimes they can’t remember the routes but they can remember exactly when they met you, when they gave the number to you and what not. Save your dates.
You can tease them by calling them idiot, stupid, dog, cat, snake whatever but do not call them fat. You are dead man if you do so.
Hold their hands whenever they feel low or scared. They will never leave your hand.
Don’t mess with them when they are going through menstruation cycle. They go through serious mood swings.
Sometimes even they don’t know why they are sad. Just sit with them and console.
When you get a text from them like Okay is fine, OK is bad and K is very bad. Brace yourself, nuclear bomb is launched.
When they talk just listen carefully. Don’t be that guy who just listens for the sake of listening. You might get your surprise test anytime.
Don’t underestimate their strength. Many girls in the world already proved it.
Just tell them that you are expecting to sleep with them from the beginning itself. Don’t beat around the bush. They hate lies.
They love to do make up like how you love football/cricket. Adore that.
Never ever tell them not to work after marriage. They just hate to be dependent on someone else.
Asian-Style Beef Chuck Roast
asian pot roast 8
Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients
1 cup beef flavored broth or 2 teaspoons beef base or bouillon and 1 cup water
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons chili garlic sauce
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger root
6 green onions, sliced on the bias, white and green parts separated
1 (2 to 3 pound) boneless beef chuck roast
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water
4 cups hot cooked white rice
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seed
1 lime, cut into wedges
asian pot roast 7
Instructions
Spray 3 1/2 or 4 quart slow cooker with cooking spray.
Add broth, brown sugar, soy sauce, chili garlic sauce and gingerroot to slow cooker; stir with whisk to combine.
Stir in green onion whites. Reserve green onion greens for garnishing; cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
Add roast to slow cooker; turn to coat. Cover; cook on LOW for 8 to 9 hours or until very tender.
Transfer roast to cutting board. Cool slightly; cut or shred, and return to mixture in slow cooker. Increase to HIGH.
In small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and cold water. Quickly stir into liquid mixture in slow cooker. Cover; cook for 5 to 10 minutes or until thickened.
Divide rice among 8 bowls. Divide shredded beef among bowls of rice. Top with reserved green onion greens, cilantro and sesame seed; serve with lime wedges.
asian pot roast 10
Good thing for cameras
Would you agree that Xi Jinping is the greatest, most influential, and forward-thinking world leader of our time?
What time scale is “our time?” The last hundred years? Our lifetime?
In my lifetime, I believe Xi Jinping is the greatest, most influential, and forward-thinking world leader.
He’s helping the Global South countries build their economies through the Belt and Road Initiative.
He’s leading BRICS to help the Global South unite against the imperialist G7.
He’s forging a strong friendship with Russia and creating a bulwark against the imperialist NATO.
He’s building a multipolar world order to replace the current unipolar “rules-based international order” that terrorizes the world with wars and sanctions.
He’s working to bring peace to the world. Recently, he brokered peace between Iran and Saudi Arabia, an historic first!
He has a grand vision for the world which is one of peace, harmony and common prosperity.
Not even John F. Kennedy can match Xi. I can’t think of another world leader that I admire as much.
Drizzle Drizzle; why men aren’t stopping
What inappropriate gift did your child give you that was so funny you still joke about it years later at family events?
Not given to me, but to my in-laws.
My in-laws were loaded. There is literally nothing they want that they can’t/don’t buy for themselves.
So, when my kids were little, we’d take them to the 99c store for gift-giving occasions and let them pick out anything they wanted for Gamma and Papa.
The item itself was irrelevant – the real gift was the story behind the choice.
For instance… when a 4-year old picks out a tacky gold-gilt lion statue for Gamma’s mantle because “She has lots of nice things and this is gold and it’s pretty”.
Or (my personal favorite) the really tacky plastic plate with a hideous pink flamingo on it because “Gamma has all those pretty bird plates, so this will go perfectly with it”. Gamma’s “pretty bird plates” are hand-painted fine bone-china, with very realistic wild birds on them.
Over the years, Gamma and Papa got a LOT of presents along those lines. And every year when we visited, there was a gold lion on the mantle and a pink flamingo plate on the dinner table (usually Papa was using it).
My younger boy is now 20. He’s in the Navy and stationed not far from Gamma (Papa died 5 years ago). He spent this past Christmas with her. And called me, laughing, to tell me that there was a gold lion on the mantle, and he got the pink flamingo plate at dinner.
What are some obvious truths that are rarely acknowledged?
A poor man always think the rich man made his wealth out of luck.
And the rich man believes the poor is poor because he is lazy.
A young lady who married very early thinks ladies who are finding it hard to get married have bad character.
A man who just graduated and get a job immediately thinks he is smarter than others.
While a woman who just got married and start giving birth sees “barren” women as people who lived a wayward life.
If only the poor knew the price the rich paid to get to top and if only the rich knows the battles, challenges that the poor is going through, none will ever form a theory about each other.
If the poor can’t appreciate the rich man’s success let him mind his business if it is easy to be rich he wouldn’t have been poor.
And if the rich won’t help the poor grow at least they should not kill the spirit of a struggling man.
If only you know what people endure or fight behind the scene you will always thank God for your life. Until you walk in people’s shoes, You will never know how hard the journey is.
Help each other grow!!!
Mock less, envy no one.
and love one another.
Times when things are out of balance
\Armed Uprising in French Colony on New Caledonia; French ARMY Engaging
Rioters have begun an ARMED UPRISING on the island of New Caledonia in the Coral Sea off the South Pacific Ocean, east of Australia. The French Army is engaging!
New Caledonia Armed Uprising Against France large
Rioters have already seized Ports and the Airport.
Riots are spreading.
The rioters are (suddenly) fully armed; with a large number of AK-47’s. . . . .
There is very much more to this than just the sudden outburst of political upheaval.
Why did Napoleon lose so many battles, despite being a great general?
The problem with Napoleon as a general was not that he lost “so many battles.” Of the 60 battles in which he was involved from Toulon to Waterloo—an astonishing 22-year period—he lost only seven.
The problem was that all seven of those lost battles were the most important ones.
His first defeat, at Acre in 1799, extinguished in the blink of an eye the fire of Napoleon’s ambition for imperial glory in the Near East at the expense of Ottoman and British power.
His second, at Aspern-Essling in 1809, saw Napoleon soundly bested on a European battlefield for the first time in a long career abundant in resounding triumphs, inflicting in turn a serious blow to the myth of Bonaparte’s invincibility as a military leader.
His third, at Leipzig in 1813, marked the long-awaited culmination of many trials and errors by the anti-Bonapartist powers of Europe in bringing the Emperor to battle on their terms. Despite the early successes of the German Campaign, Napoleon’s Grande Armée was simply overwhelmed and all but destroyed by the combined might of the Sixth Coalition, forced into full retreat from Germany to which it would never return.
His fourth, fifth, and sixth, at La Rothiere, Laon, and Arcis in 1814, all took place amid Napoleon’s final campaign before his first abdication, when the Sixth Coalition, having retaken Germany after victory at Leipzig, was now on the soil of France itself—a first for any European army since the early days of the Revolution. Though relatively unknown battles in the vast pantheon of Napoleonic lore, all three played significantly in the then inevitable unfolding of the Emperor’s downfall.
And then, of course, there’s Waterloo in 1815—the one battle of Napoleon’s entire story that needs no introduction. The battle that settled it all for Europe and the world beyond. A warrior-statesman definitively beaten, overthrown, and exiled. An entire country subjected for several decades to a pariah status among the European family of nations and, despite the restoration of the monarchy, a turbulent, near-constant existence of popular revolution and counterrevolution. One empire (France’s) dismantled beyond recognition or repair and another (Britain’s) elevated to heights previously unimagined.
FLASH – URGENT: CUBAN BANKING SYSTEM HAS COLLAPSED
The Banking system of Cuba has reportedly collapsed.
Cubans are reporting via Social Media all their money is gone from their accounts, and all Automated Teller Machines (ATM’s) have been emptied.
This news is being heavily suppressed but it is getting out slowly.
At banks all over the country, angry mobs descended upon banks where Police tried to turn them away. Instead, the mobs overturned Police Cars and sent the cops running.
It was all for naught. Not only were the banks closed, they were empty too. People who got in found open vaults – they weren’t even broken into — and no cash in them at all.
The Cuban people have been left with no financial resources, they have no means of buying food …they are desperate and they are afraid.
Many people are saying “This is the final destination, this is where globalism wants to lead you to the apocalypse.”
Cubans were forced to adopt the digital banking system & now they are financially ruined, they have no recourse.
THE GOVERNMENT WILL NEXT OFFER THE CUBAN CITIZENS UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME . . . .
Hal Turner Remarks
If they did this to Cubans, what would stop them from doing it to the rest of us?
I think you should start taking some CASH out of the banks. These Bankers are Globalists. If they did it in Cuba, I think they’ll try it here — and everywhere else.
I think they’ve done this on an island nation to get a sense of how bad the reaction will be. If it’s manageable, I think they’ll do it to all of us. And if government is “in on it” what could any individual do?
Thankfully for individuals, when there are enough victims, individuals become large groups . . . and we know what large GROUPS of individuals can do to banks, bankers, and to governments, so keep those possibilities in mind.
Men and risk factors
American-Israel Mercenary Benjamin Reuben Captured During Failed Coup-Attempt in the Congo
American-Israeli mercenary Benjamin Reuben has been captured after a failed coup in the Congo.
Reuben is allegedly a paid mercenary who, published reports claim, acts for former head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency, Yossi Cohen, and also, allegedly, Jewish billionaire Dan Gertler.
The video below, taken in the Congo, is said to show Reuben on his knees, begging for his life after the Coup he allegedly engaged in, failed:
Reuben’s reported boss, Yossi Cohen, is pictured below, standing behind Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:
Yossi Cohen Former Mossad Chief
Billionaire Dan Gertler is reportedly the Glencore guy who allegedly didn’t care about kids in the Congo mining cobalt.
Gertler
According to published reports, Gertler ingratiated himself to a previous Congo ruler for whom, when an uprising threatened, Gentler flew back to Israel and came back with very many fancy guns used to put the rebellion down.
This is widely reported to be the second failed coup by Yossi Cohen who is banned from entering the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Why would a former Israeli Mossad Chief have interest in the African nation of the Democratic Republic of the Congo? DIAMONDS!
You see, Israeli blood diamonds, mined in Africa, cut and polished in Israel, are exported worldwide.
The proceeds are used to sustain the Israeli economy and finance illegal settlements and genocide in Gaza.
The diamond industry in Israel goes back to before the Nakba in 1948.
Israeli diamond tycoons have long been involved in exploiting resource rich African countries.
One publication described it this way:
Israeli Congo Diamond Trade
So . . . child forced labor, blood diamonds, gun-running to dictators, mercenaries trying to overthrow governments. THAT is today’s (so-called) “God’s Chosen.’
Sorry, I don’t see these particular individuals as being that. Nope. Not at all.
Combine ground chuck with half of the tomato soup, egg, crackers, honey, 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce, onions, salt, and pepper. Mix well and form into a ball.
Place a crinkled length of aluminum foil in the slow cooker so the ends extend an inch or so out of the pot.
Place the meatloaf in the pot (the foil will make it easier to lift the meatloaf out and keep it out of the drippings).
Combine remaining soup, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, the water, mustard, and brown sugar. Whisk together and pour over the meat loaf.
Cover and cook on LOW for 8 to 10 hours.
Bbq meatloaf 001 2
Russia, China Reveal Their Global Agenda
There will be more to say about the nearly 8,000 words long
On multipolar global governance (machine translation):
The two sides pointed out that the great changes in the world have accelerated their evolution, the status and strength of emerging powers in the “global South” countries and regions have continued to increase, and the world's multipolarization has accelerated. These objective factors have accelerated the redistribution of development potential, resources, opportunities, etc., developed in a direction conducive to emerging markets and developing countries, and promoted the democratization of international relations and international fairness and justice. Countries that embrace hegemonism and power politics run counter to this, attempting to replace and subvert the recognized international order based on international law with a “rules-based order”. The two sides emphasized that the concept of building a community of human destiny and a series of global initiatives proposed by China are of great positive significance.
As an independent force in the process of establishing a multipolar world, China and Russia will fully tap the potential of their relations, promote the realization of an equal and orderly multipolar world and the democratization of international relations, and gather strength to build a fair and reasonable multipolar world.
The two sides believe that all countries have the right to independently choose their development models and political, economic, and social systems in accordance with their national conditions and the will of the people, oppose interference in the internal affairs of sovereign countries, oppose unilateral sanctions and “long-arm jurisdiction” that have no basis in international law and are not authorized by the Security Council, and oppose ideological lines. The two sides pointed out that neocolonialism and hegemonism are completely contrary to the trend of today’s era, and called for equal dialogue, the development of partnership, and the promotion of civilized exchanges and mutual learning.
The two sides will continue to firmly defend the results of the victory of the Second World War and the post-war world order enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, and oppose the denial, distortion and tampering with the history of the Second World War. The two sides pointed out that they must carry out correct historical education, protect the world’s anti-fascist memorial facilities from desecration or destruction, and severely condemn the glorification and even attempts to resurrect Nazism and militarism. The two sides plan to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japan and the Great Patriotic War in 2025, and jointly promote the correct view of the history of World War II.
The ‘Global South’, i.e. the majority of all countries, will very much welcome this.
On the war in Ukraine (machine translation):
The Russian side positively evaluates China's objective and fair position on the Ukraine issue, and agrees with the view that the crisis must be resolved on the basis of full and complete compliance with the Charter of the United Nations.
The Russian side welcomes China's willingness to play a constructive role in resolving the Ukrainian crisis through political and diplomatic channels.
The two sides pointed out that they must stop all actions that have caused the delay of the war and the further escalation of the conflict, and called for the crisis to be avoided from spiraling out of control. The two sides emphasized that dialogue is a good way to resolve the Ukrainian crisis.
The two sides believe that in order to steadily resolve the Ukrainian crisis, it is necessary to eliminate the root causes of the crisis, abide by the principle of indivisibility of security, and take into account the reasonable security interests and concerns of all countries.
The two sides believe that the destiny of all peoples is shared, and no country should seek its own security at the expense of the security of other countries. The two sides expressed concern about the real challenges of international and regional security and pointed out that in the current geopolitical context, it is necessary to explore the establishment of a sustainable security system in the Eurasian space based on the principle of equality and indivisibility of security.
In total the statement has a lot for ‘the West’ to chew on.
It will thus do its best to denigrate and/or ignore it.
Posted by b on May 17, 2024 at 7:35 UTC | Permalink
Stunning Ending
This meeting with Xi and Putin is THE MOST IMPORTANT event of this year.
What’s the smartest thing you’ve ever seen someone do?
Few days back, I ran into this situation. I had some important work and wasn’t having my laptop so I asked my friend Ayan Shrivastava to unlock his system. He uttered his password without any hesitation. That was quite a shock because people don’t do that often!!
I tried the password 2–3 times but it didn’t work. I asked him to spell it again. He did it without having second thoughts, but still it didn’t get unlock.
What was wrong with the password? Was I typing it wrong? Or my friend was bluffing me all this time?
Well unfolding the truth, the password was absolutely correct and so was my typing. The heck was just in default keyboard language layout of windows. By default, he had changed it to Hindi instead of English. If anyone types the password, it gets recognized in Hindi Language instead of English.
main qimg db66d91e30bc1177944ac5c7d9cf4408 lq
In order to login successfully, one have to change just the input language shown in the images and bang! You are in!
main qimg e125f3344cbad91a95dfcb105af15f08 lq
Takeaway:
This trick is useful in hostels where you don’t want anyone to check your laptop even when they know your password or by chance came to know.
Try noticing things that most people fail to! 😛
Thanks!
Xi holds restrictive meeting with Putin at Zhongnanhai
Chinese President Xi Jinping held a restrictive meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday at Zhongnanhai in Beijing, during which they had in-depth exchanges on strategic issues of common concern.
main qimg 64a45aa27bdcd05347606b4ba3ac002e
The world is undergoing changes unseen in a century and entering a new period of turbulence and transformation, Xi noted, adding that in the face of the ever-evolving world landscape with volatility and turmoil, China has maintained its strategic resolve.
He said that under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the Chinese people have overcome various difficulties and challenges, and are striving to promote high-quality development and Chinese modernization.
China is willing to work with Russia and other countries to enhance solidarity and cooperation, steer global governance in the right direction, jointly safeguard international fairness and justice, and promote world peace and common development, Xi said.
Noting that China’s development is unstoppable and that no force can contain China’s growth and progress, Putin said that Russia is willing to improve cooperation with China and other Global South countries to promote international fairness and justice, and to work toward a more equal and multipolar world.
The two heads of state had an in-depth exchange of views on the Ukraine crisis.
Xi elaborated on China’s consistent position and efforts to promote the political settlement of the Ukraine issue, stressing that to deal with any major issue, it is necessary to address both the symptoms and the root causes, and to plan for the present as well as for the long term.
He said the core of the Global Security Initiative is advocating the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, and the fundamental solution to the Ukraine issue is to promote the establishment of a new balanced, effective and sustainable security architecture.
Xi said China supports the convening of an international peace conference recognized by Russia and Ukraine at an appropriate time with equal participation and fair discussion of all options, so as to push for an early political settlement of the Ukraine issue, and China stands ready to continue to play a constructive role in this regard.
Putin introduced the relevant views and positions of Russia, saying that Russia appreciates China’s objective, just and balanced position on the Ukraine issue and welcomes China to continue to play an important and constructive role in the political settlement of the issue. Russia is committed to resolving the Ukraine issue through political negotiations and is willing to demonstrate sincerity and maintain close communication with China in this regard, he said.
Xi said that over the years, they have had many meetings and every exchange has been candid, in-depth and fruitful.
“I am ready to stay in close contact with President Putin and work together to steer the development of China-Russia relations in the right direction, guide the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for the new era to achieve steady and lasting progress, bring more benefits to the two peoples, and contribute to world security and stability,” Xi said.
Putin thanked Xi for his warm hospitality, saying that he is willing to maintain close communication with Xi, implement the important consensus reached between them, and ensure the full development of the Russia-China comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for the new era.
UPDATED (AGAIN) 10:44 PM EDT — URGENT – RUSSIA CONDUCTING MISSILE LAUNCHES OFF CALIFORNIA COASTLINE
A Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) has been issued off the coast of southern California, alerting pilots of Russian missile launches to LAND / IMPACT in the Oakland Air Route Traffic Control Center ((ARTCC) ! ! !
The notice is effective starting TONIGHT, 16 May, and lasts TEN DAYS!
Oakland ARTCC NOTAM Russian Missile Impacts
Here is a map representation showing the launch and impact areas:
Russian Missile Tests 16 may 2024 off California Coast
Less than 300 nautical miles from shore in international waters.
The U.S. Department of Defense CONFIRMS this information:
Defense Department CONFIRMS
UPDATE 8:48 PM EDT —
A SECOND NOTAM has been issued for missile launches / impacts at the Barents Sea above Norway, Finland:
Second Launch Impact Area Barents Sea
UPDATE 10:44 PM EDT —
Russia has also issued NOTAMS for all aircraft traveling to/from Hawaii and North America Warning of “missile impact areas”
KZAK OAKLAND OCA/FIR
A1924/24 - ATTENTION ACFT OPR AND DISPATCHERS THIS NOTICE IS FOR ALL
AIRCRAFT TRANSITING FM HAWAII TO NORTH AMERICA AND NORTH AMERICA TO
HAWAII. THE FOLLOWING RESTRICTIONS ARE DUE TO THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
ROCKET FIRING IMPACT AREA.
EB TFC ON R578 ESTIMATING FLITY BTN 1930 AND 2300 SHALL FILE FITES
R578 FLITY TO 3015N12905W TO FOOTS TO FICKY FLT PLAN ROUTE.
WB TFC ON R578 ESTIMATING FLITY BTN 2000 AND 2330 SHALL FILE FICKY
R578 FOOTS TO 3015N12905W TO FLITY R578 FITES FLT PLAN ROUTE.
THE TEMPORARY ROUTES DESCRIBED ABOVE ARE FOR ALL AIRCRAFT EQUIPPED
WITH RNP-10 NAVIGATION SYSTEMS OR BETTER. ALL OTHERS SHALL FLT PLAN
TO AVOID THE AIRSPACE NOTAMED FOR RUSSIAN FEDERATION IMPACT AREA BY
AT LEAST 50NM. TIMES LISTED ABOVE ARE BASED ON THE PERFORMANCE OF
TURBOJET AIRCRAFT ONLY AND SLOWER AIRCRAFT SHOULD PLAN ACCORDINGLY.
QUESTIONS SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO THE OAKLAND ARTCC MILITARY
OPERATIONS SPECIALIST AT 510-745-3334, OR THE OCEANIC SUPERVISOR AT
510-745-3342. SFC - UNL, DLY 1930-2330, 16 MAY 19:30 2024 UNTIL 26 MAY 23:30
2024. CREATED: 13 MAY 02:29 2024
A1923/24 (Issued for KZAK PART 1 OF 2) - ATTENTION ACFT OPR AND DISPATCHERS THIS NOTICE IS FOR ALL
AIRCRAFT TRANSITING FM HAWAII TO NORTH AMERICA AND NORTH AMERICA TO
HAWAII. THE FOLLOWING RESTRICTIONS ARE DUE TO THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
ROCKET FIRING IMPACT AREA.
EB TFC ON R578 ESTIMATING FLITY BTN 1930 AND 2300 SHALL FILE FITES
R578 FLITY TO 3015N12905W TO FOOTS TO FICKY FLT PLAN ROUTE.
WB TFC ON R578 ESTIMATING FLITY BTN 2000 AND 2330 SHALL FILE FICKY
R578 FOOTS TO 3015N12905W TO FLITY R578 FITES FLT PLAN ROUTE.
THE TEMPORARY ROUTES DESCRIBED ABOVE ARE FOR ALL AIRCRAFT EQUIPPED
WITH RNP-10 NAVIGATION SYSTEMS OR BETTER. ALL OTHERS SHALL FLT PLAN
TO AVOID THE AIRSPACE NOTAMED FOR RUSSIAN FEDERATION IMPACT AREA BY
AT LEAST 50NM. TIMES LISTED ABOVE ARE BASED ON THE PERFORMANCE OF
TURBOJET AIRCRAFT ONLY AND SLOWER AIRCRAFT SHOULD PLAN ACCORDINGLY.
QUESTIONS SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO THE OAKLAND ARTCC MILITARY
OPERATIONS SPECIALIST AT 510-745-3334, OR THE OCEANIC SUPERVISOR AT
510-745-3342. SFC END PART 1 OF 2, DLY 1930-2330, 16 MAY 19:30 2024 UNTIL 26
MAY 23:30 2024. CREATED: 13 MAY 02:28 2024
A1922/24 - THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION PLANS TO CONDUCT ROCKET FIRINGS. IMPACT
AREA WI THE OAKLAND ARTCC OCEANIC FIR IS WI AN AREA DEFINED AS
295000N 1285200W TO 292100N 1264600W TO 235300N 1281500W TO 242200N
1302400W TO POINT OF ORIGIN. FOR FLT SAFETY ATC WILL NOT CLEAR IFR
FLT THRU THE IMPACT AREA. SFC - UNL, DLY 2000-2300, 16 MAY 20:00 2024 UNTIL
26 MAY 23:00 2024. CREATED: 13 MAY 02:21 2024
Hal Turner Snap Analysis
What if these missiles don’t land in the ocean, but instead enter the US with live warheads, and begin hitting targets?
We have been through an intense, if muffled crisis in the ongoing political-military confrontation between Russia and the West by way of Ukraine. The essence of this crisis is simple: Kiev and its Western supporters have lost the initiative in the Ukraine proxy war and may be on the verge of defeat, as high Western officials increasingly admit.
In response to this self-inflicted quandary, several important Western players have threatened further escalation. Most prominently, Great Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Cameron publicly encouraged Kiev to use British Storm Shadow missiles to strike inside Russia. French President Emmanuel Macron continued to threaten a direct – not covert, as at present – intervention by French, that is, NATO, troops (In addition, an intriguing and much-discussed article reported that a deployment of 1,500 troops from France’s Foreign Legion had already begun. While its sources were hard to assess, its claims appeared too plausible for easy dismissal.)
Moscow, in return, issued a set of stark warnings, laying down – or highlighting – red lines. It announced drills with tactical nuclear weapons. Belarus did the same; in Minsk’s case, the weapons in question are, of course, also Russian. In addition, the British and French ambassadors received extremely straight talk about the risks their respective governments were running.
For now, this particular crisis seems to have abated. There are some signs that the West got the message. NATO figurehead Jens Stoltenberg, for instance, has insisted that NATO is not planning to send troops – openly, that is – into Ukraine.
Yet it would be wrong to feel too reassured. For this crisis was, at its core, a clash between, on one side, a Western problem that has by no means gone away and, on the other side, a persistent Russian policy that, it seems, all too many in the West refuse to take seriously enough.
The Western problem is that a defeat at Russia’s hands would be worse by orders of magnitude than the fiasco of the rout-like retreat from Afghanistan in 2021. Ironically, that is so because the West itself has charged its needless confrontation with Russia with the power to do unprecedented damage to NATO and the EU:
First, by insisting on treating Ukraine as a de facto almost-NATO-member, which means that by defeating it, Moscow will also defeat Washington’s key alliance. Second, by investing large and growing sums of money and quantities of supplies into this proxy war, which means that the West has weakened itself and, perhaps even more importantly, revealed its own weakness. Third, by trying to ruin both Russia’s economy and its international standing; the failure of both attempts has resulted in a stronger Russia across these two domains and, once again, revealed more limits of Western power. Fourth, by radically subordinating the EU to NATO and Washington, the geopolitical damage has been, as it were, leveraged.
In short, when the Ukraine crisis started in 2013/14 and then greatly escalated in 2022, Russia had vital security interests at stake; the West did not. By now, however, the West has made choices that have charged this conflict and its outcome with the capacity to do great, strategic harm to its own credibility, cohesion, and power: Overreach has consequences. That, briefly, is why the West is at an impasse and remains there after this crisis.
On the other side, we have that persistent policy of Moscow, namely its nuclear doctrine. Much Western commentary tends to overlook or downplay this factor, caricaturing Russia’s repeated warnings about nuclear weapons as “saber-rattling.” Yet, in reality, these warnings are consistent expressions of a policy that has been developed since the early 2000s, that is, for almost a quarter-century.
A key feature of this doctrine is that Russia explicitly retains the option of using nuclear weapons at a relatively early stage in a major conflict and before an adversary has had recourse to them. Many Western analysts have described the purpose of this posture as facilitating a strategy of “escalating to deescalate” (sometimes abbreviated as E2DE), here meaning specifically to end a conventional conflict on favorable terms through a limited use of nuclear weapons to deter the adversary from continuing.
The term “escalate to de-escalate” emerged in the West, not Russia, and this Western interpretation of Russian policy has played an important role in Western politics and debates and, thus, has its critics as well. In addition – but this is a separate question – some analysts point out that the idea of E2DE is less of any country’s national property than something inherent in the logic of nuclear strategy, that other nuclear powers have had similar policies, and that the whole idea, whoever adopts it, may not work.
In addition, Russia’s nuclear doctrine is, as you would expect, complex. And, while France’s President Emmanuel Macron has made a habit of strutting a constant inconstancy he calls “strategic ambiguity,” Moscow is capable of inflicting some genuine calculated uncertainty on its adversaries, with less bragging but more effectively. Thus, one side of its nuclear doctrine stresses that nuclear weapons could only be used if the existence of the Russian state was in danger, as has just been underlined again by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov. But to misunderstand this as a promise that Moscow would only use nukes if Moscow were under siege and half of Russia’s territory or population gone already, would be foolish.
In reality, there also is room in its nuclear doctrine for treating the “unconditional territorial integrity and sovereignty” of Russia as critical thresholds. How do we know? From multiple Russian documents, which need not be cited here because Ryabkov has reminded us of this facet of Moscow’s policy, too. In the same statement in which he emphasized the criterion of “state existence.” Take that, Emmanuel.
A final point, it seems, needs highlighting as well: Russia has never restricted its option of using nuclear weapons, indeed any type of weapons, to the area of a specific local conflict, for instance, Ukraine. The opposite is the case. Moscow is explicitly reserving the right to strike beyond the confines of such a battlefield. That is something that President Vladimir Putin has made crystal clear in his address to Russia’s Federal Assembly in February of this year. It is exactly that message that Britain has received as well in the recent crisis.
Whichever way you parse it, official Russian nuclear doctrine has specific messages for potential adversaries. Moscow has consistently applied this doctrine throughout the Ukraine War and in its recent warnings – by drill and by diplomatic demarche – to its Western opponents.
But there is the rub: The West has a history of obstinately not hearing Russian messages. That is how we ended up in this war in the first place. Russia had warned the West repeatedly since, at the latest, President Vladimir Putin’s well-known speech at the Munich Security Conference in – wait for it – 2007. The last major warning came in late 2021, when Russia – with Sergey Ryabkov, incidentally, in the forefront – offered the West what turned out to be a last chance to abandon its unilateralism and specifically NATO expansion and, instead, negotiate a new security framework. The West brushed this offer off. With nuclear weapons in play, it is time that Western elites learn to, finally, listen when Russia sends a serious warning.
Why did the United States react so much to the news that China was going to land on the moon?
At the hearing of NASA in fiscal year 2024, Director Bill Nelson repeatedly mentioned the old story:
"We have to land on the moon as soon as possible, and we can't let China beat us to it!"
We have to admit that the cognition of people all over the world is far behind the times.
Trump ran for president in 2016. Before that, almost everyone was not optimistic about him. After being elected, ordinary people deeply felt the division and chaos under the glamorous appearance of the United States in recent years.
Before China hosted the Olympic Games in 2008, people all over the world (even politicians) generally thought that China was poor and backward. After the Olympic Games and the World Expo, the number of people holding this view has decreased greatly. Some countries began to regard China as a threat.
In a word, what a country needs is to use “big events” to reverse the cognition of ordinary people.
The launch of the 003 aircraft carrier, the service of the J-20 and the start of operation of the space station are all “big events” in the eyes of ordinary people, but these Americans have them. In the eyes of people in other countries, that is, “China and the United States are still far behind. After all, the United States has 11 aircraft carriers.”
“China Man Landing on the Moon” is also such a big event. It will cause “China people have done things that the United States can’t do now” to the people of all countries. Although the United States also landed on the moon in its early years, aren’t you unable to get on now?
In particular, there is a subtext of landing on the moon, “China people go on behalf of mankind.” “China is replacing the role played by the United States in space exploration (human civilization).”
This impression is extremely important. The impetus to China’s soft power and even its ability to sell goods is intangible and enormous.
Would you like to buy a mobile phone and a car in China? This is a product of a country that can land on the moon. This mobile phone is produced by the manufacturer who developed the communication equipment for landing on the moon, and this car is produced by the manufacturer who developed the lunar rover. Is it a loss to buy one?
Would you like to hear what the China government has said? This is the government of a country that can land on the moon. Oh, how does this government usually work? What did you say, what did you do, and what values did you uphold to send people to the moon? Let’s look at the fact that our government has not repaired the road at the door for 10 years. Which country’s people are not disgusted?
There is an interesting saying: when China said that he would go to the moon, Americans believed that China people would definitely go to the moon and make it.
Not only Americans believe it, but people all over the world believe it. Everyone is waiting for the China people to bring back evidence that the Americans landed on the moon or there was no evidence.
China DUMPS Largest Amount of US Treasuries in History
In an unprecedented move, China offloads a record $53.3 billion of U.S. Treasuries and agency bonds.
With economic relations between China and the United States continuing to raise investor concern, China has deviated from historical norms by offloading one of the largest amounts of US Treasury and agency debt.
Particularly, in the first quarter of 2024, China offloaded a record-breaking $53.3 billion of U.S. Treasuries and agency bonds.
Notably, China, traditionally a major holder of US debt, reduced its Treasury holdings by $22 billion during the first three months of 2024, while the remainder of the offloaded assets comprised agency bonds, according to data. which came out May 16.
China is clearly acting to intentionally distance its exposure to the US because the Chinese government knows, if they take Taiwan by force, the US will “cancel” those bonds, and stiff China for the money.
After seeing what the US has done to Russia, the flat-out theft of much of its Sovereign Wealth Fund over the Ukraine situation, China does no want to end up in the same boat, being robbed by the treacherous US government.
Video of Biden walking to his plane. So the official narrative that he is alive and well, but transferred power to the VP.
I don’t believe a word of it.
After all…
Fake signature on plain paper not the Whitehouse seal.
Fake AI generated audio message.
Flag at half mast at the Whitehouse… for whom?
And lets not forget about Cloud Strike. That little “update” disrupted all communication in the USA and the West for a good 24 hours. What a coincidence!
Keeping up the illusion.
Something serious went down, and the DNC is just playing “games” to keep up the illusion.
*shrug*
It doesn’t matter what the American People think, though. What matters is what China and Russia think.
What do you think that they are thinking…
Russia is conducting the SECOND full “exercise” this month of its nuclear forces; with YARS 800 Kiloton ICBM Transporter-Erector-Launcher (TEL’s) now deployed OUT in the field. United States Continuity of Government (CoG) plans are being implemented.
Encrypted radio emissions from underground U.S. Bunkers, are also in full activation.
The “exercise in Russia began about midnight eastern time last night.
Emergency Action Messages (EAM’s) have been transmitted to US forces worldwide, including submarines via Very Low Frequency (VLF) communications circuits.
The march to world-wide nuclear armageddon continues in lock-step.
Why?
At this, I will give you a post that I wrote five (x5) months ago…
Here is my SITREP this March 2024
This “sitrep” was compiled and written at the tail end of March, 2024. It contains active elements of the global Geo-Political situation focusing on the “primary core participants” as defined by the United States Department of State. I will intentionally leave out details on the “minor” participants, that while important, is not necessary in this overview.
The world is undergoing a massive shift in global [1] Leadership, [2] Finance, [3] Society, [4] Culture, [5] Military influences, [6] Technology, and [7] Planetary Management.
What was once the realm of the “rules based order” led by the United States (the United States makes the rules that others follow), and obeyed “in lockstep” by it’s captive proxy nations, has been eclipsed by a multi-polar world, led by the Russian / China leadership alliance.
The overriding plan
The United States, embroiled into Thucydides Trap (whether you don’t want to believe it or not, it is painfully clear and obvious that the United States “Leadership” is completely ensnared in this situation.) has worked out a long-duration plan to maintain and regain its hegemony.
The key to this is the suppression, followed by the break up of Russia, followed by a pivot to China.
The Timetable for initiation of hostilities
The Break up of Russia into an easily digestible entity was planned to occur in 2022. The war to start the collapse of Russia, however, got off to a bad start, and Russia has been thwarting all of the NATO efforts to manage that collapse.
However, the time-table has not changed. And as of this date a major push to destroy Russia once and for all is planned to occur in Spring / Summer 2024 this year. Leading participants to this fiasco; the United States, the UK, Germany, and France… with participative elements out of NATO to include Finland, Poland, and Sweden are expecting a NATO win by Fall of 2024.
A “buffer” period, or up to two years is planned to coincide with the planned destruction of China. This is planned for the tail end of 2026 and the Summer of 2027.
The Major Participants
For RUSSIA, the nations of NATO will attack on the chosen battlefields of Ukraine. Eventually weakening Russia to a point where “death blows” can be administered by aircraft and missile attacks.
The NATO troops are expected to consist of large quantities of Germans, Polish, Romanian, and French forces for the main thrust. With Northern contingent consisting of Swedish and Finnish forces that will deploy and assault from the North.
For CHINA, A “island chain” of American proxy nations have formed a QUAD of aggressor nations that is designed to instigate the precipitate motions that will force the Chinese entry into the upcoming Global catastrophe.
The primary antagonizing nation is earmarked as the Philippines, with major support from QUAD nations South Korea, Japan, (and to a lesser extent) taking a backseat, the resupply center of Australia.
It is expected that simultaneous “hot spots” will erupt that will trigger Chinese participation. Perhaps Taiwan declaring independence, with the United States, and proxy “toadies” nodding vigorously in agreement. Followed, or led, by disruptive assaults by the Philippines in the South China Sea.
The Timetable for war duration – Russia
What is going on right now in Ukraine is not a war. It is a military action, but not a full fledged war. Yet.
But once the full NATO assault begins in the Spring of 2024, a total war event scenario will begin. The United States, and NATO plans for a quick assault, and a rapid ending of the war.
Reports as ludicrous as the collapse of Russia by mid-November 2024 is being bantered about by the collective idiots in Brussels. Smarter heads prevail, and they anticipate a delay that could last until 2026 depending on a number of unknown factors.
But the plan is one of total victory by NATO over Russia and a “color revolution” internal to Russia that would dispose President Putin and replace him with a pro-American stooge.
Maybe an actor like Zelensky (Ukraine), a ideological imbecile like Javier Milei, (Argentina), a “stooge in debt” like Ferdinand “Bongbong” Romualdez Marcos Jr.( The Philippines), or an easy to control puppet like Yoon Suk Yeol (South Korea).
My understanding is that the replacement Russian “president” and his cabinet has already been selected, and the principals have already been contacted.
The Timetable for war duration – China
The ideal timeline for the “pivot to Asia” is once Russian territory is secure, and a proxy government is in charge. Due to the events of the last two years, this date has been pushed back from 2025 to 2027. But owing to the timer / stopwatch on the abilities of the West, the expiration date for action against China occurs in 2028. So the window for action is narrow, and there is an urgency to accelerate things aggressively.
While there will be a continuation of provocations in both the South China Sea, and in Taiwan, actual “False Flag” justification, and assaults against China is unlikely to occur before 2026. Thus, the window of 2026 to 2027 will be a VERY dangerous time, provided of course, if the West (The United States) is successful in taking over Russia through military victory.
Assumptions
The Pentagon along with a significant number of interested parties have made some baseline assumptions regarding both Russia and China. These assumptions color the battle and strategic policies that will govern this upcoming period of time.
Russia is “a paper tiger” and will not use nuclear weapons.
Russia is not as strong or militarily capable as it seems.
Russia, in regards to Ukraine, has been lucky so far.
The entire world is already against Russia, and the United States is leading the world against a renegade nation.
As far as China is concerned…
China is also a “paper tiger” and will not use nuclear weapons.
China has some basic technology, but it’s military is raw recruit, conscripts, with basic understandings and operates in crude military tactics.
China’s navy is expected to be “light weight”, and nothing to take too seriously.
China will fold once the oceans around China is controlled by the QUAD forces.
End Game
It is absolutely and positively understood that the Planners (of this military adventure) believe that …
Neither China, or Russia would (dare) attack the United States.
That they would NOT use nuclear weapons.
That they wouldn’t be able to use conventional weapons. (Neither has the logistical ability to deliver them to the United States shores.)
The proxy nations, being the “monkey’s paw, for the United States, would be ruined, destroyed, and there would be devastation all around. But NOT in the United States; the USA would be untouched.
As neither nations have the logistical ability to invade or assault America, the survival of the United States is understood as a certainty. No matter how long and drawn out the war might become. The United States people, factories and cities would be spared from any war.
So the world would have survivors;
Both Russia and China will devastated by the massive conventional wars.
The United States proxy nations would also be left in ruins.
Meanwhile, the United States will be left pristine and intact.
At this point in time, perhaps 2030, the United States will rise from the ashes of a global war stronger, and better than ever before.
It’s proxy nations, ruined and rubbled, would forge tighter alliances with the United States. While the enemies of the United States would be ripe for easy plundering.
Though looting the resources of both China and Russia, the United States can be rejuvenated, and the entire globe will listen to the undisputed leader of the planet; The United States.
Final Comments and thoughts
I personally believe that all the assumptions are wrong.
That the timetable is off base, and a kilter, and the “leadership” of the West needs to stop taking so many drugs.
We do not know what the future holds, but if this plan proceeds… one thing is certain, those planners in the West will not be happy when things go “tits up”.
And now for my daily memory trip…
When I grew up in East Brady, Pennsylvania (and later in Massachusetts) there were these magnificent trees… huge. Shady and just amazing. I really loved and appreciated them. Though, most everyone else never gave them much thought.
The Northern Catalpa (Catalpa speciosa)
Well, I wanted to know more about them, so I asked ChatGPT 4.0.
Dear ChatGPT 4.0
what is the name for the very shady tree, found in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts that have these long seed pods that resemble long green bean pods? My father used to tell me that the American Indians used to smoke them like cigarettes. I think that he was lying, but i do want to know about this tree
ChatGPT 4.0 Answer
The tree you’re describing is likely the Catalpa tree, specifically the Northern Catalpa (Catalpa speciosa) or the Southern Catalpa (Catalpa bignonioides).
Key Features of the Catalpa Tree:
Large, Heart-Shaped Leaves: Catalpa trees have large, heart-shaped leaves that provide dense shade.
Long Seed Pods: They produce long, slender seed pods that resemble green beans. These pods can be quite noticeable and often remain on the tree through winter.
Showy Flowers: In late spring or early summer, catalpa trees have clusters of large, white, trumpet-shaped flowers with purple and yellow spots inside.
The Northern Catalpa (Catalpa speciosa) 2
Cultural and Historical Uses:
Native American Uses: There are various anecdotal claims about the uses of Catalpa trees by Native Americans, but smoking the seed pods like cigarettes is not a widely documented or verified practice. It’s more likely a bit of folklore or a misunderstanding. Historically, the wood has been used for fence posts and the flowers and leaves have had medicinal uses.
Habitat:
Geographic Range: Catalpa trees are native to the central United States but have been widely planted and can be found in states like Pennsylvania and Massachusetts.
Identification Tips:
Look for the large, broad leaves.
Check for the distinctive, long seed pods, especially in the fall.
Notice the large, showy flowers if you’re observing the tree in spring or early summer.
Conclusion:
While your father’s story about smoking the seed pods might be more of a tall tale, the Catalpa tree is indeed notable for its distinctive appearance and historical significance.
A Love Letter to Northern Catalpa
Though June is my designated purple month (according to my 2016 New Year’s resolution to blog one colour per month), I do feel compelled to add a little white delight for this last week of June before the lazy days of summer ensue. And why is that? Because the spectacularly beautiful Northern catalpa tree (Catalpa speciosa) is in flower in Toronto, and I decided it needed a little love. Though it’s often found in residential settings, its sheer size at maturity makes it a better choice for a park or cemetery – and that’s where I love to photograph this North American native: Mount Pleasant Cemetery. Today it was a little sunny, when I drove through, but the trees looked resplendent.
Catalpa speciosa Mount Pleasant Cemetery2
Northern catalpa trees can mature at heights between 40-70 feet (12-21 metres) with a spread of 20-50 feet (6-15 metres). Though they grow naturally in moist bottomland from southern Illinois and Indiana south to Tennessee and Arkansas, the species is fully hardy in Toronto. Interestingly, some trees are columnar, and others have a rounded crown. Catalpa canopies are so full…..
Catalpa speciosa canopy
…..one has to remind oneself to peer closely to savour the beauty of each orchid-like flower in the big panicles. Though I couldn’t find any bumble bees today, I know they were enjoying the fragrant blossoms – appropriately marked with purple nectar guides – up high in the canopies. This is one of those rare species that has both diurnal and nocturnal pollinators, with moths working the flowers at night.
Catalpa speciosa Northern catalpa flowers
Interestingly, some specimens had already flowered when I was at the cemetery today, pointing to their variability. The tree below, for example, is one I photographed two weeks earlier in 2010; today it was fully green, all the flowers spent.
Catalpa speciosa Mount Pleasant Cemetery1
The long, slender seed pods give the genus two of its common names: Indian bean and cigar tree.
Catalpa speciosa seedpods
Here, sit under the canopy for a few minutes and enjoy the shade it casts from the warm June sun.
Catalpa speciosa branching
Today…
What pissed you off today?
Someone offered to buy my car.
You read that right. There’s a backstory.
I decide to buy a new car. My car is worth $9K. I still owe about $3.5K. I don’t want to trade it in because I think I’ll get shafted. So, I buy the new car and decide to try to sell my car on my own.
I put the old car on sale for $8,250, explaining everything that is wrong with it. I’m trying to be as honest as possible.
For 2 weeks, I get no offer I’m happy with. One of the offers was from a dealership. I would have had to drive my car there. The problem was that I’d already transferred the registration and insurance to my new car. Not a great option.
I reduce the asking price to $7,750. I get another offer was from a guy who wanted to offer me $5.5K. I almost told him to shove it up his ass. Here’s the deal, it pains me immensely more to sell something for less than what it’s worth than it does for me to just gift it.
At this point, I’m thinking about gifting the car to the Salvation Army and taking a tax deduction. But, I remember that a few months before, my sister had car problems. I call her to ask if she wants the car. I tell her that it’s a luxury car and that both upkeep and the insurance will be more than what she’s used to paying. She tells me she’ll think about it. A few days later, she tells me she wants it. It’s a 2009 Lincoln MKS with only 65K miles on it. She doesn’t feel she’d ever be able to afford such a car. The offer is too good to decline.
As soon as she tells me she wants the car, I start getting people who are interested in it. Every 2 to 3 days, I get another person asking me if the car is still available. So, now I’m having second thoughts about gifting it, but I’ve already given my word. And if there’s anything I am, it’s a man who stands by his word. So, the car will still be gifted. But, freaking hell! Where in the world were these people when I was trying to sell the damn car?
How empires change
What are the weirdest experiments performed throughout history?
Nicolae Minovici was a Romanian scientist who was obsessed with finding out what happens to the human body during a hanging. In fact, he wrote an essay in which he analyzed almost 200 cases of people who had been hanged, and the factors that influenced, such as the type of knot of the rope, the weight and even the gender of the person.
main qimg 2b49eb667d8b9be97b97b1b078baba5c lq
Minovici, he was not happy with just “reading” about people who had been executed in this way, he wanted to know how he really felt, so (and to answer your question) he started a series of quite strange experiments and above all dangerous.
First he did some preliminary tests with a rope that did not contract, he hung himself 6 times a few seconds to get used to it, but as Minovici himself wrote in his notes:
“The pain was almost intolerable”
Still, he was determined to experience what it felt like to be hanged, so he leveled up.
main qimg 2c1e0870df1bf4de755bc75eed7eb772 lq
He and some of his collaborators put their heads in a regular contraction rope and asked an assistant to hang them, twelve times in a row.
When describing previous experiments, Minovici repeatedly apologizes saying that “despite all his courage, he could not endure the experiment for more than three or four seconds.”
Despite his efforts, Minovici failed to find tangible results from his series of hangings, which in total numbered almost a dozen (the only tangible thing to find would have been death, I believe).
That is why I nominate Nicolas Minovici and his research as the strangest series of experiments in history.
This is really messed up
Have you ever caught your neighbor doing something that made you furious?
Where do I start? One morning, heard what sounded like an excavator in my front yard
Walk out to find a guy skid-steering all over my immaculate lawn. I yelled out, but he didn’t hear me, so I fired up the trusty hose and soaked him through the open door. He got out and started towards me. “What the hell are you doing?” I asked. He turned back to his excavator and said “digging “. I asked him why and he told me “this is all coming out”, pointing at my front yard. “Why?” I asked. “New granny flat going in” he said, shaking his head like I was stupid. “2 things” I interjected. “The granny flat is going in next door and you’re paying for a new effing lawn”.
He decided to ignore me and got back into his excavator, at which point I started hosing him again. Neighbour across the road heard the noise and came out. “Call the police” I yelled. He did while I commenced my hosing. The guy lost it and got out, just as his client rounded the fence. A few quick words and he drove off my yard and got out, just in time for the police to turn up.
Lots of finger pointing and agro from him. Said it was an honest mistake. “But you kept going after I told you to stop, that’s malicious damage “. One of the cops gestured for him to come over. “Put your excavator on the truck and leave, we’ll sort you out later “. The next-door neighbour was disappointed and suggested my hosing him was assault.
I asked “ you want to see it again?” as I reached for the hose. She scampered off. Only problem was, it was winter and the replacement turf didn’t take we’ll, so it was a year before the lawn looked good again.
The way you dress is linked with your mood. So dressing well most often helps in keeping you more stably happy.
People will be more willing to do something for you if you ask them in their right ear.
Women often ask questions about things they already know the answers to.
Studying for 30-50 minutes with 10-minute breaks is one of the best methods to improve your retention.
A person who enjoys being single is called Quirkyalone.
To make your thought sound convincing, say that you heard it from your parents or teachers.
Déjà vu occurs when your brain tries to apply a memory of a past situation to your current one, fails, and makes you feel like it’s happened.
We believe what we WANT to believe.
Listening to high-frequency music makes you feel calm, relaxed, and happy.
The cells in your body react to everything your mind says. So negativity brings down your immune system and you feel sick.
Caramelized Onion Smothered Pork Chops
Caramelized Onion Smothered Pork Chops are exceptionally delicious. They will most certainly become a part of your meal rotation.
caramelized onion smothered pork chops
Ingredients
4 boneless pork chops, with as much fat removed as possible
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground sage
1/2 teaspoon ground thyme
1/2 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
6 tablespoons butter
2 cups thinly sliced onion
4 teaspoons granulated sugar
Instructions
Season both sides of pork chops with garlic powder, sage, thyme, salt and pepper.
Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat, evenly coating the bottom of the skillet.
Increase heat to medium-high. Cook both sides of chops for 10 to 15 minutes until lightly browned.
Push chops to outside edges of skillet. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter in the center of the skillet and add onions to the center of the skillet, sprinkling with sugar. Replace skillet cover and cook for 10 minutes, frequently tossing and stirring onions with a spatula. Onions are caramelized when tender and medium-brown in color. DO NOT let the onions burn!
Check chops for doneness before serving. They will be done when a fork piercing the thickest part of the chop draws clear juice. If the juice is pink, cook chops a bit longer until done.
Serve pork chops with caramelized onions piled on top.
Glitter Bomb 2.0 vs Porch Pirates
Is it true that most overseas Chinese overwhelmingly support the USA because they love and cherish the ideals of democracy and freedom?
The idea that most overseas Chinese support USA ideals of democracy and freedom is truly a laughable claim from cuckoo-land. It is no less than an amazing 2016 claim by the then First Lady of the US, Michelle Obama, that the US is “the greatest country on earth.”
In reality, overseas Chinese are generally aware that US Democracy is not even within the top 10 in the Global Democracy Index and that it ranks only 30th and is listed as a “flawed democracy”. In 2022, Sweden’s International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance put the US into its “list of regressive democracies”.
Overseas Chinese people are also not blind to research showing that US democracy has been replaced by an oligarchy with some 1% owning and controlling the country. As found in a joint Princeton-NW University study, the average American has no say in US policy; it is determined by the wealthy few. The US has become like most dubious ‘electoral’ ‘democratic’ countries.
They are also very aware the US is committed to supporting the growth of the Military Industrial Complex (MIC) which now effectively, through unlimited financial lobbying, controls leading US politicians.
Few overseas Chinese are blind to the reality that the MIC thrives on wars and feeds on non-stop proliferation of unlawful US-led regime-changes in other parts of the world since the end of WW2.
Also, overseas Chinese know freedom in the US is not that great. They are aware the country has the highest number of people kept imprisoned and that, with limited exceptions, freedom to bullshit and lie is protected by the US constitution (First Amendment). That has led to well-publicised increased racism and right-wing militarism in the country. It explains why there are now more guns than people in the country and that surveys show more than 200 people are shot and wounded and more than 110 people are killed by guns in the US each day.
It is also absurd to imply overseas Chinese are unaware the US is unashamedly providing military and financial support for Israel’s horrific crimes against humanity in the Gaza. How can it be said that overseas Chinese cherish US democracy and freedom when they can easily see it as a rogue country supporting Israel’s cutting off supplies of food, water and medical aid to Palestinians and bombing the Gaza and killing more than 26,000 Palestinians and leaving 1.7 million people homeless?
An unfortunate reality is that the US always acts in its best interests and it has successfully promoted propaganda about its supposed defence of democracy and freedom.
That may explain why credulous people (including some overseas Chinese believing in US democracy and freedom) are unaware that, in the words of Professor Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University, US democracy is today nothing but a “US foreign scam built on corruption.”
SUPPRESSED Technologies, Their Inventors ELIMINATED
What is your best “one time my dad … ” story?
We lived in a Far out centre in Brisbane called Cribb Island, transport was limited. Dad was cutting the grass down with a really sharp reaping hook. Hold the tuft of grass up and swipe the curved blade across n cut it down. Well it was a Sunday. So dad swipes the hook over the held up grass tuft and cut across and cut down on his hand. Blood everywhere. Walked inside, mum bandaged his hand, huge open cut. So he then walked to the bus stop and sat there waiting for the next bus to take him into town to the General Hospital. His hand would have been hurting like anything. So in time a bus came by and he got on and maybe had to get another bus in the city to get up to the hospital. Got the cut stitched again wd have been painful. Reversed his trip back to Cribb Island. Monday was work day and he had a horse n cart delivery of bread around Hendra. Next morning he got on his bike n rode to Hendra and worked all day running in and out of houses delivering bread. After he finished he rode his bike back home. How he worked all day with a huge bandage on his hand I don’t know. He did not want to let his customers down. So they bred ‘em tough in them there days!
Pawn Stars Expert “I Can’t BELIEVE You Have This”
What is something that pisses you off with today’s society?
I have a friend.
He’s 22 years old.
He’s a very smart guy. Speaks English and French fluently. Physics major, plans on getting a PhD. Works so hard at school. Eloquent writer whose stories bring me to tears. He’s one of my best friends.
His mother is straight-up narcissistic. She screams at and belittles him and his sisters if they say good morning to her, but don’t say it with what she considers the proper amount of respect. She threw his beloved Warhammer miniatures and paints and brushes in the garbage, calling them a waste of time and money. She threatens to do the same with his video game console, saying the same thing. She forbids her children from getting driver’s licenses so they’re forced to rely on public transportation to get anywhere, and they have to keep location sharing turned on on their phones at all times so she can see exactly where they are whenever she wants. Curfew is 8:00, bedtime is 10. Her children are 17, 17, and 22.
She forces them to hand over all the money they earn from their jobs as ‘living expenses’. Not just paying rent. She doesn’t allow them to save anything for themselves, and spends it on shopping sprees for herself. The one time my friend tried to set up a bank account for himself to start squirreling money away, she found out and managed to get the account’s information. His hard-earned money was soon gone.
Big deal, people say. If his mom’s really that bad, why doesn’t he just move out? He’s obviously got a job. Why, I put myself through college while also working at McDonald’s to support myself!
It doesn’t work that way any more, honey. He’s a lab assistant at his university. Bit more prestigious than McDonald’s, no? Earns decent money… for a part-time job. While also trying to study for one of the most rigorous degrees offered. While also trying to deal with the stress of worrying about his family.
He’s got little sisters he needs to protect. They’re just finishing high school—getting old enough that CPS just shakes their heads and says ‘they’ll be adults in just a few months, so we don’t need to intervene.’
He doesn’t earn enough to move out yet, even if his mother didn’t force him to hand over his money. He has school he needs to focus on. He has sisters to look out for. And, because he’s male, he doesn’t have many, if any, resources to escape to. The only abused victims shelter in his area is for women and their children. Does it really sound like they would take him in?
The thing that pisses me off the most about today’s society is when people say abuse victims must not want to escape if they haven’t already. It’s not that they don’t want to. It’s because they either don’t know how or don’t think they can.
Why the US Don’t have this? (America Failed)
I have to fire an employee who has been with the company for 42 years – orders from above. He doesn’t know. How do I fire him?
I’ve had more.experience with this than I care to remember,.
At one point during my tenure with GM, the average age of my subordinates was very nearly 60 years old (59.8 I believe). Under CAW/UAW/UNIFOR, terminating someone with this kind of seniority was often a multi-year ordeal. By asking this question, I at least know you are not dealing with a union, or you would have been trained on a specific protocol for it. Also, you are likely working for a fairly small company or this would probably be left to an HR rep, who would also be trained. So with that in mind;
First depending where your company is located, I would make good god damn sure you have one hell of a rightous, well documented case for termination. In many places firing a 42 year employee without sufficient grounds could lead to the type of wrongfull termination suit that could sink a small company.
Secondly, if your company doesn’t already employ security, hiring a security company for a month or two after the termination is advisable. Being fired after 42 years would be a pretty massive shock for anyone. The potential for retaliation by someone who has dedicated nearly half a century to their career is a much more likely than it is with the average worker.
After 42 years, it is safe to assume the person considers their career to be a large part of who they are. Depending on the circumstance it’s very possible you are about to do something this person will view as one of, if not the greatest betrayals of their lives. Treat them with honesty, respect and compasion, don’t be afraid to show remorse, and be aware of the fact that l if you leave a person feeling like they have no options, they are financially ruined or you take away a part of their life they believe defines them, they are likely to lash out.
Lastly, you should never terminate anyone on your own but especially someone who has been with a company their entire adult life. You should always be acompanied by at least one other person, be that someone from HR, thier direct supervisor, another manager, a company lawyer and/or a security guard would all be reasonable choices, the 20 year old replacing him for 25% his salary, not so much (this should be obvious, but its the internet, who kows who will read this..)
Meet Joe Black – Bill meets Joe
China invades Taiwan. America merrily sends out its ultra quiet 50 nuclear attack subs. Every transoceanic Chinese ship is sunk in 6 months. China runs out of gas, oil, food & can’t sell ANYTHING. China is now back to 1900. Why would China want that?
US cities destroyed by nuclear weapons??
You white power types are always so funny. In that I can ATTACK YOU BUT YOU CANNOT ATTACK ME. Sinking our shipping is literally a declaration of war.
We have these things fuckers
main qimg a10aa161ab607082b4898505e9da7315
And remember in any nuclear exchange China will win.
While you may kill a lot of us…
…We’ll rebuild…
…you won’t be able to.
Today in the western world your societies are atomised so much that you literally kill each other daily.
After the dust settles? The survivors will rebuild, you’ll go mad max. By 2100 we’ll be back on our feet again, you’ll still be shooting each other.
What is the fastest way you’ve seen a co-worker get fired?
I got a bunch of short ones:
Guy brought his crack pipe to work and it fell out of his pocket in front of his boss. Was in his 2nd day on the job.
Employee did coke in the bathroom and got caught.
Guy punched another guy at work when he found out he was sleeping with his girlfriend—all three were fired.
At a retail gig a guy fell asleep in a recliner chair for customers while on the clock. The store manager walked buy and saw him sleeping. To be fair it was one of those high end comfy recliners that older people sleep in.
A co-worker showed up drunk to work in the morning. Happened at two different jobs —two different co-workers. One was in AA at the time.
Co worker had sex at work with a customer.
Co worker went on a lunch break for four hours in his first week at the job.
Co worker fell asleep at his desk. Boss walked by.
Co worker watched porn while in new hire training at work —and was caught. It was his first day on the job.
Twice two different people at different companies stole sensitive company information and sold it to a competitor. One of them was sued by the employer.
Employee was soliciting co-workers as John’s for sex. One of them men turned her in. I am not sure if she ever got an actual client from the office.
Co worker caught on tape going from desk to desk in a cubical environment removing expensive items. Weird thing was the cameras were not hidden. He must have known that the cameras were there.
He recently got charged for murdering his two children using a fishing spear gun.
At first glance he resembles a normal bloke you meet on the streets.
main qimg 89328e1bfe6f90c82c36b9a05f5f3628
But he’s my perfect definition of extremely stupid.
The crime is horrendous in itself, extremely so, but, his reason for committing it is on an another stupid extreme level.
A criminal complaint filed against him by the prosecutors alleges that he told the FBI that he killed his children because he believed they “were going to grow into monsters” and that conspiracy theories led him to believe that his wife had passed down her “serpent DNA” to the children.
The complaint further alleges, that he knew what he did was wrong but that “it was the only course of action that would save the world.”
Serpent DNA, is supposedly linked to ‘Lizard people’ conspiracy theory. If you’re wondering what’s that is I’ll let Wikipedia explain it you Reptilian conspiracy theory .
So, this stupid shitbag killed his kids because he believed that there’s a reptilian aliens species which is secretly running the world and have taken over important positions in government, banking and Hollywood. And his children supposedly carries the said alien DNA.
Coleman also told authorities that he learned about “serpent DNA” through QAnon and Illuminati conspiracy theories, even though the lizard people conspiracy theory predates both by several decades.
QAnon is a more recent conspiracy theory premised on the belief that a similar global cabal at the top of the U.S. government is secretly murdering and eating children and that Donald Trump was quietly working to defeat them during his time in office.
I mean WTF?!!!!!
In my definition it takes extreme stupidity to believe in such bullshit. And, Coleman is an embodiment of extreme stupidity.
How do you deal with a neighbor stealing?
I grew up on a farm in Outback Australia. We had quite a big workshed full of equipment up a lane behind our house.
Even out in that area, we would occasionally get people in cars wandering up our back lane; fair enough, they’d get a bit lost and turn when they noticed their mistake and leave. We could always spot them, as the lane ran right by our house. We didn’t bother to shut the gate, since there was always somebody coming or going during the day and who can be bothered if you’ve not got stock there at the time?
Until one day when somebody went up there late one night and didn’t turn around and go straight back. My dad and I went and shut the gate on them and then waited, with our dogs and shotguns (this was a working farm, and so we had guns.) We also called the cops.
The two guys came back down the lane, saw us and the locked gate, backed up and went charging around the back fields trying to find another exit. By the time the cops got to our place, the two would-be thieves were pretty shaken up, and the cops found a heap of our stuff that they’d pinched from the shed.
We kept our front gate locked after that. And at night the dogs were let off.
What Putin and China just did is SHOCKING and the U.S. is in Real Trouble
I have to fire an employee who has been with the company for 42 years – orders from above. He doesn’t know. How do I fire him?
I’ve had more.experience with this than I care to remember,.
At one point during my tenure with GM, the average age of my subordinates was very nearly 60 years old (59.8 I believe). Under CAW/UAW/UNIFOR, terminating someone with this kind of seniority was often a multi-year ordeal. By asking this question, I at least know you are not dealing with a union, or you would have been trained on a specific protocol for it. Also, you are likely working for a fairly small company or this would probably be left to an HR rep, who would also be trained. So with that in mind;
First depending where your company is located, I would make good god damn sure you have one hell of a rightous, well documented case for termination. In many places firing a 42 year employee without sufficient grounds could lead to the type of wrongfull termination suit that could sink a small company.
Secondly, if your company doesn’t already employ security, hiring a security company for a month or two after the termination is advisable. Being fired after 42 years would be a pretty massive shock for anyone. The potential for retaliation by someone who has dedicated nearly half a century to their career is a much more likely than it is with the average worker.
After 42 years, it is safe to assume the person considers their career to be a large part of who they are. Depending on the circumstance it’s very possible you are about to do something this person will view as one of, if not the greatest betrayals of their lives. Treat them with honesty, respect and compasion, don’t be afraid to show remorse, and be aware of the fact that l if you leave a person feeling like they have no options, they are financially ruined or you take away a part of their life they believe defines them, they are likely to lash out.
Lastly, you should never terminate anyone on your own but especially someone who has been with a company their entire adult life. You should always be acompanied by at least one other person, be that someone from HR, thier direct supervisor, another manager, a company lawyer and/or a security guard would all be reasonable choices, the 20 year old replacing him for 25% his salary, not so much (this should be obvious, but its the internet, who kows who will read this..)
Glitterbomb 3.0 vs. Porch Pirates
Can you describe what life is like for inmates in prison? Are there any surprising aspects of prison life that people may not know about?
Prison Life
Your woken up at 5:00 AM 7 days a week 365 days a year.
Your then called out for chow, in which your section / tier heads to the chow hall. The food is served to you just like you were served while in elementary school. The difference is you could eat what they served you in the school cafeteria, In prison the food they serve you would make a belly goat puke. You will be given 8–10 minutes to consume the prison slop and out you go., On most days you will get some live entertainment to go with your food, such as fights, stabbings and of course the strong praying upon the weak.
You then have a choice of a shower, yard, going to your prison job, school, or the yard.
At about 10:30 am they issue the call for noon time chow, in which you march down to the chow hall in groups, afterwards they will send you to be counted, then when the count clears it’s back to your routine. In between is usually the gambling, tv watching, card games, beatings, hustlers, snitch squad, cell searches, stabbings, rapes and suicides. The golden rule is if you are walking on the tier, and you gotta use the restroom bad, you either soil yourself or run to your cell or dorm, you do not enter into any cell that is occupied or un occupied, because you will be beaten beyond recognition. If you see a person hanging and bleeding you just keep walking, if someone collapses from a heart attack or jumps off a tier you didn’t see anything.
if it’s your time to go to store then go, but remember the sharks are circling at all times, and you have to be prepared to meet your maker, over a candy bar, or a bottle of shampoo. You don’t share a stick of gum, if you’re cash didn’t come in you do without.
At about 3:30 pm they will issue the chow call for dinner, they will then count you again and when the count clears, they will allow you to have yard time, work time or shower time. At around 8:30 pm they will toss you into your cell for the night, and by 9pm the night has pretty much ended. If you listen close enough you will be able to hear the screams, of the inmates attacking the weak, and in some cases you will hear the goon squad coming to extract an inmate. In some cases you will hear a few brave cell soldiers, acting out and making noise.
Come 5:00 AM the process starts over again, unless someone calls a strike, or your tier is locked down .
Welcome to prison life.
Cheesy Smothered Pork Chops
cheesy smothered pork chops
Ingredients
4 or 5 boneless pork chops
Salt and pepper
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 cup Cheddar cheese, shredded
Instructions
Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Place pork chops in a baking pan. Season with salt and pepper on both sides.
Sprinkle the onion on top of the pork. Spread mayonnaise on each pork chop. Top with shredded cheese.
Bake for 25 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and browned. Baking time may be longer, depending upon thickness of pork chops.
What’s the strangest wrong number you’ve ever answered?
About fifteen years ago, my cell phone rang at 10 o clock at night. When I answered, a very upset guy was on the line.
“Hey man!” He said. “You should be ashamed of yourself.”
I was sitting in bed next to my wife reading a book. I tried to think if I had done anything shameful recently.
“I think you have a wrong number,” I replied.
“”Don’t even try that bulls—-t on me.” He said. “My girlfriend is really upset, man.”
I tried to explain that I didn’t know what he walking about.
“Yes you do. You’re answering her phone, dude. How can you do stuff like this? Steal someone else’s phone? You think that’s okay?!?”
I desperately tried to assure him that it wasn’t her phone, but he was insistent that he had dialed her number.
Suddenly, it hit me. He had dialed without an area code, and got my number, not hers. (Can that even still happen now?) As I tried to explain this to him, he faltered slightly, but I could tell he thought I was somehow pulling a fast one on him, and didn’t want to believe me.
Finally, I had the solution. I realized that I wouldn’t have been able to change her voicemail message, even if I had her phone. I said I was going to hang up, and he should call back. He would hear my message, and know he had the wrong number.
I hung up. My wife and I watched as the phone rang four times and then went to voicemail.
I felt this weird flashback to when I was a kid and got accused of shoplifting because I had walked into a store with a soda I had bought elsewhere, and the owner was convinced I had taken one from his store. There were no adults with me, and I had to surrender the soda, and I got a tiny inkling of how it must feel to be in serious trouble for something you didn’t do, and how scary it is to have to prove a negative.
The phone went silent, and the problem was resolved. He left no message.
“Smite Me, Almighty Smiter!”
Have you ever had a car salesman speak down to you and not take you seriously? Were you able to make him learn the error of his ways? How?
What’s the strangest wrong number you’ve ever answered?
About fifteen years ago, my cell phone rang at 10 o clock at night. When I answered, a very upset guy was on the line.
“Hey man!” He said. “You should be ashamed of yourself.”
I was sitting in bed next to my wife reading a book. I tried to think if I had done anything shameful recently.
“I think you have a wrong number,” I replied.
“”Don’t even try that bulls—-t on me.” He said. “My girlfriend is really upset, man.”
I tried to explain that I didn’t know what he walking about.
“Yes you do. You’re answering her phone, dude. How can you do stuff like this? Steal someone else’s phone? You think that’s okay?!?”
I desperately tried to assure him that it wasn’t her phone, but he was insistent that he had dialed her number.
Suddenly, it hit me. He had dialed without an area code, and got my number, not hers. (Can that even still happen now?) As I tried to explain this to him, he faltered slightly, but I could tell he thought I was somehow pulling a fast one on him, and didn’t want to believe me.
Finally, I had the solution. I realized that I wouldn’t have been able to change her voicemail message, even if I had her phone. I said I was going to hang up, and he should call back. He would hear my message, and know he had the wrong number.
I hung up. My wife and I watched as the phone rang four times and then went to voicemail.
I felt this weird flashback to when I was a kid and got accused of shoplifting because I had walked into a store with a soda I had bought elsewhere, and the owner was convinced I had taken one from his store. There were no adults with me, and I had to surrender the soda, and I got a tiny inkling of how it must feel to be in serious trouble for something you didn’t do, and how scary it is to have to prove a negative.
The phone went silent, and the problem was resolved. He left no message.
About 30 years ago, as a young woman, I needed a new vehicle and decided to buy a small pickup truck. My boyfriend (now husband) and I had gone out for breakfast and went to the Ford dealership to look at trucks. I found a Ranger that I really liked. The salesman seemed really nice and helpful. My boyfriend had to go to work, so we told the salesman we would come back. When my boyfriend left for work he asked what I was going to do for the afternoon. I told him I was going back to buy the truck.
I went back to the dealership and found the same salesman and told him I had returned to purchase the Ranger. He actually laughed. I told him I was serious. At that moment a man drove onto the lot. The salesman walked away from me to go talk to the man. I looked for another salesman and was ignored by all. I even went inside and said I want to buy a Ranger and was ignored by all. I left.
I went down the street to the Nissan dealership and purchased a new Nissan pickup that I liked better than the Ranger. I drove my new truck back to the Ford dealership and asked to see the original salesman and the sales manager. I took them both outside, showed them my new Nissan and told them I had stopped to buy the Ranger, but was laughed at and ignored by all. I told them to have a nice day, got into my Nissan and drove away.
As I was leaving I heard the manager yelling at the salesman. I loved that Nissan and drove it for years.
What did you do when you were suddenly fired from a job?
Went to McDonalds , and had a late breakfast, coffee and read the paper for half an hour.
I was pretty fed up with the job, and was trying to get through the next month before starting to look, but even so the dismissal was still a surprise. I arrived at 8: 30 on Monday morning , after working the Saturday and Sunday on a piece of work for the bank, and by 9: 30 was on my way home with no job, and an appointment with the company lawyer for the Friday , for my exit papers, so a bit bamboozled.
By the end of my macca breakfast , I was sorted in my head , with a plan and way forward. Gave my wife a call , and said “Sorry its happened again” She said. God bless her ”Are you OK?”
Me “disconcerted, but I’ll be fine, let’s look at the finances tonight, but I think we’re in good shape, and I should be able to negotiate a settlement from these guys that will get us a free holiday”
“That sounds nice, see you tonight“
Car Thief Gets Instant Karma (the FINAL Glitterbomb 6.0)
Are Russia and America engaged in a tough love relationship?
No.
The United States has been using NATO to attack Russia.
A simple look at the map has shown NATO encroachment into the (former) Soviet Union Eastern Block and then with the 2014 color revolution, a full invasion of Ukraine… a battlefield from which to attack and destroy Russia by.
Only idiots forgot that Ukraine was originally a significant part of Russia. Look at the maps.
main qimg 4dd70bdda51ecd4e00124a2dbb67e7a6
Like I said; only ignorant idiots; with a brain no larger than a peanut, don’t realize this FACT. I mean it. These brain-dead piles of vomit can’t even tell the difference between a boy and a girl. They don’t know what the root of Pi is, and they sure as fuck cannot tell you how many mm are in a yard.
Ambulatory Stupid feces wearing diapers.
But the stupidity doesn’t stop there…
Oh no. The great mental retardation is alive and well in the West.
…
Look, I know that some people cannot help their stupidity. But Lordy, you all shouldn’t elect them into office. What the Hell were you thinking?
Yeah.
Only a real IDIOT would think that they could take on Russia.
A massive, blundering ignoramus of a pile of weeks-old pig-feces, would possibly think such an absurd idea.
…
So, now…
Now…
No shit… NOW…
…they are now looking to “pivot to Asia”… and take on the Russia + China alliance.
Surely, the world has NEVER seen such ignorant, and stupid fools in all the history of mankind.
…
Psssst…
There’s more.
No shit!
Can you believe… actually believe… that a virtual army of United States officials have been marching off to China to TELL THEM to stop being friends with Russia.
And…
To order them to buy a shit load of American Treasuries…
And…
to force them to stop being the manufacturing center of the world.
…
And what did China do immediately afterwards?
Oh, the hug between Putin and Xi was pure gold.
The absurdity of this situation is pristine. You just cannot make this shit up!
Victoria Nuland is obviously suffering greatly from the American exceptionalism disease. It drives her whole being. Pathetic. Her views are totally divorced from reality. And she's obsessed with Russia and China. I relish the disappointments that are coming her way as Russia and especially China rise while the United States falls.
Posted by: Steven Hines | May 12 2024 14:52 utc | 6
During my “van days” when I left the US Navy, but before I had my MAJestic training, we were very busy trying to find work. It was a tough time, an economic recession and work was hard to get.
When we would get money, one of our favorite things to do was to make these mega-sandwiches.
We would get a full loaf of fresh french or Italian bread, and cut it in half, then form a pocket.
I would add everything. From bread & Butter pickles, to onions, tomatoes, lettice, and all sorts of other things like peppers. Of course, I would add salad dressings, and oils, salt and pepper.
The process was simple.
We would line that pocket with salad dressing, and cut cold cuts, cheese, pickles, and everything under the sun. It was a meal plus, plus, plus and I loved that meal!
Every now and then I daydream about those enormous sandwiches.
What is stopping you from enjoying this right now?
Today…
What is the craziest thing you have ever said or done at an interview and still gotten the job?
I was sitting on the chair. She entered the room. It was evident from her face that she was totally exhausted.
There was a water bottle on the table.
Me- Have some water, please. I offered her the water bottle.
She took the water bottle and took some sips of water. She sat on the chair and closed her eyes for a while.
Me- Ma’am, you look so exhausted.
Interviewer- Yeah, a whole day of interviews.
Me- So you won’t get to go home today? (It was 9 pm)
Interviewer- Nothing like that. Basically I am from Coimbatore. I have a 3 months old daughter and a husband staying in Coimbatore. Yesterday I met them but missing my daughter.
Me- Don’t worry ma’am you will meet them soon. Even I am 2200 km away from my home.
Interviewer(Smiling)- Don’t forget I am not your friend. I am your interviewer.
Me(Smiling)- If you want to be my friend, I won’t mind.
Interviewer(Smiling)- Tell me about your self.
I spoke about myself.
Interviewer- Why do you want this job?
Me- I need money and you need a good employee.
After this answer, she did not ask a single question. She was just smiling.
The interview was done!!!!
I knew I had screwed my interview. I bid goodbye to the interviewer and came out of the room.
Result day- I got selected for Wipro.
America compared to China
I told my boss that I’m going to resign, and he offered me twice my current salary if I stay, what should I do?
Back in the day, I went to the office and asked for a $.25 raise just so my family could make ends meet. It took the better part of a year for the boss to get back to me to tell my I was out of line for asking for one, and the company couldn’t afford it.
So, I put out my resume and left. Around a year and a half later, I touched base with my old boss, told him I was out looking for another gig, and asking for a recommendation. What I got back was an email telling me that if I came back, I would get $1.50 more per hour, with increases to come if I stuck around.
Okay, I asked for a quarter an hour more. They couldn’t afford it, but 15 months later, they can outdo the modest increase I asked for? Really?
My advice: Bolt! Run for the door and don’t look back. If they can pay double right now, why didn’t they earlier. This kind of bullshit is not worth your time, and frankly, these “counteroffers” are an insult to your intelligence. Bolt! Leave! Go find someone who appreciates and respects your efforts, and your intelligence.
Stuffed Chicken Breast Wrapped in Bacon
Ready to liven up that chicken dinner? Try Slap Ya Mama’s Stuffed Chicken Breast Wrapped in Bacon! It’s a taste sensation that you have to taste to believe and it’s complete with Slap Ya Mama’s original blend seasoning. Start cooking today!
stuffed chicken breast
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
4 chicken breast halves, boneless and skinless, pounded to 1/2 inch thickness
2 teaspoons olive oil
10 ounces fresh spinach leaves
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup pepper jack cheese, shredded
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeño, seeded and diced
3 teaspoons Slap Ya Mama Original Blend Seasoning, divided
12 slices bacon
Toothpicks
Instructions
Heat the oven to 375 degrees F.
In a large skillet over medium heat add olive oil, garlic and jalapeños. Sauté until garlic starts to brown.
Reduce heat to medium low, add spinach leaves and sauté until wilted.
Add 1 teaspoon Slap Ya Mama Original Blend Seasoning, pepper jack cheese and sour cream. Stirring continuously, cook mixture until cheese is melted.
On a clean surface, lay chicken breasts flat and season with the remaining 2 teaspoons of Slap Ya Mama Original Blend Seasoning. Spoon a little spinach mixture onto each breast. Roll up each breast with spinach mixture inside and wrap each breast with 2 or 3 slices of bacon, securing the ends with a wooden pick.
Arrange breasts on a baking dish. Bake uncovered at 375 degrees F for 35 minutes.
Set oven to broil and broil for 10 minutes or until bacon is browned.
Remove wooden picks, slice into medallions or serve whole and enjoy!
Chinese school principal teaches students shuffle dance during break
I never get tired of watching this.
What was the reaction of HR when you resigned?
I was with the firm for about 5yrs 3 months. One fine day , I got a Offer letter from a leading MNC in trending technology. I resigned the same day and sent the mail to my manager and cced HR in the evening .
He called me around 10 am next day and enquired about good time to have discussion. I went at 12 and we had a very short discussion and the conversation went like this.
I share a cordial relationship with most of my management.
HR: We respect your decision of resign and we wish you all the best.
Can you please tell me your team details and your manager?
Me: Thanks and told the details
HR: So, xxx will be your last day with us.
May I know the reason for resignation?
Me: I dont like the managemet here. Is the feedback I am gonna share with you just for record sake. or you are actually gonna share this with management?
HR: What made you think feedback was not shared with the management.
Me: I have many a scenarios where feedback was taken but never acted upon.
Hr: I will make sure . please share.
Me: Fine, anyways I have made my decision But I dont want to leave unspoken about the fact.
I have never thought of resigning from this organisation.But, many fake promises are made.
HR: Who made false promise?
Me: You know who usually does.
HR: Smiles!!!
Me: I have been promised an onsite without being asked and I know there was a budget problem in project but management is frequently flying which made me rethink my place here.
HR: Ok got the reason. Anyways He explained about all the policies and rules to be followed during notice period and we are done for that day.
I went to my usual routine.
With in next few hours, My Resource manager(Not my immediate supervisor) walks upto me and asks if I would take back my resignagtion if offered an onsite.
Next day, I get a call Location HR and he asked me if I would be offered onsite I would stay back I said I might think.
Next day RM comes to me,
A new onsite opportunity has popped up in some other project and they are looking for people.
I gave them your name to them , talk to them and let me know.
I said I need some time and I have few question. Is it long term? What is the expectation?
Is it different from my existing stack? How long would it be? For all he said you can manage . It will be min of 1yr.
I said ok and will let you know if couple of days. He asked me to do it faster?
I called the other manager on friday and asked him the same above questions for which he said it is an immediate requirement from client.
and I need to learn new technology. If I am ok with it I need to take back my resignation so that they could do initiate VISA.
I asked him “What is stopping you from initiating VISA if I am serving notice period? ” He said It is policy I said ok.
I told him I will take my resigantion but on one condition. In case the VISA is rejected/ CLient doesn’t like profile.
I want to a written statement that My last date would be the same day as earlier.
For which, He is not sure he need to talk to HR on that.
I am confused and lost in thought . I said I will get back to him on Monday.
On the same day, I went to a Shop nearby Bought couple of beer and started thinking of the opportunity .
For an instance, I thought I better take my resignation back. and Travel abroad.
It has been one of my dream to stay abroad for atleast an year straight.
I gave it a thought over weekend and slept over it.
I called my brother whom I go to for advice. He said only one thing “If you have ever taken step stick to that no matter what.
That is what makes you better person.”
and at the same time I heard quote in movie which said “When you Say ‘NO’ to bigger Things in life You Grow Stronger.”
Then I decided I will continue with my resignation.
I met my RM on Monday, told him that I dont want to take risk. I am not getting confidence in this opportunity.He said ok.
I told the same to the other manager he said no problem.
After this I got three more calls from HR(Reg change of project, CHange of technology, onsite again) and had around 7-8 meetings with manager.
On my last day which is is mid march , whole country came to a standstill coz of Corona and all the Onsite travels are suspend.
I am happy that I made a correct decision, Had I stayed with Onsite promise, My Future could have come to a standstill.
Always stick with your decision, and move forward sincerely, It is destined to happen which ever is to happen.
My mother recently informed me she baptized my two children against my wishes; how should I confront her on this matter?
Let me tell ya a little story.
When my husband was in the hospital, he woke up one day to see a priest looming over him, giving him last rites.
This was the ONLY time he was frightened, because in his mind, last rites was what you’d do right before someone died. Then he realized that I was not in the room, and that if he was actually that close to death, I would have been there with him.
After he got out of the hospital, he told his mother about this, and the first words out of her mouth were, “I didn’t send him!” She tried to say that maybe the hospital arranged it, or maybe it was one of the priests from one of the churches she belonged to (three, of different denominations of which only one does last rites) who stopped by to say hello. Or maybe it was some other priest that stopped by.
Suspicious, that.
When my husband arrived at the hospital, he filled out the intake form and said he didn’t want any religious folks visiting him, and he did not want last rites. That would have stopped the hospital-affiliated clergy from visiting him, but it’s not like they would have stopped a priest that my MIL specifically sent there, particularly if he showed up stealthily, with a scarf covering his collar.
Later, two of my MILs step children made comments to me about how sick my husband must have been to have been given last rites. Hmmm … how did they hear that?
It’s pretty obvious to me that she sent a priest to give him last rites, behind my back, and behind my husband’s (mostly unconscious) back.
But here’s the thing. If she had come to me and said that it was important to her, I would have said yes. I know she’s deep into all three of her religions, and if last rites would have comforted one of her multiple souls, I might have asked her to wait until his condition was more dire, but I wouldn’t have said absolutely no. The ritual wouldn’t have meant anything to my husband, as I would have made sure he wasn’t conscious (and thus not frightened) and it wouldn’t have meant any more to me than if someone came in and waved feathers around to banish demons. But if she wanted that, too, I would have been fine with it, as long as it didn’t affect his health or mental well-being.
I was annoyed at first that she did this behind my back, but that’s how she is. She’s happier when she’s sneaking around and manipulating and thinking that she’s getting away with something. She has only a glancing association with honesty, so she felt better lying to us than admitting what she did.
She is what she is. In the end, it didn’t harm anyone.
Russia – NATO conflict
From Hal Turner.
Below is a piece written by an Observer of matters geo-political - not me -- about the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. Although I did not write this, it is so "spot-on" that I decided to share it with all of you because it expresses my sentiments and thoughts precisely.
————— BEGIN ————-
I want everyone of you to take a deep breath, and prepare for a flurry of events that will change the world forever, or at least for a very long time.
Always keep in mind what I have told since late 2021 : Russia set up a trap for the United Sates, they worked for at least a decade for this trap, and now, the United States fell into it.
I have decided to remove the word “West” in describing the side that Russia is in conflict with. There is no “West”. It is just the United States and its vassals.
This conflict between the U.S. and Russia/China is going to end when one side achieves its objectives. There is no middle ground, there is no negotiation, because the goal of the United States is to take control of Russia (by weakening it, and create a 90’s Russia, with oligarchs controlling Russia’s resources and themselves being controlled by the U.S., in order to suppress China’s rise, by controlling the flow of Russian resources), while the goal of Russia and China is to stop it.
If Russia and China could’ve stopped the United States by other means than militarily, it would have happened. The reason why the United States cannot be stopped otherwise, is mainly because of China. In China, the United States managed to create and sustain a system of very powerful Chinese economic oligarchs, that control China, and are being controlled by the U.S..
What the U.S. did not managed to do in Russia, they did in China. Putin removed/imprisoned/killed/replaced most of the Russian oligarchs, in a very short period of time; between 2000 and 2010. Xi still is in the process of cleaning China, but the process is much slower and harder then what Putin faced in Russia.
In other words, China’s economic power could not be used to weaken the U.S., and it is still far from being able to do so. The only option is to start a “nuclear” economic war, one that will see both China and the U.S. facing economic collapse and massive internal power struggle that will be from the very top, to the street level.
So, to sum up, the current conflict will end when one side will achieve its goals, the “victory” cannot be achieved economically, but militarily, and most important, the military “victory” must be achieved without nuclear war.
Back in late 2023, I predicted that Russia will re-open the Kharkiv-Sumy front when the Ukrainian defenses will start collapsing, and my estimate for this to happen was between January and April 2024, depending on a number of factors. As you all know by now, after Avdeevka fell, the Ukrainian defenses started crumbling in multiple directions.
When I predicted that this will happen, I was exclusively basing my reasoning on the lack of manpower, and the tremendous destruction that Russian military can bring to the front lines, and the inability of the United States and its vassals to sustain a flow of weapons and ammunition to Ukraine, that can replace what Russia is destroying, while using mathematical calculation applied to military power of both sides.
Obviously, I did not have the exact data to work with, this is why my predictions were confirmed at a later date, but they were confirmed, almost 90% of the time. I however said that when certain events that I predicted (the collapse of Ukrainian defense, the start of Kharkiv-Sumy offensive, Ukraine’s inability to recruit, the U.S. and vassals inability to provide weaponry and ammo, etc.) will take place, and they did, the margin of error of my calculations, and hence, predictions, will be smaller.
While the current Kharkiv offensive is its early stages, and most, if not all of the people talking about it, are reluctant to quantify it, or to set predictions on how big this will be, my own calculations, again, based on what I have already predicted, is that the current Russian offensive is THE BIG ONE, the one that will break the camel’s back.
Based on my calculations, the current manpower of Ukraine is roughly 300,000 troops, barely equipped, and most of them are forced recruits and/or people with minimal military training and combat experience. While this manpower managed to slowdown the Russian advances, by using the vast network of fortifications and fortified towns and villages that they prepared and strengthened since 2014…this is no longer the case.
The front cracked in multiple locations, some Ukrainian brigades fleeing without order, others refused to follow orders, Russia is taking control of towns and villages [at] an increasing rate, since Avdeevka fell, the current fortifications are much weaker, and Russian troops are now passed the mildly hilly areas and went into open terrain. The big picture is that the Ukrainian army is on the brink of collapse, after being reduced in the last 2 years, and especially in the last 3 months (talking about game changers, there is only one : Russian aviation using FAB bombs extensively across the front lines), and there are only 2 options left for Ukraine – capitulation or full retreat across Dniepr river.
As I said back in the summer of 2023, the retreat across Dniepr should have taken place THEN, otherwise Ukraine’s army will be decimated. Retreating now across Dniepr will only BUY SOME TIME for the United States to send its troops and its vassals troops into Ukraine…IF that is what the U.S. is aiming to do…which I believe it is.
By opening the old fronts in Kahrkiv and Sumy, Russia is extending the current 300,000 poorly trained and equipped Ukrainian troops, to an additional 200-300 km front (I believe it will be much longer, around 600 km, because after Kharkiv, comes Sumy, and after, Chernigiv fronts), from a former 900 km front line.
Mathematically speaking, 300,000 Ukrainian troops defending a 900 km front line, will now have to defend a potential (and in my view 100% certain) a front line that is DOUBLE that.
Now, the military goal of Russia is to create the illusion that the United States and its vassal have a choice: commit to the fight, directly, and attempt to stop the collapse of Ukrainian army (or commit to this fight after Ukrainian army collapse), or…leave Ukraine being defeated, stay aside, and avoid WW3.
This is only a illusion of choice, because Russia is actually forcing the United States and its vassal to COMMIT to the fight.
Remember what I have said for over a year now? That Ukraine will NEVER GET F-16s? Well, they still didn’t get any, and will never get any, for reasons that I have explained a year ago, but I will shortly summarize them now : F-16 is a platform that can only function within the NATO military framework, Ukraine doesn’t have proper airfields for F-16s, and if we will ever see Western jets engaging the Russians, those will be piloted by NATO pilots and will operate from NATO airfields.
It is crystal clear that Ukraine lost the war, and the only hope to stop (it’s just a hope, really) Russia is a massive influx of trained troops and military hardware, including a large number of fighter jets, helicopters, cruise missiles, etc.
Ukraine DOES NOT HAVE the trained manpower to operate the required quantity of military hardware that is needed to fight Russia. NATO can send ALL OF THEIR JETS AND TANKS to Ukraine…here aren’t people to use them. And even if there were, such a large quantity of manpower and hardware will only be successful IF OPERATED WITHIN NATO FRAMEWORK AND DOCTRINE.
What I believe that will happen in the next 45 to 60 days, is, 100%, the collapse of Ukrainian Armed Forces. What is also 100% certain, in my view, is a number of NATO countries will OFFICIALLY ENTER the conflict in Ukraine, during, or right after the Ukrainian army collapses.
What is not certain, is how many NATO troops, how good they are, how equipped they are, and what is their goal. If the United States still believe that Russia can be weakened, those NATO troops will aim, at minimum, to secure Odessa and Kiev, which means that Dniepr river have to be secured, and be the new front line.
At this current attrition rate, the appetite for NATO countries to send troops, the Ukrainian Army have about 45 to 60 days to retreat beyond Dniepr, because they will still have roughly 200,000 troops, and NATO to send in at least 100,000 troops.
You cannot secure the Dniepr river without a MINIMUM of 300,000 troops, even if you blow up all the bridges. Keep in mind that Kiev is right on the Dniepr, split in two by the river. Also keep in mind that Russia can easily re-enter Ukraine from Belarus, making the Dniepr river irrelevant as a natural front line.
But, at least, they (200k Ukrainian and 100k NATO troops) can concentrate on the border of Belarus, on the defense of Kiev, and on the Kherson part of Dniepr, buying enough time to reinforce Odessa, Kiev and Belarusian border, give the proximity of Poland (Belarus and Kiev areas) and Romania (Odessa area).
So, to sum up : Ukrainian army is going to collapse in the next 45 to 60 days, during which they will retreat toward Dniepr, NATO troops will enter Ukraine, with the aim to create a strong defense in Kiev, along Belarusian border and on Kherson part of the Dniepr, to secure Odessa, and later on, with the aim of strengthening the above areas, while deploying along Western bank of the Dniepr.
This is basically, in my view, the only possibility to avoid a nuclear war, the conflict will end up in a stalemate between Russia and NATO, and diplomacy will, hopefully start happening.
But…there is a BIG BUT. The above (hopeful) scenario means a DEFEAT FOR BOTH RUSSIA AND NATO.
Without a serious buffer, Russia’s security will always be at risk. Nothing less then what Russia asked NATO in December 2021 (removal of all NATO bases from Eastern Europe) is going to stop Russia. Nothing less then a defeat of Russia is going to stop the United States policy of weakening Russia.
A Russia that occupies half of Ukraine means that NATO was strategically defeated. A Russia that ONLY occupies half of Ukraine, while the other half is full of NATO troops, and all NATO bases are still in place across Eastern Europe, means a defeated Russia in its strategic goals.
If my today’s prediction, that Ukraine army will collapse and start retreating across Dniepr, while NATO officially deploys troops in Ukraine will happen during the next 45 to 60 days…let us pray that a compromise will somehow happen, because the alternative is WORLD WAR 3.
I have very low hope that a compromise will happen…
————– END —————–
Hal Turner Remarks
I very much admire and respect the concise assembly of thought and facts above. It took many aspects of the current conflict into account, and laid out realistic results/consequences of each. Very well written, i think.
This past Friday night, on my radio show, I alerted listeners that a new offensive had commenced by Russia, heading for Kharkiv. The piece above speaks about that.
What I did not project in my remarks, the piece above does. The timeline is always the big unknown.
For instance, when I reported on my radio show that Ukraine assessed Russia’s offensive would being in the late summer, early fall, I had to point out they were way wrong because it had already begun Friday.
The Russians have made very significant gains in the past few days. The Ukraine Army is crumbling already.
So while the writer above suggests 45-60 days for things to come to the point where NATO has to crap or get off the pot, it could be much faster than that. It could also be slower. As above the timeline is always the big unknown.
What is known, though, is that time has grown very short. Whatever enormous event/change is coming, it is now VERY close.
If this thing goes wild weasel, and we start getting hit by Russian missiles here in the USA, you had better be prepared. Food, water, Medicine, generator, fuel for it, radio gear for communications, cash money in your house — not to pay bills, but to survive on. Guns, ammo, and mental willingness to shoot other human beings who are trying to steal your food.
I have a sick feeling we’re heading into some horrifying calamity; and almost no one in the entire country, seems aware of it. The mass media has not reported the serious developments and goings-on relating to the conflict. The American people, and most Europeans, will likely be totally blind-sided when it happens.
YOU have the upper hand. YOU pay attention to sites like this one. YOU have had advance warning. YOU will have prepared as best you can, and that will put YOU faaaaar ahead of the general public.
In any event, get right with God.
ZANZIBAR, TANZANIA 🇹🇿 Things To Do
How is this even legal?
Unethical life hacks.
Whenever you are starting a new job, always let them know that you have 4 alive grandparents. Then you have 4 pre-made excuses for whenever you don’t want to come into work.
When you’re shopping online and need to reach a threshold for free delivery, simply add a gift card to your order. The next time you make a purchase, you can use the card and repeat the process.
When dining alone at a restaurant, bring a notebook. Write in it occasionally. The staff might think you’re a food critic, and they’ll likely try their best to impress you, maybe even treating you to some free food.
If someone ever calls you fat, tell them you used to be 75 lbs heavier. It will make them feel guilty for saying it to you, while also making you look accomplished for losing weight.
Use airplane mode to hang up on people. They will see “call failed” instead of “call ended”.
When you’re looking for a job, post a fake ad for a very similar position on the internet so you could check out the resumes of your competition.
Don’t show your Tinder profile or Instagram to your date. Show your profile on some niche platform like luxy
or Mensa to go from being average to standing out.
If your girl ever gets mad at you and won’t speak, just tighten up all the jars in the house. Eventually she’ll have to talk to you to get your help opening up one of the jars.
If your coworker ever calls in sick for work, you can do the same 1-3 days later. Your boss will think you have the same thing and it’s “going around the office”. Your boss may even do the same shortly after you. It’s called the “fake flu”.
lf you want people to stop letting dogs sh*t on your lawn. Instead of a sign saying “no dogs allowed”, put up one saying “Lawn recently treated with toxic pesticides”. Nobody would let their dog anywhere near your lawn ever again.
If you’re in a taxi and you think the driver is purposely driving slow to get the meter up. Just cough or sneeze to make yourself seem sick and watch the driver speed up to prevent catching something from you.
If you want to slack off at work, slack off but act annoyed or frustrated around your boss. This will give the impression that you’re working hard and the job is getting you heated.
Chinese firearms training in first grade
The Chinese begin military training in first grade and continue with the training throughout the school years.
Who is the most dangerous person that you have ever met or encountered?
A woman named Diane. She was convinced that she was supposed to marry my brother. They never dated or anything, we three played pool one night, and he was kind to her. When she went off her medication, things changed. She threatened to kill me and my family, she left strange objects in the night drop where my brother worked, she tracked him down when he moved, and called me repeatedly, leaving terrifying messages. I changed my phone number. She also started stalking my nephew, and found out where he worked, then called repeatedly. She then called my church, and left messages saying horrible things about me.
During Covid, it all stopped. Nobody heard a peep. At this point, she had been homeless for a while, and we assume Covid killed her, or something else. I tried Googling her several times, but she had literally disappeared off the face of the earth.
She terrified me. I even called my kids schools and gave them a picture of her.
When I knew her in the 90’s, I didn’t know she was schizophrenic. We worked together and hung out. I wish she would have told me because I would have encouraged her to stay on her meds. I’ll always wonder what happened to her because, even though she scared me in the worst times, she was a friend in the good times.
Chinese village couple’s ‘rural-style shuffle dance’ goes viral online
Louisiana Fried Chicken with Pepper Sauce
louisiana fried chicken
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
Chicken
2 1/2 pounds chicken parts, rinsed and patted dry
1 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
4 cups vegetable oil, for frying
Pepper Sauce (optional)
1 tablespoon butter
1 1/4 cups no-salt or low-sodium chicken broth
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, finely chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
Chicken
Place chicken in large, glass bowl or dish; pour buttermilk over it. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
In medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, salt, celery salt, pepper, paprika and cayenne. Dredge chicken pieces in flour, two at a time, turning to coat all sides thoroughly. Set chicken on a rack and let sit for 30 minutes.
Sauce
In medium saucepan over medium heat, warm butter. Stir in onion and bell pepper. Stew peppers until soft, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Stir in flour and cayenne. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring often.
Gradually stir in chicken broth. Bring sauce to simmer; reduce heat to low and let cook until thickened, about 5 minutes. Add salt; remove from heat and set aside until needed.
In large, cast iron skillet add oil to fill 3/4 inch deep. Over medium-high heat, warm oil to 350 degrees F. using kitchen thermometer to test oil temperature. Carefully place chicken, skin-side-down in oil. Reduce heat to medium and cook chicken for 15 minutes until browned.
Turn chicken and cook for an additional 10 minutes, until internal temperature registers 180 degrees F on thermometer. Remove chicken and drain on paper towels.
Have you ever been to a care facility for senior people? It’s pretty sad how life plays out.
The good news about living alone right now is that it’s easier to live alone someday should you be the remaining person of the relationship. Sure you may have children or whatnot, but they may not be around as much as you’ll be alone for a vast majority of time.
A common thing I’ve seen in old folks home is that at the end of life, oftentime they go completely alone. These aren’t people who lived a single life, but some were business owners, family people, and people who lived a otherwise full life but this is how they end. It’s kind of selfish to think, but the person who passed before them probably had it lucky to die quickly instead of waiting it out until the end.
A common scene that I’ve seen is someone about to pass, call their family, then they don’t come. The person is left to go alone and they have no one to see them other than the people who work there. Oftentimes these people aren’t used to being alone because they’ve been in a relationship nearly all of their lives and suddenly they’re experiencing everything you are right now on top of their own demise. I’m not sure how that feels but I imagine it would be a lot more torturous and painful than if you had no one and just wondered what sort of life you could have had.
Amazon
How do I make close friends, not just acquaintances, as a female in my early 30s? I’m unmarried, have no children, and I don’t have a great career due to health issues. I’m volunteering in a passion project, but the relationships remain shallow.
I developed a trick. Here’s a common situation: I am very busy, with something I need to get done in the next two hours. Someone I know sees me and says, “Hey Rich, how about getting a cup of coffee with me?” My prior answer used to be, “Can’t. I’ve got to get this done.”
No longer. Now I have a standard answer: “Sure.”
In retrospect, the urgent thing I needed to get done was almost never really urgent. That amazes me. I had simply been putting work ahead of friendship.
I came across an aphorism that encapsulates this: “Never let the merely urgent get in the way of the truly important.” I love that phrase, “merely urgent”! (Nobody really knows who first articulated this thought, but it is a good guide to living your life well.)
I believe the key to friendship is spending unstructured time with people. Discussing business over coffee doesn’t count. Taking a hike to discuss business does count, because in my experience a two hour hike rarely consists of more than 30 minutes of serious business; the rest of the time you are talking about things that don’t really matter. And those conversations often drift, naturally, into discussions that do matter. And then you are at the beginning of a formation of a new true friendship.
What is the smartest comment that you have heard a child make?
I have an almost 21 year old grandson who is still as delightful as he was as a little one. He was a real charmer, but at three he realized he couldn’t charm his parents. We were at an outdoor theater and while waiting we bought popcorn for all of us. My grandson really wanted more, but both mom and dad said no. While still waiting for the play to begin my grandson started exploring where we were seated. We were in the back thinking the kids would get bored. This way they would have more room to move around. My grandson did just that, but with a purpose. He found a lady sitting eating her popcorn. He went and sat next to her. With his big brown eyes he looked at her and “Nice people share their popcorn.’ Of course she gave him some. This is the same kid who sang ‘Jesus must die” in the grocery store because his parents were both working for the show and he was at most rehearsals. My daughter in law said she couldn’t believe that of all the lines in all the songs this was the one he remember. She quickly left the store. I really love this young man since always.
36,000 Kids You Don’t Want to Mess With
This is China.
When did you realize that something you grew up doing in your house wasn’t normal or socially acceptable? What was it?
I was in college, and driving home for a break. Stopped at my roommate’s house on the way, to drop her off. I was invited to spend the night, and did, so I could complete the remaining drive rested.
That evening, my roommate sat at her mother’s feet and told her mom all about college life. Like … ALL about college life. And her mom listened attentively, and asked questions showing her interest, and shared experiences and they laughed together.
I remember being stunned that when her parents asked, “How was the semester?” my friend actually TOLD her parents how the semester was.
I can remember one time I came home from a movie and my mom asked how it was, and I gave my usual “Fine” response, and my mom then asked what movie I went to. I remember that because it literally only happened once. And I had to pause to remember what movie I went to because I was so surprised she asked.
Real, heartfelt communication with one’s parents was a completely novel concept for me.
I also remember when I was 15, a friend was talking to our theater director, crying on her shoulder about something that happened at home. I was confused by what I considered to be my friend’s over-reaction. My theater director looked at me and made eye contact and said, “The way your mother treats you isn’t normal. When she hits you, it’s child abuse.”
I remember that moment so clearly. It was the first inkling I ever got that not everybody was beaten by their moms.
What is the most brutal military force in history?
Many come to mind. The Imperial Japanese Army. The Mongols. The Huns. All war is terrible, but these groups I think deserve to be put into a class of their own when it comes to their brutality. However I think to find truly the most barbaric military force to ever walk the earth we have to wind back the clocks thousands of years to the time of the Neo-Assyrian empire.
Many if not all militaries have engaged in horrible atrocities throughout their period of existence, but few reveled in it the way the Assyrians did. Just look at a few of these primary sources, from the annals of various Assyrian kings:
“I felled 3,000 of their fighting men with the sword. I carried off prisoners, possessions, oxen, and cattle from them. I burnt many captives from them. I captured many troops alive: from some I cut off their arms and hands; from others I cut off their noses, ears, and extremities. I gouged out the eyes of many troops. I made one pile of the living and one of heads. I hung their heads on trees around the city, I burnt their adolescent boys and girls. I razed, destroyed, burnt, and consumed the city.”
—Ashurbanipal II
“I cut their throats like lambs. I cut off their precious lives as one cuts a string. Like the many waters of a storm, I made their gullets and entrails run down upon the wide earth. My prancing steeds harnessed for my riding, plunged into the streams of their blood as into a river. The wheels of my chariot, which brings low the wicked and the evil,were bespattered with blood and filth. With the bodies of their warriors I filled the plain, like grass. Their testicles I cut off, and tore the privates like the seeds of a cucumber.”
—Sennacherib
“I filled the wide plain with the corpses of his warriors. These rebels I impaled on stakes. A pyramid of heads I erected in front of the city.”
—Shalmeneser III
“I flayed as many nobles as had rebelled against me and draped their skins over the pile of corpses; some I spread out within the pile, some I erected on stakes upon the pile… I flayed many right through my land and draped their skins over the walls.”
—Ashurnasirpal II
The Assyrians didn’t just record their appalling behavior in writing, they also carved them into stone:
main qimg b8487715f476ab3b40851bdb4ea53200 lq
Assyrian “art” depicting the flayed skins of dead enemies being hung on a city’s walls
main qimg 3ed26d542cd41537cd5ce4ace81c640b lq
Victims of impalement
Assyrians ripping the tongues out of captives
main qimg 1f40b78acb64a2f3415b515e90c10c6b lq
Despite the barbarity of it all, there was a method to the Assyrian madness. The sheer brutality with which the Assyrians acted was done with the goal of dissuading cities from rebelling. Most ancient empires collapse due to internal unrest, and the Assyrians were determined to prevent this fate from befalling them. Their cruelty was a double-edged sword in that while it did convince some cities to stay in line, it also angered others and made them even less tamable than before. Eventually the rebellions mounted and grew to be too much, and Assyria collapsed due to a revolt by the Babylonians and an invasion by the Medes. Whenever I think of the Assyrians, I think of the famous proverb that goes something along the lines of “The harder you squeeze the water in your hand, the more that slips through your fingers”. The story of the Assyrian Empire is a story of squeezing too hard.
Have you ever witnessed someone standing up to a bully? What happened?
I haven’t witnessed someone, but my son was bullied.
I received a call from a principle about an altercation my son had with a bully.
My son was skipping breakfast and buying donuts on his way to school.
He hadn’t eaten the donuts, and they were in his backpack.
The school was having an assembly before classes began.
I guess the bag was part way out of his backpack, so the bully took them out and dumped them on the floor.
The bully and his companions laughed on the way to the assembly.
This incensed my son, and he picked up a jelly-filled donut and went into the assembly.
He found the bully sitting with his companions and smeared the jelly donut all over his face.
He then shouted, “If you ever do that again, I’ll do it again.”
Of course, this stunned the assembly and the principal grabbed both my son and the bully and took them to his office.
His punishment for both was to read War and Peace and give the principal a report on the book.
When the principal called me, he explained that the bully was a well-known bully, and he was much bigger than my son. He feared that this was not the end of the story.
I told him my son had already read War and Peace, so that may not be a punishment for him.
So, the principal meted out another punishment. He would help the janitor clean the assembly hall.
When my son came home late, I asked him why he was late.
He told me he met a nice janitor and helped him clean up the assembly hall.
I just said, “That was nice of you.”
Neither my wife nor my son know the princpal called and they are not on Quora, so I’m spilling the beans here.
For almost ten years I lived in a mobile home. I bought it in Pennsylvania, and moved it to Indiana, a couple of times. Then to Kentucky, and then to Mississippi. We eventually sold it.
The thing about mobile homes… well, there are a lot of things about them. But my mobile home had to have a new roof painted on every other year or so. If you didn’t lay down a new coat of silver tar substance on the roof, it would start to leak. And, you know, no one wants that.
I would, at that time, buy a bucket of mobile home roof tar, and make a day out of it. We would get a brush and push on the coating on the entire roof. First going over the edges, then the seams.
paint4
Then finally the rest of the roof.
paint2
Now, this is something that most people who rent, or who live in regular homes, don’t ever need to worry about. But we did.
paint
Now, while I am happy that those days are over, ever now and then a memory is triggered and I recall an event from those days. One… in this case of me painting the roof silver.
Now you know.
Today…
What happened when a workplace bully went to Human Resources only to be told that IF they investigated his complaint against you, they’d be required to also investigate the complaints that had been filed against him by multiple other employees?
The matter was considered resolved.
A young woman, fresh out of college, extremely bright with a photographic memory, was tasked to do charts. They were documentation of company profits and losses. Losses mostly.
A seasoned employee, who had little patience for the bright young woman, told her to make a chart. The bright young woman could see, because she has a photographic memory, and this was her job, to track losses, that the figures were horribly wrong.
She asked the seasoned employee to recalculate the data. The seasoned employee said, ”Why don’t you just do your job!” Again, she asked the woman to recalculate the data. The seasoned employee said, ”Are you a fucking moron or just hard of hearing because you are a fucking moron?” Another employee heard this conversation.
The bright young woman sent an e-mail to the seasoned employee saying, per our conversation you want me to use the data included in this email to calculate the chart? The seasoned employee responded to the email, ”Does it hurt your head to be so stupid?”
The bright young woman calculated the data, sent the chart to the seasoned employee’s boss and explained how the data was wrong, what the data should have said, and that there was friction getting corrected information.
Immediately the seasoned employee and the bright young woman were in management’s office to resolve the communication problem. Another witness.
The seasoned employee went to HR claiming the bright young woman was creating a hostile work environment.
The bright young woman sent the e-mails, and her version of the previous conversations, including those who were present at the time of the conversations.
Apparently the seasoned employee had numerous complaints however those complaints were he said, she said, they lacked documentation.
The bright young woman was absolved of the hostile workplace accusations. She took her skills to another employer. Problem solved.
Time-Slip Artifacts: Modern Objects in the Ancient World – Volume 1
This is fun. The Pyramid stuff with Baogong is interesting.
The Russia–Iran–China search for a new global security order
While the collective west is in the grips of an existential legitimacy crisis, the RIC is devising its own security order to protect the rest of the world from the ‘genocidals.’
The Hegemon has no idea what awaits the Exceptionalist mindset: China has started to decisively stir the civilizational cauldron without bothering about an inevitable array of sanctions coming by early 2025 and/or a possible collapse of the international financial system.
Last week, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and his list of delusional US demands was welcomed in Beijing by Foreign Minister Wang Yi and President Xi Jinping as little more than an annoying gnat. Wang, on the record, stressed that Tehran was justified in defending itself against Israel’s shredding of the Vienna Convention when it attacked the Iranian consulate in Damascus.
At the UN Security Council, China now openly questions not only the state terror attack on the Nord Streams but also the US–Israel combo’s blocking of Palestinian statehood. Moreover, Beijing, just like Moscow recently, hosts Palestine’s political factions together in a conference aiming to unify their positions.
Next Tuesday, only two days before Moscow celebrates Victory Day, the end of the Great Patriotic War, Xi will land in Belgrade to remind the whole world about the 25th anniversary of the bombing of the Chinese embassy by the US, UK, and NATO.
Russia, meanwhile, provided a platform for the UNRWA – the UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees, which Israel has sought to defund – to explain to high representatives of BRICS-10 the cataclysmic humanitarian situation in Gaza, as described by UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini.
In short, serious political business is already being conducted outside of the corrupted UN system…
… as the United Nations disintegrates into a corporate shell with the US dictating all terms as the largest shareholder.
Yet another key example of BRICS as the new UN: Russian Security Council chairman Nikolai Patrushev met in St. Petersburg with his Chinese counterpart Chen Wenqing on the sidelines of the 12th International Security Summit, congregating over 100 nations, including the security heads of BRICS-10 members Iran, India, Brazil, and South Africa, as well as Iraq.
The SCO security show
But the key crossroads these past few days was the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) defense summit in Astana, Kazakhstan.
For the first time, the new Chinese Defense Minister, Dong Jun, met with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu, to emphasize their comprehensive strategic partnership.
Dong, significantly, stressed the “dynamic” nature of China–Russia military interaction, while Shoigu doubled down, saying it “sets a model for interstate relations” based on mutual respect and shared strategic interests.
Addressing the full SCO assembly, Shoigu emphatically refuted the massive western propaganda drive about a Russian “threat” to NATO.
Everybody was at the SCO defense ministers’ meeting – including, at the same table, India, Iran, Pakistan, and Belarus as an observer. Minsk is eager to join the SCO.
The interlocking Russia–Iran–China strategic partnerships were totally in sync. Apart from Dong meeting Shoigu, he also met Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Ashtiani, who lavishly praised Beijing’s condemnation of the Israeli terror air strike in Damascus.
What is happening now between Beijing and Tehran is a replay of what started last year between Moscow and Tehran, when a member of the Iranian delegation on a visit to Russia remarked that both parties had agreed on a mutual, high-level “anything you need” relationship.
In Astana, Dong’s support for Iran was unmistakable. Not only did he invite Ashtiani to a security conference in Beijing, mirroring the Iranian position, he also called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the delivery of humanitarian aid.
Shoigu, meeting with Ashtiani, provided extra context when he recalled that “the joint fight against international terrorism in Syria is a vivid example of our long-standing friendly relations.” The Russian defense minister then delivered his clincher:
The current military-political situation and threats to our states oblige us … to common approaches to building a just world order based on equality for all participants in the international community.
A new global security order
Establishing a new global security order is right at the heart of BRICS-10 planning – on par with the de-dollarization debate. All of this is anathema to the collective west, which is incapable of understanding the multifaceted, intertwined Russia, Iran, and China partnerships.
And the interaction goes on in person. Russian President Vladimir Putin will be visiting Beijing later this month.
On Gaza, the Russia–Iran–China position is in complete sync: Israel is committing genocide.
For the EU – and NATOstan as a whole – this is not genocide: the bloc supports Israel no matter what.
After Iran, on 13 April, changed the game in West Asia for good, without even using their finest hypersonic missiles, the key question for the Global Majority is stark: in the end, who will restrain the genocidals, and how? Diplomatic sources hint this will be discussed face-to-face by Putin and Xi.
As one Chinese scholar, with unique aplomb, remarks:
This time, the barbarians are facing a 5,000-year continuing written civilization, armed with Sun Tzu’s Art of War, Mao thought, Xi’s dual circulation strategy, Belt and Road, BRICS, renminbi digitalization, Russia and China unlimited, the world’s most powerful manufacturing industry, tech supremacy, economic powerhouse, and the backing of the Global South.
All that against a polarized Hegemon in turmoil, with its genocidal aircraft carrier in West Asia totally spinning out of control.
US threats of a “clear choice” between ending several key strands of the Russia–China strategic partnership or facing a sanctions tsunami don’t cut it in Beijing.
The same applies to Washington’s wishful attempts at preventing BRICS members from ditching the US dollar.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has made it quite clear that Moscow and Beijing have nearly reached the point of abandoning the US dollar in bilateral trade.
And the outright theft of Russian assets by the collective west is the ultimate red line for BRICS – and all other nations watching with horror – as a whole: this is definitely a “non-agreement capable” Empire, as Lavrov has been emphasizing since late 2021.
Yaroslav Lisovolik, founder of BRICS+ Analytics, dismisses the Hegemon’s threats against BRICS as the road map toward an alternative payment system is still in its infancy. As for Russia–China trade, the non-dollar high-speed train has already left the station.
Yet the key question remains: how will Russia–Iran–China (RIC), as BRICS leaders, SCO members, and simultaneously top three “existential threats” to the Hegemon, be able to start implementing a new global security architecture without staring down the genocidals.
Power Breakfast Bowls
Start the day strong with this savory whole grain breakfast bowl that includes sliced portabella mushrooms and a curry yogurt tahini topping. We’ve used barley, but feel free to swap it with your favorite grain such as quinoa or wild rice.
power breakfast bowl
Prep: 30 min | Cook: 20 min | Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
Yogurt Topping
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup chopped kale
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon tahini
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
Breakfast Bowls
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 portabella mushroom caps, cleaned and thinly sliced
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 heads baby bok choy, sliced
1 cup pearled barley, cooked according to package directions
1 red bell pepper, julienned
4 large eggs, fried
Instructions
Yogurt Topping
Heat the olive oil in a medium-skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the kale and cook for 2 more minutes, until wilted. Let cool to room temperature.
Spoon the yogurt into a small food processor or cup of a single serving blender. Add the tahini, curry powder, and salt. Add the kale and garlic. Pulse in 10 second intervals until the kale is finely chopped and all ingredients are combined. Set aside.
Breakfast Bowls
Start by heating the 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a medium-skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sliced mushrooms and toss to cook in the oil for 5 minutes, until they become tender. Toss with the salt. Transfer the mushrooms to a bowl and add the bok choy to the hot skillet. Cook over medium-heat for 1 minute, until it begins to wilt. Remove from heat.
Assemble the breakfast by adding an equal amount of barley to each of four bowls. Top with greens, sliced mushrooms, and red bell pepper. Add a large dollop of the topping and place an egg in each bowl. Serve right away.
Do you know of a case where an average student became among the best in the class because he started hanging out with those that are the best?
I was asked to tutor 15 PhD candidates (who were mostly university professors), who were expected to study in the U.S.A. for 2 years.
Their TOEFL scores were high, except for one administrative officer who scored 470 and one financial officer who scored 287. At that time, students were expected to have a score of 500 to get into a bachelor’s program.
They were already enrolled in the PhD program at a reputable university, and advisors had interviewed them here in Thailand.
I assumed that these two were allowed in as a special favor, but I had no real knowledge of the hows and whys.
The admin officer, who did little to improve, left our course and the PhD program with less than a month before departure.
The financial officer (call her ‘Dee’), however, attended every class, but her participation was stunted by the far more competent participants, no matter what I did to encourage her.
She was (quietly) considered an outsider, a non-academic and a non-proficient speaker of English by others in the class.
When they left for the U.S., I kept in touch with a few participants and always asked about Dee.
I needn’t have worried.
Dee completed her PhD earlier than was expected, much to the surprise of the others.
How did she do that?
Dee immersed herself in university and U.S. life, focusing on her tasks and seeking out advisors and other PhD candidates with similar interests. She was invited to instructors’ and candidates’ homes, and was quickly ‘adopted’ by their families.
A ceremony was held at the Thai university at the end of the program. She was greatly praised by the rector and others, while some of the professor candidates who did not complete the program stood silently by.
As a doctor or nurse, what were the creepiest last words you’ve heard from a patient right before the patient died?
Patients’ last words can be a window into their subconscious mind, revealing their deepest fears, desires, or regrets.
It’s not uncommon for healthcare professionals to encounter unsettling or cryptic last words, which can leave a lasting impact on those who care for the dying.
One doctor recounted a patient who, with their final breath, whispered “the children aren’t safe.”
The patient had no children, and the doctor was left wondering what dark secret the patient was trying to convey.
Another nurse remembered a patient who, as they took their last breath, whispered “I’m sorry” repeatedly, as if trying to atone for some unknown sin.
In some cases, patients may use their last words to convey a message or warning to their loved ones.
For instance, a patient who was a former smoker might warn their family members to quit smoking, while another might express regret over past decisions.
Some patients may use their final moments to settle old scores, confess secrets, or seek forgiveness.
The human brain is wired to respond to threats or perceived danger, even in the face of impending death.
This can lead to a flood of adrenaline, causing some patients to become agitated, aggressive, or even violent in their final moments.
In rare cases, patients may experience a “deathbed vision,” where they see or sense the presence of deceased loved ones or a higher power, offering them comfort and reassurance.
Ultimately, the dying process can be as mysterious as it is unsettling, leaving healthcare professionals to ponder the mysteries of the human psyche.
What’s the most ingenious car repair you’ve ever seen done?
I was at a bar, and this girl and her boyfriend got into a fight. She had a ’73 camaro, and he opened the hood and pulled off her coil wire. Then took off in his car leaving her stranded. I went into the bar, got a coat hanger, bent the ends so they would fit tight into the distributor cap and coil. she hit the key and it fired right up. I even impressed myself.
Another time, I was at the GW FASHION MALL, (Goodwill), and there was a guy with his hood open. says it won’t start. So I sprayed some starting fluid into the intake and it popped right off, but wouldn’t keep running. I had heard that if the fuel pump is going out, to give it a few hard smacks under the fuel tank, and that can knock it loose. I did it and it worked. That is just a temporary fix..
Another time, my son and I were on the highway, and my serpentine belt broke, and it knocked off the power steering belt also. I sat there trying to figure out what to do. My son said, *try putting the power steering belt on the crank pulley and the water pump/fan*. I thought that won’t work, but gave it a shot anyway. It was too tight. He said, turn it inside out and try it. It worked, a little loose, and slipped, but it made it home. Driving 20 miles like that keeping an eye on the temp gauge. We didn’t have an alternator or power steering, but got it home.
What made you think, “You’ve got to be kidding me,” when someone sat next to you on an airplane?
I was comfortably settled in my window seat, book in hand, anticipating the rest and relaxation my well-deserved vacation would bring. As my seat mate approached, I was struck by the six-inch rhinestone cross that hung from her neck. She began piling books atop the tray table, one of which was entitled, How to Convert Atheists.
Within a matter of minutes, the dreaded question was propounded. “Have you heard the good news?” I enthusiastically answered, “I have! The Supreme Court has ruled that same-sex marriage is legal in all fifty states. The Catholic Church is losing members faster than you can say pedophile priests and televangelists are being exposed for their fraudulent practices and extramarital affairs.” Before she could respond, I pointed to her book, looked her directly in the eye, and stated unambiguously, “Don’t even think about it.”
I returned to my book and suddenly heard, “I will pray for you.” To which I responded, “Knock yourself out, dear, just do it silently.”
What is that one secret that your parents have never told you, then all of sudden you get to know it?
I grew up in a polygamous family as it was and still a common practice in the African Traditional Society. We were and still 17 children. My father paid our school fees for all of us but only 50% of us completed our school while others dropped out.
Currently as I write this piece we are still 17 but we far apart from each other and father currently stays with my mother, the other 2 women (my step mothers), one passed on in 1991(RIP), while the other is married to some man.
Here is where the secret comes in, my Dad and Mum have been fighting each other for the past 28 years that they have been married, but they have never told us the cause of their fights, and for the past 28 years my mum and dad didn’t share the same room, but no one seems to tell us even when we had family meetings.
Last year around May 2019 the fight intensified to a point I thought they were going to divorce, we sat them down as family and we wanted to hear from them.
My Dad became very hostile when we started the meeting as he has always been, very defensive in his actions as our mother told us that Dad had been having extra marital affairs out to which my Dad completely objected.
Then boooooooooooom….. the shocking news comes out, the secret that mum and dad never wanted to tell us. Our first born knew everything but he kept this from us.
He decides to break the news that shook all of us the family members, that our step mother that died in 1991 was sick with HIV/AIDs Virus and when my mum realized that they went together to a medical facility and tested she was negative and dad was positive, and that Dad has been HIV positive for the past 28 years and has been on medication that he kept from us for all these years.
Our mother decided to stay in the relationship to take care of him and us but my dad has failed to see that and continued tormenting her by having affairs outside the marriage. I felt completely battered, shattered because I looked up to my mum and dad has role models when it came to honesty. They always told us to be honest yet they never told us what was hapening in their lives.This was my experience.
USA ADDS SANCTIONS to HUAWEI for INTEL and QUALCOMM – china must submit to old white man..
What is the most shameless thing you have ever seen a teacher do?
I was in 5th grade. My teacher was regularly given troublesome students over the years. I was in her class because my brother (one of the aforementioned troublesome students) had had her four years prior. Unfortunately, all those years of kids that made things difficult took its toll.
Early in the school year, because of constant arguments, our teacher started doing something she called IALAC (I am lovable and cuddlable). This meant every day before we went to the classroom, we formed a circle outside and had to say one nice thing about the person to our right. We also had an in class project every day. On this particular day, we were painting. I decided I didn’t want to use a brush and was finger painting. We had a sink in the classroom and I had always been well behaved and quiet. Other students saw what I was doing and complained. The teacher didn’t mind what I was doing but I washed my hands without being told and switched to a brush because I didn’t like conflict.
My classmates decided that if I was allowed to finger paint, they could do. Except they started painting each other, not the provided paper.
Our teacher completely snapped. She started screaming at us, singling out particular students and telling them just how awful they were. A bunch of 10/11 year olds being shrieked at. I wasn’t singled out but because my finger painting was the catalyst, I felt absolutely awful. I’d never been yelled at in my life!
After tearing us all down with her verbal abuse, the teacher stormed out of the classroom, leaving us alone, frightened, and our self esteem crippled. The teacher in the next classroom saw ours leave and came over to find us all sobbing. Administrators were summoned. Many of us ended up in the front office under the school nurse’s supervision. Two students attempted to leave school grounds. Parents were called.
Our teacher didn’t come back. We had a sub for the remainder of the year. I heard the teacher retired the following year but I was moved to a different school district after the winter break.
What is the most heartbreaking thing your child has told you?
I was pressing my teen daughter, who had asked to earn some money, to clean out our car. She was 16 and she had done it before and I would give her $100 for a good job (back in the 2000’s that was good money for a teenager for 3 hours work). One day she was stressed when she got home from school and was very serious and I reminded her that she promised to clean the car the week before and it never got done. I was gentle because I knew it was mid terms time. I said “If you get it done by this weekend I’ll add $50.” But she looked at me and just broke down sobbing. She was having a particularly rough day, it was…that time…and she was behind in studying for tests and she was trying to tell me this.
My daughter finally looked up at me and said “Dad! You’re not LISTENING”. I felt about 3 inches tall. I was thinking about other things that I needed to get done and this was just another ‘thing’ to check off and I hadn’t heard a word she was saying until that moment. As a pretty tough Army guy and all around guy of ‘manly pursuits’…I teased up and just hugged her and apologized. And I asked her and her mother to help me learn how to listen…to explain what to watch for with them. Since a serious head injury I don’t always get facial cues or ‘hear’ stress in people’s voices…I’m a bit oblivious. But anyone can learn and they helped me and have been ever since!
What feature in your car did you not realize you had until someone else told you about it?
Q: What feature in your car did you not realize you had until someone else told you about it?
I have always had bare bones automobiles. Even the one I ordered from the book didn’t have all the bells and whistles on it. My last car, before my present one, was a Chevy Venture more than two decades old that I paid a whopping $2400 for. I loved that car, but as fate would have it, it could not withstand hitting a pick-up truck directly in the rear axle when the assh0le driving it decided to pull out in front of me. A lot changed in the four years since I bought the van and it is now impossible to find such a bargain as that. Most used cars start at $10,000 and go up fast. I did find one dealership that had cars closer to my price range, and I got a generous settlement on my poor van from the insurance company. The best deal I found was on a 2007 Lincoln MKX. In my wildest dreams I never thought I’d ever own a car this nice! It had bells and whistles that Henry Ford himself could not have imagined! I thought I knew them all. Then one day I was out with my caregiver and she said something about my seats being heated! I’m from Wisconsin. If I’d had heated seats when I lived there, I would have been in heaven! However MY seat did not heat up, only hers did. It seems the car has a few bugs that need to be fixed. Where I live now, I don’t need a heated seat, but it’s nice to know that with a little tweaking, if I need one, I have it!
USA is crazy
If I walked up to you and called you Japanese and you’re Chinese would you get offended?
This reminds me of a bad joke that illustrates the question.
A Vietnamese man and a Jewish man are waiting in the Doctor’s office for an appointment and as the time goes on they become more and more irritated until finally the Jewish man says, “I hate you Vietnamese people!”.
Shocked, the Vietnamese man says, “What in the world would compel you to say something like that? Why do you hate Vietnamese people?”
To which the Jewish man replies, “Because you bombed Pearl Harbor!”
The Vietnamese man goes, “You idiot! That wasn’t the Vietnamese, that was the Japanese!”
To which the Jewish man shrugs and says, “Vietnamese, Japanese, what’s the difference?”
Stunned, the Vietnamese man says, “Yeah, well I hate all you Jewish people!”
To which the Jewish man replies in great indignation, “That’s anti-Semitic! Why would you hate all Jewish people?”
And the Vietnamese man says, “Because you sank the Titanic!”
“You idiot,” bawls the Jewish man, “That was an iceberg!”
To which the Vietnamese man replies,
“Iceberg, Goldberg, what’s the difference?”
What’s the best excuse you’ve heard for calling in sick at work?
It was over 35 years ago in sunny Southern California, right before work and school, when that infamous phone call was made. “I am sorry, but neither my son nor myself can make it to school today, as we just had a Tractor Trailer drive through our kitchen.
So yea, over 3 & a half decades ago, I was attending a private school where my belated biological mother was one of the teachers there. We lived mid-way down a massive inclined hill in Southern California in the Sand Fernado Valley. It was early in the morning with she & I rushing to get dressed and jump in the car to go to school.
As I was putting on my shoes I heard the loudest crashing sound, and the house shook. Thinking that it was an Earthquake, I ran to the center of our home underneath a door frame to take shelter. As I got to reach that area I saw dust coming from the kitchen, with debris all over the place. Since the house stopped shaking, I approached the kitchen, and to my disbelief, there was a Truck aka Big Rig, parked partially in our Kitchen.
I ran outside and saw one of our trees knocked down, branches of another tree that had fallen, and a Huge Tractor Trailor Truck sticking it’s nose where it did not belong, our kitchen. A man was getting out of the truck, his knee badly hurt, and bleeding, with him asking with desperation “Is everyone inside OK?”
He was parked further up the hill, with his wheels properly angled towards the curb (I am the grandson of a professional Truck driver, 3rd generation & eventually worked for gramps too), but his Emergency brakes broke, and with the massive weight and steep angle of this hill, his Truck went over the curb then back off heading straight for our home. It is confirmed by other neighbors, that he ran down the hill and managed to jump and grabbed the horizonal bars used to aid truckers to get into their cab, but in the process, slamming & cutting his knee against his truck, and just barely managed to open his Cab door and apply the brakes as his truck was crashing into our home.
You would think that this would be a lot more believable than my dog ate my homework or my parents’ car won’t start, but both my belated mother & I had to bring to that private school both the insurance report and police accident report.
What is an example of a time when you had to deal with a difficult customer and how did you handle the situation?
We’d agreed to buy and deliver about $10,000 worth of gravel the local baseball association needed to stop one of their fields from flooding. — The terms were that they would pay us back once the season started back up again.
By then, their treasurer didn’t remember that we’d done it, despite my invoicing them. At cost.
She said that she would check with the man who’d received the rock; their contractor; and, the President of the organization.
—
I never got a call back. — I tried this method three or four times, documenting each time, and then I tried a different approach.
We were developers in the area in addition to being a general construction corporation and owning a subsidiary ready-mix concrete plant. — The developer aspect meant that I knew a thing or two about lease agreements.
My guess was that they had a lease with the city for that property (land). Since our property (tangible personal/inventory/rocks) was now unpaid for but now an immovable/irretrievable aspect of the city’s property, I could place a mechanic’s lien against that property.
Lessees who encumber the landlords’ properties generally are subject to having their leases canceled. — Just standard stuff. Didn’t need an attorney to tell me this.
—
So, I sent them a demand letter threatening to notify the mayor.
I soon received a phone call from the association’s President informing me that they did not lease from the city! — “That was county land!”
—
Oh. — So, the county judge needed to be notified. My mistake.
A week or so later, I was at our main office, in my office, when in filed the entire Board of Directors of that baseball association. They asked my assistant, who appeared then, to be the receptionist, to speak to me. — Well, I saw them walk in, and I’d already gotten up.
The President of our corporation wasn’t there, so I ushered them into his big office with the big desk. The big desk that was built inside the office; it wouldn’t fit back out unless you knocked down a wall.
I got them some chairs and arranged them in front of the President’s desk. They sat down, and then I sat in the big chair behind the big desk and said, “Good afternoon. I am the Chief Financial Officer of this corporation and the manager of the concrete plant. How may I help you all?”
A white-haired lady at least twice my age asserted a couple of things, asked a question, and then made two statements:
WHL: You all said that you were donating this rock to us.
J: I purchased the rock and had it delivered to your location. That was never our agreement. — I invoiced you myself. — I would know.
WHL: If we pay this amount, do you intend to still go after our contractor?
J: Your contractor has a very bad reputation. I wouldn’t go after him as he has no money. Plus, you may have had an agreement with him; this corporation had an agreement with your association. — If you pay the invoices in full, I will have no reason to go after anyone ever again. Not with you all, that is; or, him.
The moment I write, “PAID IN FULL” on your invoices and initial them, you will be paid up. I will have nothing to collect. I guarantee — I wouldn’t try to collect a $0 debt. To do so makes no sense.
WHL: Fine. — She turned to the treasurer and said, “Give him the checks.”
—
Then, she turned back to me.
WHL: I want you to know: We will never do business with this company again.
J: Ma’am, with all due respect, and I mean that: If this is the way you pay your debts, we will not miss the business.
—
I verified they’d written out the checks correctly; wrote that information on their invoices; PIF; initialed. — Done.
I handed them to her and said, “Unless these bounce, neither the mayor nor the county judge need to know what has gone on here this year; and, if they find out, it won’t be from our corporation.”
Boy. They were not happy. — Probably because the checks cleared.
Some LeonardiAI text to images
Default Please create the sneakers of the future 0 7842d24c 4520 448a 94be a1a578bf8eaf 0Default epic full detailed oil painting picture of a bacteria 0 34f6e6b5 aaec 45f7 ada1 e9cde1ea17f2 0alchemyrefiner alchemymagic 3 48a572a1 a688 48aa a053 42ecce6ceea2 0Default Fisherman weaving net into the concept of the buildin 1Default Blac 3 a6f179f3 260c 40af 9e95 a99578875214 0
When have you warned of an impending problem, been ignored, and then simply waited and watched it happen?
“Don’t sit there.”
When I was in college my honor society sponsored a spring break trip to South America. We started in Brazil and ended in Argentina. Overall, great trip. But college students being college students, there were a lot of dumb assholes along for the ride.
In the middle of the trip we went on a boat tour to a little resort. The boat was a big motorized passenger boat of some kind, made up to look like a sail boat. I could immediately tell the mast and the rigging and everything was just set dressing. I got the impression safety was only a mild concern to the boat operators so I made myself comfortable but didn’t sit on or lean against anything that didn’t look like it was an original part of the boat.
Other members of our tour group were not as observant. This was not too long after the second Pirates of the Caribbean film was released so there were a couple of guys who were amusing themselves playing Jack Sparrow (what can I say, they were very stereotypical city boys; I think this was the longest time they’d been outside since they were in grade school).
They were having fun hopping around the deck and hanging from the ropes and stuff, and when one of them perched himself on a flimsy looking railing I warned him “Don’t sit there.” Of course he didn’t listen to me because he was a dumb jock who had already decided he didn’t like me for some reason.
Sure enough, when he shifted his weight the wrong way the railing broke and into the river he went. (Lucky for him we weren’t moving at the time.)
When they fished him back out he was very embarrassed and I was positively full of smug.
Slow Cooker Chicken Burrito Bowls
A Weeknight Meal Solution
(Family Features) During the hustle and bustle of the school year, it can be difficult to find time to sit down for dinner together as a family. However, on weeknights filled with extracurricular activities, homework, meetings and more, it’s still important to put delicious and nutritious meals on the table that can be served whenever your family members can find a few minutes to grab a plate.
slow cooker chicken burrito bowls
Prep: 20 min | Cook: 4 to 8 hr | Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients
1 (16 ounces) chunky salsa
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs
2 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 (15 1/2 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups instant brown rice
1 cup corn kernels, fresh or frozen
Chopped avocado, for garnish
Chopped cilantro, for garnish
Chopped red onion, for garnish
Chopped tomatoes, for garnish
Lime wedges, for garnish
Sour cream or Greek yogurt, for garnish
Shredded colby jack cheese, for garnish
Instructions
In slow cooker, stir together salsa, chicken, broth and chili powder. Cook for 3 1/2 hours on HIGH or for 7 1/2 hours on LOW.
Transfer chicken to cutting board and coarsely shred; return to slow cooker. Stir in beans, rice and corn. Cook for 30 minutes on HIGH, or until rice is cooked through.
Serve garnished with avocado, cilantro, onion, tomatoes, limes, sour cream and cheese.
Notes
Dairy foods like milk, yogurt and cheese are on hand in many kitchens and provide nutrients people of all ages need to grow and maintain strong bodies and minds. These Slow Cooker Chicken Burrito Bowls combine dairy with chicken, beans, corn and rice + colorful garnishes for a meal you can set in the slow cooker at the beginning of the day and serve whenever hunger strikes that evening.
Has a cop ever said something to you which was completely unexpected?
I lost a jury trial once that involved my client and another allegedly shooting a man at night in an apartment complex parking lot. A DVR with a video of the shooting was retrieved by the police as evidence. The DVR was returned to the manager wiped clean.
At trial, the victim identified both defendants as the culprits. He explained that both came within 10 feet of him while he was getting something from his car and he saw them clearly when the shots were fired. He knew them from previous run-ins and described their clothing and the gun in detail. The lead detective said nothing of value was found on the DVR. The Defendants offered weak alibi witnesses, i.e. a girlfriend and a mother.
The jury convicted both men and each received sentences of 20+ years. My guy was a habitual offender and was going to serve his sentence day for day.
After approximately a month into their sentence, I was doing a jail visit on another case. Another Detective, not on the case in question, came to where I was and asked to speak with me.
To my complete and utter surprise, he stated he couldn’t sit by and let the two Defendants do time for something they didn’t do. He sent a video to my phone showing the parking lot and the shooting. He had videotaped it on his phone when the DVR was at the police station. It clearly showed only one suspect with different clothing and a larger size discharging a firearm while the victim was reaching for something in his car with his back turned. He told me he didn’t want to be identified as the source and didn’t want anyone to get in trouble. I was so grateful for his action, I agreed to his terms and immediately called the other attorney, whereupon we gave the video to the Prosecutor and the Judge. I’ve never seen two men released as quickly from prison. I understand the City may have settled a civil suit in the matter a few months later but I was never called as a witness nor asked to reveal my source. To this day, I have nothing but respect for the officer who came forward.
What was the strangest thing you found cleaning out your parents’ house after they died?
My dad died in 1992, he was 58. I was crushed. While looking around the the finished basement in the house, opening random doors and cupboards, I found dad’s diaries. Nine years of them. He wrote something everyday. Even if it was “Nothing happened today.” His last entry was the day he died.
Finding these was so wildly out of the norm from every thing I knew about my dad I would have been less shocked to find a Playboy magazine under the Pope’s mattress.
A man can, and sometimes will, lie to anyone and everyone. But you don’t lie to your diary.
I learned all the dirty little secrets of my mother, brother and sister. I also learned dad’s true feelings about me.
He was proud of me. He knew at times I struggled. I was broke for a while. Eating in soup kitchens. I never asked for a penny. My brother and sister had their hand out every time they stubbed a toe. My mother…a messed up basket case.
It was a very revealing time. I miss dad. I don’t miss the rest of them. Only my sister is still around. We’re cordial but I haven’t seen her in a very long time. Of course, I live on the other side of the planet.
My dad was a good man who put up with a lifetime of shit exactly because of it.
What is the basis of China in their sovereignty claims on the West Philippine Sea?
China has no claims in the West Philippine Sea:
mapp2
The western edge of the Philippine Sea is the archipelago of the Philippines.
China does have, on the other hand, legitimate claims on the South China Sea that date back all the way to 1946, and were created by the Republic of China (the internationally recognized government of all of China at the time), along with the assistance of the US navy.
Oh, and while we’re at it, I think that I should remind you that at the time that the US was assisting the ROC in officially laying claims, the Philippines was still under US control. They explicitly told the Philippines that, according to the Treaty of Paris (1898), the islands of the South China Sea were not a part of the Philippines.
Are we seeing the end of US hegemony in the world?
Indeed, we are.
First of all, the USA is a global hegemon because it controls most other countries through the US Dollar’s dominance as the global reserve currency. The US Dollar has been weaponized to punish countries that refuse to obey US foreign policy with economic sanctions.
The USA is also a global hegemon because of its military power projection with over 850 military bases worldwide and 11 aircraft carrier battle groups. The USA has been exercising its military power through dozens of conflicts, most notably in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, and Yemen.
However, things are changing. The Global South is rising and pushing back on America’s nonsense. BRICS is helping the world to de-dollarize. This will weaken the US Dollar’s influence.
The USA also faces a crushing $35 trillion nation debt, which is growing by $1 trillion every 100 days. This is completely unsustainable and a massive financial collapse is imminent.
BREAKING: I’ve Received TOP SECRET INTEL, NUCLEAR PLAN HAS CHANGED, EQUIPMENT MOVES TO BORDER
I am closing this post with this…
What is the best excuse you have given to the police for speeding?
Once upon a time I drove from San Diego to Vegas a couple times a week for business. I hit snow over the first pass out of Vegas trying to get home before 12:00 noon. My car made it very easy to exceed the speed limit without realizing it. I got pulled over by a very angry officer who berated me for my carelessness. He repeatedly told me he didn’t want to hear ANY excuses! After about 3 minutes of his angry lecture during which I sat quietly awaiting my well deserved ticket he stopped and asked me why I wanted to die. I calmly answered, ‘sir, you just told me you didn’t want to hear any excuses, I’ll take my ticket now…I need to get to the next rest stop to use the bathroom.’ I got a police escort to the next rest stop. Once inside, I made sure to take enough time applying my makeup. I figured I escaped a ticket the least I could do was spend enough time in the bathroom to look nice if he was still waiting when I got out. One of the few times that being a woman worked to my advantage.
Russia Paints New Military Insignia on Invading Force – Same Symbol Used in Past Wars against . . . Khazaria
Russia has launched a new offensive into northeastern Ukraine, aimed at Kharkiv and Sumy regions. But the HUGE news about this isn’t the invasion itself, it’s the SYMBOL Russia is painting on this new force: ‘Rune of Gungnir’ — the spear of Odin.
Below some imagery of the symbol and its appearance on Russian military vehicles:
New Russian Military Symbol
Historically, the Varangian bogatyrs of Svyatoslav (Ancient Russia) marked their weapons & armor with such runes when they went to war against the Khazarian Khaganate.
There is now no longer any doubt, that Russia knows exactly who their enemy is.
For those unaware, a map of ancient Khazaria appears below:
Khazarian Khaganate
No other media outlet in the entire world, has made this connection. You got it here. First. Exclusively.
What is the most evil thing you have ever witnessed? It could be an event or a person.
I’m not going to talk about what I’ve seen on Dark Web. The things I saw on there I’m not going think about anymore.
But once I was in Walmart and saw a couple with a little boy of about six or seven. The boy was pushing the shopping cart looking happy and smiling, the couple looking not very cheerful. He accidently bumped the man in the back with the cart. He didn’t do it hard, just a bump. The man whirled around and shoved the cart so that the kid got hit full in the face. The look of shock and then the terrible hurt on this child’s face made me sick inside. He began to weep in the most pitiful way, in a way that my intuition told this was one of many times this man has been cruel to him.
So I’m standing there with my jaw dropped in disbelief and the kids mother met eyes with me and I shook my head in disgust. She was ashamed and dropped her gaze but all she did was pat the child’s back weakly while that asshole man looked pleased with himself. I saw everything I needed to see, what the dynamic was in this household, and my heart broke for this poor kid.
I considered saying something but the man met eyes with me too and his look was of sheer malevolence. He told me mind my damn business. He had this aura of crazy so I hate to admit I backed down. He looked like someone who would enjoy any opportunity to use it on someone.
Project 8200 Exposed | CIA Psychics Find Alien Bases Underground
I keep coming back and rewatching this episode and this is probably the best episode of the Why files ever!
During the period of time while I was taking care of my mother while she had Cancer, we got to spend a lot of time together. I would take care of the estate, and eat meals with her. She wasn’t lonely because I was there, and I was always there to help her if she had a medical emergency.
During our time together we would watch television such as FOX news, “Unsolved Mysteries”, COPS and other shoes that were popular at the time. She would drink a whiskey, and I would drink a beer and we would go ahead and talk.
She related to me many stories and familial lore that was long hidden from us kids. later on, when she died, and I was staying with my father (after prison) he too told me stories from his side of the family. Gosh. Good thing they kept us kids sheltered.
What a bunch of skullduggery!
I’ll tell you what.
My maternal grandmother was quite the charmer in the day. She was a dancer and had an hourglass figure, in many ways resembling Mae West of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania.
She would date the powerful men of the city, and ride around with rather powerful and dangerous men.
She was quite the “dame of the days”.
Pictures of her suggest a lively life in the “Roaring 20’s”, where she was spending her youth partying and carousing. Wearing flapper attire and rain galoshes. With various handsome men of the day.
Yet she ended up in a rented tenement, in the lower income section of Pittsburgh in her retirement years.
What happened?
Times change. Things are fleeting.
I only wish that I could say this to some of those “Only Fans” girls that think that somehow they are on the fast-track to a great life though social media porn. It’s not what you think. Do not discard what you have no, on a lie that might not ever appear.
I wish I could say this.
But me, you, and none of my readers have the kind of clout or popularity to send this message out to the Only Fans masses.
And when she died. . . Her struggles and stories died with her.
Do not be like her; Sharing a tenement house with a man on the “other side of the tracks” with a broken television set that only got three channels.
Fun in the youth, followed up with a slow downward glide.
That is NOT the way to manage a life-line.
You want to live a life where your last minutes are with you screaming in glee, and sliding in sideways to a goal that you just obtained. I’ll tell you what.
Today…
Have you ever told off another person’s child? What for?
My son had a problem with a neighborhood bully when he was about ten. The bully wanted to be best friends with my son’s best friend. My son stood in the way.
My son came home after being at the bully’s house–WITH THE BULLY’S MOTHER RIGHT THERE–with all kinds of bruises and scrapes. He got thrown into shrubbery, punched, etc.
His mother, to whom I spoke, denied that there was a problem, even though my son AND HIS FRIEND told us the bully had been responsible.
I did nothing more until my son called me one Saturday. He was supposed to be at a pool party to celebrate his friend’s birthday, but when I heard him, he sounded very depressed. He said he’d left the party and walked home, because the bully had gone after him.
I told him I was stopping at the party.
I did. And there was the bully, bullying other kids at the pool.
I told him to get out of the pool. He blustered, “ What did I do? I didn’t do anything.”
And I SCREAMED at him, “GET OUT OF THE POOL NOW!”
He did, and I took him to one side.
I never touched him. I told him, “I never want you going near my son again. I never want you to talk to him or go near him ever. And if I find out that you ever did–I WILL MAKE YOUR LIFE NOT WORTH LIVING. DO. YOU. UNDERSTAND?”
He saw the look on my face. He was half a head taller than me and fifty pounds heavier, but at that moment–I WAS DANGEROUS.
He said he understood. He said he wouldn’t go near my son. He promised. I let him go back to the party.
For some strange reason, we never had a problem with him after that…
INVESTIGATORS FOILED A MASSIVE terrorist-grade attack on Hong Kong involving bombs, US firearms, and a sniper, it will be revealed this week.
A lot of information regarding the CIA and the color revolution that it attempted in Hong Kong in 2019.
The assault was designed to cause multiple casualties and major destruction in Wan Chai, a densely populated area on Hong Kong island. The main target was police officers, but the ultimate aim was to create enough chaos to overthrow the government. The attack, planned for 8 December 2019, was part of a long program of attacks by masked, pro-violence protester groups known as “valiants”. The plan was foiled by Hong Kong police hours before it was implemented. . . .
TRAINED OVERSEAS
A few details of the murderous operation, known as Dragon Slayer, emerged in earlier court hearings, but the full shocking story is set to be made public as a series of court hearings begins this week. The case confirms widespread claims by Hong Kong people that violent protesters were paid for what they did—and includes clear evidence that activists were trained overseas in creating bombs, use of firearms, street fighting techniques, and “terrorist ideology”. Before the date of the planned attack, front line protesters had been flown to Taiwan for training. The story of the failed Wan Chai bombing is not in dispute. Ringleaders have agreed with the facts as presented by the prosecution and pleaded guilty to all charges. But others have not, which means a court case will begin this week focusing on additional participants. . . .
BACKGROUND:
In 2019, a US group called Open Technology Fund (a spin-off from Radio Free Asia, a US government “news” unit originally set up by CIA), offered Hong Kong’s anti-China activists use of a special “secure node” in the city. This enabled them to exchange information on the Telegram website in a way that would be hard for law enforcement to penetrate. OTF also arranged for a large amount of funds – Time magazine reported that it was US$2 million – to be earmarked for Hong Kong activists. During that period, many anti-China activists moved their discussions and planning operations to the Telegram website. In August of 2019, on a Telegram channel called Dragonteam, two men, Wong Chun-keung and Ng Chi-hung, put together a plan to create a group called the Dragon Slaying Brigade. (The elite team of the Hong Kong police is nicknamed the dragon squad.) The plan was to kill as many police officers as they could, and create enough mayhem to bring down the government. Eventually, three different groups of violent protesters, united in the scheme. The operation had plenty of funds, with a budget of HK$4 million (US$1.79 million) from various sources, listed as “from crowdsourcing”. As many Hong Kong people noted at the time, the protests were awash with cash from several directions. . . .
ATTACK ON WAN CHAI
The key stages of the plan went as follows: 1) Plotters first exploited the fact that Hong Kong is far more generous with protest permits than other places, including western countries such as UK. Despite more than 80 protests having turned violent, they confidently applied for permits for a December 8 march from Victoria Park in Causeway Bay to travel through Wan Chai. 2) Behind the scenes, international connections were made: it is not clear how. Ng and at least five other protesters flew to Taiwan for 13 days of training in explosives, use of firearms and other military-style operations. Participants received cash. It is not clear whether the trainers were from Taiwan, US or a mixture. The US has admitted to having military trainers on the island for some years, in defiance of the previously agreed status quo. 3) After the Hong Kong government predictably granted permits, the plotters created a pair of bombs, to be lightly buried about 50 meters apart, in spaces on the central divider of Hennessy Road in Wan Chai. The targets were not the protesters, but police who would typically go ahead to make sure traffic was clear for the main body of marchers. 4) Using a classic terrorism technique, the first bomb would go off, causing surviving police officers to retreat to a safe distance—and then a second, larger bomb would be detonated at the location to which they had fled. 5) A sniper with AR-15 automatic assault rifle, and other gunmen with pistols, would be stationed at the windows or rooftops of adjacent buildings. They would shoot any surviving police officers. 6) Another Dragon Slayer crew, at ground level, would steal police weapons from the holsters of downed officers. 7) A further team would lob pre-prepared petrol bombs into all shops and restaurants in the area which were owned by mainlanders, or believed to lean politically to the “blue” (China-friendly) side. 8) All participants would be masked, and then would melt away into Wan Chai. 9) The ultimate aim was to create enough chaos to bring down the government, or achieve “regime change” to use the political term for this type of action. . . .
ANTI-TERRORISM ACTION
In the event, Hong Kong police managed to penetrate several Telegram discussion groups, and succeeded in making arrests before any of the bombs were set off. They also found guns and in one location, 106 rounds of ammunition. At a hearing in February this year, the ringleaders admitted a joint count of conspiracy to commit the bombing of prescribed objects under the United Nations (Anti-Terrorism Measures) Ordinance. But a number of other defendants not guilty to charges linked to the same case—and that’s the trial that starts this week. More details will emerge.
2.Waking up and feeling like you’ve had enough sleep.
3.Lying on grass in the summertime.
4.The first bite of a meal when you’re really hungry.
5.Watching trees dance in the wind.
6.Taking your feet off the pedals cycling down a big hill.
7.Hearing raindrops from your warm bed.
8.Looking up while walking through a new city.
9.A snowflake landing on your tongue.
10.Finding money in the pocket of a coat you haven’t worn in a while.
11.Getting into a freshly made bed after a long day.
12.Kicking a pile of autumn leaves.
13.Thinking something is going to break but at the last second you catch it.
14.Tucking pyjamas into your socks.
15.Sitting on a dock watching the sunset.
16.Seeing an older couple holding hands.
17.Not setting an alarm clock.
18.An extra-long hug from an old friend.
19.All the optimism a new year brings.
20.Hiding under a tree from a summer rain shower.
You Now Need A Government License To Own A Chicken… (NO JOKE!) 6 Months Prison Sentence!!!
They are gradually banning self sufficiency…
Which single sentence can break most people?
There is one sentence I remember that haunts me even to this day.
———————————-
So, my wife finally told me that she was seeing someone else.
it hurt.
“I’m seeing another guy…”
Damn. You think this is the one right?
WRONG.
—
Fast forward a month.
She came to grab her stuff from the house.
The Boyfriend also came to the house.
The house that she and I built a life together in.
I told him that I didn’t want him in the house.
I told him to stay outside and I would leave the door open if he wanted.
But I told her that he was not allowed in the house.
It was the last sanctuary I had left.
I didn’t want it defiled.
“He is coming inside, whether you like it or not. He is with me.”
He walked inside the house.
Didn’t even care to take off his shoes.
You think this one is the one right?
WRONG.
—
As she is packing her stuff, I threw away my pride.
I threw away my ego.
I plead her to rethink the divorce.
I told her that I would forgive her for cheating.
I would forgive her for everything.
I told her how I felt and that it was all my fault and I just wanted her back.
I told her I would promise to be a better man.
“No. I don’t want to think about it anymore. I’m done.”
You think this is the one right?
WRONG.
—
I was so hurt that she said that, I felt like time stopped.
I probably stopped breathing for a good minute.
When I came to, I was numb.
I was so numb, even I started to pack her things.
I was a robot.
Just going through the motions.
After she packed the last of her things and left… she looked at me in the eyes.
She said the one thing that made me not believe in love anymore.
She said the one thing that finally made me understand that the relationship was no longer.
She said: “Did I break you enough yet?”
I felt my stomach go to my throat.
The colors in the world disappeared.
My world crumbled.
As she closed the door, I heard her drive off in the car I gave her.
I sat on the couch.
I stared at the floor for a good hour before I could comprehend what she said.
“DID I BREAK YOU ENOUGH YET?”
This. This is what broke me.
————————————————–
That’s the gist of it.
Women Over 30+ Who Have Hit The Wall Are Desperate With Drizzle, Drizzle. | The Wall
Has the Huawei Pura70 Series ascended as the pioneering force in the smartphone industry, distinguished by its supply chain paradigm that leverages an almost exclusive reliance on components procured from within China?
Pura70 is Huawei’s latest smartphone, and it is considered a milestone in the P series.
He was originally supposed to be called P70, but they decided to start with a new name.
huawei2
The brand-new name Pura70 is well-deserved for this mobile phone, and it is a new cost for Huawei.
Half a year ago, I answered a question about Huawei Mate60. I think Mate60 is a landmark event for Huawei’s return as king under US sanctions. 90% of the supply chain of Mate60 mobile phones comes from Chinese companies, and they no longer rely on American technology. This is the first time in the history of human industry that a single country has completed the entire industrial chain of a high-end smartphone.
What’s the most unforgettable heartbreak you’ve experienced in your life?
When I was in high school, my boyfriend called me on a school night asking me to go out to eat. I had a test the next day, so my mother wouldn’t allow me to go. The next morning, as I was eating breakfast while listening to the radio, I heard the news that my boyfriend had died in a car accident. He lost control of his Volkswagen and crashed into a hydro pole. My mother was sitting beside me at the time. Apparently my face instantly turned white, and I started to shake uncontrollably. I spent the rest of the day in bed. The first time I saw John laid out in his casket was surreal. I felt like I was in a fog. The people around me seemed far away, and their voices were a blur. I could not accept that my boyfriend was dead, and I would be left without him. He looked like he was sleeping, and I kept waiting for him to open his eyes. The hardest part was at his grave, when his coffin was lowered into the ground. I completely lost my composure and cried out his name, weeping uncontrollably. It took me a long time to come to terms with John’s death. He was a comedian at heart, always making me laugh. I saw his grinning face everywhere. Going back to school after his funeral was so heart wrenching. I would think I saw him in the hallways and the cafeteria. Our mutual friends just didn’t know what to do or say. I felt so alone. I will never forget John, but I gradually recovered from losing him. Time does heal heartache.
Heartwarming
Why did Chinese chip stocks rally following Huawei’s launch of the Mate 60 Pro phone?
Do you know the semiconductor sanctions that Huawei has suffered in the past three years? It’s a pity that we can’t buy this mobile phone here. It is the first mobile phone in the world that directly supports satellite phones.
This will definitely be an industrial product that will be recorded in history. This means that in the past three years, all companies around the world have not been allowed to sell 5G-related semiconductors to Huawei as long as these semiconductors contain American technology.
All companies around the world are not allowed to help Huawei produce semiconductors, as long as your production process contains American technology. You know, semiconductor is a global division of labor industry.
The technology in this industry has always been global cooperation, and there is no semiconductor production and design company in any country that does not contain American technology. Such sanctions can directly shock companies like Apple and Samsung.
They originally thought Huawei would also collapse. But Mate60 was released. After 3 years, they released a new 5G mobile phone again. This is not just as simple as a mobile phone. This is a huge technical chain that requires the participation of hundreds of companies with different specialties. In the past, this required the mutual cooperation of multiple countries, and no country could do it alone. But now the Chinese have done it.
Maybe not top notch, but they really did it. This means that Chinese companies can make advanced semiconductors (maybe not state-of-the-art) without relying on American technology. This is a historic event in the global semiconductor industry. It means that China’s semiconductor industry chain has made a comprehensive breakthrough. Note that I used the word industry chain. To manufacture a slice of advanced semiconductors requires the participation of many companies and industries.
From EDA software, to the cultivation of silicon wafers, chip and framework design, high-purity chemicals, laser devices, lithography machines, etching machines, packaging equipment, and testing technologies. Chinese people often use the term “shooting oneself in the foot”.
Now I can fully understand the meaning of this sentence. Under the pressure of the Americans, the Chinese took three years to complete the independence of the entire semiconductor industry chain. They have gone from 0 to 1, or even from 0 to 10, and the remaining 90 points are just a matter of time. It can be predicted that ten years later, China’s semiconductor industry will crush its peers around the world through its own scale and cost advantages. No one can sanction them because they do it all themselves, from sand to chips.
In fact, the task completed by Mate60 is not perfect. This phone still uses memory chips from Korean suppliers and electronic parts from Japanese suppliers. Although they are not critical parts, this means that it does not achieve the goal 100%.
huawei1
The phone is equipped with a retractable lens and its mechanical precision is comparable to that of a Swiss watch
Many media are still questioning whether Huawei can produce advanced semiconductors on a large scale and sustainably? Some people even say that their chips are removed from old mobile phones.
Some media have questioned whether Koreans are secretly helping Huawei manufacture mobile phones because Korean memory chips were found on the Mate60.
Now, Pura70 makes all these doubts meaningless. Some anxious media dismantled the phone into parts and put them under a microscope. They found that this phone uses a brand new SOC chip: Kirin 9010. This is only half a year after the release of Kirin 9000s on Mate60. The single-core performance of this chip has improved by at least 15%-20%, which is very close to the latest products of Qualcomm and Apple.
At the same time, those Japanese and Korean parts on the Mate60 are missing. Memory chips, cameras, visual sensors, fingerprint sensors and other accessories have also been completely replaced by Chinese companies.
In a sense, Pura70 is a mobile phone that is truly 100% made in China. This not only includes all key semiconductors and peripheral parts, but also parts in professional fields such as screens and lenses. At the same time, the operating system of this mobile phone is also independent of Android and IOS.
Based on the sales of MATE60, the media predicts that the sales of Pura70 may exceed 10 million units. This is a figure evaluated when Huawei is unable to sell mobile phones outside of China.
Pura70 has triggered queues in many big cities in China. Although the phone sells for as high as 1,000-1,500 US dollars, many young people still think it is cool to own a Pura70.
This also means that this is the world’s first top-end smartphone that is “completely unrelated to Western technology” and it has already achieved significant success in the market.
From a professional’s perspective, the launch and large-scale supply of Pura70 proves that China’s high-end electronics manufacturing and semiconductor manufacturing industries have gradually separated from the US system. Huawei is just the company at the forefront. Behind it are hundreds of China’s advanced electronic technology suppliers. Behind these suppliers are thousands of second-tier and third-tier suppliers. They can operate completely independently from U.S. global sanctions and restrictions.
This gives the world a new reminder: Advanced technology is not always in the hands of the West. When you are unwilling to share or even use technology as a weapon, people will always find other paths.
MASSIVE NEWS: China Is Building Giant Hypersonic Railgun For Space Launches
What is the strangest medical thing that has happened to you?
Approximately ten years ago, I was doing an open house (I’m a Realtor). I had a tiny whitehead under my nose, and I could hardly see it, but I just scratched it off. Throughout the day, it started swelling, and by the end of the day, it was a large swollen bump that was bright red, but there was no head, so I could not drain it.
When I got home, the side of my face was swollen. I went to the doctor, and they gave me a shot in my hip to bring down the swelling, but it didn’t work. I went home, and it got worse. I went to bed, and my face continued to swell, and by morning, it had swollen so much that my skin was stretched and shiny.
My husband took me into emergency because it had swollen up to my forehead, cheeks, and now the other side. My skin was so tight and shiny that I was getting scared. The doctor checked it and started talking about sending me to another doctor. I panicked and thought he meant later in the week. I started crying and begged him not to send me away. He smiled and said…. don’t worry, don’t worry, we are dealing with this today. He was so sweet about it. He said I’m sending you to get It lanced and drained. I was quickly taken to a surgeon who lanced the inside of my cheek and drained it. I left with medication, and it went completely away in a couple of days.
To this day, I still don’t know what it was, but I thought I remember someone saying it was MRSA. I don’t know, but I hope it never happens again. It scared me.
What bad experience had you saying “I will never buy from that company or use their service ever again”?
A couple months before I turned 8 years old, my dad ordered his first new car, after 25 years of driving used vehicles. It was a big event for a family of modest means. My parents wanted a Ford station wagon and my Mom wanted the maroon color which was supposedly offered. Days after ordering it, they called to say our car had come in. When I went to the dealer with my Dad to watch him pick it up, the salesmen drove up to us in a TAN wagon. “But we asked for MAROON!” Dad objected.
The salesman didn’t miss a beat, saying “You didn’t expect to get the color you ordered, did you?” as he tried to complete the sale. Even at the age of 7, I knew this was an absurd thing to say. My Dad might have accepted it but wisely went home to talk it over with Mom, who firmly stated that she didn’t want the car if it wasn’t what we ordered. So, another dealer got our business. Over 50 years later I still won’t buy from the dealership that employed the sarcastic salesman who tried to make my Dad feel like a fool. (But instead looked like one himself.)
China’s supply chain dominance means the Inflation Reduction Act is already dead.
The raw data tells a wild story. Must watch.
Have you ever given someone a bad reference when an employer called you and asked about them?
Many years ago, I owned a Computer Store in a small town. One day I got a call from the local school district office. I had done work for them in the past and knew a few people that worked there. They were looking to hire a full-time computer technician and were checking someone’s references. I thought this was a bit strange since my staff consisted of me and my wife. And I knew she hadn’t applied for a job.
When they mentioned the name, I laughed out loud. I said, “No, he never worked for me, and let me tell you a story.”
“Several months ago, he called me after hours about an emergency that he had with his computer and could I come in and fix it. After some pleading, I agreed and told him to meet me at the store but that my basic charge was $50.
After a few minutes diagnostic, I discovered a fairly basic mistake that he had made in building it, which took me about 20 minutes to fix. I charged him $50, and he complained and tried to talk me down, but eventually, he wrote me a check. A few days, later, I went to cash the check, and it bounced.
[The reason I remember this guy so well is because this was a small town, and people didn’t write bad checks. I had never gotten a bad check, EVER. Except for his.]
Now, I have no $50 and a check return fee -$20. I wasn’t going to let him get away with that, so I called his bank every day, asking if his account could cover it. A couple of weeks later, there were enough funds in his account. So, I immediately drove to his bank (which was about 20 minutes away) and cashed the check. A week later he called me to complain that I had caused a different check of his to bounce. “
So, no, he never worked for me and I’m not sure how competent a computer repair person he is. And He lied on his application. Any other questions?
1. Never cry for the person that hurts you. Just smile and say,
“Thank you for giving me the chance to have someone better than you.
2. Don’t hate jealous people. They are jealous because they thinks you are better than them.
3. Don’t waste your time on revenge. Those who hurt you will eventually face their own karma.
4. Don’t tell anyone about your plans, show them the result instead.
5. There is no market for your emotions, so don’t advertise your feelings. Show only your attitude.
6. Don’t give up. Your day will come. It’s just a matter of time.
7. If you help someone and expect anything in return. of you foes, you’re doing a business not kindness.
8. Trust means everything, but once it’s broken, sorry means nothing.
9. Always remember that your present situation is not your final destination. The best is yet to come.
10. Never leave a true relationship for few faults. Nobody is perfect and no one is always correct. At the end, you will discover that affection is greater than perfection.
11. Don’t attend a funeral just to let people know how you cared for a person. Show them how much you cared about them when they are alive.
12. Don’t make a promise out of joy. And don’t take a decision out of sadness.
13. Don’t expect loyalty from people that can not give you honesty.
14. Don’t give up. The beginning is always the hardest.
15. You will not know the value of a moment until you lose it. Value the moments you have before they become a memory.
16. Lastly, APPRECIATION remains the easiest way of getting what you don’t have….After reading a good message try to say “Thanks for the message”.
Taco Chili
One of Lincoln’s very favorite foods right now is tacos. If you ask him what he wants for dinner, 100% of the time he’ll tell you tacos. Ben gets a little sick of having the same thing every week though, so I thought I’d switch things up with Taco Chili!
I know, I know – living on the edge – but the second thing Lincoln will tell you he wants for dinner after tacos is soup or chili so this meal is a win-win at my house. Each spoonful of Taco Chilitastes like a big bite of a taco, but since it’s thick and hearty it’s perfect for this time of year when you need a dish that will warm you up on chilly (har) nights.
Taco Chili Crock Pot Friendly iowagirleats 01 srgb
Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients
1 1/2 to 2 pounds lean ground beef
1/2 cup (1 medium) onion, chopped
1 (1 1/4 ounce) package taco seasoning mix
2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
1 (10 ounce) can Ro*Tel
1 (16 ounce) can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 (5 ounce) can chili beans in chili sauce
1 cup frozen whole kernel corn
Shredded mozzarella, Monterey Jack or Cheddar cheese
Slightly crushed tortilla chips
Taco Chili Crock Pot Friendly iowagirleats 02 srgb
Instructions
In a large skillet, cook ground beef and onion, one-half at a time, until meat is browned and onion is tender. Drain off fat.
Transfer to a 3 1/2 or 4 quart slow cooker.
Stir in dry taco seasoning mix, diced tomatoes, diced tomatoes with green chiles, pinto beans, chili beans in chili sauce and corn.
Cover; cook on LOW for 8 to 10 hours or on HIGH for 4 to 5 hours.
Sprinkle each serving with some cheese and chips.
Taco Chili Crock Pot Friendly iowagirleats 03 srgb
What has a car salesperson said to you that resulted in you immediately leaving?
You fellows don’t want to buy a car today.
Years ago I decided that being a young stud that I wanted a Mustang, maybe it should be said I needed a Ford Mustang but I’m also cheap so I’d figured I’d buy a used one. I also had a dad who loved to dicker especially when it came to cars, so he came up to the city I was living in and off we went to go car shopping.
We looked at a few, finally found one at a used car lot. We had talked about what I wanted to pay and so we started the dance. The salesman opened the hood and showed us the engine and everything else. He gave us a price, we gave a counter bid, he went to his manager, you know the game. Came back out, a lower offer, we talked over and counter offered. This went on for a couple rounds. Did I mention I was cheap and so was my dad?
Finally the salesman came up, slammed down the hood and said, ‘You fellows don’t want to buy a car today.’ We went down the street, found Avis and bought one a year newer with less mileage, and my dad told me after we left, ‘Do you think we should go back and tell him we bought a car today?’ God, I miss that man!
Thanks Sarah for the edits. I’m a paramedic not an English major or minor.
I’d like to thank all you kind folks who have read and upvoted this story. My dad would have got a hoot out of how many people have enjoyed it.
Fast Food Customers HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF THE HIGH PRICES!
What are the most horrible words you’ve ever heard?
“She’s already gone.”
I was sixteen years old and my best friend in the world, Rachel, had just turned sixteen and gotten her driver’s license.
We had been inseparable for years. Youth group trips, summer camp, swapping clothes, obsessing over crushes…she had her own bedroom at my house but we always pulled out sleeping bags and camped in mine.
I saw my first ever rock video on MTV at her house – “Vogue” by Madonna. We wanted to be Madge when we grew up.
Our theme song was “Don’t Worry Be Happy” and we would sing it to each other whenever one of us was upset.
We planned on having a double wedding; we would be each other’s maids of honor in our wedding dresses, which we spent hours obsessing over.
One Sunday morning she was driving to church by herself when she had a brain aneurysm rupture. Her car hit a telephone pole head-on after she lost consciousness.
I was helping with children’s church when I heard she had been rushed to the hospital. The prognosis was bad.
Very bad.
Rachel spent three days in a coma. I spent every second I could at the hospital, though they wouldn’t let me into the ICU to see her.
There was a special prayer circle called on Tuesday evening to pray for her recovery.
I was in that prayer circle when someone came in and said the words.
Rachel was gone.
How could that be?? She literally died while dozens of people were holding hands in a circle, begging God to save her.
A world without my best friend was impossible to comprehend.
Curled up in a ball under a crib in the church’s nursery, I sobbed.
I railed at God – he had broken our bargain. Rachel was so good, her faith so strong…we had all prayed so hard…this isn’t how it was supposed to be!
My heart broke that day and still has a hole where Rachel used to live.
That was also when the faith I had held so dear all my life started to fracture. The split took another five years to complete, but it started that Tuesday night under a baby bed.
Some AI generated Pictures
Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 1(21)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 0(21)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 1(20)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 0(20)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 3(13)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 2(20)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 1(19)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 0(19)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 3(12)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 2(19)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 1(18)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 0(18)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 3(11)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 2(18)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 3(10)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 1(17)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 0(17)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 2(17)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 1(16)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 0(16)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 3(9)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 2(16)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 1(15)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 0(15)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 3(8)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 2(15)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 1(14)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 0(14)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 3(7)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 2(14)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 1(13)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 0(13)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 3(6)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 2(13)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 1(12)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 0(12)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 3(5)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 2(12)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 1(11)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 0(11)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 3(4)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 2(11)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 1(10)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 0(10)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 3(3)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 2(10)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 1(9)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 0(9)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 3(2)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 2(9)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 1(8)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 0(8)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 3(1) (copy)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 2(8)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 1(7)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 0(7)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 3 (copy)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 2(7)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 0(6)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 2(6)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 1(6)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 2(5)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 0(5)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 1(5)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 0(4)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 2(4)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 1(4)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 0(3)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 2(3)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 1(3)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 0(2)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 2(2)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 1(2)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 0(1) (copy)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 2(1) (copy)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 1(1) (copy)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 0 (copy)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 2 (copy)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 1 (copy)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 1(1)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 0(1)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 3(1)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 2(1)Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 1Default A 1950s era pinup In the opulent 1950s golden age of i 0
The Israeli attack on Iranian diplomatic premises in Damascus was a clear violation of the Vienna Convention. No one disputed it. The Israeli justification that militia meetings were held there does not change this fact.
The Iranian response to this attack, whatever one thinks of it, is therefore legitimate with regard to Article 51 of the United Nations Charter. No one should dispute that. Remarks that Iran did not have the right to send aircraft through third-party airspace do not change this fact. Yet the UN Security Council has failed to agree to condemn the Israeli attack in Syria. It was also unable to judge the Iranian response.
The speeches no longer come from the legal sphere, but from the political one.
Thus, outside the UN Security Council, the Office of Argentine President Javier Milei “expressed its solidarity and unwavering commitment to the Israeli State following the attacks by the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Argentine Republic recognizes the right of Nation States to defend themselves and firmly supports the Israeli State in defending its sovereignty, in particular against regimes that encourage terror and seek to destroy Western civilization.”
The prize for confusion goes without any doubt to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen who declared on X: “I strongly condemn Iran’s blatant and unjustifiable attack on Israel. And I call on Iran and its proxies to immediately stop these attacks. All actors must now refrain from any further escalation and work to restore stability in the region.” High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell added: “The EU strongly condemns the unacceptable Iranian aggression against the Jewish state. This is an unprecedented escalation and a serious threat to regional security.”
For his part, deputy permanent representative of Russia to the UNSC Dmitri Polyanskiy posted on Telegram: “Once again we are convinced that the cynicism of our Western colleagues and their selective blindness knows no bounds. Now, they don’t even remember that they refused to prevent escalation by not supporting our proposed draft UN Security Council press statement condemning the Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate. As was the case with the beginning of our military defense in Ukraine, the history for them begins with the Iranian retaliation. And the Israelis predictably escalate in their signature manner: Israel is the victim, everyone else is to blame (…) And now this Franco-Saxon-Natanyakha gang will begin to rock the region, blaming Iran for all its sins. Haven’t we already seen all this before?”
Have you ever had a job where you did nothing for years and nobody found out?
Not me but my wife. She graduated with her bachelor’s in 2010, during the time that certain degrees were all but worthless and finding a job was tough to say the least. She ended up taking a job at a small makeup boutique that her friend’s wealthy parents owned.
This store was literally a ploy by her friend’s parents to keep her in town by giving her a project. She lost interest in about a month and her parents were locked into the property for several years, so they had to keep the store open. They offered my wife the manager position which she was happy to take.
The store was literally five minutes from an Ulta, so saying they didn’t do well was an understatement. The owners also refused to adequately restock their inventory, so the few potential customers they could have had quickly gave up after a few visits being unable to find what they needed.
After the first six months, they frequently had days with zero sales and not a single customer through the doors. Luckily for my wife, they had the computer that rung up sales Connected to the Internet with completely unrestricted access. for 7 hours a day, five days a week, she would be on Facebook, play online games, read articles, and generally waste time. For the first hour she would clean and do pull over from the night before, but stopped bothering to do inventory after the first few inventory replenishment requests to the owners went ignored.
She worked there for 18 months total before leaving. Later one of her former coworkers told her that the owners with no warning shut the place down and emptied the store out in the middle of the night, not bothering to tell the employees until they showed up the next day that they were out of a job. I understand that they were trying to save money on the labor and utility costs by closing, but giving zero warning was cowardly and unethical.
Why are most Nigerian graduates unemployable?
I’ll tell you a story.
There’s this girl who aced all her subjects in secondary school.
Not just acing but award-worthy educational success.
She was so good that at her Junior Secondary 3 (JSS 3) level, she was solving mathematical problems from Senior Secondary 1 & 2 (SS 1 & 2) curriculum.
1st Mistake
She loved Maths & computers but was admitted into the university to study Geology.
Today, she still thinks she would have been a statistics wizard if she’d been allowed to just study Math or Engineering. You know – subjects where she doesn’t have to always cram some qualitative garbage but provide quantitative solutions.
2nd Mistake
When she got into the university, she realized she didn’t have to study very hard. Very few people were bothering to anyway. She was extremely smart & could hold her own but it became easier to combine intellectual efforts with other students at assignments, tests & final exams.
The system allowed it.
All her friends did it so, why fight it?
3rd Mistake
While at school, no one ever taught her how to write a résumé or successfully approach interviews.
She, just like everyone around her wanted a good life but the system pretty much set them up to fail.
When she graduated, she met a professional at an international oil & gas company who asked her what she wanted to do in life & to explain her undergraduate degree experience but she was not prepared for that.
She gave answers which were weak, mostly incoherent, lacked precision or clarity.
She’d never thought of herself in that light.
The internet wasn’t readily accessible back then so she was pretty much left on her own with her fellow ignorant peers.
She also had a great & supportive family who she leaned on.
Luckily for her, she got some mentors, then left the country for her masters degree.
At 1st, she struggled at her Canadian university.
Correcting her 2nd mistake
She had to actually learn all those skills & resources she didn’t bother with back in Nigeria due to combined students’ efforts.
She had to read all those textbooks she never bothered with in her Nigerian university in order to excel at her program.
Correcting her 3rd mistake
She also met lecturers whose method of teaching was about empowering students to run with their ideas.
It wasn’t about multiple choice questions but making a case of why Case A is better/worse than Case B.
It made her actually think for the 1st time in her life. She learned how to make great presentations. It was a confidence boost. It was exhilarating!
She learned about plagiarism which is a very despicable thing. She also learned about self-development, professional development & presentations.
She learned it was ok to make decisions, make mistakes & then learn from them.
She became comfortable working alone & also with a team. She learned the power of independence.
She was a different person.
She became more confident about her thoughts & ideas. No one laughs at her mistakes nor condemns her for them.
Her bosses don’t care about always being right or barking orders at those under them. Team contributions is crucial, encouraged & needed.
Everybody is equal. No one feared anyone. It was a healthy environment. She was valued. She freely runs her program the way she sees fit.
This is my story.
There’s no correcting my 1st mistake. If I ever do, I’ll tell a story about it.
If you read this, you’d understand how the Nigerian system encourages laziness & might discourage talent because of envy or pride.
Many Nigerian graduates are victims of their own underdeveloped & redundant society.
Maybe with the internet, a few might self-improve. Otherwise, they’re unemployable because there’s very few people to teach them better.
Note to any Nigerian student reading this – don’t take the easy way out. Read not just to pass your examinations but to actually know.
You’d be truly a better person & student for it.
Good luck!
Chinese treatment for Blinkin and Janet Yelen
No red carpet, and met by Kong Fu-An, Director General of the Shanghai Foreign Affairs Office, at the tarmac.
My understanding is the head of a province-level Foreign Affairs Office counts as a Bureau Chief, or a Level 5, Rank 11–12 Civil Servant.
This is one step below the welcome Olaf received when he landed in Chongqing.
Note both Janet and Antony did not land in Beijing directly, unlike the last time they were in town.
Most powerful finance minister in the world—meh.
Most powerful diplomat in the world—meh.
American Reacts to Getting Laid Off (Fired): USA vs. The Netherlands
What do you do when your kid says they want a tattoo?
When my daughter told me, I had her design her idea of the perfect tattoo no matter what it was or how big …anything. I reminded her it was forever and would never come off so she had to choose wisely. That was the first problem. She couldn’t decide. She had many good ideas but when the idea of “forever” came up she always changed her mind. When she finally came up with her final choice she still handed it to me with some trepidation. Second step was for me to take it to a tattoo artist, a good one, to get a quote. I showed my daughter the quote $1,200 that she would be required to pay for herself. Step three was a surprise to her. I took the artwork she gave me and sent it to a custom temporary tattoo maker that made long term tattoos. I had it made and applied it exactly where she wanted it. My daughter was thrilled for about a week. The tattoo clashed with some of her favorite clothes and it was too visible so she couldn’t hide it. It made her pretty, dainty prom dress look kinda cheap. Looked good with jeans and a tank top but she liked variety…bummer. People treated her differently and judged her before they knew her and it really bothered her. She started trying to hide it rather than show it off. Two months in she asked me for the special solution to take it off. I refused because “tattoos are forever.” She was angry but I reminded her she made her own choices now she had to live with them. It eventually wore off and when she became an adult I told her she should start saving for her tattoo. She thanked me for the “lesson” I gave her because now that she was older her tastes had changed and IF she ever decides to get one it will probably be small, likely just one color and someplace hidden. She is an adult now. She can do what she wants but at least I know she will think before she leaps and that is all I can ask for.
CCTV’s Spring Festival Gala has been consistently panned in recent years for lacking creativity and lowering standards, and this year was no exception.
However, one segment won almost universal praise on Chinese social media – 《山河詩長安》/Poem for the Landscape of Chang’an.
It is an excellent showcasing of Xi’an culture, both old and new, from Qin opera to Shaanxi hip hop. Chang’an (the historical name for Xi’an) was known as one of the greatest cities of the ancient world, and the capital city of various dynasties, most notably the Tang Dynasty.
Here’s the 6 minute video…
We see people making merry and enjoying local festivities, and historical characters such as the Tang poet Li Bai brought back to life with 3D technology. To hear people chanting ancient poems in unison, as the country enters the space age, had me awestruck.
main qimg ecbbef2eb633f8c8c0d8bab54bceb171
This is what China is – the only surviving ancient civilisation, its history as long as it is unbroken; a place where ancient traditions and memories still live on, rising from the ashes as peacefully as a civilisation possibly could, and is now leading the world into a bright and better future.
There are legends, poems and lessons here dating back thousands of years ago, that even the least educated Chinese person knows by heart, but would elude even the most dedicated western Sinologist.
(DON’T BOTHER WATCHING IT IF YOU CANNOT UNDERSTAND Chinese)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itw2GTN41P8
Contrast this to Taiwan/the Republic of China, where a local teacher went viral recently for protesting the Ministry of Education’s policy of de-Sinicisation. Under the new education reforms, students would be less exposed to Chinese history and culture, and less time would be allocated to the teaching of Chinese classics and poetry.
This is why I could never accept the neoliberal western narrative of Taiwan (ROC) being the “real China”. A regime that is truly legitimate in the eyes of the Chinese people, that truly has the best interests of the Yellow River civilisation at heart, that is truly representative of its people, would not so hastily abandon its heritage in an attempt to appeal to outsiders.
But when you force a people to abandon everything that defined who they are, the question becomes what to replace it with. In Taiwan’s case, attempts at westernisation and Japanisation have both been met with limited success, as have all other attempts at creating an independent “Taiwanese” national identity from scratch. As it turns out, you can’t just artificially create history and culture where before there was none.
This cynical historical nihilism, this dreadful feeling of emptiness and rootlessness, is devastating to the youth of “real China”. They don’t know who they are, what values to hold, where they truly belong, who and what to look up to, what to believe. Even conscription changes nothing – they know not for whom or what they fight (which is why they strongly reject mandatory military service).
At a time when the whole world is beginning to learn Chinese, Taiwan’s politically driven de-Sinicisation is not only counterproductive, but self-sabotaging.
I am glad that in the mainland at least, the best aspects of Chinese culture are being preserved and celebrated, contrary to public perception in certain parts of the world that once invaded, enslaved, slaughtered and stole from the Chinese nation, but now feign to care about our wellbeing.
main qimg d600d05b6e0f647172a183a507295672
Lemme give you an example of why I think it is important to hold on to the wisdom of our ancestors. This part of the Spring Festival Gala features one of Li Bai’s poems that is most fitting for our times. Here is an excerpt:
天生我材必有用，千金散盡還復來！
“The talents bestowed upon me shall certainly be of use; and so what if I have exhausted my fortune? It shall all come back to me!”
Times are tough, and I know many of you are having money problems or self esteem issues. But be confident in knowing that you are not worthless, just keep honing your skills and looking out for opportunities to prove yourself. And rest assured that a bad investment and such is not the end of the world. You will recover financially if you’re a bit more cautious in the future.
From Zhuhai to the world, may all of you have a great Year of the Dragon.
main qimg eac7b936de1ad290429ae0760614ca8f
Italian Sausage Soup
Italian Sausage Soup SpendWithPennies 4
A Fave Flavorful Soup
This soup is a “one-pot wonder” so there is less mess and less clean-up.
You can add any veggie you’d like into this recipe (and swap up the pasta with orzo or any shape you love)!
Use hot or mild sausage to your liking (or even meatballs if you’d prefer).
This soup reheats well making it great for lunches. Freeze in individual portions (before adding pasta) to keep it even longer.
Yield: 7 cups
Ingredients
1 pound hot or mild Italian sausage
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
1 green bell pepper, cut into half rings
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
1 (15 ounce) can great northern beans
2 (14 ounce) cans beef broth
Ingredients
Italian Sausage Use either mild, sweet, or spicy Italian sausage in this soup. No Italian sausage? No problem, use ground pork, chicken, or beef with the same spices we use in our homemade Italian sausage.
BROTH We use chicken broth in this soup but beef broth works just as well.
VEGETABLES Loads of different kinds of veggies like tomatoes, garlic, zucchini, and onion make this soup filling with lots of nutrients, too. Add whatever is in your fridge!
FLAVORS Add a delicious blend of Italian Seasoning or use your own special blend of favorite spices! We also add Parmesan cheese and fresh parsley as a garnish!
Variations
Feel free to switch up the ingredients with leftovers like adding chicken in place of the sausage, or kale instead of the spinach.
White beans can be replaced with lentils or garbanzos, long grain rice, and a liberal dose of cheese.
Diced potatoes are a good substitute for pasta as well! Add a can of condensed creamy tomato soup for extra-rich broth.
How to Make Italian Sausage Soup
Veggies and sausage with pasta tastes amazing and it’s so easy to make this classic soup!
Brown sausage, with onion & garlic per recipe below.
Add broth, beans, vegetables and simmer until tender. Stir in zucchini for the last few minutes.
In a separate pot, cook pasta al dente, drain. Add to the pot (or to bowls).
Garnish with parsley & Parmesan cheese.
Italian Sausage Soup SpendWithPennies 7
Slow Cooker Method:
Brown sausage, onion, & garlic. Drain.
Add all ingredients except pasta, zucchini and spinach.
Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours adding zucchini in the last 30-40 minutes.
Stir in cooked pasta and garnish with parsley & Parmesan cheese & serve.
Leftovers
If you plan for leftovers or to freeze this soup, keep the pasta separate and cook fresh pasta for serving.
Keep Italian sausage soup in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Reheat in the microwave or reheat the whole pot on the stovetop.
Freeze in zippered bags with the date written on the outside.
What has a cop said that left you completely dumbfounded?
I was returning home to NC after a job in Davidson, SC. Red and blue lights come on behind me so I, of course, pull over to the right. A sheriff’s deputy walks up to my window and asked if I knew why I’d been pulled over. I informed him I did not. He requested my license and registration, which I provided. He then stated that I had been driving 65 in a 55. I had been doing 60, so I was speeding but not at the speed he indicated. I asked to see his radar and camera showing he had indeed clocked me at said speed. He said he hadn’t used radar, but instead he’d paced me.
He hadn’t been behind me long enough to do so, so I said again that I hadn’t been driving that fast. He replied with, “You were definitely going 65 because I had to drive that fast to catch up with you.” I sat there in stunned silence, letting that sink in, for a moment. I said, “Excuse me?”. He again said I had been going 65 because he had to go that fast to catch up to me. I asked him, “If I’m going 65 and you’re going 65, how long would it take you to catch up with me?” He said he didn’t know how long it had taken him, but it wasn’t long. I was amused. I asked again and he asked what I was getting at. I informed him that I was just looking for clarification for when I go to court to dispute the ticket. I then told him that if I was going 65 and he was going 65 he would always remain the same distance behind me. This meant I had to have been going slower than 65. I then asked if his patrol camera recorded sound, as I’d be requesting the recording for court.
He handed me my license, advised me to slow down and have a nice day, then went back to his car.
Source is RAND
main qimg 5edf37bb5b084cf19c932179313c0aed
What is the most unexplainable thing you’ve witnessed or experienced?
Back in 2000, I worked at the Super 8 hotel in the city where I lived in Tennessee. I worked in housekeeping. The hotel didn’t get a great deal of customers being in a small city.
One morning when I got to work I noticed several full-sized white vans in the parking lot once inside I found out it was a group traveling selling magazines. Almost all of the rooms had been rented which might sound bad but it’s not because if they are staying for any length of time you simply take out trash and make sure they have plenty of towels.
My day goes by fairly quickly. I finished up the last room and was headed towards the laundry room when a guy stepped out of a room and was going in the same direction as me. I notice he is following me but I’m not worried because there are other rooms he could be going to. When he followed Me downstairs is when I felt uneasy because at the bottom of the stairs is laundry room and a small storage room. When I got to the laundry room other maids were in there dropping off laundry and he simply turned and went back up the stairs.
Everything went pretty normal and quite easy because everyone in that group is gone all day selling magazines from door to door so you go in clean up a little make up the beds and restock towels. This is about the 4th day of them being at the hotel I’m cleaning rooms as usual. I clean the upstairs rooms around back last because they are close to the upstairs storage room.
I was on one of the last rooms on my list which was on the back side. I go in make up the bed, vacuum and take out the garbage. I go into the bathroom to count the towels and wash out the tub when I pulled the shower curtain back there stood that guy who followed me to the laundry room. He was fully dressed obviously hiding. My stomach dropped he had no expression on his face just staring at me. He pulled the curtain rest of the way open and started to step out of the tub and the manager of the Hotel hollers here are your towels you called for. Not wanting to turn my back on him I yell I’m in here my boss bitches a little then bring them to me and is beyond mad that the guy is hiding in the shower and makes him leave the room and wait outside till I’m done with his room.
On the way to the office he asked me why I didn’t tell him he was in the room when I called for towels. I would have told him if I had called for towels but I didn’t call laundry and certainly not him for anything . I don’t understand how he got a call to come to that room but I am thankful for whatever happened because a few days after that they left and moved on to a hotel in Knoxville TN where that same guy that hid in the shower raped and stabbed an elderly lady and stole her car. The police said it was the worst crime scene they had seen in a while.
Tony Blinken Back to China: Begging Bowl in one Hand & a Knife in the Other!
Have you heard about Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s upcoming trip to China? Mainstream media will have you believe that he is going to address the path to peace in West Asia, among other global issues. But let me tell you, it’s all a distraction. The truth is, the US government has no intention of truly addressing global issues. They use these high-profile meetings and trips to China as a way to distract the public from the real issues at hand. While they talk about peace in West Asia, they continue to fuel conflicts and wars for their own benefit. Don’t be fooled by the headlines and the fancy speeches. Secretary Blinken’s trip is just a facade, a charade to make us believe that they care about global peace and stability. But in reality, it’s all about politics and power. So, the next time you see news about Secretary Blinken’s trip to China, remember that it’s just a distraction from the truth.
My father told me that it was life; my purpose as a young man.
And doing so, earning a dollar earned (by me) enabled me to earn the privileges of a “working man”; which was drinking beer at home and at the dinner table.
I started at 14, but really went full time at 16 years old.
At that time, I started to drive a car, drink and hang out. I had friends that I hung out with. Clyde (who also drove a GTO like I did)…
GTO
…and some friends like J Eck with his Ford pickup “beater”…
655eea887cd6ea8ab232dcf9690f389e
…as well as my brother with his crappy Vega…
RS Vega GT 4
I was a piece of shit car. Fucking aluminum engine…
…and the “Bracky Boys” and their Duster (a very popular muscle car)…
1970 plymouth duster coupe front
Those Bracky Boys were RICH. All the time I thought that they were just some hillbillies, but no. Their parents were loaded. They came from Mo-ney! Who’d figure.
…and a few others with Comaro’s and Pinto’s.
We used to drink Miller Pony bottles in a 8 pack after work. That and smoke. Both cigarettes and the dreaded reefer! If there was one thing that I would tell my younger-self, now that I am an older man… it’s stay away from drugs.
Good times.
Good times.
Cruising late at night on the country roads and stopping at keggers and strip mines. A simple life. But that was what it was like.
It was a social – cultural thing.
Ice and beer
Ah… And something else.
Miller pony bottles.
Rolling a joint in the “shotgun” seat, and listening to BTO, Boston, Led Zepplin, and Yes. (Oh, and let’s not forget Robin Trower, and Neil Young.)
1. No one’s coming to save you. Get up and be your hero.
2. Never force anyone to choose you. You’ll learn the art of spending time alone.
3. Master your emotions. A calm mind can handle any situation.
4. To avoid disappointment, you need to take people for who they are not for what you want them to be.
5. Everyone will show you who they are, give them time.
6. You’re at peace with yourself when you mind your own business.
7. Ensure you take good care of yourself, if anything happens to you, the world will move on.
8. Nobody cares, work hard to get better every day.
9. If you don’t work to build your dream, someone will hire you and give you a purpose.
10. Free yourself from society’s advice, most of them do not know what they’re doing.
11. Life doesn’t wait for you to be okay. Get up every day and keep pushing through.
12. You shouldn’t take advice from people who are not where you want to be in life.
13. Life is 100% better when no one knows anything about you.
14. You become 10x smarter when you quit the news and put politics out of your topics.
15. You need to be smart enough to create your opportunities, don’t wait for them to come to you.
Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup
This is, by far, my favorite homemade chicken noodle soup recipe because it’s simply the perfect mix of easy, wholesome, and satisfying. It’s creamy yet light, and benefits from the addition of potato, thyme, oregano, and convenient pre-cooked rotisserie chicken.
light creamy chicken noodle soup 1
Here’s Why You’ll Love This Light & Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup
Lightened up, yet still creamy and so satisfying
Can be made on the stove or in a slow cooker
1-pot meal
Using a cooked rotisserie chicken saves time
So much more delicious than store-bought soup
Make ahead of time and freeze
Good way to use up leftover chicken
Flavorful spices, herbs, and vegetables
Ultimate winter comfort food!
Best Ingredients to Use:
You need 1 big pot and a few staple ingredients. This is a forgiving recipe, so let’s review what can change if needed.
Butter: Just a Tablespoon, to soften the vegetables.
Vegetables: Onion, carrots, and celery form the mirepoix flavor base for this soup.
Herbs/Flavors: Use a blend of garlic, dried or fresh thyme and oregano, fresh ground pepper, and salt. Feel free to use other herbs you enjoy instead, if desired.
Flour or Cornstarch: Flour (or cornstarch) thickens the liquid, taking this soup from brothy to creamy. See recipe Note for that substitution.
Chicken Broth: Or stock.
Potato: 1 medium potato is the first magical ingredient in this recipe, because it cooks down and makes the soup SO creamy, hearty, and satisfying.
Chicken: This recipe saves time because you can use pre-cooked chicken. You could also use leftover cooked turkey, like we do in this turkey pot pie! I usually pick up a small rotisserie chicken from the grocery store, shred it, and add it right into the soup. Or you can boil/poach chicken breasts or roast them with a little garlic and thyme, let cool slightly (or refrigerate for a day or two), then shred or chop. If you have leftover chicken, you can also use it in recipes like my chicken quinoa salad or peanut chicken zucchini noodles.
Milk or Half-and-Half: This is the other magical ingredient that turns your homemade chicken noodle soup into the creamiest soup ever. Use 1 cup of whole milk or 1 cup of half-and-half. If you want to make regular (non-creamy) chicken noodle soup, replace the milk with more chicken broth.
Noodles: I prefer wide egg noodles in chicken soup, but you can use any type of dry pasta you like, or go noodle-less.
1 teaspoon seasoned pepper or garlic-pepper seasoning
1 1/2 cups dried egg noodles
creamy chicken noodle soup 4
Instructions
In a slow cooker gradually stir 5 cups water into the soup. Whisk until smooth.
Stir in chicken, vegetables and seasoned pepper.
Cover; cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours or on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours.
If using low heat setting, turn to HIGH.
Stir in noodles.
Cover and cook for 20 to 30 minutes more or until noodles are just tender.
creamy chicken noodle soup 2
How Does the Soup Thicken Up?
Cooking down the onion, carrots, and celery is a key step in the recipe. After you cook them down, add flour and your herbs. The flour will absorb the liquid from the softening vegetables, and create a nice thick base for the soup. This is exactly how we start biscuit vegetable pot pie, too.
Whole milk or half-and-half also thicken up the soup. I’ve even made it with half the amount (1/2 cup or 120ml) heavy cream in a pinch. (Add more chicken broth if you use heavy cream; see recipe Note.)
Nice and thick, without being too heavy.
Can I Skip the Noodles or Use Rice Instead?
Yes. Feel free to skip the noodles entirely with no other changes to the recipe. Or you can use 1 cup of uncooked rice instead. Add it when you would add the noodles.
This Soup Satisfies. Period.
One bowl of this light & creamy chicken noodle soup will leave you feeling satisfied for hours, without feeling weighed down. This is the meal that keeps on giving because if you have a smaller family, there will be plenty of leftover soup to enjoy during the week.
Take shooting lessons
Do you think China steals American spacecraft designs?
THE CHOICE OF WORDS BY THE WEST IS ALWAYS – BIAS & PROPAGANDA.
Chinese CCTV cameras are being called surveillance cameras, but the Western CCTV cameras are called security cameras
Chinese landing on Mars is called conquer, US landing on Mars is called exploration.
Terrorist in China is called – freedom fighter, terrorist in the West, of course, is called – terrorist.
US government is called administration. Chinese government is called regime.
US/West invasion in Middle East is called liberation. Russian invasion … well, is called invasion.
The US invasion and organized coup on more than 25 countries since WWII is referred to as following “International rule-based order”.. China fought 4 borders wars and voluntarily withdrew to its borders (before the wars) since WW ll is referred to as “A threat to international rule based order”
The US government that can be bought with money is called “Democracy.” The Chinese government that cannot be bought with money is called “Dictatorship”.
Wars led by the US with the support of the West – killed and maimed millions all over the world is called the “Civilized West”. China which lifted 800 million from extreme poverty in the past 40 years (according to the UN and World Bank) is referred to as “Totalitarian.”.
JUST A SINGLE WORD DIFFERENCE – CAN BRAINWASH YOU.
What is the most jaw-dropping method for shoplifting that you have seen?
I had a friend in college at the University of Utah.
He was at the University of Utah because he’d gotten kicked out of BYU.
The reason he was kicked out was listed as “criminal mastermind”.
What actually happened was much more mundane, but, he was a criminal mastermind of sorts.
His roommate, and a friend of his roommate, were planning on a theft at the BYU bookstore. Realize that there was nearly absolutely no security in those days, and though cameras were a thing, you never saw them outside high end retailers, like jewelry stores, and certainly not in college or University bookstores.
His roommate, and the roommate’s friend, were plotting a burglary, and pretty much ignoring my friend, who was studying.
They eventually settled on grabbing as much high end camera equipment as they could (the most expensive thing in the store at the time, since it predated laptops, which tells you how long ago this was), and then running for the door.
Finally, my friend could stand their stupidity no longer, and pointed out that they would be caught, how they would be caught, and the fact that, since they were going to school there, if no one recognized them immediately, they would be eventually, as in, the next time they had to buy textbooks.
They sneered at my friend, and asked him, “If you’re so smart, what would you do?”.
And my friend told them.
The entire store had hanging ceilings- including in the dressing room.
These ceilings wouldn’t hold their weight, but they’d hold some weight.
And the store had a camping department, where there were a variety of display sleeping bags, hung from the bottom, against the wall.
And the store, as college bookstores tend to do, sold backpacks.
And with these things in mind, my friend laid out a plan, never really expecting that his roommate, and the roommate’s friend were idiot enough to follow through on it.
The next Tuesday, there was a burglary reported of the BYU bookstore. Authorities were mystified, because there were no signs of breaking and entering, all the locks were securely locked, and when searched, there was no one in the store.
His roommate, who’d been missing since late Monday, showed up Wednesday morning.
Having implemented the first part of the plan, of course.
He and his friend had hidden (standing) in the sleeping bags against the wall until the store closed, everyone left, and the store was locked up.
Then, they loaded up a bunch of identical blue backpacks with the stuff they wanted to steal, and hid them in the hanging ceiling above the men’s dressing rooms.
And then, they hid in the sleeping bags again, until the store reopened normally, then left with the after-lunch crowd.
And then, they implemented the second part of the plan.
Each day, for the next week…
They walked in with a blue backpack.
They tried on clothes and, occasionally, bought a T-Shirt or other item of clothing.
They walked out with a blue backpack.
They walked in with a blue backpack.
They walked out with a blue backpack.
How was the case cracked?
Guilt.
The friend of the roommate started hearing “God”.
“God” told him to confess.
That nothing bad would happen.
But that he needed to confess.
Two weeks after the last backpack exchange, he did so.
The police found backpacks full of crumpled newspaper in the hanging ceiling in the men’s dressing room, confirming the confession.
The thieves got kicked out of BYU; the one that came clean got 3 months plus probation; the one who didn’t, got six months plus probation.
My friend (the one not involved in the robbery) saw the whole thing as nothing more than an intellectual exercise and felt he could help solve their problem in a better way after hearing them planning the burglary badly (in front of him)- he got expelled.
They couldn’t charge him though because there was no intent, and it was pretty clear he didn’t expect the roommate, or the roommate’s friend to go through with it — and all the loot was stored in the friend’s dorm room — but they had to do something. You know: send a message.
And so… they expelled him.
For being a criminal mastermind.
He cracked the code
What’s the most impressive thing your parent(s) have done?
They lied to me for 54 years. Successfully.
at 21 I was complaining to my cousin that I loathed my father and was sick of his abuse. Her reply “what if I told you that he’s not your father?” for two years my parents told me that it’s a lie and to drop it.
dad dies in 2004. A few years later I get suspicious again because my siblings have diabetes (perfectly healthy and fit). I don’t. Dads parents and aiblings ll had it by 50. But I don’t act on it.
2010 youngest goes off to college and the hubs and I get a call from mom that she would like to share her home with us. I asked why, she said “because I need one of my kids on my side, the other 4 want me in a nursing home.” Her only health issue was Parkinson’s. She had it for 30 years but wasn’t disabled or senile until 2–3 years before her death in 2021 (Jan 2021)
One day in 2014 she is asking me to show her how to look up and old beau. I searched everywhere and couldn’t find him. He had a super rare name so I was surprised. I don’t think twice about it but it’s really important.
2018, my sibs and I are arguing over our heritage. Some think we are Scottish. Some Irish. We all order tests, take them the same day and ship them off. We all get our results the same day. We are in fact Scottish, or should I say THEY are. And right there were it says father is a name I recognize. Moms “old beau”. Wtf? So the man had his dna on ancestry dot com at 84, could he have known about me? I quickly email him. No answer but he has two sons. I quickly emailed one of them. He gets back to me. They had no idea and sadly my birth father had died 7 months prior. They say he would have welcomed me with open arms and would have loved me
So they successfully lied. I was suspicious because I was the only one he physically disciplined. First I was angry that mother allowed this man to lay hands on me. Knowing he wasn’t my father and most likely taken it out on me that mom lied to him.
The saddest part is they had at least 3 chances to tell me. Instead I found out myself 7 months too late. They cheated me out of a dad and a better life. I don’t grieve for them. Not like a Daughter would really. I loved them, I just can’t grieve with all this anger over being their dirty little secret and robbing me of knowing my biological dad. Friends say “oh but he was your father, he raised you and blah blah blah. No. He’s not my father. He mistreated me and abused me. So to hell with him.
Anyone that read this far, I thank you. Those that didn’t, I’m sorry I babbled on.
UPDATE – Yes I am in contact with and have a relationship with one of my half brothers. The other I was told to contact with extreme caution as he is “trouble” and lord knows I don’t need that. Maybe someday I’ll reach out. I don’t know. I don’t see my half brother as much as I’d like but we are 3 hours away from each other. We do exchange pleasantries and such on holidays.
"The West must be factoring our response into its projections all while plotting against us. They are trying to put themselves into our shoes, while sticking to their own mentality.
As for their mentality… Only recently, Mark Episkopos, a prominent American political scientist, chastised the West, including from a purely utilitarian and pragmatic standpoint.
Take sanctions, for example. Usually, they are designed to change the way their subject behaves. If you want them to be effective, you need to adjust these sanctions based on the response from those who endure them.
The West has been carelessly expanding its sanctions without giving any thought to the possible outcomes.
But the outcome was clear to begin with, even before the special military operation when the Crimean sanctions, as well as a host of other sanctions, were already in place.
The result was clear. We pulled together, and I do hope that we will become even more focused.
We have to go further, as Vladimir Putin said many times. We pulled together and decided not to depend on them in any sectors where they can restrain or hold back our development, and possibly in other sectors too.
Today, they pride themselves for getting rid of Russian gas.
First, supplies have been on the rise in many countries, including France.
Italy took pride in claiming that over the past three years the share of Russian gas in Italian imports declined from 90 percent all the way down to zero.
This is what German Chancellor Olaf Scholz boasted of when describing his efforts to reduce the country’s dependence on Russian energy imports, while promising to end the dependence on them completely down the road.
Many European have been making statements along the same lines, including the Netherlands, and almost all Western and some Eastern European countries.
But at what cost? How much did they have to spend and how have their spending on serving their people increased?
Nobody answered these questions. Still, people can see through these ramifications.
Mr Episkopos went on say that failing to anticipate the way Russia would respond to these developments was a huge mistake.
The West fails to understand that sanctions can be effective only if the subject is ready to change its behaviour for the sake of having these sanctions lifted.
The second point Mr Episkopos made was that if the country subjected to sanctions already said that it was not going to change its behaviour, keeping these sanctions in place would be pointless and careless.
This is the kind of policy our would-be colleagues have opted for."
Excerpt from remarks by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in an interview with the radio stations Sputnik, Govorit Moskva, and Komsomolskaya Pravda, Moscow, April 19, 2024.
How to be a man
One of the unremarked things that has happened over the past ten years is the collapse of the so-called man-o-sphere. There may be people still working that land, but all the big names have moved on or disappeared. The pickup artist have all disappeared from the internet entirely. That whole scene just seems to have folded up and gone the way of the dinosaur without anyone noticing.
One reason is the demographic aged out of the material. A guy like Heartiste, for example, could do the pickup artist stuff when he was early middle-age, but once you hit fifty you become a skeevy weirdo, not a Don Juan. The same holds for the other subcultures in that space. Once you reach middle-age, it all starts to sound a bit weird and pointless, even to the people making money off it.
There is another aspect to it. That whole scene was a reaction to the feminization of the culture starting with second wave feminism. The next generation of males have no frame of reference in which to have a reaction. The typical Zoomer has been raised in the longhouse, to use the cool kid’s term. He has no way of knowing that all of this is both weird and unnatural.
That is the point of the show. The male role is not a slippery concept that changes from one generation to the next. It has been revolutionized and pulverized over the last few decades, but that is what makes this age anomalous. The male role in society is timeless, at least in the Western world. There are certain immutable characteristic to being a man that will reassert themselves in the coming years.
IT JUST DOESN’T WORK ANYMORE! Retirement and Jobs ARE FINISHED!
And then a large group of activists who had taken over a university surrendered to police, causing the newspaper publisher to declare: “That wiped out my best men.”
Meanwhile, Lai’s right-hand man, former US intelligence officer Mark Simon, gave the go-between a company he said was of a covert nature and could be used to liaise with foreign organizations and collect funds.
.
.
ASTONISHING REVELATIONS
Extraordinary revelations came this week from the ongoing trial of newspaperman Jimmy Lai, 76, confirming US involvement, and the role of the publisher and his former US intelligence officer partner Mark Simon in backing the violent protests that roiled normally peaceful Hong Kong five years ago.
Testimony from a go-between named Wayland Chan Tsz-wah, 32, detailed the problems that arose during the period after a legal extradition amendment was withdrawn. Protesters continued to use it as an excuse for an increasingly violent insurgency, with terrorist-grade bomb factories discovered at several locations.
.
.
G7 RECOMMENDATION
Background: In 2018, civil servants at Hong Kong’s Department of Justice continued their routine updating of the city’s British Common Law legislation. The city already had Asia’s highest-rated legal system, but to keep at the top, they followed a recommendation from a G7 financial law committee to upgrade the city’s extradition law.
In the British era, arrested individuals from Mainland China had been simply put in vans, driven to the border, and dropped off “over the line”.
The new extradition amendment gave people detained for specific serious crimes due legal protection. They could only be extradited after a lengthy process of hearings, typically taking 12 to 24 months.
.
.
MISINFORMATION
However, by the first half of 2019, an extreme campaign of disinformation had totally misrepresented the amendment. The amendment was falsely painted as a new law “from Beijing” that enabled people (and even tourists) to be “snatched” from the city and “disappeared” in mainland China for political misdemeanours.
The misinformation led to hundreds of thousands of protesters (organizers claimed “millions”) hitting the streets in June calling for its withdrawal.
The amendment was withdrawn the same month, but anti-China groups continued the protests, turning it into a violent insurgency that caused billions of dollars’ worth of damage, shutting down the airport and wrecking scores of metro stations.
.
.
STOP THE VIOLENCE
In July of 2019, US officials told newspaper publisher Jimmy Lai to tone down the violence, the court heard.
This was a problem for several reasons. First, he had repeatedly told his newspaper staff to report events in a way that deliberately removed the gap between Hong Kong’s peaceful protesters and the violent “localist” thugs that smashed up or burned restaurants owned by families from Mainland China. This was described by his staff in earlier court hearings.
Second, he had been financially backing the “old school” pro-American political individuals and groups in Hong Kong for years – often exactly the same anti-China politicians receiving cash or support from various US groups. But did not personally know the new generation of young “localist” leaders. He would need a go-between.
.
.
THE GO-BETWEEN
In July, the publisher arranged to meet Wayland Chan Tsz-wah, a paralegal aged 32, who he believed to be a high ranking activist who could spread the new message to a cluster of violent groups known as “the valiants”.
The paralegal was invited to go to a designated restaurant and was asked to hand over his phone “for security reasons” before Jimmy Lai talked to him, the court was told.
When he had done so, the publisher told him that things would have to change. The United States now wanted “no police or civilian fatalities”. Furthermore, they had said that the violence “should stop at some point”.
Lai wanted this message taken to the violent groups, which were divided into multiple sub-groups with their own names, including JD Team, G20, Pink, Dragonslayer and others. (The code name for Jimmy Lai and Mark Simon was “Backer”.)
Wayland Chan met with the publisher several times, he said, always having to give up his phone before conversations started. On one occasion, they met in a car parked near Hong Kong’s Supreme Court, the court heard.
.
.
US OPERATIONS
Between face-to-face meetings, the younger activist received Whatsapp messages from Jimmy Lai about US progress in the anti-China effort, he told the court.
Two American operations had been set up with Hong Kong in their names. One was a lobby group working to create the “Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act” and the other was a group called the “Hong Kong Democracy Council”.
They were working to get western countries to sanction Hong Kong, remove its privileges, and damage its main sources of income – finance and tourism — although the community had done literally nothing to deserve such a punishment.
.
.
INITIALLY UNAWARE
Wayland Chan told the court that he had not been aware at first of the nature of the relationship between the anti-China publisher and US officials.
“Only when he told me at a later stage about the US Government’s internal considerations, did I realise Jimmy Lai was not simply rallying for international support, but he knew certain criteria [set by US officials] and was trying to meet them,” he said at the hearing in the West Kowloon court this week.
Chan contacted leading “valiant” individuals but struggled to get the message over to them, he said. In one case, his contact refused to believe that the message came from Jimmy Lai.
.
.
MAN SET ON FIRE
The insurgency remained out of control, and the violence got worse. Bomb factories were set up, and weapons smuggled into the city. One group started making TATP, the explosive used in the London bombings of 7 July 2005.
In November of 2019, an old man tried to stop protesters smashing up a metro station in Ma On Shan, in a rural part of Hong Kong. The old man was doused in petrol as they tried to burn him alive.
Jimmy Lai was dismayed, and contacted Wayland Chan for another meeting, also calling representatives of the old-school pro-American political groups known as the pan-democrats.
.
.
MAROONED
The newspaper publisher also faced another setback later the same month, when protesters marooned themselves at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, which was situated on a single city block.
Police took no action, but simply waited at the entrances, playing a range of popular music. After about 12 days, the protesters, bored and hungry, gave themselves up, walking out with their hands up.
“That wiped out my best men,” Jimmy Lai told Chan, the court heard.
.
.
CHAN’S REWARD
About two weeks later, Wayland Chan was invited to meet Mark Simon at the Hyatt Hotel in Shatin. As a reward to Chan, an overseas company with money in its bank account would be set up, he was told.
This idea ran into an immediate difficulty. Hong Kong had strong policies against money laundering, which meant that it was difficult to open a bank account in the city for a company registered in the British Virgin Islands.
When Jimmy Lai was told this, the publisher decided to offer one of his unused companies to Chan as a reward, and asked an assistant named Evan Lau to handle the formalities, the court heard.
In early 2020, Chan attended a meeting where a company named Lacock Inc, owned by Jimmy Lai, was transferred to him. It had an HSBC account containing HK$80,000.
.
.
FOREIGN ORGANIZATIONS
But then came another issue. Wayland Chan saw the company as his personal reward, and wanted to use it to develop his own business.
Mark Simon had other ideas, of an ideological nature. He felt it should be used to as a channel for overseas groups to continue to contribute to their anti-China campaign.
Mark Simon told Chan that the company was of covert nature and could be used to liaise with foreign organizations and collect funds, the court heard.
The trial continues.
Have you ever stolen something back after getting robbed?
The company I work for gave everyone a nice company coat for Christmas. I took a marker and marked the inside tag with my name so that I would know if it was mine (all the coats looked the same).
One day, before heading for home, I looked at the peg where my coat had been hanging, and it wasn’t there. I checked all the coats…mine was gone, as were my favorite sunglasses.
I told management, who expressed regret, but there were no coats left.
Two weeks passed…and I periodically did a check to see if any hanging were my coat.
After about two weeks, I came across it hanging on a peg on the opposite end of the room. I grabbed it and hid it at my work station.
One of the night crew workers came storming up to me demanding HER coat. I told her that I didn’t have it…I had mine. I then showed her the tag, which showed my name. I then asked her where my sunglasses were. She responded she didn’t know.
I told her she had 24 hours to come up with them or I was going to tell them who had stolen my coat.
This would have been a termination offense.
She handed them to me the next day, saying she found them in her husband’s truck.
She has since transferred, but when I see her, she avoids me like the plague.
Some views of Pago Pago
kkkjjjiiihhhgggfffeeedddccc
What are your thoughts on Chinese automaker BYD’s $11,500 Seagull, an extremely cheap EV that is not available in the US due to high tariffs?
Freedom of trade? What a hypocrite! The U.S. burnt down nations just to install freedom but it ensures that it’s people buy from profiteers and keep prices high to give its people no choices! The U.S. citizens are the real loser! Are US citizens not aware that they are worst than Chinese citizens who can buy Tesla if they do wish! I fact out of the cars that Tesla made in 2023, 69.7% are sold in China! Can you Yanks not see the irony that China a supposedly unfree nation can buy Tesla and a nation screaming freedom like there is no tomorrow cannot buy BYD?
Let me school all of you on this! China U.S. a very smart and intelligent nation, by allowing Tesla to sell it ensures that those cars are made in China too! They got jobs and are learning all the while about western demands and western customers. So by the time BYD goes international it knows their taste, their likes and dislikes and they made a killing! Thanks to being open and free they are successful.
The U.S. is left as a pathetic slur grape nation without principle nor freedom!
A fun quote
321
Have you ever been knocked unconscious in a car accident?
I have. For 20 minutes.
It was 2011, and I was meeting a couple for lunch for my birthday. He worked at Oakley, and lunch “came with“ a new pair of Oakley‘s as a gift. It should’ve been a great day.
I was in a convertible, traveling on highway 73 in Orange County, California. I exited and was waiting for the light to turn left onto a surface highway. The approaching cars stopped, the light turned green and I started to make a left turn. As soon as I passed the stopped cars and made it to the centerline, a speeding Chevy Suburban, three times the size of my car, came into view. My last conscious thought was “They’re not going to stop“. I swerved, and it was lights out.
She ran a red and T-boned me; smashed into my side, forward of the door, near the front wheel. She crushed the entire front like a tin can, my car spun and we collided twice. So I heard…
main qimg 13abbd756b9bf9831bffc15280867f8a lq
Twenty minutes and lots of bystander activity went by. My next conscious moment was in the ambulance, looking up at a female emergency medical tech as we were heading to the trauma center. I was an EMT decades ago, and my first thought and words were “so this is what it looks like in the other direction“…
My head had hit the frame of the convertible top and it split my scalp, but fortunately didn’t crack my skull, though you could see it from the wound. My hand broke on the steering wheel, my ribs were cracked where they impacted the door. I was covered in blood and bruises. The airbags never went off.
Two guys jumped out of their cars and ran over. My window was a curtain of blood and of course I was out. They couldn’t open the door and thought I was dead. One called 911, and the other ran over to the woman’s car. It was totaled.
The impact of my head hitting the car was so forceful, my brain violently bounced off the inside of my skull. The brain stem flexed with such force it caused “micro-tears.” They sewed me up, patched me up, gave me X-rays and a CAT scan and I left the trauma center late that night with my wife instructed to ensure I woke up the next morning.
To give you an idea of how much it shook me up? I had been arranging a huge business dinner for two nights later. I still made phone calls to make sure the plans were set, and then the night of the event? I forgot to go… Par for the course with bad concussions, I had a slightly volatile temper for a couple of months. I forgot, seemingly everything randomly. I had minor bouts with depression which I’ve never had otherwise in my life.
The brain impact prevented me from remembering proper nouns for almost year and a half. I got to know my neurologist and the neuropsych testing people very well.
You can’t be unconscious for that long without taking a huge shot to the brain. And you can’t be unconscious for that long without having a long-term challenge. My ability to recall proper nouns is still pretty poor. That’s mostly it…
But it could’ve been much worse. Had she hit the driver’s door? It would’ve been the other kind of “lights out.”
What is the craziest purchase you’ve seen someone make on a work credit card?
This was a series of purchases, over a period of around six months. The company I was working for hired an employee who apparently had left her prior job under a cloud of felony charges. She hadn’t been convicted, so there was no record to find in a background check, plus the individual reversed a few numbers on her SSN when she applied. She managed to then hit a perfect storm of processes that allowed her to run up some significant charges on the company credit card. First, she was a remote employee with an also remote boss (this was well before COVID). She immediately requested a company credit card so she could fly to HQ for new hire orientation. A card was issued and FedExed to her. Her first charge was a cash advance (in those days, this was a holdover from days further in the past where it was unheard of for an employee to use the credit card — or their own money — for small purchases). During the ensuing investigation, we found that her subsequent purchases were for household bills, groceries, and utilities. Interestingly, she never submitted the expenses for the trip to HQ. Her manager never noticed that.
Fast forward six months or so and the employee went missing. Her manager woke up and discovered from media reporting that said employee had been convicted of some felony charges related to her prior employment and sent off to be a guest of the state for a few years. Alarm bells went off and an investigation began. As we unwound the credit card bill, we continued to see the various household purchases, utilities, cash advances, etc. Then we found that she had used the card to pay her lawyer as well as take some family members on a (modest) cruise. By the time we added things up, the company was out well in excess of $10,000. Arguably, not a ton of money for a large company, but something that caused immediate changes in expense policy and company credit cards. We found that she was able to exploit a fairly liberal payment window (established to accommodate time for employees to submit expenses, get them approved, and get them paid out to the credit card company). She further managed to (probably) use cash advances to make payments on the card to avoid showing up as delinquent. It appeared that she made some additional payments from other sources, but it wasn’t something we were in a position to confirm. The company didn’t have a good process for tracking personal charges, so there was no process to have the employee report and reimburse such expenses. There were also no categories of expenses that could not be charged to the card. There were quite a number of additional learnings, starting with why the background company didn’t flag a SSN mis-match.
The employee’s manager was fired (in addition to the initial failure to submit expenses, there had been some communications from the credit card company that charges were aging, which the manager had never looked into) and the lawyer was advised to pay the company back the fees charged against the credit card. Beyond that, I wasn’t privy to any other events outside of a flurry of expense and credit card policy changes.
Why is the US so desperate to compete with China when the world knows it cannot?
The ONLY people who realize that the United States is unable to compete with China is the Western “news” media, and the people that consume it.
The rest of the world, INCLUDING the American “leadership” and the Pentagon understand the futility of “Tonya Harding” competition strategies.
However, the United States is not a “healthy” nation. It is a nation in “free-fall”. There is no one at the helm, and those that are in control of various functional aspects of the government are stymied by a complex web network of counter-productive political polarization. Often led by those with self-interest at their core, and incapable of actual subjective reasoning. For everyone in the West are under the propagandized narratives that they themselves create.
Like (for instance) the “brick wall” of Tucker Carlson interviewing Putin.
…
But there is an “out”.
Cooperation NOT Competition.
China wants to see a better world, but in order for that reality to play out, some very toxic behaviors, and legacy dysfunctions must be excised (one way or the other) from the West. I am afraid that it will be a painful process.
The United States NEEDS friends, and help. China is willing to take on this role. But I am fearful that that will not materialize until a period of disharmony adjusts the objective reality of the West.
What makes you jealous?
Even though he passed away years ago, I still find myself feeling a bit envious. I’m talking about my granddad—my lifelong hero and mentor. He kept grinding every day until he hit 90. Getting up at 6:00 AM, he’d down his coffee and head off to work. Surprisingly fit for his age, not exactly a six-pack, but definitely in good shape.
I remember working on physically demanding tasks with him, and I’d be wiped out afterward. For him, it was a walk in a park. Once, we chopped wood for eight hours, and I passed out right after. But he? He moved on to his next job without missing a beat.
main qimg 75229cc6cb115a85e48a7121ebdd835c
What I envy most is how he never lost his ability to handle physical tasks. While others his age struggled just to stand, he could do everything as if he were still in his thirties. I never quite grasped how he managed it all. I really wish I could be like he was.
“Members of Congress are terrified of the intel agencies. I’m not guessing at that. They’ve told me that, including people who run the intel committee.”
What Tucker said next was even more revealing.
“I said to somebody, a very powerful person, the other day, in a conversation in my kitchen, an elected official — holds a really senior position… But I was like, ‘All these people are controlled. They’ve all got weird sex lives, and all these things they’re hiding, and they’re being blackmailed by the intel agencies.’ And he said, and I’m quoting, ‘I know.’ I was like, okay, so at this point, we’re just sort of admitting that’s real? Like, why do we allow that to continue?”
This is the Amerikkkan Deep State.
What are some examples of the “wussification” of the United States of America?
About six years ago or so when I was still in high school, we were playing soccer in gym class. After about five minutes in or so, the kid who was playing as my team’s forward (we’ll call him “Brock”) came up to me, who was playing goalie, and said he wanted to be the goalie now. I politely declined, because the game was only five minutes in, and that’s just not how soccer (or the real world) works.
After about 30 seconds of arguing back and forth over it, he presumed the second best option to be to grab me by the shirt and try to drag me out of the goalie box. Or in other words, physically assaulted me.
As a natural reaction and in accordance with what the law actually says, I laid into Brock with one good hit.
I then see the gym instructor approaching us to break up the scuffle that was occuring. When he gets to us, he sends us both to the principal’s office.
Brock’s punishmen was a week of out-of-school suspension. And I received the exact same punishment.
Why? Because according to my school’s policy on fighting, if you are even merely involved in a fight, it’s an automatic out-of-school suspension, so the principal technically doesn’t even get to use his own discretion regarding disciplining students regarding these types of matters.
I remember him even saying to me “Geraldo, coming from person to person, I would have done the exact same thing as you. However, as a school official, I unfortunately have no choice but to suspend you”.
What my school expects you to do if you are to find yourself in the situation I was in, is to passively submit and take your beating, and then once that is finished, you are to go to a teacher and tell on the person who attacked you. (Because it’s not like the person you just told on isn’t going to kick the shit out of you for rolling on them once you’re outside school property, right?)
Say you were to get jumped by five people at my school. Well that means that a total of six people will be getting suspended. That being the five dudes who assualted you, and yourself, for being assaulted.
If that’s not an example of institutionalized wussification, I don’t know what is.
Some of my AI generated pictures
Girls and alcohol with cats.
Default a Baroque label showing an attractive 28 year old bust 0(4)Default a Baroque label showing an attractive 28 year old bust 1(4)Default a Baroque label showing an attractive 28 year old bust 0(3)Default a Baroque label showing an attractive 28 year old bust 1(3)Default a Baroque label showing an attractive 28 year old bust 1(2)Default a Baroque label showing an attractive 28 year old bust 2Default a Baroque label showing an attractive 28 year old bust 3(2)Default a Baroque label showing an attractive 28 year old bust 0(2)Default a Baroque label showing an attractive 28 year old bust 1(1)Default a Baroque label showing an attractive 28 year old bust 3(1)Default a Baroque label showing an attractive 28 year old bust 3Default a Baroque label showing an attractive 28 year old bust 0(1)Default a Baroque label showing an attractive 28 year old bust 1Default a Baroque label showing an attractive 28 year old bust 0
What is the most badass thing your parent has ever done?
This happened when my dad was just out of high school. One of his longtime friends confirmed the details.
My dad and some friends were at a roller skating rink having fun and flirting with some girls. There was a black family skating there as well. Suddenly they hear this guy saying, “You n%#s, we don’t want your kind here.” He kept harassing them and it pissed my dad off. He went up to the jerk and told him to knock it off, that this family was more than welcome to be here, and he is the one who should leave.
The bully asked, “You n%# lover, are you going to make me?”
My dad told me he was terrified because this guy looked like someone who had been in a lot a fights. But the looks on that poor family’s faces was more than he could bear. So, he agreed to take it outside. While he was putting on his shoes an employee told him he should take off, that the guy he was facing was a known troublemaker and he had just gotten out of jail for assault. That didn’t help my dad’s nerves. Then as he was getting up the father of the black family told him not to bother, that they will just leave.
I don’t know how he mustered the courage to walk out that door, but he went to face him anyway. A crowd gathered around them as they faced each other. The bully said, “Now I am going to teach you a lesson you n#% lov…” He never had a chance to finish that sentence. My dad hit him squarely on his chin and the racist bully crumpled to the pavement. One punch and he was out.
Everyone cheered, the girls were all swooning over my dad, and the family thanked him for being the only one standing up for them. Yep, my dad was a true badass that day.
What is the best thing a teacher did for you that you still remember?
I was in 6th grade and 11 years old. I had started menstruating at 10 and didn’t have it all figured out quite yet. I was wearing a pale yellow skirt and jacket that my grandmother had sewn me and I really liked it. When school ended, I stood up to leave and the teacher snapped at me to come see her. I was pretty shocked. She never raised her voice to me. When I reached her she spun me around so my back was toward the wall. Then she whispered to me that the back of my skirt was stained and to just stay there with her until everyone left. When everyone left she told me to just keep waiting. She knew that my mother came and picked up my brother and I each day. Eventually, my brother came to see why I wasn’t coming out to the car. He was about 7. When he came into the classroom, first she yelled at him for not getting out of bed in the morning and making me late several days (I felt bad about this, but she wasn’t wrong) and then she told him to give her his jacket. She wrapped it around my waist and told us we could leave. I have never forgotten her kindness. Especially because several of the girls could be really mean to me. I’m pretty sure no one ever saw the stain.
Creamy Asparagus Soup
Creamy Asparagus Soup with Morel Mushrooms and Ramps 500
Ingredients
1 pound fresh asparagus
2 onions, finely minced
2 potatoes, peeled, diced small
2 ribs celery, diced small, with tops included
2 carrots, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
8 teaspoons granulated chicken or vegetable bouillon (or 8 cubes of bouillon)
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped or 1 tablespoon dried parsley
2 sprigs fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 sprig fresh tarragon, chopped, or 1 teaspoon dried tarragon
1/4 cup fresh basil, minced, or 2 teaspoons dried basil
1 teaspoon seasoned salt (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 cups Half-and-Half
Sour cream
Chives, chopped
Instructions
Break off and discard the tough, thick end of each asparagus spear. Chop the spears into 1/4-inch slices and add to the slow cooker along with all remaining ingredients down to and including the white pepper.
Add water to within 1 inch of the top of the slow cooker.
Cover the slow cooker and cook on HIGH for 6 to 7 hours.
About two hours before serving, use a slotted spoon to remove most of the vegetables to a blender. Use a ladle to add some of the liquid from the slow cooker to the blender. Puree the mixture and add back in to the slow cooker.
Repeat once or twice more as necessary (you can leave some of the pieces in the slow cooker for effect.)
Add approximately 1 cup of the Half-and-Half to the slow cooker.
Add the cornstarch to the remaining Half-and-Half in the carton.
Close the carton well and shake vigorously.
Add the mixture to the slow cooker.
Continue to cook on HIGH for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
Serve in bowls with a dollop of sour cream and chopped chives sprinkled over the sour cream.
For those who cannot imagine what it’s like to be vaxxed, and living with it once the evidence becomes available, l can answer you: it’s day-to-day grieving and cellular remorse.
Many of us were just living our daily lives without any idea of the World Economic Forum or the World Health Organisation. We trusted our doctors – l’d had mine for over 25 years, and we knew our government lied at election times, but we voted the best we could based on the B.S. presented to us.
We went about our lives innocently – working, raising kids and babysitting grandkids – and many of us had not one person in our circles to warn us of the dangers.
We didn’t even know that we had to do ‘research’. Unbelievable as that may seem, it’s absolutely true.
So off we went and had the shots. And now us ‘sheeples’ – as we are sometimes referred to – are dying in our millions, some suddenly, while some are destined for slow, malingering, pain-filled deaths.
But we are dying, and ironically, we are the evidence; the proof you will all use later.
Some of us argued with others who knew about the dangers, and words and actions hurt both sides. And that is the greatest weapon of the psy-op: it’s actually greater than the vax itself.
There is a level of toxic hatred and gloating online that condemns the vaxxed to silence in regards to seeking help. l see it in the forums, how they are abused by total strangers, so we stay silent and die alone, unforgiven for our naivety and fear.
But back to the point above – of what it is like to be vaxxed and to then become aware of how we’ve been done. It is hell. Living with the knowledge that I took three of them; that my wonderful, kind, hardworking husband took four; that our children and grandchildren had them;
it haunts me, it breaks my soul, it has destroyed me… simply because we were naive.
My husband and l were already injected when a cousin contacted me through Messenger after seeing a post about my rapid decline in health and asked me questions. l then spoke to my sons, but it was too late – they had been jabbed already.
It’s reading endless detox protocols and wondering IF they truly work or IF they too are part of the B.S., because how would we ever know when there is no long-term proof? It’s endless medical tests that come back ‘normal’, but you just know and feel the changes in your body.
It’s seeing the videos of the ‘calamari’ clots and reading about graphene microblades slicing up veins, and spikes adhering like velcro to tissues and organs.
It’s the breathlessness and palpitations on the slightest exertion that doctors can’t explain.
It’s the knowing that it was all for nothing, though we believed it was for the best of intentions.
It’s this tattoo on my arm of the vax batch numbers that l use to open conversations and share my adverse reactions with every doctor, specialist and pathologist, radiologist and ambulance paramedic l meet.
It’s knowing that any second, any second, could be IT… the last one l breathe before l die.
It’s grief – deep, empty, gut-wrenching grief for all my family and friends, all those l love and care for.
It’s loss – the loss of my future dreams and plans, the loss of my husband and family, it’s the pain felt by the name-calling and ongoing online abuse.
l may be a sheeple to some, and cop endless abuse online for speaking up with my truth, but that will not stop me.
Not every vaxxed person acted like an A-hole when approached by someone who cared enough to take the risk of warning them.
Yet we have ALL been tarred with that one brush. And it’s there that humanity debased itself even further. They did not have to do a thing except sit back and watch us fall apart.
Sounds Of The Department Store 1979
Music in this video is from various Bruton and music De Wolfe Records dating from 1972-1979 mixed in audacity and recorded onto a 1977-79 Maxell UD Type 1 Cassette Tape. The Video portion was created from various images of old department stores recorded onto real VHS tape for the retro effect.
Different places have different societies, and different cultures. I could probably write a book on this, as there are joys and pains with this kind of experience. But I will specify one such experience… working for “the BOSS” while I was building a hospital in Pago pago, American Samoa.
Honestly, this guy was sort of like a Samoan version of Tony Soprano. He held bi-monthly dinners, and all that, and there was no question that he was the big boss, and everyone else had to follow and obey him to the letter. He was insulting, harsh, brutish and rude. he was a “Bluto” incarnate.
It was socking. But with one pay out every two weeks, it was hard not to take it. So I did. Ouch! It was so painful. I mean, when I was in the Navy, I had a Marine drill instructor, but this guy was on another level. Wholly Shit!
Anyways, do not think that everyone in the world is the same. We tend to mix up biology and genetics with culture and societal norms. It’s a certain American trait, but Brits seem to be prone to it as well.
Be careful out there. You all.
Today…
If you are homeless, why wont you just get a job?
I was employed when I became homeless, working in a WFH situation thanks to covid, one little problem arose though, I was on a month to month lease when the owner decided to list the property for sale, this gave me 6 weeks to look for a new rental.
I quickly realised that the $500 a week rent i was paying for a nice 2 bedroom house with a backyard, was grossly below market value. I applied for over 100 houses between $450–750 per week, and not one of them was successful.
2 weeks till I was to be kicked out, I purchased a van, did a basic fitout in it, sold 75% of my stuff and moved into the van on the last day of my lease. I spent the next month applying for houses, but eventually gave up. I maintained my WFH job, working in the van and moving around every few days.
I eventually left the job as I started finding work around the state. The pay was good, but I stayed in the van for just over 2 years, meeting my best friend Storm in the first 6 months. 2 years later, I had saved up enough and had a regular enough income stream to allow me to buy a small block of land. It doesnt have building permits, but I have parked a tiny house on it, and it suits us perfectly now
Cheese Tortellini Crock Pot Dinner
A creamy, cheesy crock pot dinner recipe featuring cream cheese, cheese tortellini and spinach.
slow cooker tortellini soup 3 768×1152
Ingredients
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1 large bag cheese tortellini
1 (16 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 bunch fresh spinach, stems removed, or 1 bag frozen spinach
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 container vegetable or chicken broth
4 ounces grated mozzarella cheese
Instructions
Place block of cream cheese in the slow cooker.
Pour the bag of tortellini over the cream cheese.
Pour the can of diced tomatoes over all.
Add the spinach to the top.
Sprinkle garlic powder, onion powder, pepper and Italian seasoning over the top.
Pour the chicken broth into the slow cooker.
Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over the top.
Cover the slow cooker, and cook on HIGH for about 2 1/2 hours.
Stir well and serve.
Internal conflicts
Did you ever end up benefiting, in some way, from a crime that you were the victim of?
A few years ago I had a garage full of assorted nonsense, as garages tend to be. Among the nonsense was a television and a microwave oven, both of which were taken when thieves cut the lock on the door. This was late 1990’s, when replacing a 21 inch TV could cost $400, and a microwave about $150.
Fortunately for me, neither appliance was functional. So far the net benefit is zero. But in that area, you couldn’t just drop a broken TV in the garbage can. Electronics of any type were considered “hazardous waste” presumably because of lead in the solder on the circuit boards. Did I mention this was in California? Yeah, they’re all kinda goofy about lead. Anyway, the city’s policy on such items was that if you had “hazardous waste” you had to take it yourself to the hazardous waste dump, and pay a fee to dispose of it. The fee depended on the weight, and this was a 1990’s TV, probably weighing about 50+ lbs (20+ kg).
So, when the thieves broke in, they saved me not only a trip to the dump, but also the fee I would have had to pay.
They did steal some other things, which I wasn’t happy about, but at least they relieved me of the burden of a couple of gigantic paperweights.
What is the best thing that has ever happened to you for being nice?
I have a friend whose husband committed suicide. She lives 350km away from me, so I couldn’t often see her, but she phoned me for an hour or two every morning.
Sometimes she just cried. Sometimes she talked about her life, husband, children, the event, the events leading up to his death.
I didn’t know what to do. I was very busy and I really didn’t have time. But she was my friend, she was in pain, and she needed someone to listen to her.
That’s all I did, nothing great, nothing fantastic. I didn’t try to advise her, certainly didn’t tell her she would get better.
She had an overwhelming feeling of guilt. However, her husband had given no warning that he was about to kill himself, but was on anti-psychotic medicine. So the only thing I ever said, really, was “it’s not your fault. Nothing you could have done would have stopped this” . I said that over and over again.
After many, many months of this, there were fewer phone calls. I called her to see how she was. She wasn’t always ok, and still blamed herself.
Two or three years later, she told me I’d saved her life. I was amazed, I’d done nothing special. How? “You listened”. Apparently she’d been pretty close to suicide herself.
Now she’s OK, happy with her life and her grandchildren. That was the nicest thing that could have happened to me.
The reason I’m posting this is that sometimes all people need is for someone to listen to them, to care. They don’t need advice, and to be told it will get better. That doesn’t help.
Listen, without being judgemental. Our reward is when it helps them.
Election rallies USA 2024
LOL
Hong Kong passed a new security law. What’s the significance?
Nothing really.
If you’re a normal person, who has a job and home… essentially nothing changes. It’s nearly April and I need to pay my salaries tax from my part time day job… I also need to pay my other taxes. This means I will have to endure waiting in a bank queue as there are ATM limits that are lower than my tax bill 🙁 . If you’re a grifter who took CIA money then you’re in trouble.
Joshua Wong literally had $400,000 which he tried to deposit into a HSBC (UK bank) account, he was denied as he refused to divulge the source of the funding. Under UK SOCPA that would have been seized as suspicious.
NSL law? It had pretty much zero effect on normal people in Hong Kong, for regular people nothing has changed even the real name ID phone registration was actually an anti phone scam measure NOT a result of NSL law. What was seen was lots of advertising about it… that’s the extent of it. I’ve never been stopped under NSL law. Nobody I know has been stopped. You go into a pub and likely nobody’s been arrested over it.
I have however been arrested over non appearance in court for a cycling offence. The police officer was WTF this is pointless. This is because my village has postal problems due to very similar addressed. I was fined $200HKD.
OTOH in the UK?
Under UK anti terrorism laws, a LOT of people were stopped under S44 of the anti terrorism laws. It was used for everything. As such you go into a pub and several people have been stopped over it.
UK SOCPA, yet again pub test, lots of people have been subjected to it. There are tons of stories of £2000 to buy a car or just sold a car and it was deemed as suspicious.
Westerners see how their own regimes and corrupt police forces abuse laws and think it must be so much worse in China/Hong Kong!
I mean fuck we don’t even have ANPR in HK. People park everywhere and anywhere and police shrug. Two days ago some fuck parked lengthways across a zebra crossing and the police biker who was at the scene was waddayawant me to do about it?
Commercial Thompson’s were made to look sexy. They were expensive to make, nicely finished and had flashy accessories like removable stocks, compensators and audacious drum magazines.
main qimg fec34fb011ccd9b65e5350b5c67f1f90 lq
You can see all of the weapon’s unique features here in this picture. Note the vertical fore grip, the finned barrel, Cutt’s Compensator, the slots cut into the receiver so a drum magazine may be inserted and the charging handle on top of the receiver. A lot of precise machining went into these weapons and many skilled men were employed to produce them.
The most unique feature of the Thompson submachine gun was its action. Based on The Blish System, it included a part, known as “The H Piece” which held the bolt closed until the bullet cleared the barrel, then allowed the action to chamber another round. The weapons’s designer, General John T. Thompson, declared the H piece to be integral to the gun’s design and function. It demanded to be machined and inserted at a precise angle and there was no alternative to its use. The H Piece is the brass “H” shaped piece of metal in the picture below.
main qimg 40fe5df475f7f62039f1b0f0b1ad8758 lq
Basically, the commercial Thompson was a complicated gun that required skilled machinists to create and was costly as a result.
The world was heating up though and isolationist America began to gear up for a potential war and they needed guns.
The US Army already knew about the Thompson and employed them in small numbers. But now they needed lots of them as quickly as possible. In order to meet demand, changes were made to the design so contractors could turn them out quickly. The new weapon was designated M1 Thompson in 1940 and was being made by Colt, Auto Ordinance and Savage Arms.
main qimg f6b87dcf359480f97e091cce728bec0c lq
As you can see, the vertical fore grip was replaced by a horizontal one, but the other features are still in place, most notably the charging handle on top of the receive, meaning it still employs the Blish Locking System and the H piece. It did get sling swivels and a phosphate finish, but otherwise it is the same as the commercial model Thompson. It was expensive and time consuming to make.
In 1941, everything changed. The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and US troops were headed to the pacific to fight. A simpler, easier to produce submachine gun was needed, so all of the Thompson’s fancy features went to the chopping block.
main qimg 8f30ad8f07b8d5c5128a59303cd0e711 lq
This Thompson, designated the M1A1, is the one most GIs were familiar with. No compensator, a horizontal fore grip, phosphate finish, no slots for a drum magazine and the charging handle was moved to the side of the receiver. It was now a pure blow back submachine gun. The Blish lock and H piece, deemed necessary by the designer, were gone. The weapon was still fairly costly to produce but it could be made more rapidly and was ultra reliable in combat.
What is the saddest thing that happened to you that you never shared with others before?
Well. My father always wanted a son. When my mother got pregnant, he explicitly told her that he is a well reputed man and that he can not have a daughter and if it’s a daughter, it’ll be because of my mother. (Scientifically this makes no sense but in my culture, giving birth to a daughter is a matter of shame.) As fate had it, it was a daughter. Me, my father looked at me and went home. Leaving my mother all alone. Even my grandparents left. My mother alone managed everything and the day she were to discharge, my father called and told her that if she wants to come back home, she should leave me at an orphanage first. And that I was not his daughter. He said he told his friends and family that you had a miscarriage. Well my mother didn’t listen to him and somehow managed to raise me but it is extremely saddening how my father rejected his blood just because it was a girl. And it saddens me how because of me, my mother’s divorce happened. I can never thank my mother enough for choosing me over a comforting life.
Edit: Thank you all for your love and support. My mother has done all sorts of odd jobs to support me. But back in 2013, my mother got diagnosed with cancer. I was in the third year of my university and when I got to know, I was devastated. I didn’t want to lose my mother, who had spent all her life working for my education and well-being. There were days when my mother could either afford my milk or her food and she always got milk and slept hungry herself. And I just didn’t want her to leave this world without seeing me successful. I wanted to take care of her like she took care of me. So I decided I will do anything and get money for her treatment. (It was stage 2) I applied for a lot of loans, aid, even begged on the street but to no avail. With no option left, I contacted my father. He is pretty rich. Went to his office, begged in front of him, cried my heart out and all he said was that he is not my father and my mother has lied to me. I persisted but he called security. That day I felt ashamed of myself for being the blood of such a man. Luckily, my friend in college contacted me and promised to help out. His parents paid all the expenses and my mother recovered only last year. That man is now my husband. Now I have a good job and I save to return my father in law’s money. Even though he says there is no need but my mother never borrowed money to feed me and I want to take care of my mother solely.
Edit 2: This answer is getting long but I just want to add that me and my mother have gone through all sorts of circumstances. And I know people around the globe go through the same. There was a time when I came home and told my mother I want to die. I told her this world is unfair and there is no point in living when I can die. I told her I am no rich girl nor do I have anything to offer to this world, so my life doesn’t really matter; dead or alive. At that point she said you have two options, either you kill yourself and put me in more pain or you outlive your circumstances and prove your worth to your dad and men like him. And well I am glad I lived. My success though has only been possible because of my husband. As my mother says,”He is the reward of our patience and my prayers because the day I married your father, I prayed to God that I accept this man as my fate but if I have a daughter, let her husband be none like her father.”
Thank you for your love and prayers. And if you are going through a tough time, always remember the best thing about time is that it changes. Just be honest to your present and the future will bring reward. Good luck living life!
Why Kids Don’t Go Outside Anymore
What are some unwritten social rules everyone should know?
If someone shows you a photo on their phone, don’t swipe left or right.
If someone tells you, “It’s getting late,” when you’re over at their place, it’s time for you to go.
Walk as if you are “driving” and don’t stand still right at the entrance or exit of a door. Let people pass.
If you invite a friend to a party where they barely know anyone, don’t leave them hanging.
Don’t criticize someone’s smile or laugh.
Don’t stand too close when talking to people or talk “in their face.”
If you have never seen or tried what they like, don’t diss someone’s taste.
Don’t ask why the person isn’t married/doesn’t have children. Never.
When someone starts talking about their problems, don’t start talking about yours.
Don’t ask for somebody else’s opinion and get mad when they tell it to you.
If you start to smell yourself, other people have been smelling you for 3 days.
If someone can’t fix an aspect of their appearance in 5 minutes or less, don’t mention it.
Don’t microwave fish in the break room at work.
Don’t take pictures of kids that aren’t yours.
When you enter an elevator, face the door.
Don’t ever snap your fingers to get a bill from a server at a restaurant.
When your friend’s crush is around, don’t try to be the funniest in the group.
Assume nothing. Believe nobody. Check everything.
Really Dumb Americans
Why did my top performing employee quit after write up?
I quit 8 months after a bad performance review. It was the first of my working career, I was single with no family nearby or other safety net, and I had asked repeatedly for some assistance.
After the review, my boss came to my office and asked me what I was going to do. I said “find another job within the next 6 months”. Shocked her but I outlined explained my rationale. They didn’t understand my job and the amount of work it required. As a trainer, I had excellent evaluations. I never turned down an assignment and traveled throughout 6 LARGE states. And the past was not that great.
I found another job and left after 8 months but was agreed to fulfill 2 or 3 training sessions after the other job started so the company wasn’t left high and dry.
So, I left because I felt my job was threatened and was worried about my financial future, plain and simple.
According to BBC, critics worry that TikTok, owned by ByteDance based in Beijing, could be used by the Chinese government for spying. What do you think of it?
Here’s the thing, and if it were true. What exactly is the PRC government going to do with this data? Go on what are they gonna do, steal your bodily fluids?
The PRC doesn’t even kill dissidents. Ai Weiwei moved away and is still very much alive.
It’s not the PRC who is trying to take away your guns is it?
Flirt Flop
Is it ever possible for someone to feel that they are paid too much?
Gosh, yes. I’m usually able to suppress that feeling, but I’ll tell the story about the time that even I couldn’t.
I was representing a client in an estate dispute against a relative. The defendant was a borderline personality and there were strong reasons to believe the representation would be lengthy, costly, require extensive expert testimony, and be very nasty. Plus the client had limited resources.
We negotiated a fee agreement which gave me a percentage of the ultimate recovery that we both thought was fair.
As a precursor to the lawsuit, I sent a demand letter setting forth the basis of the potential case. Pure formality and I knew it would be a waste of time, but I wanted to be able to show that we had gone through all the motions.
To my utter astonishment, the defendant caved. Completely. Within two weeks, my client had a thorough accounting and a very large transfer of property to her. I had done very little real hourly work.
And according to the fee agreement, I was entitled to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
I was very distressed about this aspect and after considerable hand-wringing and thought, and consultation with colleagues, I simply picked up the phone, called my client, told her what had happened, and said, “Here’s how much you supposedly owe me under our agreement. It’s too much. I haven’t been able to figure an analytical way to reach the right number. I’m going to propose $X. That’s a quarter of the fee agreement amount. It’s still probably too much, but I can live with asking for that.”
My client was silent, then chuckled and said, “I accept your proposal. Plus, you’ve given me a lawyer story that no one will believe. Thank you.”
Afternote: that client became a dear friend and referred other business to me. I didn’t know it at the time, but my fee reduction proved to be an excellent marketing move.
What solution could work to stop the South China Sea conflict?
The U.S. must stop all trouble making and war mongering via the NED and CIA immediately and comprehensively. As the nuclear clock is ticking ever closer to mid night!
At some point China will react and that will start an escalation into a 3WW situation that nobody wins no matter how proud the Caucasians are about the U.S. power. It is easy to bribed poor Filipino fishermen to do shit at 10 grand a pop rushing their lives but the end won’t justifies the means at all! Stop before it is too late. Ukraine is a perfect example.
Perhaps the US thought it is now or never but the truth is never is the answer, the U.S. simply has too much to lose!
Double Standards
What’s the most disturbing thing anyone has ever told you casually?
Three years ago I met up with an old girlfriend from college to catch up, have food, talk about the old days and the old gang.
At one point she casually said, “Oh yeah, xxxx is in Sousa-Baranowski”. That’s the max security prison in Massachusetts, for hardcore criminals. I couldn’t believe my ears, “What?” I said, blinking and almost dropping my latte.
This guy had been a leader of “our gang” in college, the one who always had something crazy for us to do. He was the guy who taught me how to hang glide; who first got me high on pot, who got me laid introducing me to all manner of girls. He was the most laid back, casual dude you ever met, tall and gangly and always in a black motorcycle jacket because his only vehicle was that motorcycle.
“What the hell happened?” I asked incredulously.
“He stabbed a woman in the belly in his kitchen 8 times then threw her through a window. He had a standoff with the cops.”
“What… the… fuck…?”
You have to understand. We are all old now. I’m 63. He’s 67, a big time scientist, very wealthy, respected in his field, working for a major, well known pharma company. How would something like this happen? Somehow he had gotten into a fight with his wife over his “counseling” a local (female) drug addict and the wife left in a huff and he had the addict over his house. No one knows what happened next except the results. He’s in big boy prison for 8 years now. He will be old, old when he gets out, broke, divorced, homeless, jobless. He’s lost everything he worked for his entire life and no one knows why.
What are the implications of 5.5g, that China has just rolled out technologically and geopolitically in the next 5 years?
What 5.5G technology does to geopolitics I don’t know.
But after I 5.5G technology is deployed in China, my phone downloads a film really fucking fast~! 🤣
Shhh~ In the blink of an eye, the download is complete.
Using this technology, China’s top doctors can operate on patients 3,000 kilometres away in off-site locations by remotely manipulating a robotic arm, with no lag or delay in the signal.
China Is Doing Something CRAZY at the US Mexico Border!
Have you ever accidentally texted the wrong person? What did you say?
I meant to text my husband that I wanted a pet anaconda for my birthday. I had found a website that sold baby anacondas and you could buy one for $499. If you paid $49, you could get it shipped overnight.
As outrageous as it sounds, I was genuinely interested in owning an anaconda. So I texted him the link to the website while I was at work (during lunch hour) and wrote “Honey I want pet anaconda for birthday.”
My husband is usually the first person in my messages inbox because I rarely text anyone else. However, that day I had texted one of our company’s directors since there was an urgent matter that needed his attention and he hadn’t responded to my email – and so that was the conversation at the top of my inbox.
I blindly sent both texts to the director in quick succession – the text with the anaconda website and the “honey I want pet anaconda” message.
I didn’t get a response – but 5 minutes later he swung by my desk and told me how buying reptiles is a bad idea and when it grows large enough, the anaconda would swallow me.
I looked at him with wide eyes and I was like, “How do YOU know I was considering buying a reptile?”
He showed me his phone and the texts from me…..and in my mind was like “WTF did I just do.”
We laughed about it and it was all cool but it was a little embarrassing.
Note: We ended up not buying the baby anaconda. We decided it was a ridiculous idea. Well, my husband decided that and convinced me. 🙂
What is the most satisfying passive-aggressive thing you have ever done to a really mean or rude person?
I hijacked my roommate’s internet connection.
Back when I was in college there wasn’t really any broadband. We used 56.6k dial up connections to access the internet. Now my roommate Cruchkov would monopolize that damned connection for hours on end. We only had the one phone for four of us and we would pick it up any time of the day or night and hear bleeep blop beeboo beeboo. All the time. It got to the point where we couldn’t even order a pizza. “Hey Dave you want pepperoni?” “Sure Corey” “Okay I’ll ca… bleeep blop beeboo beeboo.” “DAMNIT CHRUCHKOV”. We would bang on his door but he would either not hear us or pretend not to hear us.
So I hatched a plan.
I waited until he left for work one day. Then, armed with some s%^t I bought at Radio Shack back when they sold stuff that wasn’t cell phones, I walked into his room. I unscrewed his phone jack and connected a 5v relay to the line. COM/NO went to the phone, the coil went to the other two (unused) wires. Then I buried the whole thing back in the wall and made it look good as new. I hid a 9v battery inside the kitchen phone and connected it to the ringer switch and my secret wires.
Chruchkov comes home that evening, slams the door. Thirty seconds later it’s bleeep blop beeboo beeboo. “Hey Dave, you want pizza?” “But Chruchkov is on the…” “I got this, man.” I flip my switch, his phone turns off. But only his phone. The sound of him kicking and cursing at his computer remains one of the most passive aggressively satisfying moments of my life.
What are the consequences of being too good at your job? Can you get fired for it?
Yes, I did. I went to work for a company in accounts receivable. In other words followed up with customers who bought the service and products of the business And yes I was better than very good at it. Their books were a remarkable mess. The printout of “delinquent” accounts amounted to several hundred pages. I dived in. After a few months the owners got the opportunity to take over a franchise doing what they did in a different group of counties. They carpe’d the diem. As the franchiser had to take the business back their accounts were in horrible shape. After about two years I got everything lined out, quit sending repairmen to nonpaying customers, got the giving of “product” that should be sold to customers stopped. About three months before I finally had everything straightened out the owner hired someone to ostensibly “assist” me. The very week I finally got the system set up to where anyone should be able to keep it going easily they let me go. The person hired to assist me was being paid 2/3 of what I was or I was making 50% more than her. There were also four different occasions with different companies where upper management refused to promote me because they feared the results of my leaving the department I was in.
The Sopranos – Moltisanti and Filone hijack Comley’s trucks
What is the most outrageous “fee” you’ve ever been charged?
Back during the pandemic, I took my cat, Caesar, to the vet. He was a 15 year old, orange, short haired cat. Because of COVID, the vet’s office had implemented a policy of people not being allowed to go back to the exam rooms with their pet. I wasn’t really comfortable with that but my little guy had a sore front paw so I had to get him seen by the vet. A staff member came out to my car, got Caesar (in his carrier) and took him inside to be examined by the vet while I waited in my car. After a few minutes, the vet called my cell phone and we discussed the problem with Caesar’s front paw. An x-ray was done and it was determined that the problem was with one of his claws. Apparently it was a problem that is fairly common in older cats and easily treatable. Over the phone, the vet and I agreed upon the treatment for the problem. A short time later, the staff member brought Caesar back out to my car and presented me with the bill. As I quickly scanned the bill before giving the staff member my credit card, I saw a $40 charge for a ‘ therapeutic shave’ on the bill. I didn’t understand so I asked about the charge. Found out that while they had Caesar in the exam room, someone shaved his back end for no apparent reason. I said to the staff member “ So you needlessly shaved my cat’s ass and want to charge me $40 for it? I think that you guys should owe him $40 for doing that to him! “
The charge was removed from my bill. Caesar got extra treats and a new toy that day too.
Text to picture
Playing around, this time with a Wes Anderson theme; Life Aqua.
At the age of 11, he was cast as Harry Potter in the first Harry Potter film, and starred in the series for 10 years. At the age of 14, an article in British newspaper ‘The Sun’ listed him as Britain’s third richest teenager behind only Prince Harry Windsor and Charlotte Church, the very popular singer-songwriter TRUST Trivia: Daniel Radcliffe.
He became the youngest non-royal to have his portrait displayed in London’s prestigious National Portrait Gallery at the same age. In 2007, the British press estimated 18-year-old Radcliffe’s total net worth at $35 million, and $80 million at the age of 26. ‘Harry Potter’ Daniel Radcliffe turns 26: 10 unknown facts about the actor
Would you want your kid to become someone popular and successful like him?
Maybe. Yes.
Now read this (paying special attention to bold words):
Daniel Radcliffe: I turned to alcohol to cope with fear of failure and fame. “It is not a real pressure, but it is a pressure of living with the thought, ‘Oh, what if all these people are saying I am not going to have a career? What if they are all going to be right and will be laughing and I will be consigned to a bunch of “Where are they now?” lists?'” Radcliffe added: “I was living in constant fear of who I’d meet, what I might have said to them, what I might have done with them, so I’d stay in my apartment for days and drink alone. I was a recluse at 20. It was pathetic – it wasn’t me. I’m a fun, polite person, and it turned me into a rude bore.”
“The bottom line is people don’t like change, especially when it’s connected to endings,” she concludes. “For some people, they have a harder time maintaining a positive self-image when it’s linked to a job that gives them an identity. And so in order to deal with the intensity of that emotional pain, some people self-medicate in order to feel less depressed, less anxious, less hopeless or less unimportant” -Dr. Rubi Ludwig, Psychotherapist.
Now would you want your kid to abuse himself with alcohol/drugs while he has so much in the world that one could only dream of?
No. Definitely not.
This is just an example of people who are extremely successful, but aren’t happy. They may be child prodigies, but they are so full of fear of failure that after all they have achieved, they are no close to finding happiness. And their lives and money are wasted in running after it.
Raise your kid such that he doesn’t become this example.
1. Take the FEAR OF FAILURE away from him.
The fear, that you are instilling in him unknowingly. By saying this:
Whatever you do, just do your best. Be it studies or games.
It is important to win the Olympiad. It is the stepping stone for your career.
Study with the aim of securing first rank. So we can be proud parents.
Saying this instills the fear of failure. Kid aims for perfection, resulting in a stressed outlook.
This is Fear of Failure.
main qimg d3d72168c03a206123c735ec7f481223 pjlq
Teach your children so fear of failure never creeps in their mind. By telling them this:
Do not focus on excelling at everything. It keeps you in a constant state of stress. Do somethings for pure enjoyment. And in fact, do everything for the fun of it.
What do you think of the Olympiad? I think it is important, but not the most important thing.
What are you studying? Let’s explore how can we apply it practically.
2. Teach him to THINK IN A HEALTHY WAY.
Not anxiously, as you might be doing now.
Mister, the exams are approaching. You better start worrying!
Sharmaji’s son is a top-ranker. He got a great on-campus placement. What will happen of you? Where will you go with these marks?
Amend your behavior. You are a grown-up now.
Saying this leads to anxious thinking. Kid is overwhelmed, loaded with inferiority complex and self-consciousness.
This is Anxious thinking.
main qimg 04ae00e83c729ab8fc6585d263ac0bb2 pjlq
And there is no other way to teach them this, except to teach yourself this.
Do not encourage him to think anxiously. He’ll learn it in no time, and soon will have anxiety attacks, inhibiting performance.
Do not compare him to others thinking it’ll motivate him. Motivate him by positive means, comparative thinking will take a lifetime toll on him.
Do not expect him to behave like a grown-up. A 3-yr old will behave like one, and a teenager like one. Accept them as per their age.
3. Teach him to have a POSITIVE SELF-IMAGE.
Again, do not teach him this.
You are considered doing well only when you get good grades.
Why can’t you be more like your sister? She’s such a good kid and gets a first in everything.
Read faster
Write faster.
Run faster.
Do it faster.
This teaching promotes negative self-image. Synonymous with low self- worth and self-esteem.
This is Negative self-image.
main qimg 4acb7bcc7ce5ca10f32df74527311996 pjlq
So, teach yourself this.
Do not pressurize children with too much focus on grades or rewards.
Remember that he can’t be like his sister. Each person is different. Are you doing this so you have to deal with only one personality?
Do not pressurize the kid to be faster in everything he does. Each kid learns at his own pace.
Teaching yourself these things will raise a kid who is free from this negative thought:
What will happen if… I fail…
A Marine’s 2-Word Breakup Text Sends Cheating Ex Into MENTAL BREAKDOWN…And Friends Are Losing It!
Do police officers ever sympathize with someone who took the law into their own hands?
I was dispatched to a call of a burglary in progress at a residence. It was maybe 10:00 PM. When I pull up, I see one guy running from the residence, and at the same time I hear a gunshot from inside the residence. I let the runner go (never saw him again) and went to investigate the gunshot.
I found a door ajar to a side courtyard, and as I approached, one of the burglars was being backed out the door by the man of the house, who was holding an ancient .32 revolver on him (I later examined the gun and estimated the ammunition was older than I was). He later told me he had fired one round (the one I heard) into the corner of a room when he saw the burglar inside his house. As soon as the homeowner saw me, he put the gun down, and stood by while I handcuffed the burglar.
I took a written statement from the homeowner, told him I hoped I was as capable as him when I was his age (I was about 30 at the time—he was around 70), and took the burglar to jail. It did not occur to me to seize the victim’s gun or charge him with discharge of a firearm inside the city limits. No one suggested this was not the proper approach.
What is life’s biggest “trap” people fall into?
My housemate is 26 years old. She’s intelligent and pretty and (generally) fun to be around.
But… she hates her job.
It’s obvious.
Sometimes she’ll just sit at the kitchen table in her pajamas, coffee in hand, looking at the clock.
And she’ll casually say, “I have to leave for work in two minutes.”
Does she actually leave for work two minutes later?
I’ll let you guess the answer to that.
But the thing that blows me away is this:
When I asked her a little while ago if she’s considered changing jobs and doing something that doesn’t make her look unhappy every morning, there was genuine surprise in her voice.
As in, “Of course I’m going to work another 36+ years at a job I despise! That’s totally normal.”
A lot of people think that.
Like my housemate, they “celebrate” the weekend and dread Mondays.
Like my housemate, they might even negotiate more hours at work so they can qualify for more vacation time.
And that’s a huge trap: Thinking you’re doomed to working a job you hate.
Thinking you have to work a 9-to-5.
Thinking you can’t earn money if you’re not actively working.
That’s all nonsense.
If you’re not happy with your work, not only can you change, but you absolutely should.
I’ve been freelancing for years and wouldn’t even consider getting a job where some boss gets to tell me things like:
When to work
Where to work
How many vacation days I can take
How much I can get paid
For example, this month, I’m a bit ahead of schedule on the projects I’m working on so I can take time off if I want to.
Do I have to ask for permission?
Nope.
Do I even have to let anyone know?
Nope.
I’m not saying this to brag, even though it might sound like it.
I’m saying this because if you feel stuck in a job you can’t stand, just know that there’s a way out for you.
Please, don’t stay at a job you despise long-term.
It’s not good for you or for anyone else.
What are the most fascinating “weird but true” historical facts you know about?
You have the doctor who pumped four gallons of hydrogen gas into his anus, to diagnose gastrointestinal problems
[1], and then you have surgical resident, Werner Forssmann, who was eager to push a tube through a vein in his elbow, until it reached his heart. This would become a method of transporting medication to and fro the incision site.
main qimg 7c8fee7cb0389b8a571c5bb730943c92 lq
Werner Forssman was desperate to self-experiment, although faced challenges along the way. One person he had to pass was the surgical nurse, who had access to the theatre and medical equipment.
After much convincing, the nurse gave in to his ludicrous idea. In fact, she volunteered to have the procedure performed on herself! I guess the idea isn’t as crazy as the doctor who transported parasites within himself, only to produce parasite semen for research!
[2]Anyway, despite dismissal from the doctors who believed the surgery would be a death wish, Werner continued on with his plan.
The nurse lay on the surgical table, whilst Werner tightly strapped her legs and arms in. Only, when she wasn’t looking, the doctor applied anesthetic to his own arm, cut his arm open, and pushed the 12-inch catheter (thin tube) into his vein!
Now, all he needed was an X-Ray room. Successfully, Werner x-rayed himself and noticed that the tube had reached his shoulder. He pushed the tube in further until it was 24-inches inside his vein.
Bingo! Werner reached his ventricular cavity.
For his risky actions, Werner was fired. As a result, he took up positions as a military surgeon and Major in World War II. He wasn’t a hero though. Werner was a Nazi, actively joining the party in 1932. He was eventually imprisoned, although did receive a Nobel Prize twenty years later for his medical efforts.
Largest NATO Base in Europe Being **RUSHED** in Romania
The largest NATO base in Europe is being built in Romania. Construction commenced at the outset of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and is being RUSHED.
The Mihail Kogalniceanu airbase in Romania will turn into a military camp where 10 thousand NATO soldiers can live, this will require an investment of €2.5 billion, reports local publication Pro TV.
The base is located in a mountainous area and should become a center for command and control of troops in South-Eastern Europe.
The zoomable map below shows the location:
Map
What’s a rule your employer implemented that backfired terribly?
My former company implemented an 9/80 work schedule with an A/B work pattern. Meaning that those on the A schedule would work a 9 hour work day for 5 days and the B schedule would work 4 days during the same week and then the next week they would swap out. The work force, for the most part, loved it. I personally didn’t like it because I was giving the company an extra hour out of each day without compensation of overtime pay. Others loved having that three day weekend every other week. Different strokes for different folks I suppose.
Anyways, the issue that cropped up immediately was the lake of key personnel on days you needed them the most. “Yeah boss, I’d love to fix or finish or diagnose this problem but without the lead engineer it just can’t be done.” “Hey, this job must be done today or heads are gonna roll.” “Sorry boss but ol’ so and so is one his 9/80 day off so we can’t get it done without him.” “Hey boss? We got a problem. We can’t run this test without Joe Blow because it’s his Friday off.”
These issues popped up every single week. It was eventually dropped.
Is there anytime when karma saved you?
We were in a beautiful relationship for about 3 years. And then suddenly she over texts, broke up with me. No explanation given. Like every other guy, I cried, pleaded for just one reason, and all she said was it’s over, I don’t want to be with you. She has changed her college a month before the break up. And like I suspected she fell out of love with me because there is new guy who approached her. Quite similar to everyone’s love story. Lol
Anyway, I was literally shattered, and broken. I couldn’t believe the girl I thought to be my future left me in such a dire condition.
It’s been three years since she is gone. Yesterday, I got a phone call from her at 2am. Basic points from the calls were:
She was unhappy, crying profusely over the phone. She said she don’t have anyone to trust and talk to, except me. And yes, I talked to her because pretty much I loved her too much.
She said the guy cheated her, and when asked him for a breakup, he said he will going to kill her, he abused and hit her off. And she thought everybody will leave silently like me.
I asked her to do a police complain, she said, she doesn’t want her parents to know, she is stucked.
After few minutes on call, she was laughing, talking to me as if we were never separated, I was wondering how easy the things are for girls.
Then she told me even before her father and brother, I am the person she trust and respect the most. I was flattered but I knew, it’s no more important.
I was again at ground zero, I felt happy talking to her, but the wounds were yet fresh.
I tried not to make her feel bad and bid her bye.
Today I Changed my phone number, and email id!
I do love her a lot, still? Yes. But I cannot give her the power to destroy me again.
The Sopranos – Billy Leotardo
When did you realize that your childhood was not normal?
I was bullied pretty bad as a kid. The ironic thing is, I grew up in the kind of school district where the things that happened to me, people believed didn’t happen there at all. But teachers were trying to encourage me that everyone gets teased & everyone has problems & that my situation is not unique. It’s amazing in this time in 2024, everyone is always telling me what I have to do to cater to people’s fragile emotions. But in 2002, it was all about how I needed to not react in anger when people tortured me in school; how I could best accommodate & live with people torturing me. The burden was never on the bullies to change.
So in 2002, I was leaving for a Boy Scout campout. My first troop hated me. (I later on joined another Boy Scout Troop that I stayed with for 20 years. But the first one treated me like crap.) These kids told me I was not allowed to talk because I’m annoying. Naturally this made me talk more. I was not anticipating this kid to pull out his pocket knife, open it & say, “If you don’t shut-up, I’m going to stab you.” I then stood up & walked away.
The reality was, I was not that afraid. I was 11 years old & had my life or safety threatened so many times up to this point, it just felt kind of natural that eventually I’d be held at knife point. It was another scout that reported him. The kid got his knife confiscated (worst punishment anyone has ever received for an action against me) & he rode off on his bike crying.
I came home & told my parents the story because I thought it was funny. Then I saw the shock in their eyes. They said we could potentially press charges. I had no idea you could get sued or arrested over a death threat because I was so used to getting them. This was the proof I needed to know my teachers were wrong; that the things I go through are not normal.
Chilighetti
Quick, easy and delicious! Chilighetti is a great way to feed a hungry family.
chilighetti
Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
1 (46 ounce) can tomato juice
1 cup water
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
4 level teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 (16 ounce) package spaghetti, broken into 2 inch pieces*
2 (16 ounce) can kidney or pinto beans, rinsed and drained
Sour cream (optional)
Shredded Cheddar cheese (optional)
Instructions
In a Dutch oven, cook beef and onion over medium-high heat for 8 to 10 minutes or until beef is no longer pink and onion is tender, crumbling the beef; drain.
Stir in tomato juice, water, Worcestershire sauce and seasonings; bring to a boil. Add spaghetti. Reduce heat; simmer, covered, for 10 to 13 minutes or until pasta is tender.
Stir in beans; heat through.
Top servings with sour cream and Cheddar cheese, if desired.
Notes
* Spaghetti may be left unbroken if desired.
Have you, while repairing a computer, ever found anything that made your jaw drop?
While this dis not happen to me, it happenesn to a neighbor friend who repaired computers…
One of our other neighbors approached him to take a look at problem they (a couple) were having with their computer. The problem is irrelevant here.
So my friend went about his diagnostics to figure out how to address the issue. As any good computer tech does, once the machine was up an running again, he went about doing some basic maintenance such as cleaning up temp files and so on.
In doing so he stumble upon a huge set of pictures and videos… yes, that. Not illegal ones, but actual professional ones used in well known sites.
As it turned out, we learned that our low key neighbor was a well known porn star making videos at home, which now explained all the odd traffic we always noticed at their house. This porn was bringing them probably close $500k/yr or more. They did end up moving later on to a higher end neighborhood not to far. Shortly after moving but still owned the property, a well known on-line news magazine (you’ve all read something from them) came by looking for them, knocking on doors to see if any of us knew more about them, and if we knew where they moved to.
BTW – part of the story that the on-line magazine (you’ve all read something from them) was chasing was that her day job was unwrapping kids toys from well known entertainment company. So she was also a top rated poster/producer in that segment in YouTube for some time. We learned a lot that day… those pretty hands of hers served multiple purposes.🙂
So, the people who bought their house now have a bit of a topic and history to share about their house, because of course, we neighbors shared the history about it 😉.
It’s funny thinking back to the many casual neighbor conversations we had with that couple, and little did we know what was behind it all. She is very cute, it all made sense.
Today she is still out there, bigger than before. If anyone reading this watches porn, or watched children’s toy unwrapping, you’ve probably seen her…
The Rise of Chinese Pick Me Girls
Pizza!
In 2001, Pizza Hut delivered a pizza to the International Space Station. The pizza was a 6″ pizza and was delivered to the ISS aboard a Russian Progress vehicle. They paid $1 million to transport the same.
Does a human being know they’re dead once they die?
I had a traumatic brain injury, was on life support, and was in a coma for 7 days.
During this time I found myself looking at the doctors working on me, then I walked up a small ramp and met my brother who passed away unexpectedly.
My brother looked like he did when he was in High School, I wanted to stay with him but he said that I couldn’t come in, and it wasn’t my time, that I needed to spend more years with my wife and children.
I was heartbroken and when I came out of my coma, I remembered everything so vividly.
The doctors said they lost me a couple of times but were able to revive me, and they were so surprised because I shouldn’t have survived my accident.
This is the truth, I never would have believed my story if I were somebody else, but this happened, and for the fact that the doctors said they couldn’t control the bleeding and that I was supposed to die, I wouldn’t have believed myself.
Now having my motor skills back, but still working on my speech, I’m able to go back to work after only 3 months, this is a true miracle. And never take life for granted, there are no promises for a tomorrow.
Living a traditional life is the best thing I ever did | But is it the best for you?
This chick in a small town in the Philippines talk about her town. A nice escape.
Do you think the faster accelerated vetting of Hong Kong’s Article 23 bill is to catch foreign countries off guard and ward off possible sanctions or criticism?
Nope. You see no matter what China or Chinese do we’ll be criticised for it. A few years back I posted some screen caps of Western media:
The December 2021 LegCo elections. Go look at it. Pan Dems and other yellow groups stood for election. They didn’t get very many votes.
If you’ve been keeping an eye on what’s been happening in LegCo for the past 26 years it’s pretty obvious. The Pan Dems have never had a majority there, what they have done however is simply fillibuster and delay and oppose EVERYTHING that has been tabled at LegCo since forever. This is Hong Kong’s version of Hansard. An official record of everything said at LegCo at debates and motions/votes.
The we care about the people Yellows blocked and delayed EVERYTHING.
Some biggies:
They opposed the minimum wage.
They opposed maternity leave.
They opposed those not because they though they were a bad idea but purely on ideological grounds.
Since 2022 when the new bunch of LegCo people took their seats? Without the permanent blockage of the yellows who as above block things on ideological grounds things actually get through LegCo rather than spending months and years being blocked by them.
That had been opposed by the yellows since 1997. Yet changes were made in 6 months after December 2021.
I’m rooting for you!
What are some facts about human behaviour?
Having orgasms lowers risks for breast cancer, heart disease, and depression for women
Intelligent people are more forgetful than those with average intelligence, which is correct.
Getting paid to perform something you enjoy may make you less creative.
The thing that people remember the most about you is your charisma, Here you can learn the secrets to Charisma and Confidence.
People frequently experience déjà vu after recalling a conversation or dream.
If you died tomorrow, what would you want your family to know about you?
I have a Premium Netflix account that I don’t pay for so you guys can use my laptop to watch movies and series.
In my hostel room in college you will find a photo frame kept on the top left shelf above the study table which has a photo of Me with a Girl.If possible return it to her and tell her it’s called “Our Dastoor” or Destiny.
My phone’s pin is 1632 because that was the time(16:32) while i was setting the new pin .
In my phone there are two calculator apps. One pre-installed and the other downloaded from play store. When you will enter 1632 and press ‘’=“ in the downloaded one it will open a secret pdf which contains my Bucket List, delete that, it won’t be necessary anymore.
Can you ask the college authorities if they can still provide me the degree posthumously cause papa is very proud of my IIT achievement.
Tell my friends sorry that I promised i would certainly try beer with them the next time we go on a trip.
Donate/throw away my possessions except for the white letter with a red tape which is kept in my laptop bag. Kindly burn it away without opening it. It’s rude to read someone’s love letters.
Should Marines take orders from an army captain in the battlefield if their Marine captain or higher ranked official is dead or incapable?
Different services, but the story is helpful to understand what can happen in the real world battlefield
The 82nd Airborne jumped into Grenada at the international airport at night. Some soldiers ended up in extremely tall grass to the east of the runway and were separated from the main force but could hear the fire fight to the north and west of their positions but could not see due to the tall, thick grass
main qimg edbe462c2758da0cc5c682a09af8b8b0 lq
One by one, they started to form up. At some point, they added a USAF fighter pilot Captain who was aligned as an Air Liaison Officer who specialized in controlling close air support, small unit infantry.
After the small group numbered squad strength, they stopped briefly while headed towards the sounds of the battle. The soldiers looked at the USAF Captain, the only officer present and one spoke up and asked “What do we do now sir?”. Despite being a fighter pilot by trade, he suddenly found himself in command of a parachute infantry squad.
So, yeah, in a situation where they are cutoff from their leadership and unit, Marines and any member of the Armed Forces should obey the lawful orders of senior NCOs and officers regardless of service.
I had a dog; Pee Pee (also spelled as Pi Pi). He passed on. Today, I want to relate the great story as to how I trained him to use the shower stall to go to the bathroom in. It really saved me from taking him out every day for a walk. Phew!
Anyways…
The little guy loved to pee. He would pee everywhere. If there was a rug, a mat, or even clothes on the floor, he would pee on it.
It was a problem.
But I figured that I could use this habit to train him.
What I did was to buy a big blue mat made out of indoor-outdoor turf “grass”. Same as this picture, only blue instead of green…
71wmmgYU2jL. AC SX679
I then put it in the shower stall.
Well, immediately the dog went and started to pee all over it. And that was ok, and I would take the shower hose, and then spray the mat clean.
Then, each day, I would cut the mat smaller and smaller.
It started off pretty large. It filled the stall.
Two weeks over it was the size of a small table rug
Then we cut it to the size of a book..
Three weeks later it was the size of a stamp.
Tiny cut cube
You should of seen him trying to navigate to hit that tiny piece of blue mat. He tried to aim so, so, so very carefully.
Anyways, we eventually threw out the blue mat, and he just kept on peeing and crapping in the shower. No problem.
But, I’ll tell you it was a really funny sight watching him try to pee on that little blue square.
Today…
Pierogi
Pierogi are dumplings that are delicious fried and served with sour cream. These are also good filled with fresh blueberries mixed with sugar for a super dessert.
pierogi
Ingredients
Dough
5 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter softened
3/4 to 1 1/4 cups water
Filling
2 to 3 medium onions, chopped
1/2 to 1 cup (1 to 2 sticks) butter
6 medium potatoes, peeled, boiled and mashed or put through a ricer
1 (8 ounce) package farmers cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Dough
Mix the flour and salt in a food processor. Add the eggs, butter and water (starting with 3/4 cups if the dough is dry, adding 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough is smooth and elastic, adding up to an additional 3/4 cups if needed) pulsing until kneaded by machine and a ball is formed, or you can use a mixer to do this process.
Remove dough from bowl and let sit in a warm place for about 15 to 30 minutes.
Filling
Melt butter in a large fry pan and add onions. Sauté until onions are lightly browned; set aside.
Combine potatoes, cheese, salt, pepper and as much of the sautéed onions as you like, reserving the rest to toss with cooked pierogi. Taste for seasoning. Set aside.
Divide dough into 3 to 4 equal portions. On a lightly floured surface, roll one portion of dough out to about 1/8-inch thickness. Cut a 3 inch round circle with biscuit cutter. Place one tablespoon of filling on one side of each round. Using your finger, moisten one side of dough with some water. Pick up the circle and fold dough over filling and pinch edges together to firmly seal the filling (this is critical – if you don’t pinch the dough together tightly, you will have gaps and when you boil the pierogi, the filling will come out).
Place the filled pierogi onto a lightly floured baking pan; cover until you finish with remaining dough and filling.
In a large wide pot, fill with water and bring to a boil over medium to high heat, when water is at a rolling boil, drop 5 to 6 pierogi and cook while stirring gently with a wooden spoon until they float to the top of pot. Cook a couple minutes longer.
Remove with a slotted spoon, toss with reserved sautéed onions, if desired, and place in a warmed deep glass bowl.
If desired, saute the pierogi briefly in a small amount of equal amounts of olive oil and butter (as shown in photo).
Was Versailles “full of poop”? Did people carry a special jar to poop and pee in?
One thing is certain, the Castle of Versailles was an absolute cesspool by our modern standards.
Let’s assume you could teleport in the Versailles Castle during its Golden Era (XVII Century).
The first thing you would do is gag or puke.
Think about a stench so bad that it would rip your guts out. Not only from feces and urine, but also a peculiar sense of hygiene that was quite standard during those times.
Together, let’s deep dive into the least-known world of Dirty Versailles.
The Glory Days of the chamber pots
If you were a noble residing in the palace, you would most likely relieve yourself in a bucket (pot de chambre or “chamber pot”). It would stay overnight in your room, and your servant would throw it out the window in the morning. An innocent bystander could receive your fluids right in the face if it was unannounced. This practice was usual during medieval times already, when people would throw their garbage on the streets. “Gare á l’eau” (Beware of the water) was the universal warning when somebody disposed his trash on the street.
Chamber pots in Versailles were made of the finest porcelain, rare fabrics and other precious material. There are many variations of chamber pots and some of them should be mentioned just because of their hilarious names:
Ladies of this era had to wear sophisticated dresses that took hours to put on. In the case of a pressing urge, they could urinate right on the spot in a small bucket called a Bourdaloue, named after a famous clergyman whose sermons were unbelievably long.
main qimg 0e002b7b4337d4834ecda6f8e14e0274 lq
Louis Bourdaloue, unimpressed by the fact that his name came down in history as synonymous with gallons of bodily fluids.
Voyage en Hollande (Trip to the Netherlands) was the name of another pissing device that went in fashion when France was at war with … you guessed it… the Netherlands. It looked like a small book but was obviously distantly related to literature.
These devices were carried around by multiple servants who threw the fluids in the sewage system. Other devices for poop have been invented, which bring us to the infamous
Chaise percée: taking a dump in luxury
The way you went for “number two” had everything to do with your rank of nobility and your importance in the royal family. The example of the “chaise percée” (chair with a hole in it) is self-explanatory. This device was a work of art made of the finest woods, fabrics and marbles. You can find a lot of chaises percées in Versailles. It was used since the twelve century and was just more than a toilet.
Nobles, courtisans, ministers and other VIPs sat on the chair for hours. They received guests in their room to discuss important matters, all while proceeding to their natural needs. The whole idea was to make their guests feel inferior and put them in their own place.
main qimg a8060c638ca68c14c44df55b83cb73b7 lq
La chaise percée: a subtle way to make your guest understand that you don’t give a crap.
He was awoken every day at 8:15 a.m. by a cohort of 10 people. At 8:30, he was already sitting on his own chaise percée, surrounded by his family, his court and his ministers. In these conditions, one would find it uneasy to poop, but his stools and urine were examined with great care by his surgeon to see if the King was in good health. Please note that taking part in the rising of the King was considered a real privilege and was an offer that you could not refuse.
Gardens and bushes
Anyone visiting Versailles now cannot help but be mesmerized by the luxurious gardens and the incredible variety of flowers and plants.
Now, imagine that about 3000 people (the numbers of residents of the Versailles court in its golden age), were relieving themselves about everywhere they could. Gardens were festering with faeces and urine, and the repulsive smell was an everyday annoyance for the noble ladies and gents. André Le Nôtre, gardener of the King, had the rather enormous task to mask these odors with the scents of exotic flowers and plants.
To give you an even deeper insight about the inconvenience of pooping outdoors, let’s read a tasty letter written by Princesse de la Palatine
You are lucky to be able to go for a shit as you please. We are not that lucky here, as I am forced to keep my stool until the night comes; there are no toilets in the houses near the forest. I am forced to go outside to take a shit, which bothers me, because I love to shit as I see fit, and I cannot have a pleasant shit if my ass is supported by nothing. Alas, everybody sees me shitting; there are men, women, girls, boys and Swiss clergymen passing by.
Linen and Cotton: Wiping it in style
Nothing was ever too beautiful or precious for royals bottoms. Nobles would use embroidered linen or cotton handkerchief to wipe themselves clean. The linen fabric has been used since antiquity and was reputed for its smoothness. Because of this it was one of the most expensive items at the Royal Court.
main qimg 94b76c456b43c2e8c2462b39afaaa114 lq
Look a bit closer and you can clearly see the remnants of a feast that took place in December 1685.
Common men or women regularly used handkerchief of a less prestigious fabric, or could use a bunch of hay or any leaves to do the job. At this point, there was a bit of an “anything goes” vibe when it came to wipe your butthole.
Please note that none of these fabrics were washed with water, but merely scrubbed with another tissue. Talc powder was massively used to mask odors.
Pooping in Versailles: Sanitary Crisis and improvements.
Reading this, you are likely to think that Versailles was like an enormous festival without Porta potties where nobody cared about hygiene whatsover.
However, a long string of sanitary measures took place during the reign of Louis XIV. The construction of a rudimentary sewage system was a step forward to cleanliness, as the fecal matter was transported for the castle to a lake (étang de Clancy) by means of aqueducts.
Sadly, all of these efforts were vain considering the health threats that so much filth would cause. A typhoid crisis happened in 1734 when the inhabitants of the town of Versailles went fishing and bathing in the the filthy waters of Clagny. Half of the town perished due to these unsanitary habits.
The reign of Louis XVI and the influence of his wife Marie-Antoinette marked a relative progress in Versailles’s filth situation. Public latrines were constructed (two for every 3000 people!) and the sewage system improved significantly.
Nota Bene:
Most of the anecdotes compiled here come from a very interesting documentary about the subject of Versailles cleanliness. English version HERE[2].
US officials have in recent days stepped up efforts to crack down on and contain China on multiple fronts – from requesting additional funds to “outcompete China” and arm the island of Taiwan to trying to lure Asian countries into its tech restrictions against China. All these moves are bad for China-US bilateral ties, the Asia-Pacific region and the entire world.
Vicious competition
Commenting on the US’ budget for the 2025 fiscal year, which includes funds to “outcompete China” and arm China’s Taiwan region on Tuesday, Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, reiterated that competition is not the true nature of China-US ties and major-country contest will not address problems faced by China and the US.
The US’ attempt to “outcompete China” is not benign competition, but vicious competition, in which the US sets up traps for the competitor at every turn, Wang said at a regular press briefing. “It is an unrestrained gamble that puts the fundamental interests of people of the two countries and even the future of humanity at stake, and it will only push China and the US toward confrontation and conflict,” he said.
The US administration’s budget request for the 2025 fiscal year includes $4 billion over five years in mandatory funding so as to “employ all the tools at our disposal to outcompete China.” The budget request also includes a “first-time funding request” of $500 million to replenish weapons that would be provided to Taiwan, media reported.
Wang on Tuesday also stated China’s firm opposition to military ties between the US and the island of Taiwan and the US’ attempt to arm the island. “We urge the US to abide by the one-China principle and stop interfering in China’s internal affairs. China will take measures to firmly safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he said.
In addition to its budget request, the US government has also stepped up efforts that are apparently aimed at further intensifying its technological crackdown campaign against China.
While leading a US business delegation to the Philippines, US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo signaled that the US “will do whatever it takes” to crack down on China’s technological capabilities, Bloomberg reported on Monday.
In the Philippines, Raimondo announced that US companies are set to announce investments totaling more than $1 billion in the Philippines, according to Reuters. The US Commerce Secretary said the US’ commitment to expanding trade and investment in the Philippines also extends to “the larger Indo-Pacific region,” even as she reiterated that the US is not seeking to decouple from China.
Danger for world
The US government’s engagement in zero-sum major-country contest will not only risk confrontation between the world’s two biggest economies, but also draw more countries in the region and around the world into bloc confrontation, at a time when the world needs cooperation the most, Chinese experts noted.
Further underscoring Washington’s intensifying campaign to contain China in a major-country contest, the US government is also pushing its allies, including the Netherlands, Germany, South Korea and Japan, to tighten chip restrictions against China, and is considering adding another Chinese chipmaker, ChangXin Memory Technologies Inc, to its so-called entity list, according to Bloomberg. Meanwhile, the US Congress is rushing a bill that will essentially force Chinese firm ByteDance to sell its popular TikTok or face a ban in the US, a move that Chinese experts have said it’s another hysterical move by Washington to crack down on Chinese firms.
US politicians’ intensifying crackdown and containment campaign against China reflect mounting domestic woes within the US, including its evaporating economic and technological dominance globally, that the country cannot address in any effective manner due to partisan divisions and dysfunctions of the government, according to Chinese analysts.
More importantly, such an attempt will not contain China’s economic and technological rise, as businesses, including US companies, driven by market forces not politics, will continue to invest and operate in the Chinese market, experts said.
Many US business executives are visiting China and expanding investment in China. Political restrictions on US businesses will only hurt US’ interests.
In an apt example of US firms expanding investment in China, US tech giant Apple announced on Tuesday a plan to open a new research lab in Shenzhen, South China’s Guangdong Province, and upgrade its Shanghai research lab. This comes shortly after the company just announced to open a new store in downtown Shanghai.
Are Americans really expected to pay outrageous hospital bills?
This maybe isn’t outrageous, but it is to me.
I had a small surgery to remove a tumor from my pinkie finger. It was rather large (probably the size of an acorn). I paid my deductible (which was $1500.) I also paid an additional $250 to the doctor’s office. Then, after the surgery, I received a bill because “they used a compression device during the surgery that was not pre-approved by your insurance.” $1500. I also received another $1200 bill because “they sent the tumor to be tested at an out of network lab.” I also received a $22 bill for something else (not sure what).
This is WITH insurance. I pay $400/month to cover my daughter and me. My job also pays part of the insurance premium so it’s actually over $400/month. I’m not sure how much they pay. So around $4500 was my out of pocket cost for a very simple surgery that probably took the doctor 10 minutes to complete.
In my opinion, it’s not my fault they sent the tumor to an out of network place to be tested, and it’s certainly not my fault that they used a compression device that was not pre-approved (while I was under sedation).
Crazy!
A woke “John Wick” movie
Oh My God.
At what stage in your life did you realize, “No, I can’t do this any more” and walk out? Why?
Originally Answered: At what stage in your life did you realise, “No, I can’t do this any more” and walk out? Why?
Claire, my wife of 22 years, and I sat on the porch in dreary contemplation, and useless argument, again, about her son Freddie’s seeming incapacity to get “squared away.” Freddies’ wife had abandoned him, and taken their three children. He could not hold a job. He was NOT a drug addict; he simply could not function as a responsible adult. He was witty and charming. But he never repaid anyone from whom he had borrowed money. And he had moved back into our home, again. He had diabetes, but did nothing to control his diet. His favorite pastimes seemed to be television and standing in front of the open refrigerator, wondering what to eat. That, and runs for pizza or to McDonald’s.
Yes, there had been counseling and various attempts to try this or that. Nothing seemed to work. It became more and more clear to me that Freddie was going to become a permanent part of the household.
But Claire still wanted to “fix” him. Gradually, two facts became clear to me:
Freddie was simply born into the wrong culture. He would have done better on Samoa or some similar paradise where food was always on a nearby tree, where women were available and willing, and where temperate conditions demanded little in terms of providing shelter or an income. There was nothing to fix; nothing was broken. Just the wrong guy in the wrong place. As I began to understand this, I became less resentful, and more accepting. At the same time, I also became less responsible for this 10-year-old mentality which lived in a 25-year-old body.
Claire had a strong personal investment in keeping Freddie the way he was —utterly dependent. With every agreement, every new program, every financial investment to “help” Freddie, Freddie always violated the agreement, or needed an exception. He always needed money. “Can you spot me a $50?” And Claire always went along with her son. She was teaching him to be dependent and to reject any notion of personal responsibility. Gradually, the two personalities seemed to merge. Whenever Claire spoke of Freddie’s problems or issues or presumed progress, it was always, “we.” They were in this thing together.
I, myself, was in counseling to help me get my head around all this. Eventually, I concluded that, at some point, it had to end, for the sake of my own sanity.
Resigned to this reality, I rarely argued any more. Intimacy with Claire had evaporated; we lived in an uneasy truce. I knew I had to leave. I just didn’t know when, or how. So I tried to mentally hunker down—and wait.
Until that day on the porch, when Claire told me that I was the cause of Freddie’s problems. I was the responsible party, here. She went down the list of all the things I had done to make Freddie so insecure, so unable to function. Then she told me: “If I knew when we got married that this is the way things would be, I never would have married you.”
And that’s when a little bell went off in my head. The time had come.
“Well, Claire, you are going to get your wish. I’m done.”
In the fullness of time, Claire actually got what she most wanted. I made her a wealthy lady with a fully paid home and car, and an investment portfolio more than sufficient to sustain her for the rest of her days.
And today, as I write this, the home has been sold because the portfolio was depleted, over the years. Claire moved into a more modest dwelling, and she had a new nest egg, from the sale of the home she left. But that, too, has been exhausted, all the money spent on Freddie and his sister, Katy. For a time, Claire had what she wanted: a secure home, and Freddie (and his new wife) as permanent residents. But even that did not last, because Katy found her brother to be intolerable: she forced Freddie and his wife to move out; they ended up in public housing. Freddie receives dialysis twice a week and has lost a foot. Katy is now the queen bee in Claire’s home. And the money is all gone; Claire’s income is a Social Security check. Basically, Claire had succeeded in impoverishing three people. Had I stayed, it would have been four.
That leaves Randy, Claire’s eldest son, who was most bitter when advised I was divorcing his mother. He believed I was abandoning her. I was the “bad guy.” Randy was a successful and responsible man, who with his second wife Jenny, was raising a blended family of their own. But it wasn’t long before Randy and Jenny saw the truth, and understood the impossible situation in which I lived. Today, they have made me part of their family, which includes very brilliant and successful children, and grandchildren who will no doubt be the same. These people love me, and while we see each other only infrequently, it is always a celebration.
Ironically, the vision that Claire had of senior years spent happily with her children has actually become my reality, not hers. I regret that, for her, but am most appreciative of my own good fortune.
My story.
[EDIT]: Almost without exception, comments below are supportive and also speak to many similar situations.
But there are exceptions, and they are good ones. I have been reprimanded, even scolded, for my references to Samoa, with freely available fruit and sexual company. I should have seen that coming. Although metaphorical, it came off to some readers as thoughtless and prejudicial. Point taken. Current readers please understand the metaphorical intent. Just think “an island paradise, somewhere.” Thank you.
UPDATE: In mid 2021, Freddie succumbed of numerous causes, most relating to his worsening atrophy, but also to Covid. By then, Claire had been forced to move into still lower cost housing, where Katy continued to care for her. By early 2022, Claire died. I’m not sure of the causes, but based on what Katy had to say, it seemed to me that with Freddie gone, she really had no reason to live.
Curiously enough, Claire left so little, and Katy had so little, that money was short for a burial. A major part of the cost of her burial fell to me.
Putin’s BRUTAL Warning to NATO has Macron in Panic ft. Scott Ritter
Americans do not understand this… ugh!
Can you be fired from your job without knowing it until hours later? If so, what would cause such a thing?
When I worked for the Department of Correction we had to fill out a leave request form if we wanted to take time off. Once our manager signed the form, she’d keep one copy for her files, we’d keep a copy, and then drop off a third copy in HR. Our manager only asked that we give her at least three days notice if we wanted to take time off but one of my coworkers didn’t do that and it wound up costing him his job.
He decided one Thursday afternoon that he wanted to take the following week off, so he filled out the form and took it in for our manager to sign. She wasn’t in her office so he put the form on her desk, expecting her to take care of things from there. Friday morning there was a network outage at a prison and he was dispatched to take care of it along with a couple of other techs. They didn’t return until end of business that day and, since it was Friday afternoon, they all were eager to head home so he didn’t give a second thought to his leave slip.
The problem was after placing his leave form on our boss’s desk, the busines manager had place a stack of paperwork on top of it, so our boss never saw it. He went on vacation the following week blissfully unaware that he was about to be unemployed. He missed Monday and when he didn’t show up on Tuesday our boss called his home number — he refused to tell anyone at work what his cellphone number was — and left a message asking him to call. He didn’t, and when he didn’t come in on Wednesday he was considered to have quit without notice and was terminated.
When he arrived at work a few minutes early the next Monday his ID badge did not work and he couldn’t log onto his computer. Our boss came in, saw him, and asked what he was doing at work. He told her, jokingly, he worked here as far as he knew, and that’s when she told him that he actually didn’t. He told her that he’d requested leave and had put the form on her desk and, after some searching, she located it. But it was too late. He was told he could apply for his job once it was posted but I don’t know if he did. All I know is that he wasn’t the person who was hired.
What is one item you will never eat again after working at a fast food restaurant, and why?
Right after the New Year celebration, the bar I worked at burned down to the ground. I was unemployed for about three months, and the unemployment was about to run out. I knew that the bar would open in about another three months, and that there would be work at the bar about six weeks before the opening, but I would be without money for about two months if I didn’t find a job, and quick.
Since I like living indoors with working electricity and plumbing, I decided to take a friend up on his offer to go to work at McDonald’s.
I was 29 years old at the time, and felt like a complete loser taking the job, but I shaved my beard and moustache, and went to the restaurant to apply for a job, which I got.
Most of my coworkers were high school students, and I was at least 10 years older than 90 percent of my coworkers. It was awful, but not because they were young, but for many, it was there first job. The treated it like high school by implementing divisions betweens the cliques and everyone else and pulled stupid practical jokes. I was handed a spray bottle and told to go water plants in the lobby. I went out and discovered the plants were actually cloth and plastic.
Anyway, after working at McDonald’s, I will never have any ice cream item from there, especially a shake or McFlurry (even if the machine is not broken) because the machines were not cleaned on the schedule set by corporate. The McFlurry machine comes apart, and the pieces were supposed to soak in a bucket of hot water and a chemical solution, and the remaining parts of the machine is supposed to have some chemical solution run through it.
I cleaned it every night I working, and when I was put on the day shift to cover for a coworker who was off for a family vacation, I heard a customer complain that their McFlurry tasted funny. It was just before the lunch rush, and I told the day supervisor that I knew how to clean it, so he took me out of the kitchen and tasked me to clean the machine.
It was awful. Their were spots of mold-like substances on the machine, and it obviously hadn’t been cleaned for at least a few days and probably about a week.
It took over three times as long to clean the machine as it normally did. A wire brush had to be used to completely clean and disinfect the device. I mentioned to the manager that he should probably check the oil for the fish, the chicken nuggets, and the French fries, and he discovered that they had not been changed in two days.
It was at that point the checklists appeared in the kitchen to document the necessary steps to ensure complete accordance of all required kitchen maintenance and cleaning, and I decided that I would never have a McFlurry ever again at any McDonald’s restaurant.
The FEDS are coming after THOUSANDS of Americans
Yep.
What do homeless people do during the day? Do they get bored?
My husband and I were briefly homeless. (4.5 months in 2014) There isn’t much time to be bored if you’re intentions are to not stay homeless. What people don’t realize is that being homeless makes everything 1000X harder to do even the most common of tasks, which can quickly turn into a forever vicious cycle of poverty and homelessness due to losing the willpower and resources to get back on your feet.
Want to take a shower? You have to find a place and possibly pay a fee if you don’t have friends in the area to help you out.
Want to cook dinner? You will need to buy a propane burner or awkwardly go into a truck stop gas station to cook using their microwave.
Want to do laundry to go to a job interview? You will have to budget your money to wash a load, hoping that they offer free detergent because if you’re homeless you don’t have the energy or space to carry around a bottle of detergent or softener.
Need a ride to go get a job? You need to find and budget gas money or an uber, probably skipping meals for the day. Hopefully your job is close to where you set up your camp so you can walk and not pay gas, parking, or bus fare.
Need to sleep? You will have to scope out a semi-safe place to park your car or look up local shelters. (Where I live they charge $8 a day per person to stay at the Salvation Army, children count as a person.)
I ended up spending majority of my time at the local library because not only could I look up local resources and jobs, but it was the only place that had A/C in the 110 degree weather that wouldn’t kick me out. The struggle is real.
I put in my 2 weeks resignation notice a week ago and my manager is assigning me so much work during my last 3 days. How do I address my concerns?
I worked as a records clerk in a high school. My last day before retiring I had a school deliver a truck load of student’s records that needed to be processed and filed away. This was during the student summer break. I had 30 minutes before I was due to leave for good. The person that was taking my place was shown one last time how to do the files and I left. I was 45 minutes away, on a cruise ship (Mobile AL) at the time and got a call before we left port. One co-worker (different job but had set a few desks away from me) called to tell me I had left my replacement a mess to handle and I needed to come in and help her. I laughed at her and told her I couldn’t do that and why. I also pointed out that my replacement had a month and a half to get the files done but not to wait to do them as more files would be coming in. She didn’t believe I was on a ship until the horn went off. Told her I was leaving port and needed to get off the phone. My replacement had a nervous breakdown three months after she took over my job. That job really required two people to do it. She couldn’t handle it. Not sure what they did for the rest of the year. Not my problem.
Modern Woman LOSES IT After She SAW A Passport Bros Getting BETTER Treatment
Have you ever had a bad seatmate on an airplane? What did they do, and how did you deal with it?
I sat next to a guy in business class who was extremely unhappy that he had not been upgraded to first class. He groused to the flight attendants about it as he was arriving, and I knew he was going to be trouble. Then he started ordering drinks, vodka and cranberry juice. I stopped counting after nine, but I think he must have had 13 or 14 before they cut him off. Then he was angry about that. He got up and argued with the purser more than once. Meanwhile, he was adjusting his insulin pump. I don’t know much about diabetes, but I’m pretty sure it’s not a good idea to drink that much.
He didn’t say anything obnoxious to me, and I only answered his occasional questions in monosyllables. But about two thirds of the way through the flight I went back to the galley and said to the flight attendants, “Look, I know that this guy is exactly the kind who would make a formal complaint about you, and I just want to tell you that I’ll back you up if you need any witnesses for your defense.” I gave them my business card.
After the flight I used the “compliment” feature of their web site to specifically praise the purser, who was a middle-aged man of Indian origin and had borne the brunt of my seatmate’s behavior. I said that he had the patience of a saint and had behaved with the utmost professionalism. I got a nice letter back from the airline thanking me and saying that they would notify his supervisor.
US China chip war explained: China Overtakes US in Chip War!
The US and China have been rivals across various domains, from sports and the Olympics to manufacturing and the quest for global supremacy. This time, the competition has moved to a much smaller yet critically important battlefield: the realm of chips and semiconductor technology.
This area is pivotal for the advancement of modern technologies and has become the latest focal point of their ongoing strategic contest. The semiconductor industry holds a crucial place in our world, shaping the fabric of our daily lives, the economy, and the future of technology. Semiconductors, or chips, are the hidden intellect inside virtually all modern electronic devices we rely on every day. From the moment you check your smartphone in the morning, which could contain up to 100 different chips, to the car you drive, which now includes advanced driver-assistance systems reliant on semiconductors for safer and more efficient operation, these tiny components are indispensable.
Furthermore, semiconductors are at the heart of breakthroughs in technology. They are essential for the development of cutting-edge innovations such as artificial intelligence, which is transforming industries from healthcare to entertainment, electric vehicles that are setting the course for a more sustainable future, and renewable energy systems that promise cleaner energy alternatives.
In this video, we’ll explore the Chips war between the US and China and examining the role of BRICS nations in this crucial sector for the current century.
You are at work when your boss unexpectedly gives you a bonus. What do you think got you the bonus?
My boss handed me a greeting card and asked me to read it at home. She made me promise that I would wait to open it. UGH!
Anyway, I got home, and inside the card was $1,000! She had written in the card, that this was a bonus because I used my passive-aggressive actions, two of her most annoying, demanding customers who constantly would expect and get free food and corporate made her give it to them. Stopped coming into our restaurant, and she was so happy, just as I was.
The first customer was given a free large soda, daily and when he arrived after breakfast wanted a hashbrown. He complained to corporate, so now any time he wanted a hashbrown, not only did we have to make him one any time of the day but give it to him for free. Now, I would only give him the free stuff if he asked for it to be free. I made sure that he checked his order on the order screen so that put the free food ball in his court. He wouldn’t look at it and tell me yes, it’s correct. He would pay, and after he got his order, he would realize that he was charged for what he expected for free. He would demand a refund, and my boss wouldn’t give it to him. She asked him, if I asked him to verify that his order was correct, he said yes, but I should just know what is free and not expect him to have to tell me every day. He stopped coming!
The second customer had been coming for decades seven days a week and ordered the same items. He was given free extra cheese and extra lettuce. One day, a coworker saw him drive up, so despite the fact there were quite a few customers ahead of him, she made his order, and handed it to me. Once he made it to the register to order (less than 3 minutes), he said, “I’ll take my usual.” I took his payment and handed him his order. He immediately took it to then of the counter and checked it out. My coworker and I both asked him if there was a problem. He told us that he doesn’t like his food made that quickly. Fair enough! The next day, once again lots of people were in the lobby waiting for food. He gets to the register; he tells me that he will take his usual. I sweetly, asked him what is that sir? He said that I knew what it was. I explained, well, because of your comments yesterday, by having you tell me, that assures you that your food will not be made too quickly. In an exasperated voice, told me what he wanted. Now, his order does not automatically come with a fork, and since he didn’t ask for one, he was not given one. The next day is the same as the day before. He complained that he wasn’t given a fork. I sweetly explained that his order doesn’t automatically require a fork, so may I suggest if he wants a fork included, he will need to ask for one. I’m not a mind reader. After quite a few months, he complained to my general manager, and she sweetly explained that he was the one who didn’t like his food made too quickly, this assures him that now it won’t be.
Covid hit, and the lobby is closed, so drive-thru only.
He would order his food and complain at the window that he didn’t get the extra cheese, extra lettuce, or a fork the day before. I explained that unless he tells the order taker that this (insert his name), the cooks will not know to give him the free extra food nor to enclose a fork. This same conversation went on for over three months, with him still not giving his name so not getting his free food. Once again, he complained to the boss, and she explained to him that he had been giving a simple solution to his problem and he had refused to take ownership. He told her he would not come back because he was being treated so poorly. She told him, one can only hope! That ticked him off, he has never been back since!
U.S SHOCKED! CHINA Build 5nm CHIP Ahead of U.S and E.U
In today’s episode on the Innovative Check YouTube channel, we dive deep into the heart of the global technological battlefield, where China’s ambitious leap into 5nm semiconductor technology stands as a defiant challenge to Western hegemony. Amidst U.S. sanctions, giants like S.M.I.C and Huawei spearhead this technological feat, underlining China’s push for technological independence and global leadership.
This episode unravels the complexities of this strategic move, its implications on the global tech landscape, and the shifting sands of international power dynamics. As we dissect the engineering marvel of 5nm chip technology and China’s strategic maneuvers to build an integrated domestic semiconductor ecosystem, we uncover the broader narrative of technological sovereignty, economic rivalry, and the future of global technological leadership.
From the battlegrounds of innovation and geopolitical chess games, this episode is a profound exploration of the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in the quest for semiconductor self-sufficiency and the reshaping of global tech dominance. Join us on this enlightening journey through innovation, ambition, and the strategic stakes of the new world order in the making.
Whether you’re a tech enthusiast, policy analyst, or simply curious about the future of global technology, this video offers compelling insights into one of the most critical issues of our time.
What was a gruesome torture method practiced in the past?
Drop torture
main qimg 85b551287400ddd18c4e7d46f3dfd037 pjlq
You’re stuck in a chair. You can’t move. Every five seconds, a small drop of water falls on your head.
After being in this situation for twenty minutes, the sound of the water starts to irritate you.
After a week, every drop of water sounds like a drum.
After a month, you feel pain because you can’t move, and seemingly painless drops of water start to open wounds in your head. You can also suffer from labyrinthitis.
After two months, the pain is so bad that you go crazy. If you don’t, well, the water droplets will kill you anyway.
A drop of water. Tiny, frivolous, seemingly innocent; yet it could be the cause of your death.
An old proverb went: “The drop digs the stone by its constancy, not by its strength”.
EVIL RETALIATION! U.S Insist on Bringing Down China Tech
In this critical analysis, we explore the escalating tensions between the United States and China over advanced semiconductor technologies and their implications for global security and technological dominance. With the U.S. government, led by Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, taking a firm stance on restricting China’s access to cutting-edge technologies, we delve into the potential repercussions of this strategy on international relations, innovation, and the digital divide. Join us as we dissect the motives, strategies, and possible outcomes of this technological standoff, shedding light on the ethical, political, and economic dilemmas it presents. Don’t forget to engage with our content by liking, sharing, and subscribing to our channel for more insightful discussions on the transformative projects shaping our world.
What are the reasons behind Taiwanese people not supporting unification with Mainland China, despite having similar culture and language? How does this compare to the situation with Korean unification?
There are 2 types of Taiwanese who reject re-unification with China.
1, Corrupted politicians who get funds from USA. USA wants to suppress China’s rise. So corrupted politicians endlessly shout “independence” so as to create problem for China. These people work for money & not for the welfare of Taiwan.
2, Losers. In China’s 4000 years’ of history, there were many civil wars. The one who lost the war would accept the winner as the new leader/emperor of China. They moved on with life.
Taiwanese loser-politicians do not want to move on with life. They hold onto the past.
Today there are some Qing descendants who are still angry at ROChina (ie today’s Taiwan) for overthrowing Qing dynasty. These Qing descendants live in remote areas in China; they do not want to move on with life & integrate into the new China. Same here for these loser Taiwanese.
What was the craziest defense in court that actually worked?
A lawyer and democratic state senator from Oklahoma was in court for bribery he had accepted money from a constituent in return for a favor. The FBI had audio recorded the conversation and exchange.
During the trial Gene Stipe played a recording of the audio on a cheap battery powered cassette player. Gene talked during the playing of the tape so as to distract the jury from what was being played.
When the FBI brought in an expensive reel to reel tape player that had much better audio without any background noise the judge overruled them as Gene Stipe protested and had already submitted an audio as evidence.
The jury acquitted Gene Stipe.
A fellow classmate told that his father had been arrested on a DUI charge. His father contacted Gene Stipe about representing him. The only question Gene Stipe asked him was how much money he had. When told that he had approximately $8,500 dollars. Gene told him he would see what he could do. Gene Stipe called back a couple days later and asked if he had the check written out. When he told Gene he could bring it by his office, Gene told him as soon as the check clears his case would be dropped. He took the check by and was told the case had been dropped by the county and to ignore any communication from the county or court house and to mail it to Gene. He never heard another word on the DUI charge.
New England Pot Roast
This is SO tasty. The horseradish is the secret ingredient! The leftovers make wonderful roast beef sandwiches also.
pot roast
Ingredients
1 (4 pound) boneless beef chuck arm, shoulder or blade pot roast
1 to 2 teaspoons kosher or sea salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 (8 ounce) bottle prepared horseradish
1 cup water
8 small potatoes, cut in half
8 medium carrots, cut into fourths
8 small onions, skins removed
1/2 cup cold water
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
Instructions
In a 4 quart Dutch oven, cook beef over medium heat until brown on all sides. Reduce heat to low.
Sprinkle beef with salt and pepper. Spread horseradish over all sides of beef. Add 1 cup water to Dutch oven. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 2 hours 30 minutes.
Add potatoes, carrots and onions to Dutch oven. Cover and simmer for about 1 hour or until beef and vegetables are tender.
Remove beef and vegetables to warm platter; keep warm.
Skim excess fat from broth in Dutch oven. Add enough water to broth to measure 2 cups.
In tightly covered container, shake 1/2 cup cold water and the flour; gradually stir into broth. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir for 1 minute.
PASSPORT BROS Tells Men Go To Southern China Women Are COMPETING For Men Here
Why aren’t we protesting to make supermax prisoners get more yard time?
To end up in a Supermax you had to do something really bad in the prison I know of people who started out in a medium security prison where they had decent yard time. Then they did something to get sent to get their custody level raised and sent to a maximum security prison where there is less yard time. Finally, they do something to get sent to a “supermax” In Missouri they have one it is called Potosi Correctional Center. Really it is a punishment prison and also houses those with capital punishment.If you get sent there because of something you did in another prison , you do about 9 months in the hole and then you work your way to General Population through a step up program. Basically, if your behavior is good you gradually get more yard time and privileges.
I know many people are against people doing long stretches in the hole. But tell me what the prison is supposed to do when someone does something like assaulting another prisoner or C/O? Are they to just pat them on the head and tell them not to do it again? They tried that at Missouri State Penitentiary back in the day. Someone could stab someone and just get a few days in the hole. Violence was very high until they started giving longer stretches in the hole and charging them with crimes
The only problem I have is that it doesn’t matter if you started something or were defending yourself, you are going to the hole and possibly your custody level raised and sent to Potosi {or in other states Supermax}
As a person from mainland China, have you ever been ‘invited to tea’ by the authorities? What was the experience like?
I’m not Chinese but I live in China. I’ve never been “invited to tea” but one of the teachers that I work with has been.
In the past, you used to have to register at the police station every single time you left China and returned. The government used to take registering very seriously. These days the police don’t care that much and you only have to do it if you move or get a new passport.
Anyway, one of the teachers I worked with was always perfect. She did everything correctly but one time she forgot to register (normally not a big deal since you have a few days to register and even if it was the following week they wouldn’t mind) but then she didn’t travel again for a while. Eventually, the police did an audit and she got called to the police station for going about 300 days without registering. She had to write an apology note and say sorry, etc.
She never forgot again and that was it.
USA on the Brink of Chaos: How Americans Are Living the End of the American Dream
Watch this video before it is taken down. It is currently suppressed.
Ray McGovern with Nima Alkhorshid on the possibility Israel might have sent a F-35 loaded with atomics, the intention was to detonate them in high altitude, getting an EMP effect destroying the Iranian civil electrical grid. The military…
As I understood the discussion, Pepe Escobar reported it, and Scott Ritter, as a military expert, said that that event was logically impossible.
Nevertheless, we shouldn’t put anything past these monsters.
…
IF TRUE, RUSSIA SAVED THE WORLD ONCE AGAIN FROM …
… THE MINI-ME ROGUE STATE IN WEST ASIA BEING PROTECTED BY THE BIG ROGUE STATE IN NORTH AMERICA. A QUITE DANGEROUS PAIR FOR ALL OF US TO SAY THE LEAST.
Mao Zedong 毛 泽 东 (1893-1976) made sure in 1949, at the start of the People’s Republic of China, that all the Western Jews left China. I’m not speaking of the Jewish families of Kaifeng being there since the Song dynasty (960-1279). Obviously, they were not expelled. Also, I’m not speaking of certain Jews like Sydney Rittenberg 李 敦 白 (1921-2019) or Israel Epstein 伊 斯 雷 爾 爱 潑 斯 坦 (1915-2005) the Chinese rulers thought useful for them and China.
Contrary to many urban legends repeated with gusto by misguided people, I don’t think that the Jews (in general or those living in Israel) rule the World. Of course, their “elite” is part of the movers & shakers of this World but it doesn’t mean that they rule the World. They are powerful but not all-powerful as their excellent propaganda managed to make some incurable morons believe.
Their “elite” had a lot of money, sure …
But that kind of candies works only for lowly kakocrats and NO countries endowed with a minimum of aristocratic men at the helm of the State would have succumbed to money.
Same remark concerning the big rogue state.
What’s certain is that their “elite”, especially the Zionist variety (living in the US, Western Europe or Israel) is endowed with chutzpah to an inordinate level.
The British used them at the beginning of the twentieth century for getting a foothold in West Asia because Mark Sykes (1879-1919), the British representative in West Asia at the time, got extremely disappointing results in his negotiations with François Georges-Picot (1870-1951), his French counterpart. And being clever people, the Zionist leaders, having seen clearly through the British government and its representative, the clumsy Mark Sykes, skillfully accepted to be used in order to gain a state in Palestine, having stolen step by step the land from their rightful owners since then.
As crimes’ partners, the Zionists are in a very deep symbiotic relationship with the Anglo-American EstabLishment, hence the acronym I coined : KFC-AZAEL (Kakistocratic Feudal Conglomerate of the Anglo-Zio-American EstabLishment).
It’s a well-known psychological phenomenon that a servant will take on unconsciously/subconsciously the characteristics of the master. In this case, both groups suffering from the get-go of extreme hubris; together, they reciprocally amplify to a staggering degree their common deadly character flaw.
Here’s a reminder of what happened between May 16, 1916 (Sykes-Picot Agreement) & November 2, 1917 (Balfour Declaration) :
There is also THE OTHER URBAN LEGEND that, thanks to his agent having got the news that Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated at Waterloo on June 15, 1815 before everyone, the Rothschild at the time screwed everybody at the London Stock Exchange and that his family held under their thumb the British aristocracy & its global policies since then … Legendary, huh ?!
What is sure is that the Zionists managed somehow to get A LOT OF MONEY from the US officials. The US elite is completely hypnotized by the prestige (the bribes ?) of the Jews & the Jewish culture ???
Believe what you want but for me, NO ONE IS ALL-POWERFUL …
I repeat myself : If true, Russia saved the World once again.
Not only that, Russia sent a crystal clear message to the mini rogue state & to the big rogue state, that there are truly red lines in this World & there is someone to seriously enforce them.
SO I WISH PEPE ESCOBAR’s REPORT IS 100% TRUE.
Those people, the ruling classes of the mini rogue state & the ruling class of the big rogue state, will never change.
THE ONLY SOLUTION IS THEN :
Ceterum censeo KFC-AZAEL-nem esse delendam
PAX SINICA PERSICA KOREANA RUSSICA
IMPERIUM MUNDI SEMPER INVICTUS
Have you ever been pulled over by a police officer for an unusual reason?
Yes. I was on my way home and got pulled over by a cop who handed me two packages of really nice dog treats, asked to fuss my dog, and then gave me a card with his name and number. He was really friendly, lovely, asked me alot about my dog, and even asked me where I got my dog’s beautiful collar from. He then wished us well and left.
This is why.
I had been at a restaurant with three friends and my assistance dog. I’m a wheelchair user. It was a nice place, a bit pricey, but nice.
My assistance dog was always impeccably well behaved. She went under the table, next to me, and went to sleep.
We ordered our meal, and were eating, when some very bratty kids (6 ish in age, old enough to read) started running around. They saw my dog and started bugging her, getting near her and yelling WOOF!!! Then one brat poked her. My dog’s only reaction was to get up and put her head on my knee.
I strongly told Brats to bug off, leave my dog alone, and to go to their parents. Brat 2 joined her, saying, loudly, DOGS AREN’T ALLOWED IN HERE, STUPID!
I smiled as nicely as I could and tried to explain that she was a special helper dog… then Brat 1… who was a good 3 feet from my dog (whose head was still on my knee) yelled THAT DOG BIT ME!
The two terrors ran screaming ITS A BAD DOG! ITS A PITBULL! ITS GONNA KILL ME!
My dog was a smallish, exceptionally gentle, patient, and calm black lab.
In no time parents are with restaurant manager demanding that they throw me and my “pitbull” out of the restaurant. All the other patrons are looking and pointing.
I have not moved. We are still eating.
The parents (and its clear why the kids were monsters…) come over and demand to see my ID so they can “engage their solicitor”. The manager, clearly upset and embarrassed, said “I need to ask you to leave”.
I said I was not giving my ID to anyone, I was not leaving, and I would appreciate if they would leave me alone as my dog was allowed by law and they were ruining my.meal. I might have added that at least SHE had her shots and was obedience trained…
The mother screamed that my pitbull (sigh) had nearly ripped Perfect Princess’ arm off. Note said child has a small round superficial bite mark on her wrist encircled by the same pink as her lip gloss.
I told them all that my dog bit no one, and to call the cops but I wasn’t speaking to them any longer. My friend just kept eating and chatting as if nothingvwas wrong.
Parents storm off, manager begs me to leave, tells me to leave, demands I leave… I explained about Assistance Dogs, introduce her, tell him he can see she was not a problem but by then Parents are back and they had called 999 saying there was a rabid pitbull running arounfçattacking children … manager tells me to please get out. I reply…
She’s not a bitbull.
There is no rabies in Britain.
She had not moved from her space next to me.
She is wearing an AssistancevDog jacket, Ive shown my ID, and tried to explain. Im going no where.
I’m not really upset because this shit happens often enough that Im used to it… the brats were a unique twist, but people are really ignorant about Assistance Dogs.
All of a sudden a handful of cops burst in. Parents tell their side. They strut over to me and demand I immediately leave. I said that when we were done eating I would, but not until. In all this the waitress had continued to serve us… so we just got our puddings.
Lead cop is totally self impressed, and starts to read me the riot act, demanding I surrender this pitbull I brought into the place. I kept eating. He bangs his hand on the table to get my attention.
When he does, the dog treat I had on the edge of the table falls off and my sweet pup sticks her head out, takes the treat, and goes back under the table.
Just then the other cops come back and pull cop1 aside. Theyve read the situation, told him so.
He asks to see my dog properly. I called her out, and told her to ‘say hello’. She was wagging her tail (total fusspot) and raised her paw to the cop. All three of them are now admiring my dog.
Parents come over demanding I get arrested, deported, hung drawn quartered, etc.
Cop says Your children are harassing this lady, her dog is allowed…
Mother says about dog bite.
Cop says “thats not a dog bite, lady, and wasting police time is an offense. Leave this lady alone, get control of your kids, and either go sit or leave.”
He tells manager that there is no problem with us.
Cop sees we are all done and kind of hust waiting for this foolishness to end so we can leave as we’ve got our coats on, etc.
He says “I suppose you guys would feel better just getting out of here yeah?”
I start to argue but my friend says “Yes, we are going. “
He says “Im just going to get some details from the manager, and we will stay until you go, to keep the peace”.
Waitress comes over and I am about to ask for our bill but the cop waves her away saying “they are leaving, please just let them go…”
We go! Our bill was well over 100… I put £10 on the table as a tip.
We got in my van after loading my chair, saw the cops leave as we were.
When I saw the lights behind me I thought we were in trouble gor skipping out on the bill!
I did call the restaurant later and spoke to the manager to offer to pay, he profusely apologised and sent me a gift voucher and asked for another chance.
We did go back, just me and a friend (and my dog) there was a sign clearly posted that assistance dogs were welcome … but that poorly behaved children were not!
We lost Taska March 2024. Her successor is just as calm and well behaved
Assistance dogs are amazing
What secret did you learn about your neighbor that made your jaw drop?
When I was growing up my neighbor Tom was my role model. My father was an alcoholic who was rarely home except to sleep. When I wanted to learn something, I would talk to Tom. He had dropped out of school to help support his family, but was very talented with his hands. He built the house he lived in, and I mean completely, plumbing, electrical, everything. He was also an outstanding mechanic. He was very strong, but incredibly gentle and patient. I knew he was a vet, but he never talked about it except to say he hadn’t really done anything. When he died, his family searched for his records. They wanted to bury him with any medals he had been awarded. I think most of us expected stuff like a Good Conduct, National Defense, maybe a European Victory Medal. What they found out was that this quiet gentle man was a genuine war hero. He had been credited with single handedly stopping an attack by a company of Germans, effectively destroying the company through the combination of casualties he caused and prisoners he took, despite having been wounded at the start of the attack. For his actions he had been awarded a Silver Star. There were also a number of awards for other actions. I ended up spending 20 years in the military, and his rack of medals remains one of the most impressive I’ve seen.
Every mans daydream
What was a gift that made you speechless?
I was 39 with a 4 year old son. Becoming a single mom through adoption and everything was great. I had a great career, lots of friends, the child I’d been dreaming of etc. Suddenly, a massive heart issue popped up leaving me on disability for 11 months while it was diagnosed and treated. We had just moved to a new place a couple of months prior. Then, just after I paid the bills and went in for a minor heart procedure, it turns out the people I had been renting from were not the owners of the house. They were squatters and I was scammed. The actual owner showed up wanting me to pay first, last and deposit, and the past due electric bill that was nearly $1000 at that point (my rent included utilities). Obviously I couldn’t pay it so I had to move out quickly just 2 days after heart surgery. We found a place and I got help moving the majority of Stuff. Some was stolen while we were moving the other stuff.
I was released to go back to work and my HR informed me that they had accidentally overpaid me during my disability, do they were deducting that from my next 4 paychecks. About the same time, the Franchise Tax Board hit me with a penalty for not filing my taxes the year before and garnished 25% of my wages. So I was getting about $850 a month at that time. We were sinking fast! I wasn’t fully recovered enough to have strenuous work and I only get paid once a month at my regular job.
I was at my breaking point. Then, my only vehicle broke down, again! I am not super religious, but I do pray and I was definitely b my knees at that point. I didn’t know what I was gonna do. My credit was shot, I was SOL. One day I get the mail. There was a ton of bills in there. I left them sitting on the table for 2 days, because I cannot pay them anyway.
Finally, I sat down to figure it how bad this was gonna be and I noticed that one of the letters is a greeting card with no return address, but addressed to me.
I open it up and there is a beautiful card that says, “I see you struggling and I see you keep going. You are so loved and you will overcome this. Signed Jesus Christ.”
Inside the card was $2,000 in cash! I couldn’t speak for a few minutes! I still have no idea who sent that card, but it was definitely a game changer for us! To whoever sent that card and money, they definitely changed our lives.
“The United States has consistently claimed to comply with ‘the rules-based international order’, but the most significant rules are the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, including international legal norms such as UN Security Council resolutions.
The Security Council, as the core of the world’s collective security mechanism, should by no means be a tool manipulated by individual countries for geopolitical purposes, nor should it serve as a stage to pursue hegemony or power politics.
There is no exception in the United Nations in complying with international laws including Security Council resolutions, and the United States holds no privileges in this regard.”
main qimg 52e2233d20d1fef3e711f9aa1be1935c
Excerpt from remarks by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during a joint press conference with Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi after their talks in Jakarta, April 18, 2024.
INCREDIBLE SCENES (this is why I came to LAOS) 🇱🇦 LOST in LAOS Ep:2
I know Thailand is the land of smiles but in my own experience I found the people of Laos and Cambodia to be even friendlier than the amazing Thai people. Really miss that whole beautiful area of the world. Happy Travels
A real adventure…
What factors have contributed to the growing demand for fast food among Indian consumers?
Ah India
One aspect of the Nation I am proud of
Fast Food in India has been INDIANIZED better than in any other nation
main qimg 6629e85d2eb0bfb7ca45f60d73e6f37b
After all these years of McDonalds and KFC and Burger King’s and Taco Bell – the leading fast food is still Vada Pav
main qimg b625b2514b34c5193e2491f6577b1a24
When KFC was forced to launch Biryani among in its Indian menu when it was evident that the 2 Pc and 3 Pc and the famous Zinger was not doing it for the Indian people
main qimg 562b4e1a44b6d96b23e5c79cff00478b
When India is the only country in the world where the top selling burger McAloo Tikki is a vegetarian one and the top 3 selling dishes – McAloo Tikki, McSpicy Paneer and Big Spicy Wrap (Paneer) are all vegetarian pushing the Filet O Fish to fourth sport and Mac Maharajah to the fifth spot
We may be utterly beholden to the West for their technology and core software in every sphere
Yet our Fast food growth is mainly due to our own foods
The leading fast foods of today include :-
#1 Vada Pav
#2 Pav Bhaji
#3 Momos
#4 Pani Poori
#5 Bhel Poori
#6 Aloo Tikki
#7 Samosa
#8 Kachauri
#9 Pizza
#10 Sev Puri & Samosa Chat & Aloo Chaat
(Zomato most ordered foods between 3 PM and 7 PM 2023)
Only Pizza stars in the top 10 popularly eaten fast foods of 2023
And guess which is Dominos most popular Pizza?
Indian Tandoori Pizza & Achari Do Pyaza Pizza
main qimg a9a726599c670ca741c1c2c90c266f53
Pepperoni or Hawaiian are the least selling while Tandoori Chicken sells far more
So it’s not just Mcdonalds outlets or KFC outlets that have spurred the taste of fast foods in India like it did in other nations
The three top reasons include
Availability
Fast Food is available everywhere today
You go to a street and you have a Pani Puri wallah or a Chat seller or a Pav Bhaji stall or a Bakery selling Puffs or a High End Pizza store
You are served in 3–4 minutes and finish in 10 minutes
Far more convenient for office culture and working culture
Price
Fast Food is not too expensive especially Indian Fast Food
You can get Pav Bhaji for 40–60 Bucks a plate which is way lower in cost and better in taste compared to a ₹ 378/- meal in KFC
Taste
Fast Food may or may not be unhealthy but it’s tasty
It’s spicy and Indians like spicy and tangy food
Chili Verde
Chili Verde
This authentic Chile Verde recipe made with fresh tomatillos, poblano peppers, jalapenos, onion, garlic, and cilantro takes a little more work than the typical “salsa dump” recipes but is absolutely worth it! Serve it with these Slow Cooker Pinto Beans, corn tortillas, or with some Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice.
There are so many different recipes out there for chile verde but unfortunately, most of them involve grabbing a jar of store bought salsa verde and dumping it into the slow cooker with either chicken or pork.
While this can be really delicious (case in point: Slow Cooker Salsa Verde Chicken), it will never be as good as making green salsa from scratch. While making salsa from scratch may sound intimidating, it’s actually really easy and only takes about 5 minutes of active prep.
Let’s start with the salsa. Chile Verde is made with a tomatillo salsa verde made with fresh tomatillos, chile peppers, onion, and garlic. The first step to creating this flavor is roasting the tomatillos and peppers. Roasting everything deepens the flavor, adds smokiness to the salsa, and also mellows out some of the sour flavor in the tomatillos. Next, it is important to brighten up the salsa and that is where the cilantro comes in.
How to Serve Chile Verde
Traditionally this dish is served with rice, beans, and tortillas with fresh limes but there are all kinds of ways you can use this. Here are some of my favorites:
Tacos: This is a no brainer, but clearly this stuff is delicious in tacos. Warm the tortillas and serve the chicken with fresh cilantro, limes, and queso fresco or avocado.
Burritos and Burrito Bowls: Build your own burritos or burrito bowls with rice and beans. Personally, I like to make burrito bowls since the chicken is moist and sometimes I find the burrito begins to fall apart before I finish eating it.
Quesadillas: While it may be tempting to stuff this inside a quesadilla, I actually prefer to serve it on top so the quesadilla gets nice and crispy on the outside. Simply make a cheese quesadilla and then top it with Chile Verde.
Scrambled eggs: This is so good for breakfast with some scrambled eggs and pinto or black beans. Trust me.
Baked potatoes: This is a great stuffing for baked potatoes or sweet potatoes topped with some melted cheese.
Chilaquiles: Chilaquiles are one of my favorite breakfast recipes and this Chili Verde is so good on a pile of chiliquiles. If you think you might make chilaquiles, I recommend doubling the salsa so you can cook the chips in the extra tomatillo salsa.
What is Chile Verde?
Many people wonder about the origins of Chile Verde and there is some debate whether chile verde is from Mexico or New Mexico. Most people agree that it is a dish that hails from Northern Mexico, and possible areas in New Mexico as well.
In Mexico, it is traditionally made with pork that is slow cooked in a spicy roasted tomatillo salsa that uses a variety of chile peppers. In New Mexico, it is made in a similar manner but traditionally uses Hatch chile peppers or other native New Mexico green chiles.
1Preheat the oven to broil or your oven’s highest temperature setting, like 500 degrees.
2Place the tomatillos, poblano pepper, jalapeno pepper, serrano pepper, onion, and whole unpeeled garlic cloves on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Broil for 10 minutes, flipping everything halfway through. If the garlic looks like it is beginning to burn, remove it when you flip everything else.
3Carefully remove the baking sheet from the oven. Place the peppers in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a lid. After ten minutes, carefully pull the skin of the peppers off, removing as much as possible. You can also remove the seeds, depending on how spicy you like things. Peel the garlic.
4Add the tomatillos, peppers, onions, garlic, cilantro. and chicken broth to a blender along with any juices from the pan. Blend until it reaches your desired consistency. Some people like a chunkier sauce and some prefer a smoother sauce.
5Stovetop: Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a Dutch oven or heavy pot. Add the chicken (or pork), season with salt and pepper, and brown for 2-3 on both sides. Add the sauce and bring to a simmer. For chicken, let simmer on low heat for 25-30 minutes until the chicken easily shreds with a fork. For pork, simmer for 2.5-3 hours until pork easily pulls apart.
6Slow Cooker: Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a Dutch oven or heavy pot. Add the chicken (or pork), season with salt and pepper, and brown for 2-3 on both sides. (You can skip this step but it adds more flavor if you sear the protein first.) Add to the slow cooker with the sauce. For chicken, cook on low for 4 hours. For pork, cook on low for 8 hours or until the pork is fork tender.
7Instant Pot: Use the instant pot saute setting. Add the chicken (or pork), season with salt and pepper, and brown for 2-3 on both sides. Add the chile verde salsa and cover. For chicken thighs, use the manual (Pressure Cooker) setting and cook for 8 minutes. Let naturally release for at least 2-3 minutes before using the steam valve. For pork, use the manual (Pressure Cooker) setting and cook for 45 minutes. Let naturally release for at least 2-3 minutes before using the steam valve.
When it comes to the heat in this recipe, it comes from using three different types of chile peppers that vary in strength and flavor. The poblano has the least amount of heat but adds a lot of flavor similar to a slightly spicy bell pepper.
The jalapeno is in the middle when it comes to spice and the serrano is the spiciest. You can vary the heat in the salsa by using different amounts of each pepper to find the right combination for you. You can also remove the seeds for less heat or leave them in for more.
Whenever making salsa, start slowly and taste along the way until it is as spicy as you like. Generally, I recommend making it slightly spicier than you want your final product since it will mellow out when cooked when it is cooked with protein.
If you have kids who don’t like spicy, make the salsa using just one seeded poblano pepper for flavor. Cook the protein in this mild salsa. Then puree the remaining peppers with a little chicken broth. Stir this spicy salsa into your dish individually so you can have a spicy version. I always make it this way and my toddler devours the milder chicken while I make mine super spicy.
The next decision when making Chile Verde is what kind of protein you would like to use. Traditionally Chile Verde recipes are made with pork but it is often made with dark meat chicken as well. Both options are delicious.
Normally I like to make it with chicken for a quick meal and I use pork when I will have more time since the pork takes much longer to cook. To keep things lighter, I like to use boneless skinless chicken thighs or a lean pork shoulder roast, but any protein would work.
There are various scenes from life that are characteristic of the place where you live.
When I lived in Milford, Mass… I well remember the local boys carrying the fishing poles to the local stream before school started. I remember the hot fresh bagels that were so great with butter and creme cheese. And I remember the ‘Northeasterner’s.
In Hattiesburg, Mississippi it was the deep fried cat fish and hush puppies. The swarms of cockroaches under the streetlights at night, and the lush moist air that was so very calm.
In Sydney, Australia, it was the delicious meat pies, and the lady that sold them at ten in the morning at the factory. I remember the funny little $2 gold color coins, the women with huge manes of hair, and prawns the size of a turkey.
In Zhuhai, China it was the morning walks with PP (my dog) along the beach front, the beautiful blue skies and flowering trees. And the bike ride that I took to the office.
Different places generate different experiences.
It is the experiences that we have that causes us to think things in ways that are unique to us.
Thus forming our own unique opinions.
Treasure your experiences, and generate new ones at every opportunity. Welcome them as they manifest in your life. Have adventures. Savor the experiences.
Unfortunately, that is a nontrivial possibility. The U.S. corporate elites and their servant government are not popular at home these days (according to Pew Research, only 20% trust the government today, while in the 1960’s it was as high as 80%). In Finland, for example, 80% trust their government.
The US is also no longer very popular externally. So, rather than continue losing clout at home and abroad, the last one being the power of hegemony, the U.S. elites may opt for yet another world war, and a nuclear one, to boot. I hope it doesn’t happen, but I wouldn’t put it past them.
Also, I read an opinion similar to mine above, in a Western mainstream article two or three years ago, and now things are that much worse for the US elites, with Russia’s apparently successful Special Operation in Ukraine, a (real) 8% inflation in the U.S., and a half-senile President.
“Compared to this raid, Pearl Harbor was a Sunday picnic.”
3
9 November 1979.
It was a cold winter’s morning in Colorado when the alarms began to shriek at NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defence Command. With a Cold War cloud hanging over their heads, the analysts’ hearts instinctively sank when they witnessed the cause behind the alarm — 250 Soviet missiles hurtling towards the United States.
2
Zbigniew Brzezinski, right, with Jimmy Carter.
At 3AM and within minutes of the alert, President Jimmy Carter’s national security adviser, Zbigniew Brzezinski, is awoken by a call from NORAD to inform him of the imminent nuclear assault. Each second has suddenly become more valuable than gold, as he is told that he has as few as three minutes to inform President Jimmy Carter of the situation, as well as to get a decision from him.
Instead of doing so though, Brzezinski played cautiously by not immediately informing the president, telling the military assistant who’d called him that he would stand by for a further call to confirm the situation first. His wife sleeping beside him, he decided not to wake her up, convinced that everyone would be dead within half an hour anyway.
1
A B-52,part of the Strategic Air Command.
He received a call back shortly later, and was informed the number of incoming missiles had jumped to 2,200 — this was a full-scale annihilation. Brzezinski was determined that the USA should strike back, and so requested confirmation of preparations for retaliation. They were passed on, and ten aircraft from the Strategic Air Command were readied to launch into the sky and begin their flight towards the Iron Curtain, primed to deliver an American brand of retribution.
As each second dragged on and with less than a minute from Brzezinski making the big call to the President, the one that would change the war from cold to searingly hot, he received a third call. He was informed that the other warning systems weren’t registering anything; radar and satellites showed no sign of any approaching missiles. It turned out to be a false alarm, the result of someone mistakenly loading a training simulation into one of the operational computers at NORAD’s HQ.
To think, a mere blip caused the planet to be but a single minute away from World War Three! The quote at the beginning belongs to a congressional investigator who spoke about the event years later, reinforcing just how close the world was to turning that simulation into reality.
I’ve had several such moments, but one in particular comes to mind.
I was fourteen, probably, maybe thirteen. I was doing something in town with my dad, I can’t remember quite what. He wandered off for a little while anyway so I started texting or going on twitter or some such thing.
A car pulled up, the guy in it was perhaps thirty. He called me over, and I approached the passanger side door. He was asking for directions which, in the relatively rural area I lived in at the time, was relatively common. He was asking for somewhere I hadn’t heard of, however, so I told him I really wasn’t sure. He asked about somewhere else that I had heard of, though didn’t know the exact location of. I told him the rough direction of it. He held his phone, and requested for me to walk around the other side of the car to help him figure it out.
I don’t know quite what it was. Looking back there were a few red flags, the fact he decided to ask me instead of finding an adult, the fact he didn’t just hold his phone towards where I was stood, the fact he was asking for directions but didn’t have a definite destination in mind. At the time I wasn’t really thinking about this, but the whole situation gave me a definite sense that… something didn’t feel right.
I told him I couldn’t help him, while taking a few steps away from his car. I said that if he wanted to wait a minute or two my dad would be back and would probably know. He said nevermind and drove off.
I didn’t hear about anything happening that could confirm or deny the validity of my apprehension, all I can say is that as he drove away I made a point to memorise his face and licence plate.
I think in certain situations it’s important to trust your instincts, especially when they’re warning you of danger. It’s better to be too cautious a hundred times than not cautious enough even once.
My family, Dad, Mum, my sister and I, were on holiday in the south of France in 1983. My sister fell ill and so we all went to the local pharmacy to get something to help get my sisters temperature down and help with the vomiting.
A quick aside: my mother went to an all girls grammar school and took German and French as well as some other topics. She always wanted to be a librarian and do she made sure she could read, write and talk in German, French and Latin.
And so, dear reader, back to the plot.
My dad attempted to talk to the pharmacist. With typical Gallic flair the pharmacist dismissed my dad, in French, and apparently added some less than savory comments about my Dad, us kids, my mum, her clothing, is not talking French etc.
I recall my mother getting redder and redder and more and more ready to explode. The pharmacist said a couple more words before the smoldering volcano of fury, anger and absolute motherly care and distress for her daughter exploded and, metaphorically destroyed the small village that sat at the foot of the volcano. This was the first time I ever saw my mother go absolutely ballistic at someone else. Me and my sister did the sensible thing and hid behind my dad. My dad just stood there and watched Mount St Helen erupt in a pharmacy in Hyeres in southern France.
The pharmacist stood no chance. He would get one half of a syllable out before the wrath of the Titans picked up a small temple and smashed him in the face. Eventually my mother stopped and said it was his turn to speak. Amazingly the pharmacist had several medications we could have to help my sister. No, no, please accept them with my thanks and blessings. No, Madam, there is no charge for your beautiful daughter or your exquisite self.
That’s the first time I saw my Mum be a bad ass in a foreign language. I have since seen my mother destroy other ignorant people who happen to make a serious error of judgement when her husband or children are ill or hurt.
Pork Sausage Loaf (Hungary)
2024 02 21 08 35
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
1 cup diced mushrooms
2 tablespoons butter
1 egg, beaten
1 pound fresh bulk pork sausage
2 cups dry bread crumbs
1 teaspoon paprika
Instructions
Melt butter in a skillet and add mushrooms. Sauté.
Combine sausage, mushrooms, egg and crumbs and shape into a loaf. Sprinkle with paprika. Place in a small roaster; cover.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 1/2 hour.
Uncover, return to oven, and bake 30 more minutes.
Yup my father sold his last car to a neighbor’s 17 year old daughter. The car was worth in the neighborhood of $10,000 and he sold it to her for $1,000. Why? Because the neighbor and his wife had been very helpful to him after my mother died and he knew and liked their three children. The three kids 17, 15, 12 had come over every week or so and had done chores for him, things he couldn’t do as he got older. cleaned gutters, trimmed trees, replaced high light bulbs, they refused to take any money saying they were just being neighbors. When he decided to give up his car he thought about it how their daughter would be starting college and needed a reliable car. He discussed it with her parents and the fact that they had been wonderful neighbors to him and that he wanted to give something back. He sold the car for way under market to her. He bought savings bonds for the two younger children with the $1,000. We were so proud of him. He taught us to be kind, generous and to be grateful.
Yes he absolutely knew what he was doing and we would have never dreamed of interfering. It was his car and his choice. When he died he left a very small estate including his home. We sold the home since neither of us lived within 1500 miles and we divided the money from his entire estate into fourths. On fourth to my brother. One fourth to the two children of my youngest brother. One fourth to me and one fourth to the kind neighbors who had been such good friends to him over the years.
My brother and I took our inheritance and donated it to a charity, our father would have approved, neither of us needed it and others did.
“I Got FIRED!” Women WEAPONIZED The ME2 Movement & Companies Are Saying NO, To Hiring Modern Women
If you spend 8 hours working for somebody else, take a couple hours after that to work for/on yourself.
A corporate office is not what you expect when you are in high school/college and most of the things you learn in college won’t worth a dime in your real world work environment anyways.
Your employer company is not YOUR company, so never take it for granted.
Never finish a work assignment sooner than the timeline given to you. No one gives a damn if you do it early, instead they will think your job is easy and their expectations from you will get higher.
It is okay to be late, miss a meeting, and say no to your superiors from time to time, in fact it will be worse if you never did any of those.
No matter how honest, dedicated, hardworking and talented you are, still there is a high chance you will never be the best employee of the month/year and you probably won’t get any promotions either.
Don’t be the guy who is there to take any task which others failed to complete.
You might be right, your opinion might be the best, but guess what? Sometimes nobody wants to hear the right thing and they won’t do it your way.
When you feel that you are way smarter and more talented than your boss, that is the moment you should consider changing your job.
If you actually want to grow and have your dream career/job then start your own business, spend all those energy and talent working for yourself instead of working for someone else all your life. You will grow much faster working a day for yourself than a month for somebody else.
I was on the metro escalator on my way up to the platform. In front of me was a couple – probably in their late twenties. The wife was wearing a sleeveless top and carrying a baby in her arms. She was kind of cute. Her husband stood a couple of steps in front of her.
Suddenly, I’ve no idea how it happened, but the girl lost her balance started falling backwards. She tried to fumble for the railing, now holding the child with just one hand – her body flailing wildly. The child was about to fall on the moving escalator.
Instinctively, I reached out and firmly grabbed both her (wife, not the child) arms, steadying her. Once I was sure she was safe, I immediately let go.
The entire thing must have lasted less than a nanosecond.
But as it happened, I registered a flash of intense fear jolting through my body. It wasn’t because the girl and her child were going to get hurt. Their safety had nothing to do with it. No! my fear was much more primal, originating somewhere deep inside my reptilian brain which knew that she was a female and I was a male – and my bare hands on her naked flesh – what that would mean in the eyes of the society, and how those standing around us might interpret it! Her husband, who was standing just a few steps ahead of us had no idea what had happened. A single shriek from the girl, and his animal brain would have gone berserk trying to defend what was rightfully its and eliminate the perceived threat at any cost.
My life could have been destroyed.
In that single nanosecond, my brain witnessed a fierce battle between two base instincts – one to help a fellow human being and the other to be afraid since that human being happened to be a female. Society had only taught me well enough the consequences such a situation might spiral into.
I was just lucky that that day, the first instinct had prevailed.
Had the second one kicked in first, a two year old child would have, at best, gotten gravely injured, or at worst, lost his life.
This is what happened with one guy in one incident.
Integrate that over four billion men on this planet and a million such situations that arise in the lifetimes, and you’ll realize what our world has come to.
The day my father died. I know that’s a big one for most people, but it was so much more for me. I was 40 and had had a contentious or non-existent relationship with him for 30 years due to the lies my mother told me about him. According to her, he was a sociopath. He lied, cheated and stole money from his own children. I believed it all as a ten-year-old.
I contacted my father several months before his death because I found out about my mother’s lies. I needed to apologize to him. My stepmother said she would arrange a meeting as soon as they returned from vacation. When they finally returned, he had already been diagnosed with inoperable, incurable cancer, the kind that Jimmy Buffet had.
Dad only lived four more months and I only had one opportunity to say what I needed to say to him. He hadn’t known how pervasive the brainwashing had been or what had been said. It helped to talk, but it couldn’t heal 30 years of mutual wounding. My father died not loving me, and the time lost devastated me. It still does 30 years later.
Does it occur to you it could be the U.S. that could be imprisoned? If the U.S. ends up spending tons of money meaninglessly and without a return and yet it cannot stop spending billions to continuously do shit that don’t pay it is the U.S. that is trapped. China don’t gives a shit it simply just let the US waste all its own money bribing nations who refuse to do shit, just to pretend to the world that it has allies.
For us in Asia. Even Japan, Korea, Phillipines and India have no wish to do shit as it knows the repercussions and it has been China’s neighbour for some 5000 years! It may have no choice but to barked some shit on China to get the U.S. off its back. But sure won’t risk it to do more than that. So the U.S. having a pay billions get some pretend shit is outright silly and wasteful.
So who is trapped? China can and will do what it wants. And the U.S. has to stay and waste a ton of resources to get pretentious shit that China gives a damn. To me the U.S. is trapped in its own stupidity!
The mistake women make with faithful men…
Russian Space Nukes and Navalny’s Death… U.S. Psyops Go Ballistic
Two “breaking news” items this week provided a timely opportunity for the United States and its media-intelligence apparatus to regain control of the narrative.
The claims about Russian space-based nuclear weapons unraveled to become a joke. Fortunately, the death of Western-sponsored dissident Alexei Navalny then occurred to enable Western media to go into a frenzy of anti-Russia headlines.
First up was the scaremongering story about Russia allegedly developing a space-based nuclear weapon. Initially, it was dramatically trailed as posing a serious national security threat to the United States. Despite the sensational reporting, the story quickly became a laughingstock. Even some U.S. lawmakers dismissed it as “bullshit” and a blatant attempt by the Biden White House and intelligence agencies to push Congress into passing a new mega military aid bill for Ukraine worth $61 billion.
We’ll get to the Navalny story in a moment. But let’s just first parse the orchestration of the alleged Russian space nukes.
The drama began on Wednesday when Mike Turner, the Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee (a dodgy source if ever there was one), made public appeals to President Joe Biden to declassify intelligence on “a serious threat to national security”. Turner is a Republican member of the House of Representatives but he is a close ally of the Democrat White House in terms of keenly supporting military aid to Ukraine. The latest bill passed the upper chamber of the U.S. Senate the day before, February 13, but it is unlikely to be approved by the House where many Republican lawmakers are staunchly opposed to it.
Accompanying the “concerns” of the intel committee chairman Turner, media outlets then vented anonymous US intelligence sources “revealing” that the national security threat was from Russian nuclear weapons allegedly under development for destroying American communication satellites in space. The White House then “confirmed” the intel the next day, February 15. It was a flagrant put-up job. But the Biden administration sought to tamp down any public panic by saying that the threat was not imminent and the alleged Russian satellite-killing weapon had not been deployed in orbit, nor would there be any danger to Earth. (So, what was all the fuss about?)
Ironically, derisive comments from incredulous U.S. lawmakers were also echoed by the Kremlin. The latter’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov made a similar assessment that the Biden administration was playing tricks to push through the military funding package for Ukraine.
That bill has been delayed since the end of last year. The Biden administration has been cajoling Congress for months to vote it through. After the Senate finally passed the bill this week, President Biden put pressure on the House, saying that “history is watching you”. The bill has been exalted as having existential importance in defeating “Russian aggression” in Ukraine. The U.S. media have claimed (preposterously) that if the military aid is not supplied then Ukraine’s defeat could result in American troops being deployed to prevent Russian rampaging across Europe.
The American public, as with the European public, has become increasingly skeptical about the relentless funneling of taxpayer funds and weapons to Ukraine. Many citizens in the West – a majority, according to polls – have become critical of fueling a bloody war for the dubious cause of “defending democracy” in a regime dominated by NeoNazis. At a time of deep social and economic hardship in the U.S. and Europe, the Western public is rightly disdainful of hundreds of billions of dollars and euros being wasted on death and destruction and also being siphoned off by a corrupt cabal in Kiev.
The $61 billion in military aid to Ukraine is just the latest tranche that Washington is seeking to throw at the black hole of its proxy war against Russia – a war that is really all about defeating Russia as a geopolitical obstacle to U.S. hegemony. Another driver is the massive profits that taxpayers are subsidizing the military-industrial complex at the rotten heart of Western capitalism.
There’s a huge lot at stake with the failure of the US/NATO proxy war in Ukraine. The Kiev regime is facing a collapse in the face of a superior Russian military.
That’s why the passing of the latest bill by Congress has taken on such an imperative importance – for the warmongers.
To get this bill into law, the U.S. deep state rulers and the pliant Biden White House along with the media-intelligence establishment sought to demonize Russia with a desperate story about alleged nuclear weapons for outer space. Oh, those dastardly Ruskies!
But as noted above the space nukes scar-story turned into farce. It was too obvious that the public was being manipulated, or gaslighted as one US lawmaker put it. When a psyops fails, the blowback is dangerous for the authors because of the damaging revelation and contempt it engenders. The Biden administration was open to ridicule.
There are several telltale signs that the story was total hogwash from the outset. Bruce Gagnon, U.S.-based coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, said the claims are absurd. In an email exchange with the Strategic Culture Foundation for this editorial, Gagnon said Russia has already developed formidable non-nuclear kinetic weapons to destroy satellites if it wanted to. He also remarked that the United States possesses anti-satellite weapons (ASATs).
In other words, there is no need for Russia to develop a risky nuclear weapon to knock out satellites. The nuclear details flagged up in US media this week are a gratuitous embellishment designed to alarm the public and to demonize Russia as an evil rogue state.
Russia is a co-signatory to the 1967 Outer Space Treaty as are the United States, China, and over 120 other nations.
Bruce Gagnon commented: “I believe the Russians have a long history of generally honoring treaties while the U.S. does not. And remember that Russia and China every year for at least the last 20-30 years go to the UN and introduce a new treaty called Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space (PAROS) to ban all weapons that fall outside of the 1967 treaty. The U.S. always refuses, saying there is no need for a new treaty.”
Apart from the paramount issue of getting additional funding for the proxy war in Ukraine, another timing issue is the aftermath of the blockbuster interview of Russian President Vladimir Putin by American journalist Tucker Carlson. Since the interview was aired last Thursday, February 8, it has broken all records for public audiences around the world. It has garnered over 300 million views, and counting.
The one-on-one interview was seen as a breakthrough world exclusive, an informative platform for Putin to comprehensively give Russia’s point of view on the whole Ukraine conflict, and more. The Russian leader was seen by American and European audiences as reasonable, intelligent, articulate, and convincing. The Western propaganda caricature of Putin was dispelled and for a rare moment, the Western public was persuasively informed of the bigger causes of the conflict in Ukraine. That is, how the U.S.-led NATO axis had instigated the war by fomenting an anti-Russian regime dominated by NeoNazis. The impact of the interview dealt a devastating blow to the Western narrative of “Russian aggression” and “evil Putin”.
Plausibly, the U.S. warmongering establishment was incensed by this exposé.
Hence, to wrest back control of the narrative and corral the Western public, the space-based nukes scare-story was unleashed. Unfortunately, that psyop attempt failed to gain traction and indeed was fast descending into a farce.
Next up, luckily, came the news of Navalny’s death. Western media immediately blared headlines and comments that he had been killed by the “Putin regime”.
Navalny was serving 19 years in prison on multiple corruption convictions. He died Friday apparently from a blood clot. The 47-year-old was a broken and forgotten figure facing a futile existence, having been used and abandoned by Western intelligence handlers as a cut-out dissident figure. His future looked bleak. Who knows at this stage what caused his death? He was last seen by his lawyer during a prison meeting this week two days before his passing. Did his lawyer pass something to Navalny? Was the washed-up Western asset offered a deal for his family’s benefit if he agreed to one last, ultimate psyop on behalf of Western handlers? Taking his own life? His death in prison has certainly provided the Western media with a bonanza opportunity to change the narrative and precipitate an avalanche of Russophobia, just as required.
As for the far-fetched Russian space nukes and the death of Navalny, the criminologist’s question of Who Gains? and the factor of timing are often reliable indicators.
My friend’s cousin disappeared, and it was an interesting lesson in media bias.
She didn’t come home one day. They found her necklace, broken, next to her car, in a nearby park. Her photo was in all the local newspapers: a cute smiling blonde girl in her high school softball uniform, well liked and a good student. Her family held press conferences pleading for whoever took her to let her go.
A few weeks later, she did return. But she had not been kidnapped – it had been staged. She had actually run off with her boyfriend against her parents’ wishes. The photo of the cute blonde girl was replaced by a photo of her with dyed black hair, dark goth clothing and a look of defiance. The papers began reporting that the well liked good student had been caught shoplifting and was in trouble at school. She was eventually sentenced to community service for faking the crime.
This was the same person. When they wanted to make her look innocent, she looked innocent. When they wanted to make her look guilty, she looked guilty. Think about that next time you read the news.
Big Picture Conflict: Pepe Escobar & Global Times Observations
Karl Sanchez
The Two-year anniversary of Russia’s SMO and the Ten-year anniversary of the overt beginning of the Outlaw US Empire’s conflict with Russia with the Ukraine Coup are upon us as well as the related conflict to free Palestine from Zionist/West Genocide—both operations initially were planned as Nazi-like Plan Ost Genocidal ethnic cleansing so the lands “freed” could then be exploited by Western Capital. But in both cases, the targets of oppression, dispossession and death fought back, although in both cases resistance was always present with the assaulted able to gain formidable allies. Both conflicts have revealed the status of the protagonists within the larger Global Conflict pitting the Global majority against the Outlaw US Empire and its vassals, perhaps most starkly revealing the Fence Sitters trying to play both sides for their own pecuniary gain as is the case most certainly with Turkey.
The recently completed G-20 Foreign Ministers Summit in Rio de Janeiro helped to further define the lines/sides as the raw statements from Lavrov provided to readers who read the reports about his actions. To help deepen understanding about our Global Conflict, the latest two essays by Pepe Escobar and Global Times G-20 report are presented below. The political cartoon at the header is from Global Times and is almost accurate for our purposes as the pot needs to include the Zionists. And Palestine is where we’ll begin with Pepe’s “The Axis of Asymmetry takes on the ‘rules-based order:’”
The Axis of Asymmetry is in full swing. These are the state and non-state actors employing asymmetrical moves on the global chessboard to sideline the US-led western rules-based order. And its vanguard is the Yemeni resistance movement Ansarallah.
Ansarallah is absolutely relentless. They have downeda $30 million MQ-9 Reaper drone with just a $10k indigenous missile.
They are the first in the Global South ever to use anti-ship ballistic missiles against Israel-bound and/or -protecting commercial and US Navy ships.
For all practical purposes, Ansarallah is at war with no less than the US Navy.
Ansarallah has captured one of the US Navy’s ultra-sophisticated autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV), the $1.3 million Remus 600, a torpedo-shaped underwater drone able to carry a massive payload of sensors.
Next stop: reverse engineering in Iran? The Global South eagerly awaits, ready to pay in currencies bypassing the US dollar.
All of the above – a maritime 21st-century remix of the Ho Chi Minh trail during the Vietnam War – spells out that the Hegemon may not even qualify as a paper tiger, but rather as a paper leech.
Lula tells it as the Global South sees it
Into the Big Picture – linked to the relentless ongoing genocide perpetrated by Israel in Gaza – steps a true leader of the Global South, Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Lula spoke in the name of Brazil, Latin America, Africa, BRICS 10, and the overwhelming majority of the Global South when he cut to the chase and defined the Gaza tragedy for what it is: a genocide. No wonder the Zionist tentacles across the Global North – plus its Global South vassals – went bonkers.
The genocidals in Tel Aviv declared Lula as persona non grata in Israel. Yet Lula did not assassinate 29,000+ Palestinians – the overwhelming majority of whom were women and children.
History will be unforgiving: it’s the genocidals that will eventually be judged as personae non grata to all of humanity.
What Lula said represented BRICS 10 in action: this was obviously cleared before with Moscow, Beijing, Tehran, and, of course, the African Union. Lula spoke in Addis Ababa, and Ethiopia is now a BRICS 10 member.
The Brazilian president was extremely smart in timing his Gaza fact-check to be on the table during the G20 meeting of Foreign Ministers in Rio. Way beyond BRICS 10, what’s happening in Gaza is a consensus among the non-Western G20 partners – who are actually a majority. No one, though, should expect any serious follow-up inside a divided G20. The heart of the matter remains in the facts on the ground.
Yemen’s fight for “our people” in Gaza is a matter of humanistic, moral, and religious solidarity – these are foundational tenets of the rising eastern “civilizational” powers, both domestically and in international affairs. This convergence of principles has now created a direct link – extrapolating to the moral and spiritual spheres – between the Axis of Resistance in West Asia and the Slavic Axis of Resistance in Donbass.
Extreme attention should be paid to the timescale. The Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) forces and Russia have spent two hard-fought years in Novorossiya just to arrive at the stage where it becomes clear – based on the battlefield and cumulative facts on the ground – that “negotiations” mean only the terms of Kiev’s surrender.
In contrast, the job of the Axis of Resistance in West Asia has not even started. It’s fair to argue that its strength and full sovereign involvement have not been deployed yet (think Hezbollah and Iran).
Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, with his proverbial subtlety, has hinted there’s, in fact, nothing to negotiate on Palestine. And if there would be a return to any borders, these would be the 1948 borders. The Axis of Resistance understands that the whole Zionist Project is unlawful and immoral. But the question remains how to throw it, in practice, into the dustbin of History?
Possible – avowedly optimistic – scenarios ahead would include Hezbollah taking possession of the Galilee as a step toward the eventual retaking of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Yet the fact remains that even a united Palestine does not have the military capability to reconquer stolen Palestinian lands.
So the questions posed by the overwhelming majority of the Global South that stands with Lula may be: Who else, apart from Ansarallah, Hezbollah, Hashd al-Shaabi, will join the Axis of Asymmetry in the fight for Palestine? Who would be willing to come to the Holy Land and die? (After all, in Donbass, it’s only Russians and Russophones who are dying for historically Russian lands) [Not entirely 100% correct, but close].
And that brings us to the way towards the endgame: only a West Asian Special Military Operation (SMO), to the bitter end, will settle the Palestinian tragedy. A translation of what happens across the Slavic Axis of Resistance: “Those who refuse to negotiate with Lavrov, deal with Shoigu.”
The menu, the table, and the guests
That out-of-his-depth closet neocon, Secretary of State Tony Blinken, let the cat out of the bag when he actually defined his much cherished “rules-based international order”: “If you’re not on the table, you are on the menu.”
Following his own hegemonic logic, it’s clear that Russia and the US/NATO are on the table while Ukraine is on the menu. What about the Red Sea? The Houthis defending Palestine against US–UK–Israel are clearly on the table, while Western vassals supporting Israel in a maritime way are clearly on the menu.
And that’s the problem: the Hegemon – or, in Chinese scholarly terminology, “the crusaders” – have lost the power to place the name cards on the table. The main reason for this authority collapse is the build-up of serious international meetings sponsored by the Russia–China strategic partnership during the past two years since the start of the SMO. It’s all about sequential planning, with long-term targets clearly outlined.
Only civilizational states can do that – not plutocratic neoliberal casinos.
Negotiating with the Hegemon is impossible because the Hegemon itself prevents negotiations (see the serial blocking of ceasefire resolutions at the UN). Additionally, the Hegemon excels in instrumentalizing its client elites across the Global South via threats or kompromat: see the hysterical reaction of Brazilian mainstream media to Lula’s verdict on Gaza.
What Russia is showing the Global South, two years after the start of the SMO, is that the only path to teach a lesson to the Hegemon has to be kinetic, or “military-technical.”
The problem is no nation-state can compare to nuclear/hypersonic/military superpower Russia, in which 7.5 percent of the government’s budget is dedicated to military production. Russia is and will remain on a permanent war footing until Hegemon’s elites come to their senses – and that may never happen.
Meanwhile, West Asia’s Axis of Resistance is watching and learning, day after day. It’s always crucial to keep in mind that for all the resistance movements across the Global South – and that also includes, for instance, West Africans against French neo-colonialism – the geopolitical fault lines could not be starker.
It’s a matter of the collective West versus Islam; the collective West versus Russia; and sooner rather than later, a substantial part of the West, even reluctantly, versus China.
The fact is we are already immersed in a World War that is both existential and civilizational. As we stand at the crossroads, there is a bifurcation: either escalation towards overt “kinetic military action,” or a multiplication of Hybrid Wars across several latitudes.
So it’s up to the Axis of Asymmetry, cool, calm, and collected, to forge the underground corridors, passages, and trails capable of undermining and subverting the US-led, unipolar, rules-based international order. [Bolded italics my emphasis]
Pessimistic or realistic? Obviously, the situation is already kinetic. But two very important factors have been proven over the past two years: NATO is powerless to defeat Russia and the USN can be defeated by the new methods of warfare. Pepe and I agree that the major forcing to solve Palestine will need to come from outside, which means Russia or China or perhaps an international coalition sans Western nations. The longer Palestine is subjected to Zionist Genocide, the more the world’s people will learn of its history and the utter crime related to the creation of Occupied Palestine. And now for the second Pepe Escobar essay, “Two Years After the Start of the SMO, the West is Totally Paralyzed:”
Exactly two years ago this Saturday, on February 24, 2022, Vladimir Putin announced the launching – and described the objectives – of a Special Military Operation (SMO) in Ukraine. That was the inevitable follow-up to what happened three days before, on February 21 – exactly 8 years after Maidan 2014 in Kiev – when Putin officially recognized the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Lugansk.
During this – pregnant with meaning – short space of only three days, everyone expected that the Russian Armed Forces would intervene, militarily, to end the massive bombing and shelling that had been going on for three weeks across the frontline – which even forced the Kremlin to evacuate populations at risk to Russia. Russian intel had conclusive proof that the NATO-backed Kiev forces were ready to execute an ethnic cleansing of Russophone Donbass.
February 24, 2022 was the day that changed 21st century geopolitics forever, in several complex ways. Above all, it marked the beginning of a vicious, all-out confrontation, “military-technical” as the Russians call it, between the Empire of Chaos, Lies and Plunder, its easily pliable NATOstan vassals, and Russia – with Ukraine as the battleground.
There is hardly any question Putin had calculated, before and during these three fateful days, that his decisions would unleash the unbounded fury of the collective West – complete with a tsunami of sanctions.
Ay, there’s the rub; it’s all about Sovereignty. And a true sovereign power simply cannot live under permanent threats. It’s even feasible that Putin had wanted (italics mine) Russia to get sanctioned to death. After all, Russia is so naturally wealthy that without a serious challenge from abroad, the temptation is enormous to live off its rents while importing what it could easily produce.
Exceptionalists always gloated that Russia is “a gas station with nuclear weapons”. That’s ridiculous. Oil and gas, in Russia, account for roughly 15% of GDP, 30% of the government budget, and 45% of exports. Oil and gas add power to the Russian economy – not a drag. Putin shaking Russia’s complacency generated a gas station producing everything it needs, complete with unrivalled nuclear and hypersonic weapons. Beat that.
Ukraine has “never been less than a nation”
Xavier Moreau is a French politico-strategic analyst based in Russia for 24 years now. Graduated from the prestigious Saint-Cyr military academy and with a Sorbonne diploma, he hosts two shows on RT France.
His latest book, Ukraine: Pourquoi La Russie a Gagné (“Ukraine: Why Russia has Won”), just out, is an essential manual for European audiences on the realities of the war, not those childish fantasies concocted across the NATOstan sphere by instant “experts” with less than zero combined arms military experience.
Moreau makes it very clear what every impartial, realist analyst was aware of from the beginning: the devastating Russian military superiority, which would condition the endgame. The problem, still, is how this endgame – “demilitarization” and “denazification” of Ukraine, as established by Moscow – will be achieved.
What is already clear is that “demilitarization”, of Ukraine and NATO, is a howling success that no new wunderwaffen – like F-16s – will be able to change.
Moreau perfectly understands how Ukraine, nearly 10 years after Maidan, is not a nation; “and has never been less than a nation”. It’s a territory where populations that everything separates are jumbled up. Moreover, it has been a – “grotesque” – failed state ever since its independence. Moreau spends several highly entertaining pages going through the corruption grotesquerie in Ukraine, under a regime that “gets its ideological references simultaneously via admirers of Stepan Bandera and Lady Gaga.”
None of the above, of course, is reported by oligarch-controlled European mainstream media.
Watch out for Deng Xiao Putin
The book offers an extremely helpful analysis of those deranged Polish elites who bear “a heavy responsibility in the strategic catastrophe that awaits Washington and Brussels in Ukraine”. The Poles actually believed that Russia would crumble from the inside, complete with a color revolution against Putin. That barely qualifies as Brzezinski on crack.
Moreau shows how 2022 was the year when NATOstan, especially the Anglo-Saxons – historically racist Russophobes – were self-convinced thar Russia would fold because it is a “poor power”. Obviously, none of these luminaries understood how Putin strengthened the Russian economy very much like Deng Xiaoping on the Chinese economy. This “self-intoxication”, as Moreau qualifies it, did wonders for the Kremlin.
By now it’s clear even for the deaf, dumb, and blind that the destruction of the European economy has been a massive tactic, historic victory for the Hegemon – as much as the blitzkrieg against the Russian economy has been an abysmal failure.
All of the above brings us to the meeting of G20 Foreign Ministers this week in Rio. That was not exactly a breakthrough. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made it very clear that the collective West at the G20 tried by all means to “Ukrainize” the agenda – with less than zero success. They were outnumbered and counterpunched by BRICS and Global South members.
At his press conference, Lavrov could not be more stark on the prospects of the war of the collective West against Russia. These are the highlights:
Western countries categorically do not want serious dialogue on Ukraine.
There were no serious proposals from the United States to begin contacts with the Russian Federation on strategic stability; trust cannot be restored now while Russia is declared an enemy.
There were no contacts on the sidelines of the G20 with either Blinken or the British Foreign Secretary.
The Russian Federation will respond to new Western sanctions with practical actions that relate to the self-sufficient development of the Russian economy.
If Europe tries to restore ties with the Russian Federation, making it dependent on their whims, then such contacts are not needed.
In a nutshell – diplomatically: you are irrelevant, and we don’t care.
That was complementing Lavrov’s intervention during the summit, which defined once again a clear, auspicious path towards multipolarity. Here are the highlights:
The forming of a fair multipolar world order without a definite center and periphery has become much more intensive in the past few years. Asian, African and Latin American countries are becoming important parts of the global economy. Not infrequently, they are setting the tone and the dynamics.
Many Western economies, especially in Europe, are actually stagnating against this background. These statistics are from Western-supervised institutions – the IMF, the World Bank and the OECD.
These institutions are becoming relics from the past. Western domination is already affecting their ability to meet the requirements of the times. Meanwhile, it is perfectly obvious today that the current problems of humanity can only be resolved through a concerted effort and with due consideration for the interests of the Global South and, generally, all global economic realities.
Institutions like the IMF, the World Bank, the EBRD, and the EIB are prioritizing Kiev’s military and other needs. The West allocated over $250 billion to tide over its underling thus creating funding shortages in other parts of the world. Ukraine is taking up the bulk of the funds, relegating Africa and other regions of the Global South to rationing.
Countries that have discredited themselves by using unlawful acts ranging from unilateral sanctions and the seizure of sovereign assets and private property to blockades, embargoes, and discrimination against economic operators based on nationality to settle scores with their geopolitical opponents cannot be considered guarantors of financial stability.
Without a doubt, new institutions that focus on consensus and mutual benefit are needed to democratize the global economic governance system. Today, we are seeing positive dynamics for strengthening various alliances, including BRICS, the SCO, ASEAN, the African Union, LAS, CELAC, and the EAEU.
This year, Russia chairs BRICS, which saw several new members join it. We will do our best to reinforce the potential of this association and its ties with the G20.
Considering that 6 out of 15 UN Security Council members represent the Western bloc, we will support the expansion of this body solely through the accession of countries from Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
Call it the real state of things, geopolitically, two years after the start of the SMO. [Bolded italics my emphasis]
The G-20 timing also coincided with the ICJ’s sessions about Palestine and the increasing number of cases being filed against the Zionists and their abettors. The West’s stance was specifically called out by Lavrov who added it to the evidentiary trail of previous criminal acts. The Outlaw US Empire and the West generally are parasites who feed on host nations in what are clearly Neocolonial types of arrangements. Now the Empire is leeching off the EU and enforcing its blood-sucking via NATO. Trump doesn’t want to disband NATO; he wants to increase the intensity of its blood-sucking just as he did before. Now it’s: Pay up your 2% of GDP or we’ll sick the Russians on you, or rather won’t protect you from the Russians. Putin has said Europeans must rescue themselves as Russia has no intent on going beyond Ukraine as Russia already has most everything it needs. So, now we have Global Times whose experts opine that the SMO “may become ‘a war without winners.’” We’ll see why in “US escalates sanctions, fans fire as Ukraine crisis enters 3rd year:”
The US joined the EU and UK in announcing a new round of sanctions against Russia, ahead of the two-year anniversary of the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine that started in February 2022. But at the same time, Russia is seemingly gaining the upper hand on the battlefield with its latest victory in capturing Avdiivka, a critical town in eastern Ukraine.
Analysts said considering the previous sanctions were far from reaching expectations, and the US and West are not prepared to compromise with Russia on the conflict in 2024, the stalemate may become a large probability, and a cease-fire is still far from sight.
At a time when the security environment and economy of the entire world are being seriously affected, the US, whether it is from holding Europe hostage to promote bloc confrontation or from selling gas and arms to Europe, seems to be benefiting the most. However, experts said that if the Russia-Ukraine conflict continues for a long time, it will be a war without winners, and China will continue its efforts in promoting peace talks and a cease-fire as early as possible.
Stalemate to continue
US President Joe Biden on Friday announced Washington would issue more than 500 new sanctions targeting Russia for the ongoing war with Ukraine and for the death of the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
The US will also impose new export restrictions on nearly 100 entities for providing support to Russia and take action to further reduce Russia’s energy revenues, Biden said in a statement.
The US latest sanctions came on the heels of moves by its allies. The UK on Thursday announced more than 50 further sanctions against Russia, targeting individuals and businesses supporting Moscow’s “war effort.” On Wednesday, the EU also approved its 13th package of sanctions against Russia, banning nearly 200 related individuals and entities which it claimed as being linked to Moscow’s operation, including companies from China and India. The sanction was adopted on Friday.
However, experts found that sanctions from the US and West have failed to have any substantial impact on Russia. Meanwhile, Moscow was also “not nearly as isolated as US officials had hoped,” as Russia’s inherent strength, rooted in vast supplies of oil and natural gas, “has powered a financial and political resilience,” according to a New York Times report. [Which is BS as Escobar reported above.]
Western sanctions on Russia did put short-term pressure on the Russian economy, but it soon adjusted policy and resumed growth, Zhang Hong, a senior research fellow at the Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Friday.
The sanctions are a sign of Western political correctness, but they have fallen far short of their intended goals, Zhang said, adding that rounds of sanctions have not changed Russia’s position in the Ukraine crisis or caused major economic difficulties for Russia.
“In a way, it was a failure,” said the expert.
According to the expert, compared with the previous measures, the recent ones have focused more on indirect sanctions, by restricting Russia’s trade and financial contacts with other countries, narrowing Russia’s external economic activity.
The sanctions also come at a time when Russia is gaining the upper hand on the battlefield, capturing Ukraine’s eastern city of Avdiivka last week. Ukraine faces a shortage of ammunition and insufficient troops, according to media reports.
Ahead of the crisis anniversary, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday that Russia will have to continue fighting Ukraine until it takes the coastal city of Odessa and Ukraine’s capital Kiev, according to RT.
Although some observers, including former CIA director and secretary of Defense Robert Gates, told US media that he believed Russia has “regained the momentum” and “has broken the stalemate,” Chinese experts said the current seesaw battle may continue in 2024.
Medvedev’s remark shows Russia’s confidence in continuing its “special operation,” Zhang said, “What Moscow seeks is to maximize its security interests within the scope of controllable risks.“
However, the latest sanctions show the US and the West are not prepared to compromise with Russia, Zhang noted, adding that although Ukraine has recently been passive on the battlefield, it’s unlikely to suffer a rout. [Avdeevka ws a rout.] On February 1, EU leaders approved the extension of 50 billion Euros ($54 billion) in aid to Ukraine from 2024 to 2027. “It shows that currently the West is not prepared to abandon Ukraine,” Zhang said.
Experts also noted that in the long run, the situation in the battlefield largely depends on US factors, whether it can overcome domestic partisan strife on aiding Kiev, and whether US policies will be adjusted sharply after a possible Trump return.
In 2024, the continuation of stalemate and attrition may become a high probability on the battlefield in Ukraine, Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Friday.
The conflict will continue, and there is no end in sight, at least for now, Li added.
War without winners
Given that Chinese companies were listed among the latest British and EU sanctions against Russia, on Thursday, the Chinese Embassy in the UK expressed strong opposition, stressing that China has always held an objective and just position on the Ukraine crisis.
Ahead of the anniversary, some Western media expressed misgivings over China’s position. VOA accused China of not pressuring Russia to “stop the aggression,” while some German media said the sanctions pushed Russia into the arms of China, making it “the biggest winner” of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The West is trying to pressure China to take sides through public opinion, but as a major power, China will not let this noise affect its neutral position, Li said.
During a meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on February 17, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that China has stayed committed to promoting peace talks on the Ukraine issue and will not give up as long as there is a glimmer of hope. China refrains from adding fuel to the fire or taking advantage of the situation, and refrains from selling lethal weapons to conflict areas or parties, Wang said.
Sanctions and weapons aid have not changed Russia’s position, but have prolonged the conflict and extended the damage to Ukraine. In order to end the losses in Ukraine as soon as possible, there must be an early cease-fire and peace talks, Zhang said.
Due to the conflict, all major economies, including China, have been impacted, both in terms of security environment and economy, and it has also had a negative impact on China-EU relations and China-US relations, Zhang said.
So far, the US is the biggest beneficiary, analysts said. US liquefied natural gas has entered the EU market and now takes up a large share. Through the export of weapons, US military manufacturers are making huge amounts of money. At the same time, the Russia-Ukraine conflict also further strengthens US control over Europe, prompting the return of the influence of its bloc politics.
However, overall and in the long run, the conflict will be a war without winners, with only tragedy and disaster, analysts said.
If the goal of the US is to maximize the weakening of Russia by completely depleting Ukraine, even if the goal is achieved, Russia, the US and Europe will most likely fall into a deeper strategic confrontation in the future, Li said.
If the US and the West hope to wait until Ukraine is almost exhausted before directly engaging Russia on the battlefield, then they are playing with fire, said Li, “to defeat a nuclear power on the battlefield is likely to lead to nuclear war and World War III. If that happens, Russia, Ukraine are the losers, the US, Europe are losers, global security will be at stake, and the end will be disaster and tragedy for humankind.” [Emphasis mine]
IMO, it’s odd that Li doesn’t think Ukraine isn’t yet “exhausted” and the loser ever since the conflict began in 2014. That the experts consulted think the conflict is now a “stalemate” means they aren’t paying attention to what’s happening and have ignored Russia’s highly successful strategy of attrition. Again, the notion that “the US … seems to be benefiting the most” or “is the biggest beneficiary,” is chimeric with the seems being an incorrect assumption when reality within the Outlaw US Empire is considered—no tangible gains have accrued to US citizens aside from a very small group of elites. Indeed, the US economy is polarized as the real economy shrinks and the parasite economy expands. The complexity of the sanctions and collusion in their make-up and application by the Empire and its vassals tells us that they were not made for Nalvalny. Indeed, his murder was likely induced by the West to coincide with three events: SMO anniversary, Munich Security Conference, and Putin/Carlson Interview, since his wife/widow was previously invited and showed no shock or grief and all BigLie Media outlets had synchronized copy/paste “news” items immediately upon word of his death. Over the last 24 years of similar happenings, those with active minds can see through the crap. Are the Chinese being honest when they write, “However, overall and in the long run, the conflict will be a war without winners, with only tragedy and disaster,” or are they writing that way to appease the West so it will not target China with further sanctions? Most credible analysts have China next on the menu after Russia, which is precisely what the Outlaw US Empire’s “security” and “defense” documents and policies say matter-of-factly.
Russia’s proving its SMO isn’t mired in a stalemate as it continues to push Westward along the FEBA. Medvedev has issued serious goals as statements of policy. The need to deNazify not only Ukraine but Europe’s been voiced by both Putin, Lavrov, Medvedev, Zakharova, Patrushev, and other top Russian officials. Russia has its Home Front in fine form with very little dissent to be seen or heard. The situation in Ukraine and the West is almost the exact opposite as it’s embroiled in the Gaza Genocide too that has vastly amplified dissent. Plus, the Neoliberal economies are functioning as planned—taking from the poor and giving to the already rich. Dr, Hudson recently provided some anecdotal evidence of that, “New School University race to the bottom,” which ought to be compared with my “Creating a Network of Modern University Campuses” report about two weeks ago. And as my reports show, Russia’s economy is booming as is its trade, while it’s ready to vastly widen the non-Western payments and settlements system so sanctions will have nothing to impede.
Some time ago a European politician made the analogy of Ukraine being a drowning person capable of drowning its rescuers. That man was insightful when compared with most European and US politicos. The longer the West continues to lie about the actual reasons for the SMO and what group started it, the harder it’s going to be when the time arrives for whatever remains of Ukraine to capitulate. The state, which has always been artificial as Putin told the world again in his talk with Tucker Carlson, will likely disappear into the ether from which it was conjured. And all those loans and “investments” will translate into 100% loses for their providers. And if the West attempts to steal Russia’s illegally frozen assets, then it’s going to suffer an even greater loss in the end as extinguishing Ukraine is precisely what will happen.
“What’s Coming Is WORSE Than A Recession” — Ray Dalio’s Last WARNING
I trashed a child in front of his parents while watching the movie “The Jungle Book” and I am proud of what I did to him.
April 14,
Navratri puja over, so I took my brother to watch a movie as my birthday treat which was on 12th.
Housefull.
This child was 27 years old sitting one seat to my left. And right beside me was a beautiful lady in her 60’s, followed by this boy and his father.
During the intermission, the boy ordered two cups of American corn and sat back. Then after a few minutes, the INOX guy came and handed it over to the boy.
Two minutes later, the lady unintentionally spilled the corn.
The boy started yelling at his mom, “koto taka legechy jaano ?? kheyecho aiekhany ??”
Translation: “Do you know how much that cost? Have you ever eaten here??”
And then comes the sickening part: he hit his mother’s legs pretty hard, simply because she had accidentally spilled the cup of American corn.
Seeing all this made me livid. And just when I thought he wouldn’t repeat this deplorable act, he hit his mom again.
His mom was extremely embarrased and kept her head down.
After hitting his mom twice, I didn’t hold myself back. I hit his cup of corn and spilled all of it on the floor. He stood up and confronted me; I landed a punch on his face as hard as I could.
To ensure he stayed put and didn’t retaliate, I landed two more. By then all the people around me (including my brother) got up on their feet and were ready to stop me in case I was going to smack him again.
It was chaos all around, and the security intervened and escorted both of us out.
Once outside and no more in the darkness, I saw that the guy really needed medical assistance after what I had to him. His nose was bleeding and lips were split open. And when our eyes met, I could clearly see the guilt in his eyes. I was damn happy with what I did, though I missed the movie which I watched later.
I was escorted off the premises, while he was administered first aid. I had to assure the security team that I would never repeat anything like this.
I never knew I could do such things but seeing a man punching his mother enraged me and I couldn’t resist myself.
Respect each and everyone whoever it might be, that is what my parents have taught me and I am glad that I do so and hope our generation does the same.
Edit 1 : For all those who think that I didn’t solve the whole problem, my little brother while taking them out of the theatre took the mother’s phone and saved my number.
I don’t think he will dare to do such activity again and I am hoping I won’t receive any call his mother.
Thanks for the appreciation !!
Edit 2: I would like you all to read Yogesh Singhq comment.
China not only has the largest military in the world, but it is also the oldest military in the world. The Chinese were fighting mass invasions and assaults involving thousands of trained warriors when the Europeans were still living in caves and picking lice off each other.
China also has the oldest Navy in the world. Indeed, the Chinese were conducting mass Naval Battles centuries before the Europeans were considering the value of ocean going vessels.
China has always fought using cutting-edge technologies that were unexpected, unheard of, and unanticipated by the nation attacking it. It’s more than gunpowder, it’s poison weapons, tricks and deceit, and armored vehicles that totally stunned the opposition.
China is lead by merit, with people with millennia of military experience. Indeed the top rated military strategy books are all Chinese.
China is a military-organized society that does everything based on merit. They are hopelessly super patriotic, and live to die for their country.
Oh, and remember that the United States tried to attack China in 1950. The United States lost, and lost badly.
…
FACT: Keep in mind that China considers both Taiwan and the South China Sea as China territory.
EXTRAPOLATED FACT: Any bombs, guns, missiles, or assaults in those regions will provoke a STRATEGIC response onto the United States.
KIND REMINDER: And remember Kiddos, that for China, STRATEGIC is the same as NUCLEAR.
…
You all should be really FUCKING clear on accepting the risks, and resulting lifestyle that you will endure, after that Pandora’s box is opened.
Alien Bodies Confirmed After Testing to be NON Human
This is actually a pretty good video, and I recommend it to all mm readers.
I responded to a medical emergency in a hoarder house in the 1980s. When we entered the house from the front door there was no pathway to the back of the house. Newspapers, magazines and papers stacked up to the 6 foot mark on all the walls. The kitchen was covered in plates of old food that had not be cleared or thrown away. No way to get through to the bedrooms in the back of the house. Rats, mice and bugs crawling over everything. We could see the resident in the back bedroom, but could not get through the piles of papers, junk and trash to get to the back bedroom to see if he was alive. The smell was unbelievable.
The fire department brought in a K-12 saw and cut hole into the bedroom from the back of the house. The owner was dead. Mice and insects were crawling all over the body. Multiple cats sprawling all over the piles of papers, garbage and junk in the house. The fire department used the saw to cut a larger hole in the back of the hose so we could get in. The City Public Works Department brought a four wheel drive front end loader to clear out piles of newspapers and magazines which filled the floor around the bed in the bedroom at the back of the house. Several police officers, Animal Control Officers and Public Works employees had to run to the back the property to throw up from the smell.
I took time off the radio after we got the body out of the house to go back to my home, dump my uniforms in the laundry and take a very hot shower to insure I cleared everything I was in contact in this house off my body.
The city quickly declared the house a major health hazard and had it bulldozed to the ground. I told my sergeant the next call like that I wanted to be sent to other side of of town rather than enter a hoarder house again.
I dealt with several more in that community and next one when I was Chief of Police. The smell never gets better.
When you stop trying, it happens | The psychology of the flow state
As a teenager, I washed dishes in a restaurant where my step-father ran the kitchen. He made all the soups and other pre-cooked items (prime rib, ribs), ordered the produce and stock, etc.
The restaurant was located on a barge moored in a harbor on a river. Most of the kitchen help were what we referred to as east-enders… rough boys. I was a preppy high school kid but got along with most of them. However, there was one guy… Dale. Dale was a bit crazy. He was also heavily into drugs and a burnout. He also washed dishes and on weekends, there would be two of you paired together.
All dishes had to be cleaned by the end of the night, the floors swept and scrubbed, and dirty laundry put away (table cloths, napkins, and aprons). If it was a particularly good night, the waitresses would bring a few pitchers of beer from the bar to the kitchen crew.
One night beer was brought while everyone was cleaning up. Dale was drinking more than cleaning. I got fed up and left the dishes piled high in the sinks.
The following morning, my step father arrived at work to find the dirty dishes. My mother awoke me asking what happened and that my step father was livid. I was taken to work where I find Dale and my step father standing in the kitchen. My step father is PISSED. He asks me why the dishes were left. I explained I was tired of Dale not doing his job. Dale tried to talk his way out of the situation which only made things worse. My step father was screaming at Dale and told him to go clean the bathrooms. Dale left to do that and now I’m expecting to catch hell. My step father put his hand on my shoulder then walked away calmly asking me to finish the dishes.
I was stunned. My step-father wasn’t an understanding person and he didn’t treat me any different that the rest of the crew. But here he was believing me and siding with me (a rare instance).
About an hour later, we discovered Dale left without cleaning the bathrooms. I was asked to stay and work the shift…. and to clean the bathrooms.
Kid 1: I wish my teacher would know; my dad is in jail, and I haven’t seen him in years.
Kid 2: I wish my teacher would know, I don’t always eat dinner because my mom works and I don’t know how to work the stove.
Kid 3: I wish my teacher would know; my sister sleeps in the same bed as me, and sometimes she wets the bed, and that’s why I smell funny.
Kid 4: I wish my teacher would know that I don’t always have sneakers for gym class because my brothers and I share one pair.
Kid 5: I wish my teacher knew I like coming to school because it’s quiet here, unlike my house with all the yelling.
✨We spend so much time talking and judging what we think we know… we need to ask more questions and spend more time listening. We also need to shift our mindset and see things from other people’s perspective. Give more than we get. Live to serve and to help make a difference in others’ lives.
Let’s leave this life a little better than we found it.
Polish Cinnamon Cake
babkaslice
Yield: 8 to 12 servings
Ingredients
12 tablespoons butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
3 teaspoons cinnamon
A grating of fresh nutmeg
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Beat the butter until it is soft and fluffy. Add 3/4 cup of the sugar and the egg and continue beating. Add 2 teaspoons of the cinnamon, the nutmeg and flour, and beat until well mixed.
Spread about 1/3 of the batter on an ungreased baking sheet, forming a rectangle about 10 x 12 inches and bake in a preheated 400 degrees F oven for 8 minutes, until lightly browned.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Repeat two more times with the remaining batter.
Whip the cream until stiff, and fold in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, the remaining 1 teaspoon cinnamon and the vanilla extract. Spread a thin layer of whipped cream on one of the cakes, top with another cake, and repeat.
Spread remaining whipped cream on the top and serve immediately.
I am slap-in-middle of Gen X. Two years ago, I got diagnosed with cancer. I still live in the small-time town I was born in and know everyone.
I still went into work the next day and in the morning after I had texted all to my 31 year old boss whom I thought was a great guy that I might be a bit quiet today…. My ‘millennial’ boss was someone I deemed trustworthy and not at all like other guys like my disgusting, selfish, youngest brother. I was happy he was gonna be my boss through what was going to be a difficult time for me and my family. I wished I’d stayed at home but I had a lesson.
He actually thought it was the coolest thing, and was seriously, absolutely, completely delighted. An employee with cancer was so trendy. Not that he said that out loud but he was really pleased for himself…. Genuinely, the guy wanted to tell everyone – and I ordered him to be silent until I said so and stopped periodically shaking and could talk about it without being overwhelmed with fear that was so bad my tummy and heart hurt.
Me and my husband were looking at him like W.T.F. I suddenly got why millennials aren’t liked…
He then started to reduce my hours and told me I wasn’t haven’t sick pay three days before my massive surgery and sacked me when I got a lawyer on to him a year later. It is strictly illegal to sack someone with cancer in the UK.
He thought he was the best boss ever because he spent two minutes reading a website about how employees with cancer often want to work as it seems normal.
He had gotten a recent promotion and became ….. absolutely vile… I didn’t even get a card or a teddy bear. I am rather wary of that generation now.
China is one of the most emblematic and visible practitioners of Progressive-Conservatism, which may seem an odd description given that Communism is described by the West as ultra-radical.
However, when integrated into the context of Chinese history and its longstanding social-philosophy, it’s actually normative as the past is honored while wading into the future with confidence based on past successes.
When looked at seriously, China’s policies seek to establish Balance and Harmony globally.
Containing China makes no sense. Working with China makes a great deal of sense. And the latter path is far easier than that of confrontation.
A look at the Big Picture shows nations confronting China declining while those cooperating rising.
A while ago my mother’s kid sister (my aunt) was on the dating market, and she was dating various men. After a period of time, she had to choose between two men. Apparently, it was a tough decision.
Ralph. He was a blue-collar carpenter. He was from a traditional Catholic family, and was a “salt of the earth” kind of guy. I really liked him alot. He was honest, a straight-shooter. He was just a all around “good guy”. But he wasn’t wealthy. He was just solidly middle class, with about 11 children.
Sonny. He was a dentist, who branched out and bought up factories and businesses. Turned them around. And then sold them for a profit. He had a daughter, and a large ranch with horses, and a great spread of land.
Well, my aunt decided on Sonny.
Ralph was devastated. I (and my wife at the time) liked him a lot. I haven’t seen him since. He used to help my mother fix and repair stuff at her house. He just did it because he had the talent and the ability. He built her a storage room in the basement and a huge porch in the back.
A few years ago, Sonny and my aunt were having troubles. Apparently he was “too controlling” . Ah. I hate to hear that.
I am of the opinion that if she would have chosen Ralph, she would have been much happier. Maybe not wealthier, but certainly… happier. Sigh.
It’s all about picking your battles with teens. My oldest is 18 now and has been accepted into a very good college, so we’re pretty much “done” raising her. Now it’s mainly just raising money for her.
But, between the ages of 13–18, there were quite a few times where she did something she knew we didn’t want her to do, or she lied to us, and we let her think we didn’t know. We knew, we just picked our battles, and those didn’t seem like battles worth fighting. Basically, if it was something that put her or her future in danger, we came down on her for it. If it was something that just annoyed us or was rude, we let it slide, sometimes.
For example, we grounded her when her grades started slipping because she was spending too much time with her boyfriend. She was mad, but it worked. Within a week, her grades were back up and she was un-grounded. We also have a rule in the house about not hoarding dirty dishes in the bedrooms, but sometimes I’ll look in her room and see literally 20 dirty dishes. Is it worth making a fuss over, even though she’s being disrespectful and breaking a rule? Nah. I just ask her to bring me the dishes from her room the next time I’m loading the dishwasher. No need to pick a fight.
Our parenting mantra for her was pretty much: “Make sure she doesn’t screw up her future by getting pregnant, doing drugs, or failing school, but otherwise, don’t needlessly rock the boat.”
It all worked out. Assuming she doesn’t go completely insane over the next five months, she’ll be fine.
Chicken Soup with Tortellini (Pollo in Brodo con Tortellini)
Tortellini Soup
There is nothing, nothing, as comforting as walking into the house after a long day to the wafting aroma of chicken tortellini soup.
Today’s Creamy Chicken Tortellini Soup is a healthified version of a heavier cream-based soup.
I haven’t removed the essential elements that make it special such as tender chicken, hearty cheese tortellini, and even a little cream. I’ve just reduced certain ingredients, so you can feel good about serving this Creamy Chicken Tortellini Soup to your family.
And maybe even having seconds.
2024 02 13 07 38
Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients
1 (3 to 4 pound) broiler-fryer chicken, cut up
6 cups water
1 stalk celery (with leaves, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 medium carrot, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 medium onion, cut into fourths
2 sprigs parsley
1 bay leaf
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 package commercial fresh tortellini or 20 homemade tortellini
2 cups water
Minced parsley
Grated Parmesan cheese
Ingredients You Will Need
DeLallo Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Large Sweet Onion – peeled and chopped
Red Bell Pepper – seeded and chopped
Carrots – sliced
Minced Garlic Cloves
Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast – or bonleess chicken thighs
Chicken Broth – low sodium chicken broth
DeLallo Three-Cheese Tortellini Pasta
Heavy Cream
Packed Frozen Spinach – or fresh baby spinach leaves
Fresh Chopped Parsley
Dried Thyme Leaves – or fresh thyme leaves
Crushed Red Pepper
Salt and Pepper
2024 02 13 07 40
Instructions
Heat chicken, 6 cups water, celery, carrot, onion, 2 sprigs parsley, bay leaf, salt and peppercorns to boiling in Dutch oven; reduce heat. Cover and simmer until thickest pieces of chicken are done, about 45 minutes.
Remove chicken from broth; strain broth.
Refrigerate chicken and broth separately until cool.
Remove chicken from bones and skin. Cut chicken into bite-size pieces; add to broth. Cover and refrigerate.
Prepare tortellini. If using commercial tortellini, do not precook.
Skim fat from broth. Heat broth and 2 cups water to boiling. Add tortellini. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer until tortellini are tender, about 30 minutes.
Sprinkle each serving with minced parsley.
Serve with Parmesan cheese.
2024 02 13 07 39
How To Make Chicken Tortellini Soup
This Creamy Chicken Tortellini Soup is quick and easy to make, yet offers so much wow-factor, your family will ask for it again and again!
Saute. Place a large sauce pot over medium heat. Add the olive oil and chopped onions. Saute for 3 minutes to soften. Then add the chopped bell pepper, carrots, and garlic. Saute another 3 minutes.
Simmer. Add whole raw chicken breasts, chicken broth, dried thyme, crushed red pepper, salt, and ground black pepper to the pot. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat a little and simmer for 15 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken and place on a cutting board.
Cook Pasta. Turn the heat back to medium. With the broth still simmering, stir in the DeLallo Three Cheese Tortellini. Stir well so it doesn’t stick together. Then chop or shred the chicken and place it back in the soup.
Cream and Season. Once the tortellini is cooked through, about 10-14 minutes, turn off the heat. Stir in heavy cream, spinach, and parsley. Add a little more cream if desired. Taste, then salt and pepper as needed.
My Mum was 79 when a lady who grew up in the same small town as she made contact and started chatting with her. My Mum said, “I don’t know who this person is, but she seems to know me.” Eventually, this lady said to my mum that she was her half-sister. They organised a DNA test and there was shown to be “a high probability” that they were half-sisters. AncestryDNA has shown that I am related to my Mum’s new half-sister. So after 79 years, her whole ancestry has changed.
The story ended up being that my Mum’s father was unable to have children whilst her mother really wanted one, so the father of this other lady was allowed to produce a child with my Nan, that child being my mother. Apparently, the other family was aware of what had happened but kept it under wraps until my Mum was 79 years old when her half-sister decided to talk to Mum and see if she was a nice person. Having decided she was, she opened up to her regarding the situation.
On 2024/1/8, China praised the commander & crew of Nanchang destroyer.
Nanchang (南昌号) is 10000 tons with the most up-to-date equipment. It started service in 2020. It has sailed to Guam a few times. The latest one was Dec 2023 to accompany the fleet of Liaoning aircraft carrier (辽宁航母).
On 2024/1/8, Chinese CCTV released a video which showed 2 US warships, probably EP-18E, nose-diving towards Nanchang. To intercept Nanchang’s electromagnetic field.
Nanchang left Liaoning fleet & went, alone, closer to US aircraft carrier fleet. It activated its Fire Control Radar & opened the lid of 7 of its many missiles. To counter-intercept the electromagnetic field & to warn USA that the US aircraft carrier fleet has been targeted & can be attacked by Nanchang.
The standoff of Nanchang-US warplanes & warships lasted for 20 days. At the end, US fleet left. … China won the electromagnetic “war” & Nanchang crew was thus praised.
Several years ago, I was in court in North Carolina. At the time, cases were called alphabetically, by last name.
One gentleman, let’s call him Ben Jones (not his name but I can’t remember what it was) was called to face charges for some petty crime or another. The judge hadn’t even heard any evidence when Mr. Jones started cursing the judge, the DA, the bailiff, the clerk and everybody else. When the judge gave him a month in County for contempt, he cursed more. This went on until he ended up with about 6 months in county.
When he was finally removed from the courtroom, Chris Jones (again, not the real name) was called up. He immediately asked for a continuance. When the judge asked why, he said that Mr. Curser was his brother and he didn’t want his behavior to affect his case. Even the judge laughed a little and told the guy not to worry, he could keep an open mind.
The judge smiled at the guy upon his not guilty plea, found him not guilty and told him to tell his brother that he’s a reasonable judge.
It is very hard for people who live in western democracies and are used to a multi-party political system to understand that defining the Party as being either left or right is not applicable in the Chinese context.
I would just say that the Party is strongly pro-development and pro-growth, and is focused on improving the lives of ordinary Chinese and making China into one of, if not the greatest economic power in the world, with a special emphasis on manufacturing and hi-tech. It has been very practical and pragmatic, sometimes adopting socialist policies and sometimes adopting free-market policies. As far as the Party leadership is concerned, it is most important that it works for ordinary Chinese, and does not threaten the leadership role of the Party in Chinese society.
The greatest threats to the Party leadership are internal corruption by Chinese officials; this is why Xi has waged his never-ending war on corruption. He sees corruption as a potential cancer in the system, which undermines the peoples’ faith in the system and Party. In China’s past, corruption has almost always been a major contributor to the fall of Chinese imperial dynasties. The other great threat comes from capitalism going wild, and Chinese worshipping the super-rich as their role models. If this were to happen, materialism would run wild, and Chinese would become superficial materialist people like many South Koreans, who worship billionaires and successful actors and entertainers.
To sum up, modern China is very complex, and describing the Party as leftist or rightist is completely inadequate to describe its real nature.
I was hitchhiking a ride one day, about ten years after being bullied. A truck passed, slowed down and backed up to where I was.
“Hey Brad! It’s me” I heard from just below the passenger side door, from the person leaning out of view to open it. All the fear of my past washed over me because I recognized that voice. It was the voice of the doom that followed my every move, my tormentor from junior high through the end of high school.
He looked at me through the open door of his truck with a side of him I had never seen before. “It’s ok man. I’m not trying to trick you or anything” he said.
Various scenarios played in my head, none of which made sense for an adult man to think, so I got in the truck. I needed the ride.
“Thanks for stopping” I said.
“I did more to talk to you than give you a ride. I didn’t think I’d ever see you again, but there you were, and now I have the chance.”
The chance at what? I thought. Oh sweet Jesus! Is this guy a serial killer by now? Did all the hate he pummeled my frail body with finally build up to a point that he was now insane? What other reason could there be?
I considered jumping out, but that would certainly kill me. All I could do was wait for his next move.
“I swear I’ve thought about you since I last saw you” he said. “What I did to you was so very wrong. I’m so sorry. I can’t tell you why I did it.”
His voice trailed off into a sob. His shoulders lurched forward in heaves of grief. He had to pull over to maintain control of the vehicle.
We sat in awkward silence on the side of the road.
I held his confession in high regard. It was the first time I saw him as a human being. The fear I felt was displaced by compassion for a person that suffered from the enlightenment of adulthood. I knew then what I needed to do.
“I forgive you, Trickle” (his nickname .) It was akin to evoking the name of Satan himself.
“I don’t go by that name anymore!” he protested angrily.
“What should I call you now? What is your name?” I said, hoping that he knew.
“It’s Paul, just Paul” he said in a soft voice.
“Pleased to meet you, Paul” I said reaching out my hand to shake his.
With that the demon that was “Trickle” was exorcised from both of our lives. All the suffering we endured was cleansed.
We talked for hours and stayed in the truck for the duration. I never saw him again.
I think of him now. I hope that he received my forgiveness, and that his life for the last 30 years since we met that day was free of guilt.
Paul, if you’re reading this I want you to know that I did and still do, forgive you.
Not me but a friend. He is pretty high up in the Cyber Security world and has his own business. He was hired by a company to help them harden their network. So he went in and did his due diligence to understand everything that they had, what their vulnerabilities were, etc. After he had done the due dligence, he designed and wrote up a system that he felt would meet their needs. It is very important to understand that when he does this work, he is specific about what hardware and software that they will need to use. He has it in his contracts with his clients that they must follow his design to the letter or his company will walk away, the client will still be required to pay in full all work done to that point + a portion of the remaining contract, and his company will be released from any and all liability.
He goes into the meeting with his client C Suite. Goes through his presentation and presents his numbers. Immediately, the CFO pulls up a document for a completely different system (different hardware, software, etc) that he feels would be just as adequate and significantly cheaper. My friend explains why he has designed the system and hardware needs to best meet their requirements that they gave him and how that system that the CFO was referring to would not meet their requirements. CFO immediately argues back that they should use this cheaper system and demands that he and his company implement it per the contract. My friend immediately stands up, gathers his documentation, designs, presentations, hardware list and everything from everyone in the meeting and tells the CEO that they have just violated their contract with him and they they have 30 days to pay his company out and that he and his company will not be working for them at any time now or in the future and walks out.
About ten years ago, I was on a one-stop flight from Vietnam to Los Angeles. Hanoi – Incheon – LAX.
We were transiting at Incheon airport. We had to do a re-security screening after landing from Hanoi. So, we got in line. An officer was walking back and forth in front of the lines, with a water bottle in his hand above his head, speaking loudly in English, “No water. No fruits.”, to let people know to get rid of all those things from our bags before getting checked.
Suddenly, a middle-aged woman in front of me, walked toward the officer, took the water bottle off of his hand, opened it, drank some water from it, closed the bottle, and gave the bottle back to the officer with her biggest smile. She nodded her head with the officer like she wanted to thank him for offering the water. The officer was surprised and then laughed, but the woman didn’t understand English, I guessed, she kept smiling and got to the screening area.
The screening area had five small tables in a row, each table had an officer. You just had to walk to the table and open your handbag for the officer to take a look, and you were done, pretty quick and simple. One by one. After finished checking a person, the officer raised their hand, “Next!”, so the next person could walk up.
That woman was finished checking, she was walking out when the officer at the next table raised his hand, “Next!”. Suddenly the woman also raised her hand and gave the officer a high-five and the same big smile. Then she walked away.
I still smile every time I remember that trip and that cheerful woman.
One night, while driving home form the Ozzfest, an officer on DUI patrol stopped me for suspicion of DUI (he claimed I was swerving) He made me do the FST bare foot and I passed. He the takes out the breathalyzer and I blew a .008 (I saw the reading as he quickly turned away) and the cop stepped into me, looked me in the EYE and said; “HERE!, IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, the legal limit it .07” I knew he was messing with me so, I just shut up and said; “Oh? I didn’t know”. From there on, I said nothing. He arrested me for suspicion of DUI. I know the limit is .08 but I don’t fight with cops on the side of the road. When I was released, I walked to the tow yard and picked up my truck. When you get stopped for DUI they take your driver’s license (send it to DMV) and give you a number to call with in 10 days.
The next morning I called the DMV. The DMV gave back my license over the phone cause the was no evidence filed. Knowing there was no evidence, I put myself on the court calender so, I could get a copy of my police report. In order to get the police report myself, (without a lawyer), I had to agree to defend myself so, I agreed to defend myself.
The judge calls my name, he pauses… because, he sees that I am defending myself. He says; “Charles are you going to defend yourself?” I reply, “YES SIR!” The judge then says; “DO YOU KNOW WHAT BEN FRANKLIN said about people who defend themselves?” I replied; “YES, YOU DON’T NEED TO HIRE A LAWYER TO GET A POLICE REPORT”. The judge didn’t like my answer but he gave the report reluctantly. The judge gave me my report and I went down the street to have lunch and read the report.
I read through the report and to my amazement, the officer told the truth, that I blew a .008 and the limit was .08. after read the report, I went back to court and found a DA. I tried to get him into the court room so, my case could be dismissed. The DA declined to help me so, I had to return for a hearing.
To make a long story short, trust me its longer….I defended myself the whole way through but it took a dozen appearances (over a year of court dates) before I finally got my case dismissed. KNOW YOUR RIGHTS AND READ THE POLICE REPORT BEFORE YOU AGREE TO ANYTHING.
I saw neither of the following, but I sure heard about them from the offenders themselves.
I teach in Thailand and have trained teachers in not only methodology but also cultural considerations.
‘Sam’ had been a kindergarten teacher in the U.S. and had often patted kids’ heads when they did well or playfully tugged gently on their hair.
Why he thought that would be ok with adults, I will never understand. Mortified, he came to me, admitting that the students had explained that their heads were considered blessed and asked him to stop touching them. He had apologized profusely.
‘Dan,’ on the other hand, was stubborn in the belief that he owed no one an apology. A class represenative had asked a Thai Academic Office staff member to tell ‘Mr. Dan’ to stop putting his feet up on the teacher’s desk and on empty student chairs.
When she explained to ‘Dan’ that feet are considered ‘dirty’ as the lowest point of the body and should not be placed on furniture that others use nor pointed aggressively at others, ‘Dan’ scoffed and walked away.
The Assistant Academic Director then got involved, and ‘Dan’ grudgingly apologized to his class who accepted it but because of his tone, saw him as disrespectful of Thai culture.
‘Mr. Dan’ complained about the ‘ridiculous’ custom to anyone who would listen. Most (including me) reminded him that he is a guest here and should abide by Thai ways.
Note: If paper currency goes skittering, do NOT put your foot on it because it can be considered lese majeste since money carries the image of the king. A fine or even jail time may be involved.
Woman Adopted 11-yr-old Cat. What She Did Next Shocked The Shelter Staff!
It was part of an initiative that I began 10 years back, my goal to slowly acquire skills to fix things myself so that I wasn’t constantly having to hire people to fix things.
I was under my car laying on my back sorta like this.
image 162
I don’t remember precisely the problem with the car. But I do remember it was night time and I had a small flashlight.
I didn’t have the equipment to lift the truck up properly, so I’d just slowly and carefully wiggled my way under there.
It was a tight squeeze. Very tight.
I felt like Bishop in that insanely claustrophobic scene from Aliens where he crawls through a mile-long, shoulder-tight tunnel.
image 163
As I’m on my back, my flashlight is shining up into the engine and I’m quickly realizing that I’m in over my head, (you may as well be teaching a monkey to do brain surgery at this point).
Then – shit got real.
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
I heard growling.
With my god damn legs hanging out from under this car, I heard the deep guttural growling of a large dog within 10 feet of me, clearly growling directly at me.
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
I began squirming out as the dog continued growling from the same spot.
Then I emerged.
I looked right.
And the growling stopped.
It was a familiar large, yellow lab, who started wagging his tail as he recognized me:
It was my neighbor’s dog.
And my neighbor was standing right behind his dog, with his hand firmly gripped on the dog’s leash.
When I was 17, I worked for a cellphone store. One of my coworkers was helping this lady who was going through a tough time. Her husband passed away, and she had five small kids. He was their sole provider. She told us he cared for everything so she could focus on their home and kids. She needed a phone and didn’t have access to the funds her husband had left her because her mother-in-law was trying to take it from her. So my coworkers told her she could purchase the cheapest phone, and it would be suitable for a couple of months and work for what she needed it for. But we were instructed to tell the client they could only get the phone with the highest phone plan. If we sold it with the lowest phone plan, it would kill our numbers. My coworker saw this lady was struggling and did this for her. The next day when our boss asked why it had been done. He was furious and fired her for it. I quit a couple of days later.
I’m a teacher. I always insisted on having the crappy classroom at the end of corridor one, one of the five ground level corridors.
Why? I wanted to keep the students away from the office. If they were late, I wanted them to slip into my class without reporting to the authorities. I wanted easy and immediate access to the outside for any students experiencing acute anxiety or if they were about to burst into tears. If that happened, they were guaranteed some privacy.
I could also see who was at the Happy Tree across the street (a key pot smoking location).
My classroom was a long way from the office and most administrators were too lazy to come by. If they dropped by, there was a reason, which was fine with me.
But there was another reason I wanted to be at the end of corridor one.
The intruder alert procedures insisted that we gather on the floor in our classrooms, remain silent after closing the drapes or blinds and covering the window on the door and locking it.
Like fish in a drained barrel.
So that was the official Plan A.
My plan was Plan B.
If there was an intruder alert, I needed to determine the direction it came from. Then I wanted all my students to run across the street to the Happy Tree, as a group, on through the park, across the next street, and through the intersection to the mall. They were to be silent and fast. I would be behind them.
It never happened.
We have so much support and school-to-work programming for mentally ill and angry young men that I don’t think it will ever happen, but if I was wrong and it did happen, I wanted my students out of harm’s way.
They couldn’t be out of harm’s way if they were cowering in the corner of a classroom.
The US military is the biggest military power in the world. There’s no arguing against that. They have some of the best troops, the best tech, and probably the best logistics. Heck, strike “probably”, they fight wars on other continents.
What they often don’t have is a clear idea of what they want to achieve, and that’s down to the people who send them out. The US politicians rarely have a clear vision of their war objectives, and when they have one, it’s often laughably unrealistic.
image 164
George W. Bush planning the invasion of Iraq
For instance, the idea behind the adventures in both Afghanistan and Iraq was to install a democracy. That’s not a military objective, that’s a political objective, and the military is patently useless at that sort of thing. And it was a hopeless task to begin with; yes, there was a lot of opposition to Hussein, but they all just wanted a different crazed dictator. Vietnam became a total mess because, again, they sought a political outcome, and asked the military to achieve it, and then messed up the political side totally.
It’s all a bit like if Elon Musk wants new and better recruits for SpaceX, so he hires Lionel Messi and Novak Djokovic. Yes, they’re world class, but they’re not world class at what he’s trying to do.
I was driving through a long painful construction zone, we were reduced from three lanes to 1, for no apparent reason, we would suddenly come to a stop, with a flagman stopping us, then start up again. The speed was reduced from 110 kmph 68 mph to 50 kmph 30 mph.. We had been crawling along, or stopped for 16 km, 10 miles.
I was the person in front, when the flagman stopped, so there were no cars in front of me, for a couple of kilometers. When the flagman motioned for me to proceed I was leading the pack. After a couple of km I could see the “End of construction “ sign. For some reason there was a concrete barricade slanted across the shoulder. I started speeding up, I was maybe 50 feet from the barricade, that was also the end of construction, and I had sped up to maybe 80 kmph, out of nowhere, a guy passes me on the shoulder. He had to have seen the barricade, but he was accelerating, I’m guessing he was doing 200 kmph 124 mph when he flew by me, he had to instantly change into my lane, I slammed on the brakes, and he almost made it through, his bumper clipped the barricade and went flying through the air, and skidded across three lanes to disappear into the median. I swear he missed hitting me by less than a foot.
I was the only one who could see the end of construction, and 110 kmph sign, so I was the only one who had been speeding up, and there was a huge gap behind me that would have been easy to pull into, and once we passed the barricade, we were back to 3 lanes again, and I was the only car ahead of him.
I honestly had no idea that someone was doing 200 in a 50 kmph zone transitioning to 110, on the shoulder. It was single lane traffic, I wasn’t even checking my mirrors.
To save maybe 30 seconds, he lost his bumper. I have no idea how much more damage he did because he kept going at well over the speed limit.
This was a long time ago about 1985–86. My son was in I think 3–4 grade. He and a group of about 4 boys hung out together in the playground at recess. One day the 5 of them were hanging out at the swings. They were like sitting on them and talking but not really swinging in them. The story gets a bit long here.
Another boy came up and asked them for one of the swings since they weren’t really using them. Now one of the boys being a smarty pants said something like “ give me a quarter and I’ll let you have the swing”. To his surprise the boy gave him the quarter.
I think you see where this went. So everyday at recess the 5 boys would run out to the swings and charge a quarter for the other kids to ride the swings. This went on for about 2 weeks until someone at the school finally found out.
So I get a call from the school to come in. Come to find out they had called the police and had the school psychologist and a police detective “talk” to the boys. The detective actually threatened the boys that they could go to jail and psychologist wasn’t much nicer.
Now don’t get me wrong I was not condoning the behavior but in the end I don’t think what they did was actually wrong it just wasn’t very nice. The school on the other hand label these boys as the horrible thugs and the police even said that they were guilty of extortion. The psychologist was going on about deviant behavior and how traumatic an experience it was for the kids that paid for the swings.
I went in to the school but I did not take my son with me they asked me why and I said because I didn’t think they would want him to hear what I was about to say which was the following:
can understand your concern and my husband and I will deal with the behavior, however here are my issues.
The school intimated to me I should have noticed my son coming home with all this money and I was a poor parent. It was a quarter so no I wouldn’t notice he had a quarter on him at the end of the day. We’re not talking $10 a ride here, we had a change dish on top of the TV that he and his sister would take out money for lunches or milk/snacks at school so I wouldn’t really think it strange that he had an “extra” quarter at the end of the day.
*Where was the adult supervision on the playground that this behavior went on for 2 weeks before one of the others kids on the playground complained?
*Whereas I agree what they did wasn’t very nice it was in no way a criminal act or extortion. The boys did not threaten the other kids like gimme your money or I’ll beat you up or if you tattle you’ll be sorry. They simply were selling rides on the swings.
*You had absolutely no right to have my son ( who is probably about 8 years old) interrogated or questioned by either the police and psychologist without my permission.
*In the end the boys made about $2 total each because all of the boys said sometimes the kids only had a dime or a nickel to pay.
Again I agree it wasn’t a nice thing to do but illegal or immoral I don’t think so. I explained this to my son and I don’t know about the other boys but I did make my son apologize to the kids he could remember and he gave them their money back ( at least most of them that he recalled) it came out of his allowance.
The one thing I did tell the school was that if the roles were reversed and my son was told he had to pay a quarter to ride the swings. The first thing he would have done was when he got home he would have said something to either his dad or I.
My first question to him would have been “Did you give it to them?” If he had said yes I probably would’ve said something like “ Don’t do that again if they are asking you for money for the swing go tell a teacher. You don’t pay to ride the swing “ I would have then followed up with school it would not have gone on for 2 weeks!
I can’t believe that my son and his friends were the first ones to ever try something like this. But in my mind I can see these 5 boys with a little light bulb moment 💡 ! I asked that boy for a quarter to ride the swing and he gave it to me!!! There was nothing criminal or psychotic in their behavior just a bunch of boys being dumb.
My son did not grow up to become a social deviant or a gang member or thug. He is married with 3 kids and 3 grand children. I look at this episode as just one if those childhood stories that we tell at family gatherings.
One of the first jobs I had was at a distribution center for AH Robins Pharmaceuticals. I was assigned to work with another guy to fill and pack the small orders that shipped via UPS. I was 22 and had just been hired while my coworker was 29 and had been with the company for about 6 months. We were the youngest guys, by far, in the warehouse. Everyone else had been with Robins for 15+ years and all but one were 50 years old, or older. The other guy was 38.
Being young(er), we decided to make a game out of completing the orders by seeing who could pick and pack them faster. As a result, we’d finish the orders by lunch each day. Since we had half a day left and nothing to do, at first we were told to stock the small order shelves and then clean the area around the packing table. But we finished that so quickly the warehouse manager had one of us start helping the other workers pull truck orders.
That was when the older workers pulled us aside and told us that we needed to slow down because we were making them look bad. We just laughed at them. But then the warehouse manager called us into his office and told us to slow down and take our time, or he’d have to let us go.
We were puzzled by this and we finally worked up the courage to talk to the DC Ops Manager, and he explained that the warehouse was staffed with long-time employees who were set in their ways, and we needed to go along to get along. So we began stretching our orders out to last the entire day so our coworkers and boss would be happy, but the job no longer fun from that point on.
The 24.7 military activity around Taiwan is a visible electric fence, a constant tripwire reminder that Taiwan is ringfenced, and the Taiwanese military is not doing anything about its ever-shrinking area of responsibility. It’s the classic boiling frog, with time scales measured in years.
A blockade is an ON-DEMAND military option today, based on demonstrated readiness, enabled by real-time multi-sensor intelligence and deployed assets.
The real battlefront lies further away, as far south as the Philippines, as far east as Guam, and as far north as the Japanese home islands.
In other words, the battlefront is as far south as America, as far east as America, and as far north as America.
Let me repeat, because it is important.
THE BATTLEFRONT IS AS FAR SOUTH AS AMERICA, AS FAR EAST AS AMERICA, AND AS FAR NORTH AS AMERICA.
That is the current strike capability of the combined Chinese military.
The island of Taiwan, paradoxically speaking, is no longer central to the question of Taiwan.
I always provide a clear estimate of every job I look at. I had a woman that had been referred to me by her sister but had been warned about her too. She had money but didn’t like spending it. She wanted a simple wheelchair ramp installed in her garage for her ailing husband. I noticed her 4500 sqft house needed a lot of work including a new roof. I offered to build the ramp for only $500, which was about $50 over cost of lumber. It was going to be a simple ramp with plywood covered with Astroturf or berber carpet. I figured it might open the door to other work on the house. I’d make my money back later. She looked at my estimate and passed it back to me. Then told me she knew somebody that can build it cheaper. I thanked her for her time and started walking to my truck. She asked me where I was going. I told her that by her comment that she was going to have the cheaper guy build it. She wanted me to lower my price. I said that was impossible as I was making zero on the ramp. The lumber alone was $450. After gas, I was breaking even. Again, I thanked her for her time and started walking back to my truck. She said she thought it would be closer to $300. I replied that It should have been at least $1500 and I was doing her a favor as I knew her sister and could see the house needed other repairs. She asked if I could do it for $300. I actually laughed and told her to hire the guy she knew that could to it cheaper. I’m done playing her games. I knew she was bluffing and there was no other cheaper guy. I wished her good luck and said my final goodbye. I later thanked her sister for warning me beforehand.
When I was a teenage & young adults (late 70’s to Mid-80’s) the shopping mall was at its peak. A large number of stores in a climate controlled environment where you only had to park once.
For me a visit to the mall was a visit to …
The arcade (to play Space Invaders & Asteroids)
One or two book stores (using both Walden Book and B Dalton)
The music store
Sears, to check out both electronics & tools
Radio Shack
The food court.
Now, both radio Shack & Sears were in decline by the mid to late 90’s anyway.
But console games spelled the death of arcades. When feed money into a game when you could play them at home as many times as you wanted?
Book, music and electronics are all found on amazon. And music, for the most part, now as downloads.
In many malls, there were also novelty stores like Spenser’s, and even hobby/arts & crafts focused stores. There seems to be an overall decline for some time, at least before the “maker movement” had a resurgence. But again, online shopping has seriously cut into that market.
I commended on an older answer, that most malls are filled with clothing stores, which is death via boredom for a typical guy.
I really don’t see malls coming back, at least not in their past “glory days” format.
When I began school, we lived 3 doors down from the kindergarten school.
On the first day of school, I walked to school. My mom stood on the front porch and watched me walk all the way, and I waved to her when I got there.
I was very excited and could not wait for the day to proceed – I was a big girl, and was finally in school!
At that time, most schools still tried to force left-handed children to write with their right hand. I am left-handed.
My teacher walked behind me as I sat at a table with several other students. We were coloring pictures. She saw that I was using my left-hand. She smacked the back of my hand with her ruler. It was wood and had a metal strip on it. I jumped and dropped the crayon. She yelled at me that I was to use my right hand, it was not acceptable to use my left hand.
My kindergarten class was a half-day class. For the next 3 1/2 hours, every time I picked up anything with my left hand, she instantly slapped my hand with the ruler.
By the time I left to walk home, the back of my hand was bruised, and I had several cuts on my fingers from the metal band on her ruler.
I was no longer thrilled with the prospect of going to school.
I went home and told mom I was not going back.
When my father came home from work, mom told him what happened. He called me over to him and looked at my hand.
He picked up the phone and called his boss. He told him that he would be late to work the next day.
The next morning, my dad walked with me to the school.
It was a small school that was used only for kindergarten. There were 6 classes.
We walked in the front door of the school and my dad yelled for my teacher and the principal.
They both came running to see what the commotion was.
My father was very loud with the principal about the fact that my hand was bruised and cut.
He then turned to my teacher and told her very clearly that I was left-handed and that I would remain left-handed.
He then told her that if I came home from school with one more mark on me from her trying to force me to write with my right hand that he would return to the school and make sure that she had two marks for every mark she put on me.
He then looked at me and said, “Joyce, you write with your left hand.”
He then walked me into my classroom, helped me hang up my sweater, and walked me to my chair.
He patted me and told me he’d see me at dinner. He then gave my teacher a scowl and left.
It is now not a big thing to be left-handed. That was not always the case. It was the first time I realized that I was not like everyone else. Dad showed me it was OK to be different.
When my younger sister and I were about 14 and 16, we went shopping at a department store together. We separated briefly, she went to the washroom while I looked through albums in the music department. When she was about 15 minutes late at our prearranged meeting spot, I went to the adjacent car park to see if she’d returned to our car by mistake. The garage was enclosed, dark and mostly deserted and I heard footsteps rapidly heading away from me as I approached our car, a low slung mustang. My sister suddenly popped out from under the car and threw herself into my arms, sobbing and shaking. A creep had lurked outside the ladies’ washroom and followed her all around until she panicked and ran to the garage to hide. I was furious and 16 year-old me drove around that parkade to try to find that creep predator. I had some half formed plan of running him over. We returned home, and decided not to say anything to our parents because we didn’t want to lose our car privileges and the ability to shop on our own. Now that I understand just how bad that could have turned out, and realize that predator was a danger to other young girls, I realize that I should have told my parents, so that they would have contacted the police. Instead, we decided to stay together when shopping downtown, and practiced alternative ways to shake off a creep. My sister made a decision that day that could have cost her life. My parents were never told.
I was travelling by bus to a place. And was sitting alone on the seat meant for two people, window side. The scenery was beautiful and I was lost looking outside the window, enjoying beauty of nature.
The bus stopped and a lady boarded the bus. She looked like she was aged above 60. Now, there were two seats empty in the entire bus. One was besides me and other one behind me. Same as me, a man was sitting in window seat behind me, alone. He too looked like he was enjoying the beauty of nature seemed happy with the window seat.
Now the lady stood besides me, thought for a while and asked me to sit with the man sitting behind me. I was like, why? Can’t you sit besides me or that man? Are we going to eat you? Why are you killing our enjoyment? She was adamant and started creating a scene.
I had to get up and sit besides that man. He felt my reaction and offered me window seat but, I thanked him and choose to be on the aisle seat.
What an unnecessary sacrifice! You need to kneel befor fake feminism, THAT SUCKS ABOUT BEING A MAN.
My wife nearly died about 22 years ago. She had cysts on her fallopian tubes. On one side it was big enough that it caused the tube to twist, which torqued the ovary on that side. It basically folded over. This prevented proper blood flow to the organ, so it died inside of her.
I had an entry-level corporate job with good health coverage. The kind where you have to tell hospital staff to check again and see that no, I don’t actually have to pay for xrays, blood tests, yadda yadda, I have the GOOD coverage. Even so, after the emergency hysterectomy I was hit with a bill that was many, many thousands of dollars. I tried to negotiate a payment plan but there was no way I could pay enough monthly for them to agree to it, so they garnished my wages. A lot. Faced with losing my car (and therefore my ability to get to work) and having to choose between groceries/prescriptions and rent/utilities, I had to declare bankruptcy. It took me a decade or so to pay it off, and that’s after they wiped out a lot of my debt and consolidated the rest. Fucked my credit to boot.
And that healthcare that people on here love to tout as the best in the world? Without my intervention, they would have killed my wife. The morning the surgery was scheduled for, no one showed up to take her from her room to the OR. I tracked down a nurse and was told that because my wife has a fever, she needs to go home and take tylenol or something and come back when the fever goes down. While she has a dead organ killing her from the inside. I screamed that the fever wouldn’t go down until she was dead, and made a big enough scene that they finally consulted a couple more docs until one said “well yeah, we’ve got to operate now, wtf are you waiting for?!?!”
When my sons were younger, their Dad and I began teaching them both how to tidy up. This began with the usual dirty clothes in the laundry basket and toys being put away, taking dishes through to the kitchen etc. Pretty standard stuff. As they got older, we taught them how to do their own laundry, wash dishes and hoover. In the beginning, it was all a novel experience for them and they were eager to help mummy and daddy – especially when it came to us teaching them to bake or cook simple meals.
Fast forward to when my eldest started secondary school.
Naturally, the novelty had long since worn off and it was such a big deal if I dared ask them to do something around the house *gasp* (How dare I?) One day, my eldest had been asked to tidy up the mess he had left in the kitchen – it wasn’t much, just a butter knife and toast crumbs on the side and a dirty plate and glass. He huffed and looked at me.
“You know something, Mum? I don’t think I should have to do this…”
“Why not? You made the mess…”
“Well, I’ve been speaking to Nev* and he says he doesn’t have to do this sort of thing…”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, he says his mum does it all while he’s at school and his dad’s at work. So why should I have to do it?”
I knew I had to choose my words carefully here, he was all but saying it was a mum’s job to do everything around the house. I could see his dad open his mouth and I held up my hand to stop him.
“Son, does Nev’s mum work?”
“No, she stays at home.”
“Ok, do I work?”
“Yes…”
“Does your dad work?”
“Yes, but…”
“And who is the first person home each day?”
“Well, me I suppose, but…”
“So do you think it’s fair that after dropping you and your brother at school in a morning, commuting to work, sitting in an office for eight hours then commuting back, picking up your brother from the after school club and come home to find you’ve made a mess in the kitchen from making a snack, do you think it’s fair that I should have to tidy your mess?”
“But Nev’s mum…”
“Son, do you think it’s fair?”
“Well, no, but…Nev thinks it’s mean…”
“Oh does he now. I’ll tell you what, let’s go ask him shall we?”
Son wasn’t happy when I took him round to Nev’s. We spoke with Nev’s mum who was less than impressed by what both boys had said, but what was funnier was when she turned to Nev and said: “I don’t give you jobs to do then do I? I guess I’ll have to find you something else to occupy your time if you think that, won’t I?”
Needless to say, both boys were not happy that we had called their bluff.
Fast forward another few years, both sons can do their own laundry, cook excellent meals and tidy up etc. Son’s girlfriend was really impressed when he cooked her a meal and she asked me how come he was such a good cook. I just laughed and said, “I was mean.”
Stress. I know recluses. They actually enjoy my company, I know when to leave. One of them worked hard and burned out, he found he was less and less productive. Working longer hours and getting less done.
He started working from home, he quit going to crowded bars, if there were more than 3 people in a group, he was out of there. He couldn’t take the anxiety.
He became more productive again.
Another person had a concussion that lead to post concussion syndrome. They were a social butterfly, and suddenly they couldn’t be in a room with more than 6 people. They couldn’t handle sirens, helicopters, barking dogs, squealing kids, or crowds. If they came to the end of a grocery aisle and there was someone waiting to cross, they would be frozen with anxiety, not able to make a decision.
People that can’t handle crowds become hermits.
President Obama said he was suffering from decision overload, so he had someone make all of his small decisions so he had the resources to handle the big ones.
Someone laid out what clothes he should wear, scheduled all of his appointments, chose his meals, etc.
The older I get the more I am susceptible to stress, so I can relate to them, and hope that I am not just like them in 10 years.
I was a middle school teacher(1984). The night before school started my 18 month old son started having seizures. My husband and I spent the whole night at the hospital with him. The doctors did a spinal tap and my son lost feeling in his legs. The doctor said that it could be temporary, or it could be permanent. I still showed up at school the next morning and I told my principal that my husband was staying with my son for the week and that I would need the following week off. The principal told me, you need to decide whether you want to be a mother or a teacher because you can’t be both. I resigned on the spot and went home. My son did regain full sensation in his legs a couple of weeks later There was no way I was going back to that school.
In my experience, there is only one sign I always look for to discern a covert narcissist.
The other red flags will pick up narcissists, but they pick up the overts or malignants.
But there is one thing, yes one thing, that is simultaneously so subtle that it makes coverts fly under the radar, and also the one thing which is what makes a covert narcissist a covert narcissist. In other words, this one thing makes coverts different from all the other types of narcissists. It is their signature.
It’s switching off.
Coverts switch off. They practice
avoidance
ghosting
withholding
neglect
silence
pretend not paying attention
pretend not hearing you
pretend misunderstanding you
pretend there is something wrong with you when you talk about something serious and dear to you (e.g. reframes you as bitter and unable to let go when you share insights on narcissism etc. -> covertly tearing you down by twisting your perspective; this is a form of switching off because they refuse to lower themselves to empathize with your perspective so as to understand it, they switch off listening and understanding)
pretend superiority (e.g. I forgave my narcissist, therefore I’m superior to you, you wouldn’t talk so much about your narcissist if only you would forgive them, you should forgive, for your own sake, never let the narcissist change you, I choose love, I choose forgiveness, I choose not to hate, no one is evil, everyone deserves compassion, we are all the same, there is humanity in everyone, etc. -> blowing their own trumpet; this is a form of switching off because they refuse to lower themselves to empathize with your perspective so as to understand it, they switch off listening and understanding)
acting stupid to create situations (e.g. to persistently cause miscommunication and misunderstanding, to ignore you and create opportunities to withhold, to get away with having done harmful things, to deliberately frustrate and antagonize you by doing the opposite of what they are supposed to do, deliberately act bored or switched off while you are giving instructions and then doing the opposite of something simple you asked for e.g. don’t buy eggs -> buys two cartons of eggs and then proudly boasts that you asked for them)
you take a walk with them, you stop by to admire a flower (or you fell down and sprained something), they pretend not to notice and keep walking on without you, and you either look up from the flower to find yourself all alone, or you lie there watching their back recede into the horizon
they cut in line right in front of you just as you open your mouth to give your order, preventing it, pretend to be oblivious, and happily make their order instead, you stare at their side profile (what the hell! can you believe this girl?)
they do something they know they shouldn’t do (e.g. litter, trespass, jaywalk, steal your food or your seat, or chat on the phone loudly in the cinema, leave their car in the middle of the road blocking everyone, walk in the middle of the meant road for cars) and then pretend to be helpless, oblivious, or ignorant when you have an issue with them
not pick up the phone
they pick up your phone call, they are told to pass a message to you, they take the message and never pass it on to you
you are napping, the phone rings, the covert narcissist is right next to the phone, they let the phone keep ringing, it wakes you up, you run across the house to groggily pick up the phone while the covert narcissist was right next to it all along (at other times the phone manages to ring out) (this happens consistently)
the receptionist who cuts everyone off midsentence to transfer them, and keeps doing it the whole day, every day
they never reply your email (even though they are not busy)
they never return your call (phone message)
you greet them, they look down but make sure they never acknowledge you (they don’t stare at you because that’s malignant, but they make sure they do not reply) (some will look down and give a Mona Lisa smile, like they are slightly embarrassed at their own rude behavior)
you sit across them at the party, they look away from you in disgust, avoiding eye contact and refusing to talk to you, a guest passes by, the covert narcissist suddenly beams a smile at you and says ‘hey, remember that time when … ?’, the guest passes on by, the covert narcissist terminates mid-sentence and goes back to snubbing you, until the next guest comes by
walk out on you midsentence
keep on talking as if to you after you’ve left the room, still holding the conversation but without you
covert narcissists are experts at urging everyone to get along, forgive everyone, hate no one, and then mysteriously degrading you through silence and withholding over nothing (they have weird concepts of what getting along means)
mysterious sour moods (they are a form of switching off, the switching off of love or joy, sour moods in the absence of concrete causes are a form of withholding, and especially negatively affects susceptible empaths nearby)
convenient unavailability or inaccessibility
disappear
run away from fights they started with their covert antagonisms and microaggressions
coverts are experts at telling you they don’t want a fight with you after they’ve finally button pushed you to the limit and caused you to start sorting things out with them
snub
ignore
always have nothing to say in response to what you just said (covertly deflating you and degrading you by refusing to reflect back to you sanity and gravitas; it’s as if their attitude is always ‘you just said something stupid, I’m not going to honor that with a response’ to everything you enthusiastically share or say)
or they will always give a lackluster or subtly negative devaluation or degradation response to your happy, exciting, inspiring experience
not be courteous when courtesy is appropriate and expected (hyper-courteous at other times as if they were on an audition) (courtesy is a weapon to be deployed in the most inappropriate ways)
always being the unavailable shoulder for you to cry on only when you have dramas in life (only unavailable when you need them, this is not a fairweather friend, it’s weaponized withholding)
after you tell them your sob story, they make sure they never say a word to console you (e.g. ok, bye!)
you call, the covert narcissist picks up the phone, you want the covert narcissist to pass a message to someone else, just as you start telling your message, the covert narcissist pretends you’ve finished and says ‘ok bye!’ and starts hanging up, forcing you to scream for them to wait and not hang up on you.
making promises just so they can abuse through failing to come through (duper’s delight e.g. ‘you’re a fool to believe my promises or to trust me’)
making sure they don’t inform you when they go on extended vacations, so that you will call them on the phone, still expecting to make a date for lunch, but there’s no one home to pickup, should you call the police and report missing persons?
making sure they cancel plans on you at the last minute, while making sure you never get wind of it any earlier, to create the greatest last minute upset (this is worst when there’s plane tickets involved)
frustratingly not give any response or acknowledgement whatsoever when it is appropriate to the situation – the mannikin routine (this is always deliberate, make no mistake, it just appears like an accident each time for maximum plausible deniability)
the impossible to please parent, spouse, child, boss, sibling, friend
Coverts practice weaponized switching off. They are like a demonstration prototype that always refuses to work at the convention in front of the investors, or the cartoon frog that only sings when there’s no audience, and switches back to ‘ribbid’ when an audience gathers to listen. Or a mannikin that comes to life when the lights are off, dances, holds parties, then freezes back into position when lights come on, or Toy Story.
This is a peculiar form of passive aggressive crazymaking particular to covert narcissists.
Learning to recognize weaponized switching off will allow you to spot covert narcissists early.
Most people are trained to dismiss and overlook weaponized switching off because it is very highly plausibly deniable, but secondly, because they did not suspect the nature of covert narcissists. This causes them to impute more decency in the covert narcissist than they posses.
When being the recipient of weaponized switching off, something will feel odd to your gut. That’s because your gut senses that the covert narcissist is missing cues. This missing cues is deliberate. Missing cues is something the covert narcissist cannot help doing because their nature is antagonism and hatred, and refusing to behave appropriately by honoring the subtle cues of interaction is how they rebel and live out their intrinsic hatred (don’t mistakenly do this to people in the Asperger spectrum, or those who are depressed, or those suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome, or Alzheimers or dementia, or who lack sleep).
(The cause of missing cues is zero affective empathy. Zero affective empathy causes the covert to both overcompensate with lurvebombing at times, and weaponized switch off at other times. This is because zero affective empathy causes their emotional reaction to everything to be inappropriate, screwy, and ‘off’. Hence their emotional response to everything is always inappropriate. This can be easily detected once you know to look for it. Fakeness, all fake people are coverts.)
It’s hard to explain, and easy to dismiss. But you will feel erased to various degrees in their presence.
The point of switching off is to refuse to acknowledge your personhood (to deny you the glory you deserve through simple things like paying attention or replying earnestly – by the way paying attention and earnest replies are acts of love). They are not switching off to conserve battery. They are switching off to micro-antagonize you. It’s covert button pushing. This is how they toy with your emotional wellbeing. It is meant to produce in you shame, embarrassment, frustration, anger and insecurity. They like to throw you emotionally off balance. This is how they make themselves feel better, at your expense. As you get to know them better and better, they will switch from micro-antagonisms to bigger and bigger antagonisms, and it tends to happen along the lines of withholding, denial, avoidance. Malicious suppression.
What they actually switched off was their humanity. The game is to attack your humanity through switching off their own humanity. A humane person does not seek to feel better through causing hurt feelings. Cruelty is inhumane. Covert narcissists have emotional cruelty built into them. It’s a lot like what they talked about regarding Auschwitz.
Funnily, covert narcissists hate it when you switch off on them. Just try it and see, fail to answer or acknowledge them, pretend you weren’t listening and give no response to them, and see how they react.
My theory is that they react so poorly to their own medicine because they know that whenever anyone does that, it is a deliberate, antagonistic move, because they are well aware that they wanted to ruin things whenever they themselves did it.
11 If a son asks for [a]bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?
12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
“Ah, hello, Miss. I am Mr. McMichaels. I’ve come to talk to you about your child’s behavior!”
“Right,”
“Right now, as we speak, your daughter is on the floor crying.”
“…”
“Yes. And she won’t stop.”
“My… 6-year-old daughter… Is crying. Right now. And you decided to call me about it.”
“Well, yes, because I asked her what could I do to stop her from crying and she said to call you.”
“Ah,”
“So how is your day?”
“Has my daughter stopped crying yet?”
“Mmm, NO! She won’t stop crying untill you talk to me for a bit more!”
*in unconvinced tone* “Uh-huh”
“So, let’s ignore the topic of your daughter for a moment. What are you doing tonight?”
“Tell my daughter to shut up and be a man. Goodbye, Mr.McMichaels.”
“WHAT ABOUT SIX?!”
“Oh. At 6 I will be going on a date with my lovely husband for our 20th anniversary! Never contact me again, Sir.”
My sister comes home and explains she did not cry that day, nor did she have Mr. McMichaels as her teacher.
The teacher tried, and failed, to plan a date with my mother.
SHAME ON HIM!
EDIT: EEeEe, I’m sorry, guys, I didn’t make this clear enough! This is from the POV of my Mother, not me! I’m sorry for the confusion lmao <3
Also, thank you guys for the love and upvotes! Ik my Mama should’ve said something to the Principal but she was in tears about how funny it was. My Mum isn’t what you would call ‘A responsible adult’ She just laughs at things like this. But, I swear, if something more were to happen she would have told someone I assure you that.
Not my boss, but a true story. A few years ago I was in a pizza shop waiting to pick up my takeaway pizza. A store manager at the counter publicly tore verbal strips off a young trainee who had apparently made an error in her work. I was appalled at the way he humiliated the poor little thing in front of onlookers. At the time one of my children had begun part-time work during the school holidays to earn some money and this young lady only looked about her age. I’m a teacher and maternal, and while all the other customers looked uncomfortable but weren’t going to say anything, I decided to let fly. I mean, what could he do to me? I wasn’t his employee.
I stepped up to the counter and took on the manager. I told him that what she had done was totally understandable given her age and level of experience. I then said that how he handled it was NOT and that I was going to report him to the company for foul language and abuse of a minor. I had his name from his badge and I had the receipt showing time and date of my purchase and that he really needed to go to counselling and get help.
He turned on me, screaming abuse and making a fuss, and actually came out from behind the counter to tower over me, attempting physical intimidation seeing as yelling at me was not having the desired effect. I got out my mobile phone and recorded him, and another customer at the store called the police and reported him. I also made good on my threat, got in touch with the company with details and was assured that they would investigate the matter. I think the fact that the police had been involved swayed them.
Anyway, long story short, about a year after the incident I returned to the shop (they did make good pizza!) and the young trainee came up and thanked me for my help. The former manager had gone to counselling but it then came out that he had been groping other female workers and they were emboldened by the fact that I had taken a stand and spoke up about him. He lost his job and I have no idea where he is now. But I hope nobody else has had to suffer from his misogynistic rants.
Learning Chinese and got to visit China in 2008 (and then in 2010 and 2013)
Before 2008, I attended a college in the US and my view on China was roughly the same as the Western MSM (Communists, human rights abuses, people have no freedom etc.) However, having visited China 3 times and witnessing the development gradually changed my views on China.
I remembered my first day when I landed in Beijing and I wanted to test my Chinese, so I asked a taxi driver whether his life is okay in China. He replied, “还可以“， which means “it’s okay” without sounding worried or oppressed at all.
That surprised me a lot. Weren’t the people of China oppressed? Why was his tone so relaxed?
And during that Olympics year, I witnessed the boom of subway in Beijing. When I first got there, there were just 3 operational lines (Line 1, 2, and 13), but just a couple months later, 3 or so more lines became operational. My life in Beijing was better than expected. I thought I was going to feel oppressed in China, but apart from censorship of certain contents (notably contents on Dalai Lama and Falungong), I was free to enjoy jianbing every morning and free to explore the city (it helped that Beijing subway back then only cost RMB2, or just a little more than a quarter dollar). Moreover, me having Chinese heritage can blend in very well in China and I enjoyed same kind of usual city life in a similar fashion to that of Bangkok. And I ended that year by taking the Z-train from Beijing to visit the Yangtze River Delta area. Their sleeping cabins were far better than the Thai ones (and I China was poorer than Thailand in per capita income back then)
Fast forward to 2010, my view on China became more neutral. Having spent months in Beijing 2 years prior, I thought living in China isn’t so bad. I didn’t whine the same MSM rhetorics anymore but I still couldn’t find positive things to talk about China. That year, what amazed me were their infrastructure. I took the bullet sleeper train from Shanghai to Beijing, and it was the first time I ever saw a bullet sleeper train! By this time, I was convinced that the Chinese transportation infrastructure was miles ahead of Thailand.
2013 was a really pivotal year for me. In that year, I decided to tour China alone by myself from Datong to Xi’an, then to Lanzhou and Dunhuang, then back to Xi’an and Beijing before taking the train to North Korea. By being able to speak the language and being able to blend in with Chinese people, whenever I travelled around any city with Europeans or Americans, there were always Chinese people asked me whether I can ask those white people to have pictures taken with those Chinese locals. Also, one day on the train from Xi’an to Lanzhou, I met a young Chinese college student in her berth opposite to mine. She saw me looking very Chinese, yet reading a guidebook about China in English. Once, she asked me in Chinese to move something out of the way and I did it for her, then the conversation began. She was so surprised to know that I’m not Chinese but a Thai, and then moved on to talk about her Thai idols. I was also surprised that a lot of Chinese people know the politics of my country quite well.
Having all those experiences in 2013, I concluded that Chinese people are so curious and they asked me a lot of questions after knowing I’m a foreigner. They are hunger for experiences and perspectives. But most importantly, they are people who simply want to work hard and enjoy a good life, as we all are in any part of the World. Politics are of very least concern for them. The way Chinese people come to you may seem rude, but I interpreted those moves as sincere curiosity.
Then my view on China gradually became more positive, as seeing people across China hunger for knowledge and better life made me realize massive potential of this millennia-old civilization that my ancestry also belongs. And since I mentioned “sincere curiosity”, Chinese people are also very friendly (it helped though that I can speak the language). I’m sure that even if you are whites from Europe or America, if you start a conversation in Chinese, you will easily make friends in China.
Having been to China for 3 successive times also fascinated me that each time I was there, I saw massive amount of development unfolded right before my eyes. Then I started to wonder why I thought China was such an evil place pre-2008. Looking at the people and infrastructure, they surely have come very far on the World stage. And nothing matters more than current generation of Chinese people are living decent lives. To me, I think whoever was running China did the job well enough to ensure steady prospects for her citizens.
Now, I would like to have my fourth visit and see their entrepreneurial spirits in places like Shenzhen, Hangzhou, and Beijing with my own eyes and be blown away just like all three visits prior.
Tuscan Onion Soup with Shaved Parmesan
Onion soup is a hearty dinner.
If French onion soup is on a menu John or I are sure to order it. We really love it! Onions, cooked slowly with beef stock and then topped with bread and cheese! What is there not to like? Then, one evening we were invited to a friend’s house for dinner, and they served Italian onion soup. It was different from the French version, but it was delicious, and I had to have the recipe.
Where did Italian onion soup come from?
I did a little research on this fantastic dish and learned that it is known as Carabaccia. It originated in Tuscany going back at least to the 15th century. Carabaccia was made with red onions which are native to Tuscany. It had a sweet and sour flavor and used almonds as a thickener. A piece of bread would be placed in the bottom of the bowl and the soup would be poured over it and then topped with cheese. Sound familiar?
Apparently, Catherine d’ Medici brought the recipe to France with her from Tuscany when she married King Henry II. It is said that this was one of Leonardo DaVinci’s favorite dishes. Over the years changes were made to the original recipe. Some modern takes on this soup include the addition of a poached egg and the omission of the almonds as a thickener.
3 bowls onion soup with parmesan
Ingredients
3 pounds white onions (3 or 4 large)
4 medium leeks
4 ounces pancetta, in 1 piece
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
6 cups chicken stock
3 to 4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3/4 to 1 cup fruity red wine, such as Merlot or Beaujolais
Salt and pepper, to taste
6 slices rustic country style bread
2 garlic cloves, peeled, halved
3 ounces Wisconsin parmesan cheese, in 1 chunk
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
Ingredients
My version is a little different and closer to some of the more modern takes on the recipe. It does not have the sweet and sour flavor that was typical of Carabaccia and I omitted the almonds altogether.
Red onions are still the main ingredient. I also use a nice rich red wine and some tomato sauce to compliment the flavor of the onions. I also like the addition of beef stock, where the original recipe might have used a vegetable stock. Garlic and thyme, also add to the robust flavors of this soup.
Tips for making Italian Onion Soup
The onions are the star ingredient in this recipe, so they need to be cooked carefully to get the best flavor out of them. The onions, garlic and sugar should be added to a pan with hot oil and cooked down until they are soft and caramelized. To do this you will need to set the heat on your stove low and allow the onions to cook slowly so that they do not burn. You will need to be patient; it may take 20 minutes or more for the onions to soften.
When you add the wine bring the soup to a boil and then lower the heat a bit and let it cook until the wine is reduced by half. This will heighten the flavor of the wine.
It is best to whisk the tomato sauce and the flour together before you add it to the soup. Make sure that you do not have any lumps of flour in the sauce before you add it.
Once all the remaining ingredients have been added, let the soup cook on low heat for 1 hour. The slow cooking process creates a rich robust soup that is worth the wait!
italian onion soup with parmesan
Instructions
Peel the onions and cut in half lengthwise. Thinly slice crosswise.
Trim the leeks and cut in half lengthwise. Slice crosswise in 1/4 inch slices, using 3 inches of pale green. Place the leeks in cold water, and rinse to remove the dirt. Drain. Reserve the onions and leeks.
Unroll the pancetta and dice into 1/4-inch pieces.
Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the pancetta and cook until some of the fat has been rendered, about 5 minutes.
Add the onions and leeks. Sauté for 20 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally.
Add the stock, and simmer 30 minutes.
Stir the vinegar, wine, salt, and pepper into the soup. Cook until thoroughly heated.
Toast the bread slices, and rub with the peeled garlic clove halves.
Spoon the soup into soup bowls. Float the bread croutons in the soup. Pare 4 or 5 shavings of the cheese on top of each serving.
Garnish with the chopped parsley, and serve immediately.
I once had a young lady in 12th grade come to me at the end of class, just before lunch, and tell me her Uncle, who lived with them, was molesting her. I instantly reported it to the Admin and the Campus Police. The Campus officer burst out cussing. It seems that two+ years before the same Uncle had gone to prison for molesting the same girl. He was a good manipulator and had convinced the prison shrinks he was reformed and as a first timer got released early on parole. And the terminally stupid parents let him move right back in with them – he was the Mother’s “Baby Brother” and had always been spoiled etc. The girl and her little brother were taken out of the home and sent to live with another Aunt and Uncle, I seem to remember one of them was a peace officer. The molester was sentenced to a long term with “no parole” and her parents were put on probation for child endangerment. She didn’t even come to check out, the Admin did all her papers to send her to another high school for her. But one of them passed on her “Thank You” to me. It seems I was the 4th teacher she told and the only one who did anything. The rumor was the other three were demoted to probationary teacher and put on notice as well as having a prosecutor warn them that he could charge them with a felony for failure to report the suspected abuse and just might still do it if they failed to report anything again, even if it was just a rumor they heard from the students.
No not at all. First GDP itself is a highly flawed form of economic measurement. GDP per capital. Is therefore by same extension is highly flawed.
Let’s just look at one item if GDP. Healthcare. The U.S. with a mere 330 million population has GDP that consists of 6 trillion dollars Healthcare and pharmaceutical items while China that has 4 times the U.S. population if 1.4 billion people has a GDP that consist of only 1 trillion dollars in the same category!
So why is that? China offers universal healthcare coverage compared to the U.S. billing every penny to the healthcare industry and hence the difference. The irony is China today as a life expectancy of 78 years old versus 76 years old for the U.S.
So either the U.S. overstated its GDP by 24 times that of China or China understand its GDP by the same ratio! Hence American’s look rich but they are not and Chinese look poor but they are actually a lot richer.
We haven’t even factored in real purchasing power parity. A dollar can buy a Big Mac in the U.S. but the same dollar can exchange for roughly 7 RMB and that can buy you 3 Big Mac in Beijing. So once you factored in that and you factored in the 0.1% in the U.S. owns almost everything and 99.99% Americans are a mere average Chinese but less capable to think for themselves!
I’m from the US, but unlike most US citizens I’ve traveled extensively. Even so, the five best examples of “American ignorance” I’ve witnesses all occurred within the US.
1) The car that makes its own gas. I was on a flight, sitting in first class, and next to me was a college student (from Quinnipiac College). I was reading a car magazine, and she very excitedly told me that she had just gotten a new car, and what she loved about it the most was that the car made its own gas. This was before the era of electric cars, so that couldn’t have been what she meant. I asked her how her car ‘made its own gas’. She said she didn’t know how, but it was so great that it did. I asked her who told her that it makes its own gas. She explained that was the strange part; the dealer didn’t even mention that! She went on to explain that she drove the car off the dealer’s parking lot, and the gauge said the car had enough gas to go 381 miles. She got on the expressway and drove 15 miles to her parents house, and when she got there the gauge said that the car had enough gas to to go 409 miles! So she’d never have to buy gas again because when she drove 15 miles it made 27 miles worth of gas!!
2) I want a room with an ocean view! I was checking into a hotel in Orlando, FL. Ahead of me in line was a couple from Minnesota, demanding that the desk agent give them a room with an ocean view. The desk agent patiently explained that Orlando is 60 miles from the Atlantic Ocean, so there were no rooms in the hotel that had a view of the ocean since it was an hour’s drive away. The man raised his voice and exclaimed “Don’t you go lying to me; I looked at the map and Orlando is only a half inch from the ocean!”
3) How the f**k am I supposed to know what zip code I’m in? I was at a gas station in Tucson AZ. I no longer live there, but I used to. I was filling up the tank, and a guy at the pump next to me was swearing up a storm and hitting the pump. He came over to me and angrily asked “Do you know what f**king zip code we are in?” and I told him I wasn’t sure, but I thought it was 85719. He went back to his car and moments later was was screaming and kicking the pump again. Then I realized that he thought the pump was asking him to enter the zip code for the gas station, instead of the billing zip code for his credit card!
4) Only an hour from Boston and an hour from NYC! I was at a high school graduation party for my nephew, and I met his girlfriend for the first time. I asked her where she was going to college in the fall, and she told me she was going to Quinnipiac College. I asked her why she chose that school, and she told me that it was in the most amazing location, only an hour’s drive to Boston and an hour’s drive to NYC. I asked her how that could be, since it takes 3h30m with no traffic to get from Boston to NYC, so there isn’t anywhere can be an hour’s drive to Boston and an hour’s drive to NYC. She said “that’s what’s so special about the location!” <Note – I have nothing against Quinnipiac College, it is pure coincidence that two of these stories involve their students>
5) The impact of video games on violent behavior. I’ve been involved in college admissions for both Harvard and MIT. I don’t think I ever laughed so hard as when I read the opening sentence of an applicant’s essay: “The impact of video games on violent behavior has been a controversial topic for centuries.”
And just to show that ignorance isn’t limited to Americans, here’s one involving a Brit;
I’ve been on eBay since before you were born. One of my hobbies is restoring and refurbishing old cameras. I pick up ratty old cameras at random antique stores, goodwill, garage sales, and, of course on eBay, and clean and repair them. On eBay I often find great deals when someone misspells a camera name, so it doesn’t come up in a standard search (i.e. Rollleiflex or Cannon or Lieca) so I search for misspelled versions, and often end up as the only bidder. Once I came across a listing with a whopper of an error. The photo was of a very rare and expensive camera, the Olympus OM-3, with a title and description of a very common and inexpensive camera, the Olympus OM-30. At the time, the OM-30’s sold for $10 – $15, but the OM-3 is very rare, and never sells for less than about $600, sometimes as much as $1800. I felt bad; that was too much of a differential to let the seller leave all that money on the table. So I emailed the seller and asked if the item for sale was the camera in the photo or the camera in the description, and let the seller know that the camera in the photo was worth quite a bit, and if that was what was for sale, s/he might want to adjust the item title so that the auction got the attention it deserved.
The response I got:
“Of course it’s what’s in the picture! How else would I get the picture, you daft cow! Who are you, the eBay police? I’ve been on eBay since before you were born and I don’t need you telling me how to run my business! Bugger off”
So I bought it for $10.27, as the only bidder! I ended up selling it a few weeks later for $1200.
When I was in college I used to wear two particular hats. Syracuse was a cold, snowy place. With wind, rain, ice and snow. And wearing a hat and scarf was mandatory.
Today, I just want to tell you all about these particular hats.
Both were real leather. Most hats are made out of other materials, but both of these hats were made out of leather. One was a brown cowboy hat. It looked a lot like the one that Don Williams wore…
The other hat was a replica confederate soldiers cap.
I loved wearing it, and so many people complemented me on wearing it.
2024 02 10 12 38
In today’s hyper-polarized woke society, wearing it might end up getting me shot. But the 1970’s were a different time, and I loved wearing it. I had long hair, and often wore either a combat parka, or a leather jean jacket (with a fluorescent orange hoodie underneath.) .
The last thing that was stolen from me didn’t have a great deal of monetary value. Some, if you are a collector. The last thing that was stolen from me was an old hubcap off my grandpa’s ancient Chevrolet pickup truck. I’m still sour over it.
I live on part of what was my grandpa’s old farm. There is old stuff all over this place. In the outbuildings, in the barn, in the cellar and wash house you will find old things. Old tools, old bottles, there are a couple of wine casks from when my mother was a child and her daddy had a still hidden out in the pasture. Lots of old farm implements sitting around.
This stuff is treasure to me. I love nostalgic stuff. I’m fascinated by old items. What looks like junk to some looks like treasure to me.
One day, I was poking around in an old shed, and found that old hubcap. I set it aside and made a mental note to bring it to my house. As I was leaving the shed, I noticed some broken glass on the ground. So I picked up the glass and put it in that old hubcap. From time to time another piece of glass would surface, and I just put it all in that old hubcap. It was out there in that shed with glass in it for a few years, but I knew it would be there when I wanted it.
Then one day about a month ago, I noticed the hubcap was missing. The glass was all over the ground and the hubcap was just gone. I asked my dad about it and also my nephew, and they don’t know anything about it… They are the only two people who have been around, to the best of my knowledge.
Now here is the thing. This is way out in the boonies. People don’t just wander around our property. I would never have dreamed of anything going missing from this place. But my hubcap is still gone.
Like I said, some people will wonder why I’m worked up over an old hubcap. It’s because I have a collection of things that belonged to my grandpa, and because I learned how to drive in that old chevy truck the hubcap belonged to.
Also, it frosts my butt that someone just picked it up, dumped out the glass, and walked away with it. Who would do that?
I have my suspicions. But I will never know for sure. You can bet, I will take care to protect my treasures a little bit better from here on out. And I will watch the suspicious one like a hawk from now on too. Just in case.
Pasta with Three Cheeses (Pasta al Tre Formaggi)
2024 02 10 12 19
Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 cups milk
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Fontina or mozzarella cheese
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Gruyere or Swiss cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
6 cups (10 ounces) uncooked egg noodles
3 tablespoons dry bread crumbs
1 tablespoon butter
Instructions
Heat 2 tablespoons butter in 2-quart saucepan over low heat until melted. Blend in flour, salt and pepper. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until smooth and bubbly; remove from heat. Gradually stir in milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Stir in cheeses; keep warm over low heat.
Cook noodles as directed; drain. Alternate layers of noodles and cheese mixture in ungreased 2-quart casserole. Stir bread crumbs and 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat until crumbs are toasted; sprinkle over noodles.
Bake uncovered at 350 degrees F until bubbly, about 20 minutes.
My GF Had A BREAKDOWN After The Open Relationship She Wanted Backfired
Flying back from Mallorca on Jet2, the pilot said on the intercom:
“Ladies and Gentlemen, I have some good news and bad news. The good news is that we’re ready early and we’ve made it with plenty of time for our departure slot. The bad news is that unfortunately it seems the Spanish air traffic controllers have decided to walk out in solidarity with striking French controllers so we currently have a 2 hour wait. However, to ease the boredom, I’ll step out of the cockpit and you can all come up, sit in the pilot’s chair and be shown around by the first officer who’ll answer any questions you have”
The second I saw him come out of the cockpit I sprang out of my seat to get to the front of the inevitable queue and had a good chat with the FO while sitting in the seat. My impressions were that the cockpit of a 737–800 is a lot smaller than you’d think and that the seats are pretty difficult to move.
image 130
After 90 mins the pilot is on the intercom again:
“Folks, unfortunately we’ve been told we have another 2 hours, 45 minutes wait (huge groans from the cabin) Only joking, we’ve got to get going quickly so back to your seats and buckle up soon as you can! (cheers from cabin)”
The pilot landed pretty hard in Birmingham and 10 seconds after reducing reverse thrust was back on the intercom:
“I’ve just been informed that my landing was a bit on the hard side. I don’t know what the fuss is about, it seemed fine to me. But apologies to anyone with loose fillings”
Most American tourists who make it as far as Australia are the best of your country, and we enjoy having them. Those who we would rather hadn’t come do share a few characteristics, though.
Ignorance. No, you can’t drive from Sydney to Alice Springs in an afternoon. Yes, the beaches have flags you swim between for a reason. No, you won’t get bitten by snakes walking through the suburbs. And no, no, for the love of God NO you CAN’T see all of Australia in a week flat. Not even if you fly everywhere.
Arrogance. If you come to any country as a guest, and spend half your waking hours telling people how much better your country is than theirs, you won’t make friends. This applies to any two countries, but with special particularity to Australia and America. There are STILL Americans about who’ll tell any Australian they can find how they, the mighty US of A, saved our “asses” in any number of conflicts, but especially the stoush with the Japanese in the early mid-twentieth century. We didn’t actually need our donkeys saved, and we’ve been paying for it in a number of ways ever since. And no, your health care may be wonderful for that five percent of the population who can afford it, but we cover everybody, so that we don’t have people begging in wheelchairs for their next oxygen bottle. Also, no, we can buy guns if we want to, but we don’t have to.
Loudness. Now I know the average Australian has a pretty good paddock voice, but we don’t take it inside. There are some Americans you can hear three streets away, and sitting next to their table in a restaurant can be a penance.
Lack of manners. As I said at the beginning, most US visitors to the antipodes are darlings. But anybody who snaps their fingers to summon a waiter here is likely to be ignored at first and ordered to leave if they persist. It is standard here to thank people who do stuff for us, whether they are paid to or not. We thank our bus drivers, our wait staff, our cleaners and our hotel staff, our shop assistants – everybody. They’re people. Lack of common courtesy marks you out as an arsehole.
Not fired, but gave them 7 weeks notice to quit. I was maintenance person in a nursing home. Within 6 months of being employed there, my manager asked me to undertake a level 2 course in social care. She had noticed my interactions with the residents and tried her best to convince me to extend my duties to include care work. After about a year of “ thinking about it,” I decided to study for a qualification in health and social care.
Around this time, after I’d already started the course, the nursing home was sold to another company. The new boss, for whatever reason, didn’t like me. Once qualified, I was picking up extra shifts on the weekend as a care assistant. It took him (and his wife) 3 months to realise I was also doing care work. He came and saw me at work, telling me, “We only want qualified staff looking after residents.” I showed him my certificate, indicating I was indeed qualified to look after residents. He then told me “ I don’t want you getting too tired.” ( I was only working 30 hours per week on maintenance.) I pointed out that a lot of his care assistants were actually working 60 hours a week and would often ring in at weekends saying they could not come in and I was prepared to cover any illness by other staff. He refused to accept this offer, restricting me to my working hours.
Anyway, I’d decided I enjoyed looking after elderly people and applied to our local NHS hospital for a position as a healthcare assistant. I passed the interview and selection procedure and handed my notice in. He avoided me for the next 6 weeks. On my final day there, he approached me and told me, “Get a year’s clinical experience and you can come back as a care assistant.” (An offer I could refuse.)
I finished work on Friday at 3pm.
Next morning, the nursing home phoned me at home, telling me there was a major water leak in the kitchen. I told them I was no longer an employee and to call an emergency plumber. “But that will cost us lots of money.” No shit, Sherlock! I almost relented, but my wife pointed out that I wouldn’t be paid, had I gone in. They asked me where to turn the water off, but I reiterated that they should call a plumber ( who would also not know where to turn the water off, as there were actually two incoming supplies to the one building.) I have now been with the NHS for almost 5 years and can honestly say it’s the most rewarding job I have ever had.
I was 18 and had gone for an interview. The secretary of the guy who was to interview me took me inside his cabin and told me to wait.
I was too nervous, hungry and desperate.
All of a sudden I had this huge urge to sneeze. But it just died midway. I reached for the handkerchief in my new trouser to realise I forgot it at home.
When the urge was back I was desperately looking for a tissue on my still-to-be-boss’s table. When I didn’t get any, I reached over and grabbed a notepad, tore off a page and made its way to my nose at the correct time!
I blew my nose. Had a grin on my face. And sat there satisfied only to see my boss standing just behind me.
I smiled awkwardly.
He came over, offered the little dustbin to me. I slowly put the soiled paper in it and muttered a ‘thanks’ and a ‘sorry’.
I thought I would be looked upon as a gross teenager, so it came as a surprise when he hired me.
For the next few months whenever he passed by my department, this would be the conversation.
“Enjoying Shefali?”
“Yes Sir!”
“Any problems?”
“No Sir.”
“You got a handkerchief?”
“Yes sir.”
And then he would laugh and wink at me. Colleagues could never understand why would we have such a conversation everytime.
Don’t even ask me how badly I wanted the earth to swallow me.
Putin Offers INCREDIBLE Terms For Peace With Ukraine In Tucker Carlson Interview!
The sketchiest contract I was ever forced to sign what was the Little Rock School District’s teachers’ contract. I hesitate to name the district, because I suspect this isn’t uncommon, BUT:
I was handed a signature page, like the one above. And no contract. At the top of the page it said something along the lines of “I agree to be bound by the contract that the union has so selflessly negotiated on my behalf.” Again, we were told we were not allowed to see it unless we joined the union. Multiple teachers told me they were threatened every year not to show the contract to anyone, including the teachers who were bound by it.
Why did I sign it? Because they gave it to us 3/4 of the way through the year! It was a retroactive contract! I had two kids and a pregnant wife. We had sacrificed to work in education, had chosen to live in squalor for the greater good, and so needed the paycheck. Plus I had hundreds of students counting on me.
I was told that I had to pledge to obey the contract, but couldn’t know what was in there. It had all my rights and responsibilities in it. But I couldn’t see it, nor could any of the signatures that preceded mine. The fact that I was hired at the significant level of those with a master’s who had been principals before, yet was only offered $40,000—that was supposedly explained in there. The reason why that $40,000 manifested as a net income of $18,000 was in there. The reason my room had no decorations, no computer, no phone, 325 students, and fewer than 20 textbooks—all would be revealed—just not to me because I didn’t join the mob.
That’s right, I said it. I’ve bought used cars, leased cars, homes, worked in corporate law, even bought a timeshare, and I’ve never dealt with a contract-situation as icky as the teachers’ union contract. If someone ever hands you a signature page with no contract, I hope a migraine-inducing klaxon alarm goes off in your head and red flags drop from the ceiling.
I had a friend like this, not a coworker. We would go out to eat and took turns paying the entire bill. After a while, I noticed that when it was HER turn to pay, I would order less than $20 worth of food + tip (I didn’t drink alcohol), usually ordering a moderately priced entree and a lemonade, with no appetizer or dessert. However, when it was MY turn to pick up the tab to “pay her back,” she’d order the most expensive menu items, including appetizers, multiple cocktails, and dessert in addition to the expensive entree. The bill would be upwards of a $100, even though my portion was usually under $30 since i only ordered one entree. This happened frequently enough, that I realized she was doing this on purpose, insisting she pay when we went to eat at a cheap chicken shack when our meals were dirt cheap, but then picking expensive restaurants when it was my turn to “pay her back.”
I tested this theory; we went for sandwiches once at Jimmy John’s and she insisted on paying: I carefully only ordered a $12 sandwich with taxes and that’s it. She didn’t even tip.
The following week, we went out to eat and it was my turn to pay. She immediately said she wanted to try out this new sushi restaurant that opened downtown. I told her ok, and as I drove us there (I always drove, but she NEVER offered to pay for gas), I casually mentioned “hey, my meal was only $12 the last time you paid, so I’m only paying for $12 for your meal this time.”
This person had the GALL to say, “oh really? Never mind, then, let’s just go grab sandwiches at Subway.”
I didn’t respond, I just couldn’t believe how shamelessly disappointed she looked.
Our friendship didn’t last long after that, but it was due to her overall abusive, manipulative behavior, besides what a cheap moocher she was.
that is to say, china can launch a 1000 sorties drone swarm attack with merely $57 million, that is merely 6 abrams tanks, or one apartment building in Shanghai.
In addition, Xi will very likily get 80% off because he owns Norinco.
So that is 5,000 sorties with the same budget. or 40,000 sorties at the price of a villa in SH.
Imagine 40,000 of this flying over your head.
image 127image 128
in addition, this costs $200 ea for Xi
500 of these equals to the death pension on a private.
taht is to say, evey TW soldier will have to dodge 500 such drones to survive the war.
image 126
500drones looks like this, a common recreation in chinese cities.
image 125
imagine the drones in a “i wanna f_ck u” formation before running towards you.
this drone bomber costs $340,000 (=3.4 soldiers) and can deliver 1 ton of explosives to 2500km away.
I don’t think Trump wants that. He is smarter than that. And he is smarter than Biden for sure. Privately he certainly don’t want that. If anything he wants the U.S. to be a strong 2nd largest economy. And his own companies benefit profusely.
He like fools who ask this question to thinks he like to decoupled because he wins votes and can do shit. He knows severing trade with China is like cutting of your limbs to fight China. Decoupling with China means decoupling from the world by the U.S.
I wish he does that, but he won’t. His companies will cut the sweetest deals, his group will strike up the most profitable venture and he will say shits like Kung Flu or Chiiinaaa! And guess what you bunch of morons will ejaculate.
I have been reporting to all of you the developments in Poland that lead many to believe NATO will enter the Russia-Ukraine conflict before May 5. I have renewed my urgent suggestions that all of you have emergency “preps” like food, water, medicine, a generator, communications gear like a CB or HAM radio, and I want you to know what I am doing/have done to “prep” this show.
When the Russia-Ukraine thing broke out, and it became clear that the US and NATO would be getting involved by shipping weapons, I worried to myself if Russia might take that as us being a “participant” in the conflict. So I MOVED the servers for this web site to South America. It’s a big deal: one primary server, providing content via the cloud to 19 other data centers around the planet. When you type in my website address and your browser goes out to the DNS server, my DNS routes your request to the geographically closest data center (that’s up and running) to speed-up your content delivery. Not everything is coming into or going out of a single place.
Every time YOU have visited this site for the past 2+ years, it has served you from South America!
I also established back-up streaming audio servers down in South America as well, but have never utilized them.
The streaming audio right now comes out of Oregon and it’s a big deal, but in a different setup than the website. Multiple audio servers operating through a load balancer, which can automatically spin-up additional servers to accommodate demand. But Oregon is near Washington State and we have a gigantic naval base in Bremerton, WA, which is home to much of our Pacific Fleet.
So if Bremerton gets nuked, Oregon will likely feel the EMP repercussions and that data center may go offline. Hence, the reason I set up a big audio server system in South America, just in case.
Here in New Jersey, just outside NYC, all of you are aware that the show goes out over a fiber optic line and there is a separate, fiber optic line as a fail-over. If both fiber optics are down, there is a cellular data fail-over. For awhile, I also had laser failover but it was just too expensive and I had to get rid of that. I have a backup generator and fuel for it on-site. It’s all on battery back-ups which can provide at least one hour of service, which is more than ample time to go out and crank-up the generator. The NJ house also has an EMP SHIELD in the main electrical panel with the hope it bleeds-off any EMP.
In the Pennsylvania home I inherited when my mom died, (after I had to pay off her Reverse Mortgage) I have a Cable modem and, just recently was able to add a single Fiber optic connection. But because trees falling can take out those land-based lines — and have done so in big storms quite frequently — I also have a cellular failover, and two satellite uplinks.
ALL of that gear is on Uninterruptible power supplies that can provide power for at least one hour, and I have two Generators on site, all hard-wired in. The one generator is 13KW and surge to 15KW, the other was my mom’s and it’s tiny 4KW. That house also has an EMP SHIELD in the main electrical panel.
All our motor vehicles have EMP SHIELDS installed in them – even my snow plow truck!
So I have done everything I know how to do to make certain the show __can__ air each night, no matter what.
Late last week, after finding out that Poland issued a NOTAM to all aircraft flying in the eastern 1/4 of the country, to maintain radio comms with air traffic control and to use their Transponders even at flight levels below 9500′, it became evident to me that NATO is likely to enter the Russia-Ukraine conflict within the time period of the NOTAM, which continues until May 5.
It seems clear to me that if NATO enters that war, the missiles will fly and some of them would – in my view – fly here. If Russia takes out the US, then NATO collapses immediately. So we ARE, in my view, an early target.
So I spoke to Alan Weiner at WBCQ and inquired of him as to whether WBCQ has a back-up generator for the transmitter on 7490. It does! A 250KW generator which, according to Alan, EATS FUEL.
I have also inquired of WRMI in Miami, Florida and WWCR in Nashville, TN. I am waiting to hear back from them.
I tell you all of this because I want you to know I’m not just out here telling YOU to prep, I’m actually doing it myself.
I have no idea where all this crap is heading, but I am thinking about it and am taking steps to actually BE PREPARED.
You are not a skinflint, you are now spending more for food than your boss. Depending on your work place. If you have evidence that your boss is doing this you could go to HR and tell them your boss is stealing your food. Theft is theft.
When I was first out of university, and had no money, I would go to the grocery store and buy a package of 5 sausage rolls. I would eat one each day. It worked out to about $1.50 for lunch.
Then my sausage rolls started disappearing, first just one a week, then 2 and finally 3.
I used to buy them on Monday, and they were just edible on Friday. Now I was buying two or three packs a week.
If I bought them on Thursday, I didn’t trust them by Tuesday . So in this case I bought them on friday, and knowing I would probably only be able to eat one more out of the package before they were either stolen or stale dated, I took them home, and I drilled out a tiny hole in the center. Then I some hot sauce that I had never been able to use, because it was just too hot. It was concentrated, so that its scoville rating was similar to pepper spray.
I filled up all of the 4 remaining sausage rolls, with this killer hot sauce, and put them in the work fridge.
Later that day, around 4:00 when the next shift was coming in, there was screaming coming from the locker room. The guy was frothing at the mouth, his eyes and nose were leaking, he had been eating the sausage roll with his locker door open, to keep out of sight.
Fortunately for me I had never complained to anyone about the missing sausage rolls.
It took 15 minutes before the guy was functional again.
He wouldn’t tell anyone what had happened, because he didn’t want to admit to theft. But it turned out, he had a bunch of stolen knick knacks from people’s desks, in his locker. It turns out someone who will steal food, will steal little items from the day shift as well.
He was fired.
But then I had to find something else cheap to eat. Because I couldn’t be seen eating sausage rolls.
Why don’t you understand the ABC of human behaviour? After all I presume you are a human, right?
Ok let me explain. No human want to buy anything 5 times a price it can pay in the market easily. And do you know why the U.S. makes everything at several fold cost compared to others? That is simple. The U.S. workers are paid at least 5 times other workers are paid yet it can only achieved half their productivity. And U.S. CEO insist they must be paid 100 times more! Your government insist it must focus on forever wars! China focus on making peace and being competitive!
So how can the U.S. makes anything that can be competitive? No way! Not in a million years! So you cannot make anything competitive but you have money to spend more on weapons than the next 10 biggest defence spending nation put together! Perhaps the U.S. thinks it can use the military to force other countries to work as slaves to produce cheap goods and hand over to the U.S.!
I had a 4th grade teacher that was fairly strict. One morning, during a reading session, she caught me drawing pictures, a fairly elaborate illustration of King Kong and Biplanes shooting at the poor guy. She snatched it up and scolding me for not paying attention in class. “maybe this will get your attention” she cackled, as she proceeded to tape the drawing onto my back. Before you could blink, it was lunch time, and as I was in the lunch line, all the reviews from my young peers rolled in. All positive, with “cooools” and “holy smokes!” and questions. Well the soul-killing deterrent backfired on the old witch, and I went on to study art, Illustration, and design. I’ve been employed as an artist for over 40 years and have won dozens of awards and accolades. Although this may sound boastful, the real point is, don’t let anyone kill your dreams.
A guy I’ll call “Cecil” was one of our frequent flyers. He was a Paiute Indian and had pretty much fried his brain with alcohol. He was also legally blind and carried a white cane. He would get arrested on some nuisance offense, spend a day or two in jail, get released, rinse and repeat. The two-officer crew of the downtown prisoner transport van, aka “the wagon,” were usually the arresting officers.
One night, the wagon crew decided to take a different approach. They picked up Cecil for something-or-other, but instead of taking him to jail, they got on the freeway and headed east. Fifteen or twenty miles east of town, they let Cecil out on the side of the road. Freeway and sagebrush, not much else. The wagon drove back to town.
Cecil was found by a state trooper who wondered how he got there. Cecil was only of marginal help, as it was difficult to know whether he was comprehending what was going on around him. When asked any question, his typical response was to shout random numbers at his interviewer.
Eventually, investigators were able to piece together what happened. The two cops were fired and criminally indicted on charges of kidnapping and oppression under color of authority.
Trial was scheduled several times. Each time, Cecil was either in the wind, out between arrests, or brought to court from jail. He couldn’t respond coherently to the simplest question. The attorneys defending the former officers capitalized on this and moved for dismissal of all charges, as Cecil was the only material witness and didn’t always seem to know where he was or what was happening around him. The ex-cops walked.
One got a job driving a bus. He was considered by all involved to be the instigator and mastermind, with his former partner sort of along for the ride. The partner was eventually hired by a sheriff’s department and worked there long enough to qualify for a pension.
When I was 17 I had a son I had to give up for adoption as the father was going off to Vietnam and we were unmarried. It was heartbreaking to say the least. When he returned, we married and had our daughter. Always looking to find the son we had to give up, as my parents had insisted. As the years went by, we searched and tried every imaginable source to find our boy. Our daughter was told she had a brother eventually, and my parents eventually regretted this adoption and begged me to “”find the boy” -impossible. Our daughter moved across the United States from Florida to California eventually and I had given up all hope after 34 years of searching. One night while in California, she told her roommate about her brother – it was his birthday, and she was sad. That night the roommate invited her for dinner with a friend. During dinner her friend questioned her about this brother….after everything my daughter told her, the young man said””me too”! He, too, was from Florida – adopted, this was his birthday, a miracle! Millions of prayers answered- she was indeed sitting across the dinner table from her long lost brother!! Found at last!! It all turned out beautiful. He had been blessed with an amazing adoptive family for which I will be FOREVER grateful. Many coincidences in my life but this? BEST ONE!!
Going Viral: Behind the AI-Generated Wes Anderson Trailers for Star Wars and LOTR
My siblings and I were sent to bed VERY early compared to our peers – most annoying. In rebellion, we often stayed up late, reading in bed while our parents remained downstairs watching TV. I had an old lamp and learned rather quickly that if I turned it in the normal direction it made a ‘click’ sound. But, if I turned it backwards, the light would quietly go off. So, in our creaking Victorian house, I had plenty of warning someone was coming and could get the light off and the book out of sight before they were anywhere near my room.
We had been given flashlights and batteries at Christmas soon after we joined the Girl and Boy Scouts. We needed them for camp and other scouting activities. Of course, we also found they made it really easy to stay up reading as well. At the first creaking boards, we’d turn them off and pretend to be asleep.
There were times that we might have been so engrossed in our books that we didn’t hear anyone coming upstairs and wouldn’t react until we heard footsteps outside our doors. The lights would have been easily visible beneath our doors. But, somehow, we managed to get the lights off before either parent noticed.
YEARS later, we had a good laugh when our father asked us why we thought we were given new batteries every Christmas and birthday (and any time in between when we said we were out). There were not enough scouting activities to burn as many batteries as we seemed to go through. No, the flashlights were to ENCOURAGE us to read more. They weren’t going to catch us with lights on if they could help it. If they did, though, the usual comment was, “Don’t you think it’s time you went to sleep?” We were never punished.
I was working at my local coffee shop. It was pay day and my pay didn’t come in. No phone call from my boss about it. It was 630 am as I was waiting for my pay to get to work for 8 am. I called in and ask if there was a problem with the pay. He said rudely there is a problem at the bank it might be in later today or tomorrow. I said well then I am not coming in today for my shift as I am not walking 2 hr to get work. If you called me at 5 to tell me about the problem I could have asked my sister and brother in law for bus fare before they went to work .
next day, I checked my account and my pay was in. I showed up for work and my boss thought he would tell me off in front of coworkers and customers. I said it’s not my fault you didn’t bother calling or texting your employees about the problem. And you should really wait to talk to be about it when it is appropriate not in front my coworkers and customers. The smirk came off his face quick walked away and didn’t say anything about it after. 1 month later we got a new manager
American society is imploding. Every decade this century has seen its strength weaken, particularly the social fabric, which has been torn asunder by division.
This is an American problem that require Americans to fix.
Alas, the talk never strays far from eternal war with a musical chair of external enemies.
A new world order is emerging, whether America wills it or not.
Can you imagine 4 years of Donald “making America great again”, followed by 4 years of Joe’s “Build Back Better”, followed by another 4 years of “MAGA”?
Again and Back? That’s Michael Jackson’s moonwalk—the illusion of forward motion while moving backwards.
The global south doesn’t want to be stuck on the american gameboard, because it hasn’t led to long-term development. And as Barack openly admitted, America has an agenda to keep the global south poor, because the planet cannot sustain itself providing the American standard of living for the unwashed masses.
A nation that continues to believe its Constitution is perfect and cannot be updated will not see out the 21st century intact.
America will discover it is merely one nation, out of >190, and learn to live like the rest of humanity. No one is immune to the poison of exceptionalism, particularly the hegemon.
In other words, atrophy develops in the absence of resistance.
I was a high school rowing coach and we had to leave at 3:30 a.m. for an event far away. As usual, I was running late and had 15 minutes to get to the school meeting spot, 20 minutes away. The two-lane road snaked through woods and up and down hills and it was pitch black: no street lights. My Jetta and I were flying and I suddenly heard the word “DEER!” shouted in my dead grandmother’s voice. I stomped on the brake as a deer shot right past the hood of my car. I pulled over, shaking. As I took a deep breath I smelled daffodils. Confused, I looked around: there were no flowers here. An image of a pink bottle of perfume popped into my mind and it struck me- the smell was White Shoulders, my grandma’s perfume.
I smiled and thanked her, promising more responsible driving in the future. As I got to the meeting place, a few rowers commented on the smell of flowers.
All these answers are great, and most have been tried on me. Back in the 80’s, I had a printing business and a “customer” gave me a rather expensive rush order for an event that was happening in a few days. I asked for payment up front because it smelled fishy. He gave me a check for about $5,000. Before I printed anything, I went to his bank and asked if the check was good. The manager told me there was not enough funds to cover the check. He could not legally tell me how much money was actually in the account, so I asked him if I added $100 if it would cover the check. No. Went through this dance till I came to $700 or something. Great! I deposited $700 into his account and cashed his check for $5000. Printed his order, (still had a tidy profit) and called him to pick it up. He was delighted, thinking he had scammed me. Then he showed up absolutely furious, having found out about the $5000 he never intended to spend. Said he was going to call the police. I told him to wait just a minute, the police were walking in right now. I had called the venue and what he was having printed was bogus tickets. My next call was the police. They walked in and he had the gall to ask them to arrest me for theft. I said he gave me a check and I cashed it. Then I showed them the tickets he was having printed. They took him out in handcuffs with him yelling that he wanted his money back. Never saw him again.
Wow. Ok I’ll bite. Not in the sense of being a hermit, but relationship wise.
A lifetime of abuse.
That will do it to you. As I recover, I am starting to realize that I don’t have any capacity for conflict. I don’t want to extend trust. I am suspicious and quickly withdraw from anyone that remotely, even unintentionally upsets me. My defenses are beaten down and I am an open wound.
No relationship is going to be without conflict. And you can’t really extend love without extending trust. So here I am alone and I am realizing that I will probably remain so for the foreseeable future.
I don’t really want to be alone. But I have realized, quite painfully, that I am going to hurt someone that tries to love me. That’s unacceptable and depressing. I will NOT become the abuser.
I’m in therapy and one of the first meaningful things he said to me was “I may not be able to help you. Due to the length and severity of your trauma, you may carry the effects for the rest of your life. The best we can do is hope to manage your PTSD.”
I appreciate his honesty.
So no, lonely as I am, I will not afflict some poor woman with my messed up self. I will go on alone. Well, not completely alone…
I don’t know about incorrect, but it was certainly unusual.
My church had a lock-in for high school aged kids. If you haven’t participated in one of these, it is essentially a big slumber party. But it is chaperoned. It is church after all. Sometimes schools do them too.
Anyway, there are all kinds of events that happen. Often there is a scavenger hunt, and this particular lock-in was no different, except with a twist. They had a “tape recorder and Polaroid camera” scavenger hunt. In other words, we were divided into groups and had a list of crazy things we were to get photos and recordings of our group doing. These days we could just use our phones for this, but this was in the 80s and technology was obviously not the same.
So we set off on the list. There were all kinds of things. We did a picture with a human pyramid. That was relatively tame and easy. Then we came to another. We had to get a photo of us walking through a drive thru restaurant line. Oohkay. I was our group’s driver, so I took us to a local Wendy’s. We got out and walked through the drive-thru line. Remember this was the 80s and I don’t think that many restaurants had cameras watching the drive-thru line back then. So, the staff of the restaurant didn’t know we were walking through the line till we got to the window. Wow, that turned escalated into drama really quickly. The manager was really mad at us, and they refused to serve us. Well, that didn’t really matter much. We tried to explain why we were doing it, but he was having none of it. I guess he thought we were drunk or on drugs or something. So, he called the police on us and they promptly showed up.
I guess he thought that was going to scare us. Actually, we were thrilled. We also had “recording the sound of a police siren” and “taking a photo of the group with a police officer” on the list.
Because of a grumpy Wendy’s manager, our group won.
When I was 18 I moved into a share house with some friends. On the second or third day I was checking the mail box when a man walked over from across the street where a little model car shop was located.
He said to me “excuse me, do you live here?” I said “yes, I’m Susan, we just moved in”. He replied “Good, would you like to come and work for me? The girl who used to live here worked for me for 3 years, but she moved out”. I asked “what sort of work did she do? What do need?” He told me that she did office admin work, tallied invoices, paid bills, occasionally sold merchandise….
I asked how many hours and how much and then, happy enough with the repky, I took the job on the spot. On my front lawn, next to my letter box.
He seemed to just trust that the house knew the right person to work for him. I worked their for 4 years and then I moved out. I can only assume that the new resident got offered a job soon after…
I love this one! Many years ago a police officer had a BIG guy handcuffed in the back seat of his squad car. He was trying like all hell to get the guy out. Another officer came to assist him. This guy wedged his feet into the floor under front seats. They didn’t want to mace him because they would not be able to use the squad for a long time. He was not a violent offender. It was something with being intoxicated but not driving. I think his wife called. He wouldn’t budge. Lots of swearing and threats to get him out. It was actually funny to see. He was not coming out.
Anyway, this state trooper I know, who is also a teacher in aikido and a few other martial arts, goes and asks him to PLEASE COME OUT. This guy is dying from laughter. He was calling him all kinds of Asian insults. So, the trooper asks one of the cops to hold his hat. He starts to put on rubber gloves. This guy is yelling, what cha gonna do? Check my prostate? Even the cops were laughing. Trooper says, “No. I’m gonna get you out of the squad.” Guy yells, “Go ahead, you &$@#@ eyes”. So trooper reaches in and with one hand pinches his nose closed. He put the other over his mouth. In about 60 seconds that guy flew out of that squad! We all learned a lesson that day. No matter how big the engine, it will not run without oxygen!
Jurassic Park but with a Cat
https://youtu.be/W85oD8FEF78
The West’s Not-So-Subtle Message To Russia: Photo Emerges of F-16 with U.S. Nuke (Trainer) on Wing; Ukraine?
A photo has emerged of an F-16 Fighter Jet with a U.S. B-61 Nuclear Bomb (Trainer) mounted under its wing; the exact same type of plane the West plans to “give” to Ukraine. A message to Russia?
That photo – shown above with (my) added text showing the B-61 nuclear trainer, was clearly taken during summertime; there are dandelions showing in the nearby grass. That such a photo was even TAKEN would be a gigantic breach of nuclear security. The fact that it has suddenly “emerged” in public is nothing short of astonishing. Unless, of course, its release is to send a message.
A “Trainer” is the same size, shape, and weight of the real thing, but is inert; there is no nuclear warhead in it. It is designed to provide pilots with a “feel” for the aircraft when it is carrying such a device, so the pilot can get used to how the plane handles with the weapon mounted, and what it feels like when it is released.
It also allows a pilot to train on how and when to release the bomb so that it actually hits the intended target.
The B-61 is a gravity bomb and is not guided by its own engine or any wings, to hit a target.
The B61 nuclear bomb is the primary thermonuclear gravity bomb in the United States Enduring Stockpile following the end of the Cold War. It is a low-to-intermediate yield strategic and tactical nuclear weapon featuring a two-stage radiation implosion design. Here is a FILE PHOTO of the actual, functional, B-61:
2024 02 10 11 5r4
The B61 is of the variable yield (“dial-a-yield” in informal military jargon) design with a yield of 0.3 to 340 kilotons in its various mods (“modifications”). It is a Full Fuzing Option (FUFO) weapon, meaning it is equipped with the full range of fuzing and delivery options, including air and ground burst fuzing, and free-fall, retarded free-fall and laydown delivery.
It has a streamlined casing capable of withstanding supersonic flight and is 11 ft 8 in (3.56 m) long, with a diameter of about 13 inches (33 cm). Basic weight is about 700 pounds (320 kg), although the weights of individual weapons may vary depending on version and fuze/retardation configuration. As of 2020, it is undergoing a 12th modification. According to the Federation of American Scientists in 2012, the roughly 400 B61-12s will cost $28 million apiece.
Back in May of 2023, when the issue of giving F-16’s to Ukraine first surfaced, I reported that the U.S. caused severe consternation among its NATO allies by insisting that the planes given to Ukraine be the type already modified to handle the B-61 nuclear bomb (Story HERE).
At that time, the Deputy Chairman of the Russian Federation Council, their version of a Senate, publicly commented that if the US allowed Ukraine access to such bombs, Russia would have no choice but to make a “preventive” (pre-emptive) nuclear strike against Ukraine!
In the months since that story, the US and NATO have been training Ukrainian pilots on how to fly the F-16. At US insistence, those pilots are ALSO being trained how to use the B-61 nuclear bomb!
Not to put too fine a point on it, but why would those pilots need such specialized training unless the intent of the US and NATO is to actually allow them to use nuclear bombs?
This is the reality that is being forced upon Russia by the U.S. and NATO, and Russia is quite plain about how they will respond. For instance, while military radar can determine what type of aircraft they see on radar, they have no way of knowing if that plane has a B-61 nuclear bomb under its wing. Thus, the Russians will have to treat ALL F-16’s as if they are nuclear-equipped. Should one such plane approach Russian Territory, the possibility of Russia being nuked __could__ cause them to strike first.
Moreover, within the past two months, a lot of news has come out about Ukraine being given German “TAURUS” cruise missiles. The Taurus KEPD 350 is a German-Swedish air-launched cruise missile, manufactured by Taurus Systems and used by Germany, Spain, and South Korea. Taurus Systems GmbH is a partnership between MBDA Deutschland GmbH (formerly LFK) and Saab Bofors Dynamics.
The missile incorporates stealth technology and has an official range in excess of 500 km (300 mi). It is powered by a turbofan engine at Mach 0.95 and can be carried by Panavia Tornado, Eurofighter Typhoon, Saab JAS 39 Gripen, McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet, and McDonnell Douglas F-15K Slam Eagle aircraft. The missile can easily be adapted to other aircrafts such as EF Typhoon, JAS39 Gripen, F-16 Fighting Falcon, and F-35 Lightning. Here is a FILE PHOTO of an actual Taurus Missile:
2024 02 10 11 55
While the missile’s actual range is never publicly disclosed, the specifications readily reveal it has a range “greater than 500km.”
The map below shows a 500km range from the northern-most area inside Ukraine, and Moscow is CLEARLY within range; especially given the fact that Germany readily and publicly admits the Taurus missile has a range “greater than 500km.”
2024 02 10 11 56e
So as you read this, the US and NATO are training Ukraine Pilots on F-16’s. Training those same pilots on the use of the U.S. B-61 nuclear bomb, and debating also giving them German Taurus missiles which can reach Moscow.
Thus, the West is escalating and escalating the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
This week, Poland issued an ominous Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) changing flight regulations in the entire eastern quarter of their country. Pilots up to flight level 95 (9500 feet) must now be in radio contact with air traffic controllers, and must use their Transponders so ground controllers can see EVERY plane in the sky within that vast area.
The geographic area covered by this NOTAM includes the entire Poland Border with Ukraine, Belarus, and Lithuania. Here is the map from the NOTAM:
2024 02 10 w11 56
Poland’s NOTAM also makes clear they are adding these new rules “due to the possibility of Unplanned Military Actions related to ensuring National Security.”
What “unplanned military actions” does Poland foresee? Missile exchanges with Russia, perhaps? Why would that happen?
Well, it turns out that the F-16’s being given to Ukraine require a lot of maintenance, refueling and re-arming, which the airfields inside Ukraine can no longer accomplish because Russia has hit them so many times.
So it is now within the realm of __POSSIBILITY__ that those F-16’s may have to be flown into Ukraine from NATO bases in Poland or Romania!
Just this week, Russia made it explicitly clear that if F-16’s take off from NATO bases, and are used to attack Russian forces inside Ukraine, Russia will “mercilessly destroy” those bases.
That . . . . that right there . . . . would then be called “A Russian attack against NATO” which would then be used as an excuse to trigger NATO Treaty, “Article 5” Collective Self Defense.
When Russia began its Special Military Operation (SMO) to “de-militarize” and “de-Nazify” Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin made clear “Russian conventional forces are not comparable to NATO. We know that. But Russia is also a nuclear power. And our nuclear capability is superior to all others. If NATO declares Article 5, Collective Self Defense against Russia, it will be a war no one will win.“
Readers are no doubt aware that the only “war no one will win” is a nuclear war.
So from the start of Russia’s SMO, the US and NATO have known Russia may use nukes. Now, the US and NATO are setting the stage for exactly that, by supplying Ukraine with nuclear-capable F-16’s, training Ukraine pilots to fly those planes and to use the B-61 nuclear bomb, and allow those planes to takeoff from NATO bases outside of Ukraine, attack Russian forces in Ukraine, then land at those NATO bases for refueling, re-arming, and maintenance.
The US and NATO are doing this despite knowing the Russians will “mercilessly destroy” those NATO bases, and will use nukes if NATO declares Article 5 self defense against Russia.
Here’s the punch line: The Poland NOTAM began February 5, 2024, and will remain in effect until May 5, 2024.
That tells most people that Poland knows between now and May 5, 2024, the fight between NATO and Russia will break out, and they are warning pilots in that area over what they KNOW is coming . . . . because Poland, the US and NATO are going to actually cause it.
Of course, the mass-media in the United States and in Europe, has been completely derelict in their duty to report these facts to the general public. As a result, the general public has no idea at all, their own governments are escalating the situation between Russia and Ukraine to the point that actual nuclear war may commence between now and May 5.
Do you have Emergency food, water, medicine, flashlights, batteries, an electric generator, fuel, communications gear like a CB or HAM radio? If not, how do you expect to survive if this thing happens? How will you and your family eat? How will you get information once the electric grid goes down from the electro-magnetic pulse from nuclear detonations which take down all the TV and radio stations?
You’ll be left, cold, hungry, in the dark and without information, because YOU chose to do nothing and not prepare.
Better get prepped. There’s very little time left.
Frègula Sarda
In the Mediterranean island of Sardegna (Sardinia), locals call this pasta “frègula.” In current Italian, it is known as “fregola.” At home, Chef Rosario simply calls it a delicious pasta option!
fregula sarda
Yield: 2 servings
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups Frègula Sarda; alternatively, use orzo pasta, acini pepe or large cous-cous
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
1/2 red onion, diced
2 garlic cloves
1 red chile pepper, fresh or dry, with the seeds removed, crushed
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 cups cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced
1 tablespoon capers, drained
4 cups homemade shrimp or vegetable broth
1 celery, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 pinch saffron
12 ounces large shrimp, preferably shell-on
Fresh marjoram or oregano, chopped
Fresh Italian parsley, chopped
Lemon zest
Bay leaf
Salt to taste
Instructions
Peel and de-vein the shrimp, reserving the shells for the broth. Make broth by heating the shells in a little olive oil and adding a handful of roughly diced carrots, celery, onions, tomatoes, parsley stems and a bay leaf. Cook for one minute with a little olive oil; then add water and bring to a simmer. Keep at a simmer until needed. If you use pre-peeled shrimp, use a light vegetable broth instead.
In a large casserole start the soffritto: add EVOO, onions, garlic and chili peppers. Cook on medium heat until golden (not brown).
Add frègula and sauté for a minute.
Add wine and cook to evaporate alcohol.
Add capers, tomatoes, and saffron. Once heated through, add 1 cup of the simmering broth. Stir occasionally. Add broth in 1 cup increments as needed to keep the frègula moist and brothy.
When the pasta is almost cooked “al dente” (10 to 15 minutes, depending on the size of the pasta grains) add shrimp and cook for a couple minutes more (or until they reach an internal temperature of 160 degrees F). Remove shrimp from pot to avoid overcooking and set them aside.
The frègula is ready when all the broth has been absorbed and it has reached a creamy, risotto-like consistency.
Remove from heat, add herbs, and stir thoroughly. Transfer to a serving platter or individual plates. Place the cooked shrimp on top and sprinkle with freshly grated lemon zest.
Notes
Frègula resembles a large size cous-cous, but it is also reminiscent of other “berry sized” pasta varieties, like “acini pepe” or orzo. The word frègula derives from the Italian verb “sfregolare,” which describes the action of hand rolling the dough against a terracotta surface. The Sardinian version is made with 100% durum wheat semolina and pure water. Once shaped, it is lightly toasted to a golden color and “ecco fatto,” it’s ready for this delicious recipe!
Sommelier’s Notes
Sella & Mosca 2017 La Cala (Vermentino di Sardegna) – Sardegna, Italy
Vermentino is a white wine grape indigenous to the western Mediterranean. It thrives in northwestern Italy, southern France, and the nearby islands of Corsica and Sardegna (Sardinia).
This pleasing wine offers herbaceous Mediterranean flavors heightened with hints of pineapple and citrus.
I worked at a staffing firm in New York City. I was the top producer and my two bosses loved me.
One of the bosses who is on his second marriage, and having an affair with the receptionist. It was not a secret. Everyone in our small company knew.
both bosses or cocaine addicts. As their addiction increased, they were decreasing our commissions.
Counselors started leaving. The bosses were bringing in inexperienced losers, who were requesting the company more money than they were making.
I decided to leave.
I typed up a letter of resignation and included the amount of commissions that were currently owned to me.
They never gave me a penny.
My husband is an attorney and wrote a “lawyer letter“ to the two principles. They didn’t care.
I got together with a few of the other counselors, who had also left, and also didn’t get their commissions. We decided to write a letter to his wife, telling her about the affair that her husband was having with the receptionist.
He used to tell his wife said he was going to the gym every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. He always left with a gym bag filled with a change of clothes.
We told his wife that he had no gym membership and that she should check his gym bag when he comes home on those days and see that not one thing in the gym bag was used and nothing was sweaty or dirty. The gym bag was exactly as it was in the morning when he left for work.
She obviously knew the receptionist, and put everything together and filed for divorce.
he was furious, and called each one of us, and asked if we had done it! Lol!
We will still had to go to court but I sued for $23,000 which was $10,000 more than my original claim. I knew that he had an idiot doing the bookkeeping and they would have no idea what they are with me.
When I was a teenager and working in the mines and the supermarket, I was once approached by a very old man. It was a very odd visit.
I was sitting outside on the bench (outside the local laundrymat) which it was next to the supermarket where I worked. I had just finished eating my lunch. At that time, I was greatly enamored with a local “phillycheese sandwich”. So I was eating it, finished up and was ready to go back in and finish my shift.
Then, this older man slowly walked up to me.
He was old. He wore old-man clothes. Was short and hunched over, and came up to me and sat down besides me. I have never seen him before. He didn’t look like anyone that I knew, nor related to anyone. Just a strange old, old man.
He was quiet for the entire time.
But, as I started to get up to go, he lightly touched me on the arm. And then he said…
“Listen to me young man”.
So, I paused (out of respect) and stood there in front of him.
He continued.
“You are young. You have the whole world in front of you.”
I smiled and nodded.
“Be careful. Don’t get married early. Go to school. Work on yourself. Everything will come to you. This is a difficult time for you in this life.”
I said thank you, and started to leave.
He touched me again. Softly.
“I only wish that someone told me back then, what I am telling you now.”
I told him “thank you”.
I then walked back to the store, and about ten steps toward the door, I looked back.
He wasn’t there. He had disappeared.
I don’t know what happened.
For the longest time, I forgot about the event and the old man. Who was it? I don’t know. Was it time travel mm? Maybe… Who knows?
Loretta was working as an underwriter at a large insurance company in Los Angeles where I had a summer job.
She was an older lady from the South, wore her blonde hair in a beehive, and was always attired in polyester slacks, very colorful overblouses and matching costume jewelry, all from the Sears catalog.
She was polite with others but pretty much kept to herself. At company functions, she engaged in courteous conversation that gave no insight into whom she was.
Her desk was tidy with a few, forgettable personal items.
She was respected by the other underwriters and the bosses. We heard that she had refused promotions, being quite happy where she was.
I was sitting in front of her desk when the Personnel Manager strode in purposefully. As he drew nearer to Loretta’s desk, his confidence waned.
“Miss Loretta, may I speak to you and Bernard (the unit supervisor) for just a moment?” (Yes, he really called her ‘Miss Loretta’. . .no one else was addressed in such a way.)
“Why, of course.” (It sounds much better with a southern accent applied.)
Loretta’s desk was opposite Bernard’s office, so since they did not close the door, I heard everything.
“Miss Loretta, we’ve been through this before. You must cash your paychecks. The Finance Department can’t clear the books until you do.”
Loretta looked somewhat chastened, one hand fluttering to her throat.
“Why, I am so, so sorry! I didn’t mean to put anyone out. It just slipped my mind. I will take care of that today at lunch time!”
“You have the checks with you today?”
“Why, yes, I do. I believe they are in my desk.”
Mr. Personnel Manager gulped and then thanked her. Loretta went to the break room for coffee.
As I waited for her, I heard Bernard ask how many checks were outstanding.
Twenty-three monthly paychecks had not yet been cashed.
Think You Want To Get Married? 25 Wives Reveal Dark Secrets That They’ve Kept From Their Husbands
Years ago I was trying a fancy Italian restaurant for the first time. My wife and I ordered. My wife’s meal arrived and she didn’t care for it. Moreover, it wasn’t as described in the menu. She flagged the waiter and he asked what he could help her with. She noticed that her dish didn’t have sun-dried tomatoes like the menu said and the waiter explained that the kitchen was out of them. She asked about another item that the menu said was in the dish but wasn’t and the waiter replied that they were out of that item as well.
She said she didn’t really like her dish and that she tried my dish and it was delicious and asked for what I was having instead. Our waiter heavily sighed gave us a very pained expression like we were being ridiculous and took her plate away. He returned with another plate of what I was having. What my wife originally ordered was more expensive than my dish and on the check she was still charged for the more expensive dish. At this point I wasn’t going to argue with the waiter so I just subtracted the amount we were overcharged from the waiter’s tip and left.
We never went back to that restaurant and told everyone who asked about our experience. Now if the restaurant apologized for the dish not being right, cheerfully changed my wife’s order and didn’t overcharge us we would have come back and had a much more positive experience to report to anyone who asked.
More recently when dining with my family my daughter ordered the special. She really didn’t like it. She tends to be a pretty picky eater so I tried it and I have to say I didn’t blame her because I didn’t like it either. The waiter came by and saw that my daughter hardly touched it and asked if it was OK. My daughter said yes. I told our waiter that my daughter didn’t like her dish but was too polite to say anything and that I tried it and didn’t think it was very good either. He apologized and said that the dish was a bit unusual and people usually either loved or hated it and that he would be happy to bring her something she would enjoy. After dinner our waiter said dessert was on him because of our inconvenience; we explained that we were all too full and our waiter offered to box it up for us to enjoy later. We sometimes do go back to that restaurant when we are in that area.
Many things in life can either be a problem or an opportunity. In the first case not liking a dish was a problem. In the second case it was an opportunity for the restaurant to give good service.
A good restaurant would rather exchange a meal than lose a customer.
Funny
The inventor Arthur Davidson, of the Harley Davidson Motorcycle Corporation, died and went to heaven. At the gates, St. Peter told Arthur, “Since you’ve been such a good man and your Motorcycles have changed the world, your reward is, you can hang out with anyone you want in Heaven.” Arthur thought about it for a minute and then said, “I want to hang out with God.” St. Peter took Arthur to the Throne Room, and introduced him to God. Arthur then asked God, “Hey, aren’t you the inventor of women? “God said, “Ah, yes. ” “Well, ” said Arthur, “professional to professional, you have some major design flaws in your invention.” God was somewhat taken back, and when He asked what the flaws might be, Arthur Davidson produced a list for Him to read.
1. There’s too much inconsistency in the front-end protrusions.
2. It chatters constantly at high speeds.
3. Most of the rear ends are too soft and wobble too much.
4. The intake is placed way to close to the exhaust and finally,
5. The maintenance costs are outrageous. “Hmmmm, you may have some good points there and it may be true that My invention is flawed… ” God said to Arthur. “But the last time that I checked, more men are riding My invention than yours.”
This happened to me at one of the companies i worked for. It was time for appraisal and promotion. I got a call from my boss; he wanted to discuss my promotion with me. I got to his office and he started to talk about how he wasn’t sure of my strength, etc.
I had surpassed my sales and product development target for the year and I was shocked to hear this. He wanted me to tell him what I was good at. Without a doubt, I did but I wasn’t comfortable with why he was asking that question.
I had never failed to meet my sales target or deliver on a project that was assigned to me. I got recommendations for promotion from HR, my colleagues, and other managers in the company.
I thought he wasn’t being honest with me. He wanted to critique my effort in order to not give me what I deserved as stated in the company’s career path. I felt bad for a couple of weeks and a colleague of mine said something that brought strength into me.
“If the boss doesn’t appreciate your effort, another company will” he said.
I connected with that statement, dusted my resumé off and started looking for a new job. I got recommended to a company by my friend, got an interview and secured the job.
It was time to break the news to my boss. On a Sunday evening, I submitted my resignation with a two weeks notice. Monday morning, I got to the office and got a call from my boss asking to see me immediately. He expressed how displeased he was about my resignation. He pleaded for six weeks notice instead of two weeks as stated in my employment letter. He said he would be in trouble if I left and that it would be difficult to get a quick replacement considering that I had so much responsibility in the office. He started saying things as they ought to have been said during the promotion interview. While I would have loved to wait for six weeks before leaving, I had committed to starting at the new office after two weeks. I made a promise that I would ensure whomever replaces me is well-equipped with all the information and documentation he or she needs and I was willing to provide assistance if needed.
He wanted to negotiate but I rejected the offer. If I have to explain my contribution to the development of the company only during promotions, then it’s obvious he wasn’t being honest with me.
It was time to move on.
An Egg McMuffin Was Once Just 99 Cents. Can You Guess How Much One Costs Today?
The days of the 99 cent Egg McMuffin are never coming back. Our central bank has been treating our currency like toilet paper, and our politicians in Washington have been borrowing and spending trillions of dollars that we do not have. As a result, we are in the midst of an inflation crisis that seemingly has no end.
Of course the mainstream media insists that inflation is “low”, but literally just about everything that we shell out money for on a regular basis costs a lot more these days. For example, just check out what it will cost you to get a single Egg McMuffin at one McDonald’s location in Connecticut…
A McDonald’s customer was left astounded after paying $7.29 for a single Egg McMuffin in a Connecticut drive through.
Bespoke Investment Group posted a picture of the customer’s receipt with the caption ‘$7.29 for one McDonald’s Egg McMuffin. What has the world come to?? These were 2 for $2 pretty recently.’
The bill records the purchase of two Egg McMuffins for $14.58 and one Bacon, Egg & Cheese McGriddle without two half-strips of bacon for $7.19.
$7.29 for just one Egg McMuffin?
Are you serious?
So that means that the price of an Egg MucMuffin in Connecticut is now more than 7 times higher than it was during the Reagan administration… https://www.youtube.com/embed/f-8rcPOs9r4?si=8taFsKsT0T34m2Y7Watching old commercials like that makes me sad, because our country has become a completely different place since that time.
Of course it isn’t just the Egg McMuffin that has become ridiculously expensive.
One customer in Idaho was stunned when he recently had to shell out $16.10 for his value meal…
Another customer in Idaho was also shocked to discover the prices of combo deal in December.
Topher Olive, was visiting one of the restaurant’s locations in Post Falls when he picked up a Smoky BLT Quarter Pounder with Cheese, a large fry, and a large Sprite setting him back $16.10.
He shared a video of his meal on, where he has more than 334,000 followers, admitting that he was shocked over the price.
I clearly remember when I could get a combo at McDonald’s for just five bucks.
Now only the wealthy can afford to eat at McDonald’s on a regular basis.
Needless to say, the definition of “wealthy” has changed too.
Once upon a time, if you had a million dollars you were set for life.
Kevin O’Leary, Shark Tank star and investor, sparked significant discussion with his assertion that individuals need $5 million in their bank accounts to ensure lifelong financial stability.
In an August 2023 YouTube video, O’Leary said, “You have to get to a place where you have $5 million in the bank,” emphasizing the importance of this amount to “survive the rest of your life, no matter what happens.” This statement, along with his detailed financial advice, has been a subject of both support and criticism among viewers and financial experts.
Only a tiny percentage of the population has that kind of money.
Amazingly, in this very tight economic environment there is a campaign to increase the salaries of members of Congress by 70 percent…
A campaign has started to raise the salaries of House and Senate members by 70% to $294,000 from the current $174,000 in return for better “performance.”
Federal analyst Steven Kopits, the president of Princeton Policy Advisors, argued that since most members are lawyers, salaries should at least be equal to what first-year associates in Manhattan receive, plus a 20% bump up.
“Most legislators are lawyers by trade, and we — or at least I — would hope that the public would prefer the best and the brightest to become members of Congress. First year law associates in New York are the best and brightest of their year, typically from Ivy League universities, and their salaries are tied to the market for premium legal services in the U.S. Therefore, if we believe we would like to recruit top-line legal professionals to serve in Congress, then first year associate salaries are a plausible comparable,” Kopits said in a memo.
Just like the rest of us, they are also being crushed by the terrible inflation that they played a major role in creating.
Considering how poorly they have performed, there is no way in the world that they should be getting a raise.
It is the rest of the country that needs help. The middle class is shrinking, food banks are facing unprecedented demand all over the nation, and homelessness is rising at the fastest pace ever recorded.
And our politicians are making things even worse by bringing in vast numbers of extremely desperate people from other countries.
In Denver, 40,000 new migrants have arrived during the past year, and they are absolutely overwhelming the city’s social services…
Nearly 40,000 migrants have arrived in Denver over the past year, making a city with a population of just over 710,000 the top destination per capita for newly arrived migrants crossing the U.S. southern border and traveling north in buses from Texas.
The influx is taking a toll on the city’s public safety net. Starting Feb. 5, Denver will limit the number of days migrants can stay in shelters and send those who exceed their stay out onto the streets.
One Venezuelan family, a mother, father and their three daughters, told NBC News they’ve been staying at a hotel paid for by the city, but they’ve just received notice that they’ll be evicted.
“Just yesterday they started throwing away the toys, the bicycles in the common area,” the mother said. “We don’t know where we will go next.”
This is happening all over the nation, and there is no end to this crisis in sight.
Meanwhile, we are being warned that the economy will “cool considerably” during the months ahead…
The U.S. economy is set to cool considerably in the coming months as once-rampant spending by American consumers finally comes to an end, according to Wells Fargo.
In a recent note to clients, Wells Fargo senior global market strategist Scott Wren warned that retail spending is likely to slow over the course of 2024 as the job market eases and layoffs start to rise.
“Americans with jobs and money in their pockets are going to spend,” Wren wrote. “However, as the economy slows as we move through the middle portion of this year and the labor market softens, we continue to believe the holiday spending that occurred last year was a bit of a last hurrah for the consumer.”
Of course there are lots of signs that the economy is already heading in the wrong direction quite rapidly.
Sales of iPhones are typically a very good indicator of where things are going, and right now projections for 2024 are quite dismal…
Apple stock, which on any given day is either the most or 2nd most valuable company in the world, rotating with MSFT, reversed earlier gains and slumped to session lows after widely-read TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo (best known for gathering intelligence from his contacts in Apple’s Asian supply chain) reported that Apple has lowered its 2024 iPhone shipments of key upstream semiconductor components to about 200 million units, which correspondents to a decline of 15% year-on-year.
As a result, he notes that iPhone 15 series and new iPhone 16 series shipments will decline by 10–15% year-on-year in 1H 2024 and 2H 2024, respectively (compared to iPhone 14 series shipments in 1H 2023 and iPhone 15 series shipments in 2H 2023, respectively). Even worse, Apple’s weekly shipments in China have declined by 30–40% year-on-year in recent weeks, and this downward trend is expected to continue.
And layoff announcements continue to roll in from coast to coast.
UPS plans to layoff nearly 12,000 employees following a massive year-over-year decline in revenue, company officials told USA TODAY Tuesday morning.
The workforce reduction is part of an effort to align resources in 2024 and will save the company nearly $1 billion, the Atlanta-based company’s CEO Carole Tomé said on a company earnings call.
A slow-motion train wreck is playing out day after day right in front of our eyes.
It was well-known at my middle school and high school that the school nurse didn’t have free pads for the students.
In middle school, we had to call our parents to pick us up. My mother worked out of town, and my father certainly wouldn’t have picked me up or bought me period supplies even if I had asked him. For him, that was always the mother’s job. That wasn’t something that fathers did. I shudder to think of what would’ve happened if I didn’t have enough pads with me during his visitation. He probably would have sent me home to my mother.
In high school, the school nurse had pads for purchase. The price was 50 cents per pad (about $2 apiece today), and while that doesn’t sound like much, the high school nurse wouldn’t just give you a pad if you didn’t have money and found yourself with a nasty visit from Aunt Flo. If you didn’t have money, the nurse wouldn’t budge. She would let you bleed through your clothes and make you call your parents to pick you up rather than give out a free pad. There were no vending machines for pads or tampons in the girl’s restroom at school. The only way she would give you one is if you had the money in your hand.
I understand that the nurse probably had to pay for them out of her own pocket, and she wanted to be reimbursed, but I never had any money. Ever. My mother was one of those parents who had zero problems with helping herself to her children’s savings. She also held the same job out of town, and didn’t have transportation back until the end of the workday, anyway. I usually carried plenty of backup pads and tampons all the time, but sometimes I ran out.
I also had extremely heavy, long-lasting periods even as a teenager. That meant that even wearing both a tampon and a pad, sometimes they were both soaked within 2 hours, sometimes less. I stained my clothes a few times. Did the school nurse care? Not a bit. She refused to give up any of her precious pads without money. She still got paid either way.
Which is why, when I found out that my kids’ school gave out free menstrual supplies, no matter what the economic status of their students, I almost cried.
China is the largest customer for the Oil Producing Countries in the Middle East
China is also the largest trader and exporter with the Middle East
From Cooking Ranges to Crockery to Clothing to Hikvision Cameras to Machinery to Stationery to Cutlery to Consumer Electronics to Bridges to Roads to Factory Construction to Industrial Air Conditioning
China thus has irreplaceable clout in the Middle East
Impossible to get alternative suppliers for all those products at that affordable cost and quality that China can deliver
Plus the latest exports include Commercial Drones, Trainer Aircraft, Advanced Drills & Gas Platform Drilling Equipment and Rigs
It’s ECONOMIC CLOUT in a Win Win relationship
Tomorrow if Saudi wants Nuclear Energy, China can fully and completely build Nuclear Energy Plants for Saudi and build completely Indigenous Reactors for the Saudis even the latest Thorium Salt Reactors
Meanwhile what clout does the West have?
In the last 75 years, the West has turned the middle East into a war zone begining in 1948
They provoke wars within Arab Nations using Israel as the pawn and then sell weapons to the Arab Nations to defend themselves
They threaten every Nation to use Dollars as transaction currency even if it’s a loss to them
The West has not helped a single Middle Eastern Nation beyond forcing them to kowtow to it’s Agenda like an Evil Demented Emperor
US was Saudis largest trading partner until the Mid 2000s
The nature of exports?
Weapons!!!!!!!
Weapons and Spares formed a whopping 37% of all exports to Saudi Arabia
Saudi was primitive for a long time and US didn’t care in the least
In 2003, Colin Powell literally forced the entire middle East to turn on Saddam Hussein even though he was a fellow Arab and everyone knew he was not guilty of 90% of the things, he was being accused of
Today?
Can Blinken Try?
They will ask him to go f*** himself if he goes too far
Egypt already said this many times recently
So did Qatar
So did Jordan
They didn’t turn on Assad even though the US demanded they do
And that was because of Uncle Vlad
image 5
That’s Russia
Russia doesn’t have Chinas clout
However they have Military power next only to the US and in terms of land fighting capability even better
They also have Food that the Middle East could use in an emergency, if US sanctions them
So Yes
The West no longer has the dominance in the middle East
They have to DELIVER to maintain even minimum influence
The normal threats and bullying won’t work
Sanctions will drive the Middle East into Chinas arms in nanoseconds
image 4
The US is now like ANY OTHER CUSTOMER
HIGH VALUE CUSTOMER yes but no longer the only Bull Elephant in the herd
Those days are gone
Trump even if he becomes President cannot change anything unless he offers a lot to the Saudis for their friendship and delivers Nuclear Technology and also other concessions including modification of the Bretton Woods system to accept multiple currencies
Joe Rogan is shocked to learn about Thomas Sowell’s Wisdom
https://youtu.be/OtBsyvpjjL8
The 10 Reasons Why Men Need a Men’s Coach to Breakthrough in their Life and Relationships
Last Updated On September 8, 2023
by Andrew Ferebee
Let me get this straight – you did everything right according to society’s rules and you’re telling me you’re not happy with the results?
You excelled in school, worked your butt off and built a successful career, live in a good neighborhood, drive a nice car and aren’t worried about monthly bills but despite the picture perfect life on the outside, there’s an empty feeling, a sense of unease like something deeper is missing.
Remember that inner fire that once drove you, the one that used to consume your soul like a wildfire to be all you can be? It’s diminished now, isn’t it? Doused and replaced by the cold, biting reality of a life lived for material possessions, putting others needs first and social constructs. A life of half awake work and mind-numbing monotony. Doesn’t exactly spark a flame of joy in your bones, does it?
Pause for a moment and let this sink in.
You might be doing well on the surface layer, but here’s the cold, hard truth: amidst that seemingly picture perfect facade, you’re unknowingly missing the very essence of life itself. I’m talking about those profound, soul-stirring connections that leave you breathless, the magnetic friendships that push the boundaries beyond the status quo, the intoxicating romance that sets your world ablaze, and that relentless thirst for adventure and purpose that has propelled men to move mountains for millennia.
Thoreau once wrote,
“The mass of men live lives of quiet desperation.”
Look around you – this is as true today as it was then. Perhaps even more so!
We all enter into this world as a blank slate. An empty canvas to be filled with rich experiences, connections, passion filled romances and adventures to enrich our lives.
Men have always longed to…
Explore the world alongside his soulmate. He dreams of heart-pounding adventures, immersing himself in vibrant cultures, and cherishing those rare, life-altering moments. But alas, his reality is far from idyllic. Instead, he finds himself relentlessly toiling, desperately grasping for a taste of true “freedom.” Every day, he deceives himself, clutching onto the false notion that once he completes that next project or seals that elusive deal, he’ll finally have the time and worthiness to embrace romance, chase adventure, and authentically align with his deepest values
Ravish his beautiful lover nightly, yet he’s been fed the cliché advice to toil relentlessly before he can, striving to amplify his worth as a man. So he takes it to heart, dedicating his life to arduous work in the pursuit of being worthy of love. But what does he get in return? A love life that fails to provide pleasure, instead leaving him feeling abandoned and disrespected. His partner’s apathetic response to his romantic endeavors akin to a contractual obligation rather than an outpouring of raw passion, reducing their connection to the status of mere roommates. Isolated, he clings to his smartphone, its somber blue light a haunting symbol of the all-consuming void that torments his manhood.
Discover a purpose so mighty, so unyielding, that he’d lay down his very existence without hesitation to witness its breathtaking realization. But here’s the chilling truth: his days are shackled to a career, forced to coexist with similar zombie like colleagues, all for the sake of financing an unceasing cascade of hollow possessions that provide fleeting value, pass time and hold no genuine meaning.
Catapult out of bed each morning, brimming with an unwavering energy for the day. But alas, that is not the tale that unfolds. Instead, fatigue clings to his bones, sapping his vitality, as he traverses the exhausting grind of a never-ending pursuit of money, ensnared in the perpetual race to keep pace with the elusive peers around him. Determined to prove his worth, he yearns for validation, yearns for the recognition of his true capabilities, all in the hopes that it will rekindle the flickering flame of a passionless existence and breathe life into the barren landscapes of his love life
Deepen his connection with his masculinity, not only ‘finding’ himself, but actively sculpting himself into the confident, charming and alive man he’s always aspired to be or once was…But instead, he settles for society’s warped version of success, repressing his masculine fire, and sacrificing his most profound aspirations, dreams, and desires on the altar of social accolades, as he selflessly serves the needs of others.
Ah, what’s interesting is that he meticulously followed society’s script, constructing a life that was meant to be extraordinary, unforgettable, and full of success. Yet, here he sits, his eyes fixed on the glowing screen of a computer, ceaselessly treading away, trapped in the clutches of a whispering desperation that lingers within.
We live in a world where men are now more afraid than ever to be masculine, alive and act like strong grounded men. Men, like caged king lions, suppress their power and authenticity, concealing their truth behind a smokescreen of professional accomplishments and shiny toys.
And so it begins, a treacherous game, one that threatens to swallow them whole. With each move, their once vibrant social connections and intimate relationships plummet into a harrowing abyss. A descent into darkness unfolds, gripping their souls like a serpent’s squeeze. In a desperate scramble, the man succumbs to the alluring mirage of “more,” effectively ignoring the real problem while immersing himself in the superficial trappings of societal success.
Just consider that..
The suicide rate for men is 3.5x higher than that of women (iconic men who surpassed society’s version of “success”: like Robin Williams, Anthony Bourdain, Avicci, Chester Bennington, Mac Miller, Junior Seau, Chris Cornell and Heath Ledger fell victim to this horrible act)
The divorce rate in the U.S hovers above 51% with family courts often siding with the mother
Men are 3x more likely to become alcohol and drug dependent (not to mention adult website usage is at all time highs) – masking their problems and hiding rather than getting support and solving them.
You can be forgiven for assuming that, at this point, men would reach out for help in droves. But because of society’s mandate that “Real men” are somehow capable of handling everything by themselves, men are less likely to reach out for help.
Instead, men numb themselves to reality with pleasure inducing addictions. Porn, social media, video games, Netflix originals, and even “work”, have become the sources of our respite. But their shallow promises only exacerbate the issue. These vices do little to further what matters most in our lives and nothing to solve the deeper problems men increasingly face.
So let’s clear something up right now…
Men’s coaching does not mean a man is weak or incapable of achieving results himself.
Coaching is strategic investment that allows men to grow faster by leveraging the guidance of a seasoned expert with the perspective, experience and know-how to breakthrough limiting beliefs thatkeep men lost for decades faster.
Someone to hold you accountable – to speak to you like no other man will and guide you in your life and relationships or lack thereof. To finally free you of the BS story that’s been holding you back from experiencing the life and relationship you truly want.
Let’s be honest here:
Warren Buffet wouldn’t be the greatest investor of our time without Benjamin Graham…
Marcus Aurelius wouldn’t be one of the greatest philosophers in history, the Emperor of Rome, and one of the most successful generals in military history without Epictetus…
Michael Jordan wouldn’t be the greatest basketball player and (arguably) the greatest athlete of our time without Phil Jackson and you could say the same for Kobe.
And to believe that you’re the exception to the rule is nothing more than nonsense!
If you want to live an exceptional life…a life filled with joy, adventure, romance, deep connection, control over the direction of your life and a sense of true masculine power…getting help by someone who is a results driven coach is the smartest thing you can do to get ahead of the masses.
Men must bravely enlist the help of other men who have “been there, done that”, and can share their wisdom, guidance and insight for living a remarkable life and cultivating real relationships beyond societies surface layer.
And today, I’m going to share the ten reasons why men’s coaching is the “secret edge” you’ve been searching for. The “missing link” that will help men reclaim their masculine power, end the “Nice Guy” behaviors, and become more attractive to and respected by the highest quality women and most successful men in their community.
There’s no time to waste. Let’s dive in.
1. You Lack a Powerful Results Driven Mentor Who Listens Carefully and Inspires Relentless Action
Therapy can be great. And for some men, necessary. But it’s not the end all solution it’s been made out to be.
Sure, they’ll listen intently (they’re paid to). But do not confuse a good listener with actual progress in reality. They don’t push you to challenge yourself, eschew the status quo of mediocrity, and step into your role as the king and creator of your own life. They know very little about reclaiming your masculine power and creating a life that makes you proud of the man you are becoming. Instead, they enable you to play small. Encourage it even for longer than necessary.
A men’s coach doesn’t.
When you enlist the help of other like-minded men who have been where you are today, they can spot your B.S. before you even open your mouth. They will hold you to a higher standard, demand that you play at a higher level, and challenge you in a way that others wouldn’t dare.
Granted there are well-meaning mental health professionals that exist, yet few and far between. And after working with 1000s of men their feedback on the results of therapy vs. coaching were all but ubiquitous and mostly time consuming and costly.
With therapy, they spent years (some of them decades) digging through their past to identify all of the ways in which their parents, teachers, friends, and high school crushes screwed them up for life.
They myopically focused on the trauma (real or perceived) of the past in hopes that somehow…by realizing that their anger issues stemmed from their broken relationship with their father…they would magically heal themselves and fix the problems with how they were showing up in the present..
Therapy doesn’t empower you to move forward, it only helps you resolve that which is already in your rear view mirror. It won’t help you show up to your relationships in a more grounded way that women naturally respond to, build a social lifestyle that excites you, or contend with the very real challenges you are facing in the present. It simply keeps you trapped by the challenges you’ve already overcome.
With coaching, it’s an entirely different story.
Yes, coaches will still address the implications of your past and how unresolved trauma might be manifesting itself as negative behaviors today.
But they don’t let you live there indefinitely and damn well don’t let you use it as an excuse!
With a men’s coach, the entire conversation is centered around growth, about learning from the challenges you’ve experienced in the past to become stronger and move forward today.
It isn’t based on theory. It’s based on action, results and experience. Experience from your coach’s own life or the lives of those they’ve worked with and gotten the end result you seek.
They’ll listen to you deeply, yes. But they’ll also have the courage and wisdom to speak to you directly like a man in a bold, masculine and direct way that is severely lacking today. Calling you out on the b.s. stories to which you’ve given away your power…giving you the facts of why your life isn’t working effectively in this new era for men…and being brutally honest in their feedback.
They’ll hit you upside the head with a no-holds barred reality check and hold you accountable to breaking the patterns and behaviors that are holing you back from the life, social status, and relationships you want.
With a therapist, you talk about the past. With a coach, you march courageously into the future.
They won’t let you hide from your challenges or outsource responsibility for your life to some traumatic episode of the past.
They will challenge you to level up today. To be real, raw, and honest with yourself and take concrete bold action toward solving the challenges holding you back from the life you want – on your very first session.
2. You’re Trapped by “Nice Guy” Behaviors Because You Lack Strong Masculine Role Models
Like me, your father probably wasn’t the best role model.
He wasn’t the Strong Grounded Man you aspire to be. He didn’t live a passionate, courageous and exciting life, he wasn’t a part of a strong community of men, he likely gave his power away to your mother and unintentionally taught you, through his example, that, to be a man, is to resign yourself to a life of serving and pleasing others…void of true purpose, power, and adventure.
Like most men, your father was either a quintessential “Nice Guy”–who trained you to adopt those same patterns and behaviors–or the opposite, a “Bad Boy”–who inadvertently trained you to be a nice guy because you wanted to rebel and be nothing like him.
This isn’t meant to denigrate your father – he likely did the best he could with what he was given from his father.
You may struggle with how to treat women (especially attractive women)
You may struggle standing up for yourself during conflict
You may avoid or put off conflicts to not “upset” anyone or cause any problems
You don’t know how to respectfully get your needs met and because of this hide a deep frustration inside– where sometimes it uncontrollably explodes in an anger fueled outburst
You are a nice guy who does things in order to get people to validate your worth
In our modern society, healthy and authentic masculinity has become vilified. Because of the real problems with toxic masculinity, we’ve instructed men to be submissive.
We’ve trained men to eschew their masculine edge…to rely only on the feminine elements of their nature instead of bringing together both energies to become complete, fully integrated, Grounded Men.
Today, it is more important than ever for men to regain their masculine energy because it is the missing link to get to the next level in life – especially romantic relationships.
Too many men allow their “Nice Guy” tendencies to undermine their life…putting the needs of others first…struggling to assert themselves to avoid tension…being unable to set and maintain healthy boundaries…and refusing to prioritize their own goals, ambitions and dreams.
And the end result is always a life filled with regret, a decrease in the man’s value and incognito resentment to those who take advantage of you with little to no appreciation.
On the other side of the spectrum, we have the “Over Achiever”. Men who use their professional ambitions to mask the pain they feel inside and achieve some modicum of validation through their external accomplishments and accolades to outwardly prove their self worth to society and of course, women.
While there’s nothing wrong with success, money, or achievement, these men are not pursuing these things from a place of wholeness…using them as tools and resources to magnify a fulfilled life…instead they pursue them from the lens of scarcity, ego and desperation. In hopes that the next milestone, promotion, or product launch will somehow give them the feeling that they are enough and others will suddenly validate them and place them on a higher arbitrary pedestal of life. That they finally belong, yet the problem is this can go on for the rest of the man’s life… meanwhile the clock is ticking.
But when you leverage a men’s coach, when you surround yourself with strong masculine men tempered by virtue and a sense of purpose and honor, you can begin the process of eradicating these dark tendencies once and for all.
You’ll learn how to develop your confidence in a healthy way free of ego, how to set boundaries, prioritize yourself (while still being valued and respected by others) and your desires, speak the truth even when it’s hard, and cultivate a strong sense of self worth.
And from this place, you can finally be at peace with yourself and the world around you. You will be able to show up to life and relationships as your true self like never before.
You will be enough.
3. You Give Away Your Masculine Power To Women then Lose All Respect, Value and Romance
Woody Allen said, “90% of success is showing up.” But men today are not showing up for the women in their lives.
Men have lost the strength of their masculine edge and women are starving for it.
Today, men are terrified by their own masculinity. They are petrified by their darkness and aggression and, instead of embracing and learning to harness it, they suppress it and embrace what is easier and more acceptable – nice guy, people pleasing and approval seeking behaviors. Both in their lives and in their interactions with women
The modern man often feels weak, spineless and powerless; castrated by a hyper feminist society and emasculated by the women they yearn connection and intimacy for.
If he’s single, he struggles to be present in his interactions, suppressing his desire for romantic intimacy and acting disingenuously out of fear of rejection with the hopes of being “liked” for being a nice guy who will wait his turn.
And if he’s married or in a committed relationship?
He gives away his power to his partner, marking the death of connection, deep intimacy and allowing her to lead the relationship and indeed his life. Instead of showing up as a leader, confidant, protector for her, he’s little more than a walking ATM. A cash dispenser whom she begrudgingly settles for in return for an infrequent lackluster romantic life.
And these behaviors put you at the mercy of women!
She owns you – and loses all respect for you, and therefore attraction and romantic desire cannot exist. You have no power in the relationship, and you both know it.
When this happens, women, even faithful and loving women, become susceptible to the allure of infidelity. Not because they are bad corrupt people. Because the man is not showing up the way he needs to and is incapable of doing the things he needs to do to keep a high quality woman engaged and excited in his life.
She treats you like a little boy because that’s exactly how you’re acting. A physically big man with little inner backbone (one of the biggest turn offs to women), unconsciously telling her that he is a weak man who cannot be trusted which makes her feel unsafe and unhappy.
And when she’s finally had enough of the weak needy behavior? She leaves him, alone and heart broken. You don’t need me to tell you how painful a serious breakup or divorce can be for a man (especially a successful man of worth). Beyond the stress and financial burden of possibly losing (half) or more of your net worth and everything you bled for, these events are often a setback from which a man will rarely fully recover.
They extinguish what little fire was left in his soul and snuff out the glimmer of hope that still twinkled in his eye.
The financial and emotional cost of exuding weak “Nice Guy” behaviors in a relationship is higher than most men realize until it’s too late. Much higher than doing the work required to become a strong grounded man capable of attracting and keeping his partner among many other life benefits.
And, what most men don’t realize is that women are just as confused, frustrated, and exhausted by this charade as you are. Women don’t want a doormat for a partner. They don’t want someone who spinelessly defers to and subjugates themselves at the altar of the feminine as to not upset her.
They want a man they can trust. A man with power, vision, and aliveness who gives her butterflies in her stomach and keeps her daydreaming when she will get to go out with and bed her king again.
And when you work with a men’s coach, you can become this man.
You’ll regain your masculine power, boost your confidence, and show up to the relationship as a whole, fulfilled, and complete man…a man who doesn’t need a woman to feel validated or worthy…but who chooses a woman with whom he can build his kingdom. A woman to love, support, and challenge and who loves, supports, and challenges him.
A men’s coach not only helps you reclaim your power… you multiply it and go from the masses of men who are approval seeking nice guys to “omg who is THAT guy?”
4. You Chase Money Endlessly without a Clear Definite Purpose Bigger than Oneself
Most men believe that their purpose in life is relegated to doing whatever will make the most money. That their self worth is contingent on their net worth and that the only appropriate answer to the question “What do you want?” is “More.”
Sure, you make money. Maybe even great money. But beyond the base level of success the income doesn’t excite or inspire you like it once did. It simply assuages your growing sense of a lack of purpose, allowing you to go through the motions, numbing yourself with vices without any idea as to what you’re doing or WHY you’re doing it.
You follow the crowd aimlessly moving through life unconsciously. Working long hours, giving up your personal life, saying “No” to the experiences and life you really want to make more money…and for what?
Extra bedrooms? More horses in the car? A mini vacation where you spend your time sequestered in your hotel room responding to emails and putting out fires?
Most men aren’t willing to take a step back, look inwardly, and ask themselves, “Beyond financial success…What do I really want out of my life and relationships?”
Because you haven’t done this work you grind even harder thinking “more” is the solution, desperately pouring your soul and finite time into work in hopes that one day…the money you earn will finally validate your worth as a man and make you feel “enough”.
And when it doesn’t?
You seek instant gratification in the forms of vices like alcohol, drugs, porn, binging social media/tv, and excessive consumerism to numb the pain of a purposeless life.
You spend money on lavish external things like cars, clothes, and unnecessary household gadgets in the hopes of finding just a niggle of temporary excitement – But the fleeting and superficial nature of these purchases leave you no more content, joyful, or alive than the month prior, keeping you in a perpetual cycle of consumption.
Indeed, there has been major shifts in society – men today have no Great War. No cause. No purpose. And feel utterly lost because of it.
Every man needs a fight. Not necessarily physical, but a greater mission to fight for.
“Your purpose in life is to find your purpose and give your whole heart and soul to it.” – Gautama Buddha
Something that’s greater than yourself and for some men possibly noble enough that it’s worth sacrificing everything for.
By plugging yourself into a community of like minded men led by the guidance of a team of expert men’s coach who can open your eyes up to a new possibility, you’ll gain clarity on your path and purpose and unlock a new level of meaning and significance in your life that supersedes the purely materialistic of the unconscious masses.
5. You Need Someone Other Than Your Divorced or Single Friends with Whom You Can Get Effective Feedback on Your Intimate Relationships
Men’s coaches specialize in relationships in many ways. The masculine-feminine dynamic is likely why they became men’s coaches in the first place. Often many men’s coaches have backgrounds in dating, seduction and relationship coaching.
However, they’ve evolved into a healthier and more mature form of supporting men beyond the superficial “pick up” tactics.
Your men’s coach is to relationships what a Navy SEAL is to combat.
He will teach you the proven strategies and mental frameworks (that none of your family, friends, and peers have the slightest clue about) so that you can transform into the type of man that women respect, admire, and brag about to their friends and family.
If the intense satisfaction that comes from a deeper level of connection, intimacy and romance with women is what you want… you are not going to get it by listening to your friend whose own relationship history is a stage 4 natural disaster who’s got divorce attorneys on speed dial.
Most men are bitter, jaded, and angry with women. After a stream of failed relationships, they buy into the lie that there must be something fundamentally wrong with women (instead of admitting to themselves that the problem might lie in how they are showing up to women).
The simple truth of the matter is that you cannot take advice from someone who has not achieved the results you want to achieve.
The right men’s coach has already walked the walk. He knows how to achieve lasting success, intimacy, and passion inside of your relationship and will teach you how to lay the foundation of self-love, confidence, and masculine power required to make your relationship thrive.
He’ll help you either find the perfect woman with whom you will build your kingdom, OR enhance your existing relationship with the woman you’ve under-prioritized for years (maybe even decades) to new heights.
Nothing, and I do mean nothing, will have a greater impact on your happiness, success, and fulfillment than the woman with whom you choose to share your life. Happiness is not found in another ‘0’ in the bank account…but in a deep well of shared experiences with someone whom you love and feel deeply connected to – and who feels the same
And with the help of a results driven men’s coach, you’ll finally have access to the mindsets, strategies and tactics that you need to solve the most challenging relationship struggles in your life.
6. You Do Not Have Real Masculine Accountability in Your Life that Calls You Out on Your BS (and likely never have)
When a strong grounded man with absolute conviction asks you to do something – you do it.
When you tell someone whom you deeply respect that you are going to take a specific action, you will do everything in your power to keep your word because you do not want to let someone you respect down.
It’s in our masculine nature to be a man of our word. If you tell a strong grounded man you’ll do something and don’t – you’re breaking your word and bond with your coach.
It’s not about the money with the men’s coach; it’s about being a man of integrity.
If your word means nothing… then are you a man to be trusted? Can women even trust this man?
When a man is held accountable by someone he deeply respects, then he focuses harder and takes the right actions to get stellar results, even when it’s scary and seems damn near impossible.
You can’t hide. You can’t play small. You can’t live with the excuses that you’ve suppressed for years anymore.
More importantly, you can’t ignore the parts of your life that aren’t working and rely on superficial external successes to hide behind an unhappy and un-lived life. It’s very easy for a men’s coach to see behind the facade you’ve created to feel safe.
The disappointment you feel when you let down someone you greatly respect will propel you into action. It’s a big reality check for you at that moment when your men’s coach is not buying into your b.s. story that everyone else believes.
You’ll be thinking in the back of your head, “He can see through my BS. I can’t believe I’ve gotten away with this for this long and it’s time to change.”
“Good men are bound by conscience and liberated by accountability.” ~Wes Fessler
Any man can shy away from help because he’s afraid to look foolish yet it’s the truly courageous and brave man who stands up and asks for support.
You probably surround yourself with high achieving men already.
While they mean well and care about you and your success, just like crabs in a bucket pulling any escaping crabs back down they are terrified of watching you outgrow and outperform your existing social group
Having a men’s coach and being a part of a community, a brotherhood, of men who truly stand for your greatness doesn’t make you weak or incapable. It’s where you can get your “secret” edge against the masses who are unaware such a solution exists.
7. You Don’t Have the Freedom To Fearlessly Express Your Truth Fully, So You Remain Silentand Don’t get Your Needs Met (in work and relationships)
At the core of every man is the desire to be free, yet ironically men often confine themselves to a cage to appear like they are okay.
You’ve locked your emotions up and pretend to be a “strong man” when at times, you’re struggling inside and barely holding it together.
Other people don’t see this…
All they see is the success…the external accolades…the fake smile…the “picture-perfect life”.
They see what you allow them to see, but they don’t see the truth. They don’t see the struggle that you’re experiencing…the inescapable sense of inadequacy…the fear that you’re on the brink of divorce, breaking up or suffering from chronic loneliness or an existential crisis.
You bought into the B.S. story that “Big boys don’t cry”, and so you stoically ignore and suppress your emotions and desires, convincing yourself that the only solution is to be silent in the face of abject fear.
When a man does this he shuts down a piece of his heart and becomes less human and more of a robot programmed by society with few signs of life becoming a shell of what he could be.
Expressing your emotions in a healthy way is a natural thing humans do, no different than urinating. If you don’t urinate you’re in pain. When you urinate the pain is gone – it’s that simple.
It’s a release that is a necessary requirement for healthy living.
“Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.” – Jim Morrison
Emotionally handicapped men become distant, angry, frustrated and cynical (in extreme cases, even violent).
Friendships and relationships slowly feel more like chores. When someone asks how you’re doing you reply with perfunctory bland responses to avoid expressing how you really feel.
“I’m alright, good, great, fine”… then you quickly turn the conversation back to them or something superficial to avoid anything, but the truth.
When a man is disconnected from his heart, he becomes disconnected from the rest of the world and lives in a silent prison where it’s just him and his dark thoughts shielded by his external successes.
He’s trapped in a mind-made prison without ever realizing that he is both the inmate and the warden of the prison. He holds the key to his own liberation, but years of societal conditioning have blinded him to this possibility.
Like an elephant kept in place by a feeble rope, he fails to realize that he’s outgrown the confines in which he has placed himself and that, at any moment, he can unlock the door and find his freedom.
Through men’s coaching and a strong community, you’ll discover how to express your emotions in a healthy way that doesn’t make you weak, but courageous and respected. How to connect with the deepest parts of yourself and be authentic, raw, and honest with other men. You’ll learn how to experience the depths of true connection, friendship, and intimacy, and step into your role as the vibrant and expressive king of your life.
Your men’s coach unlocks your emotional cage so you can release the heavy feeling in your gut and finally experience what true personal freedom means.
8. You’re Going Through Life Without Strong Male Support And Quality Friendships that Lastand Go Beyond the Surface Layer
I’m not talking about your business associates or clients with whom you occasionally share a drink or over-priced steak dinner…but men with whom you can speak your truth and who support you. Life can be so much more than working, going to the gym and watching television/social media/adult websites.
The greatest paradox of the human experience is that, even in a sea of surface layer connections and acquaintances we can still feel desperately and soul-wrenchingly alone.
Most men, especially successful men like yourself, go through their entire lives without true male friendships.
They have plenty of acquaintances…golf buddies… beer hangouts… gym partners…business colleagues to do more deals with…but they lack meaningful, unfiltered, masculine connection.
They fear judgment and invalidation and, as a result, smother their truth until its voice is so faint they themselves can barely hear it.
Show me a man who fears authentic connection and real friendships with other quality men, and I’ll show you a man who is broken…alone…isolated…and void of life.
Humans need to connect at a deep level to be emotionally free, alive and healthy.
Women do this more naturally than men (likely because there are fewer stigmas around opening up and sharing the truth) but it is also essential for men’s well being.
And it’s no wonder that according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention the suicide rate for men is 3.5x higher than women and rising! This statistic isn’t relegated to low life’s in society but even the most successful men, celebrities, musicians, actors and those who have “made it” at high levels in society.
Men are more alone than ever today. There are few people with whom they can speak honestly and candidly without fear of judgment and ridicule. No one to support them, to challenge them, to share in their struggle and success and act as a brother in arms during good times and bad.
This is a very real social problem that people aren’t talking about and most men aren’t even aware of themselves because it’s so commonplace and men are too busy chasing “more”.
Do you have men in your life that you can share the good, the bad and the ugly with who will listen and support you?
Can you be vulnerable and share what’s really going on with other men without being scrutinized?
Men who live in a world of truths are more connected to the world and those around them and find more joy, happiness, and inner fulfillment.
With a men’s coach, you’ll be forced to live in a world of truth. There’s no room for deceit or dishonesty in a coaching relationship. The very nature of the relationship demands no b.s. honesty.
And when you get real with yourself and the other men in your life, you will tap into a deeper level of the human experience.
Your interactions will deepen, other men will respect you more, women will be more connected and attracted to you. As the saying goes, “The truth will set you free.” And a men’s coach will help you find, speak, and live in your truth.
9. You are Settling and Playing Small in the Game of Life Because You are Doing Better than Your Peers Growing Up
Our society has convinced men that…so long as they are making good money and can keep pace with the Jones’…they are playing the game of life well.
But what most men forget is that the concept of “Playing Small” is not relegated to only the financial realm! That’s one piece of the pie of life…
You can be a leader of your industry…a multimillionaire…the best in the world at what you do professionally…and still be playing the game of life grossly below your potential.
But if you aren’t going for the life you really want…if you aren’t fostering love, connection, intimacy…if you aren’t injecting adventure, aliveness, and risk into your life…if you wake up doing the same damn thing day in day out.
If you don’t love the life you have while you pursue your grand vision then you’re missing out on a whole lot of life. If you’re not excited for the day, alive in your social interactions and fulfilled in your relationships then…
You are winning the career battle, but you’re losing the war for your life, freedom and happiness.
It doesn’t matter how much money you have in the bank or how many positions you’ve held that are prefixed by the letter ‘C’ or ‘Senior” or ‘VP’. If you aren’t excited about your life and filled with passion, purpose, and an ineffable sense of inner power…you’re playing small.
If your life report looks like this then what’s your overall GPA on life?
Career: A+
Physical Health: C
Emotional Health: C
Social Life: F
Romantic relationships: F
Purpose/mission/contribution: F
Adventure/passions/hobbies: F
Masculinity/backbone: F
Self confidence/self image/self worth: F
Oh how exciting would it be to fall in love with this guy and spend the rest of your life with him?
Now can you see the problem here? Most men pour all the energy into career and wonder why they’re unhappy outside of work with the results in their life and relationships.
And a men’s coach will not only call out this b.s. behavior when he sees it…but he will enable you to do the hard deep work required to address the other critical areas of life that are being ignored.
When you’re a part of the right community all the doing the same and assisted by a team of expert coaches, playing small is no longer an option.
You may hate us at times because we push you outside of your comfort zone…you may despise our brutal honesty and no-holds barred tirades…you may tell us to “Screw off!” and consider reverting back to your old ways.
But you’ll come to realize that we’re the only ones in your life pushing you forward. You are playing small and it’s time to end that.
You have 2 options:
1. You can stay safe and retreat into your old habits of chasing career success, pursuing external validation, masking pain with vices and relying on your accomplishments to fuel your self worth.
2. You can embrace the call to adventure into the life and relationships you’ve always wanted!
Accept that your professional accomplishments, however impressive, do not define your worth as a man and that, to live without regret, to not waste the rest of your life, you need more out of yourself and your life than another promotion, zero in the account or deal closed.
You can decide to take a stand for your own life and vision and pour your heart and soul into becoming the Strong Grounded Man you know you can be. To living the life you want. To eschewing society’s values and living a life based on your own vision, your own aspirations, and your own rules.
You can make this decision today.
But to make it stick, you’ll need support and guidance.
And I can promise you…when you accept that you cannot do it alone…when you decide to go all in on your life and recruit a team of expert coaches, mentors, and likeminded brothers you can make it happen a lot faster than you think.
That is the moment you will look back on years from today and say “That is when everything changed!”
10. If You Keep Doing What You’ve Always Done, You’ll Miss the Best Years of Life
Now, you have a decision to make.
You made it to the end of this article for one simple reason. This conversation has deeply resonated with you.
Maybe your relationship is on the brink of ending and the woman you once promised to love and cherish has become the very source of your unhappiness, discontentment and frustration.
Maybe you’re chronically single and tired of being friend-zoned by the quality women you desire and are beginning to give up on dating altogether and embrace a life of single-hood.
Maybe your life is working…on the outside. But you no longer feel the fire, passion, and power you once had. You’ve become sedated…unaware of how much more your life could be.
Maybe workaholism and the constant pursuit of “more” has left you empty, depleted, and alone. You’ve spent years, maybe even decades, pursuing “success” and now you find yourself wondering when you go to bed at night… “is this really it?”
The simple truth is, I don’t know what pain you’re experiencing. I don’t know what challenges and frustrations you’re facing today.
But what I do know is this…
The price of inaction…of settling for a life you don’t love…of ignoring the real challenges in your life…of continuing to operate under the same dysfunctional paradigm and strategy that brought you here in the first place…is an un-lived life, a life of regret.
If you don’t make a change and decide to take new actions today, nothing will change tomorrow. Years will go by and the problems you are facing now will be amplified.
Your happiness, relationships, family, and sanity will slowly start to dwindle until you find yourself years later, wishing you could turn back the clock and do it YOUR WAY all over again.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. You can do it your way starting today and take a stand.
Over the past ten years, I’ve been quietly helping men at the highest levels achieve the things that money can’t buy…the happiness, purpose, passion, fulfillment, and romance they’ve craved for all along.
You’ve read the entire article which tells me you are serious about making big changes in your life so, I want to invite you into my brotherhood as the ideal next step…
…An elite coaching system unlike anything you’ve ever experienced before that will spark a personal revolution in your life, relationships and fundamentally change the man you are today.
I invite you to answer the call to adventure, to unleash the “powerful, successful, attractive man” you’ve kept caged inside of you for far too long, to take a stand for your life and your future and say “Enough is enough, I’m ready to reclaim my power and make this a reality!”
You know as well as I do that if you continue doing what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always had.
And if this article has not resonated with you…if you’re still convinced that you can do it all alone…
Then I wish you all the best, but I can’t help you and honestly no one can. You are not ready for the transformational work we mastered.
But if you’re courageous enough to accept that there are challenges in your life for which you don’t have the solutions…that there’s more to your existence as a man than simply making more money and living like a robot…that you CAN become the strong Grounded Man with deeper connections, fulfillment and relationships that you’ve always wanted… then you’re going to love what I’ve created for you.
However, I must be blunt, I do not offer cheap solutions to serious life and relationship problems. And to be honest, when has the cheapest solution to a serious problem of this magnitude ever worked? It’s usually a waste of time and that’s not what we’re about.
You wouldn’t look for the cheapest and least experienced doctor if you or a loved one were to undergo a life threatening surgery. And this problem should be treated at the same level since there are serious consequences if these problems continue to be ignored.
Through heavy research and development, we have learned that to solve the problem for good, it requires a team of talented and experienced experts who love what they do, in-depth high level training, actionable systems and exercises to achieve lifelong results. The good news is we have the solution and we’ve perfected it over the last decade with over 1000 clients, you must stop resisting help when it’s right in front of you and prioritize what matters most.
Chicken Cacciatore
chicken cacciatore 1
What is Chicken Cacciatore?
Chicken Cacciatore is a rustic Italian dish made of bone-in chicken portions that have been browned then braised, along with sauteed vegetables, in crushed tomatoes, wine and herbs. Cacciatore is pronounced kah-chuh-taw-ree.
What to Serve with It
It is the coziest dish and it’s perfect paired with pasta, rustic bread, polenta, or mashed potatoes. It’s basically a meal in one so you really don’t need a whole lot more with it.
This makes for the perfect homestyle dinner to sit down to after a hectic day or long week. Such delicious Italian comfort food that’s well worth the process!
chicken cacciatore 05
Ingredients
1 (3 pound) broiler-fryer chicken
2 cups water
1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 tablespoon oregano
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large green bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
Bring chicken to boil in a pot of water. Simmer chicken for 30 minutes.
Remove from heat and cool. Pour stock into a measuring cup to make 2 cups and refrigerate.
Skim any fat from top of reserved stock when cooled.
De-bone the chicken. Discard bones and skin. Cut chicken into chunks.
Place all ingredients in a pot and cover. Bring to a boil, turning heat down immediately. Simmer for 30 minutes, uncovered, or until sauce has thickened.
Serve on a bed of rice.
How to Make Chicken Cacciatore
Brown chicken thighs: Heat olive oil in an extra large saute pan over medium-high heat.
Dab thighs dry with paper towels, season both sides with salt. Sear thighs until browned about 5 minutes, turn and sear about 3 – 4 minutes longer. Transfer thighs to a plate, set aside.
Saute mushrooms: Carefully drain off all but about 2 Tbsp fat in pan. Return to medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and saute, only tossing every minute or two, until browned, about 4 minutes total.
Saute other vegetables: Add bell peppers and onions and saute 3 minutes. Add garlic and saute 1 minute longer.
Add wine, reduce: Remove from heat, pour in wine. Return to heat and let simmer over medium-low heat until reduced by about half, about 3 minutes.
Add liquids, and flavorings: Mix in crushed tomatoes, chicken broth, half the parsley, half the basil, the thyme, oregano and parmesan rind. Season with salt and pepper to taste (take it easy on the salt as sauce will reduce some and parmesan will season the sauce).
Simmer chicken with cacciatore sauce until cooked through: Nestle chicken thighs into the sauce, bring to a simmer and reduce to medium-low. Cover while leaving lid just lightly ajar for some steam to escape. Simmer 15 minutes.
Turn thighs. Cover fully and continue to simmer until all of the thighs have cooked through (175 degrees in center), about 15 minutes longer.
Finish with olives and herb garnish: If using olives sprinkle over. Finish with remaining half of the parsley and basil. Serve warm with cooked pasta if desired.
One of the key things in that story was a day when the ex rode my daughter’s bus home from school, saying, out loud, that he was going to try to get her to have a panic attack.
This charming, precious boy had obviously been telling his parents how nice he’d been to my daughter. One of the things he’d must have told them was that he’d been keeping his distance from her.
So, in court, after we’d laid out our complaints, including the bus ride, he had his chance to question us (his rebuttal), then he told his side of the story.
He explained that when he rode the bus that day, he sat in the front row of the bus, as far from my daughter as possible, because he was trying to be nice to her, and this made it impossible for him to be actively antagonizing her.
So, when my daughter did her rebuttal, she asked where he remembered her sitting, he responded “between the back seat and the middle”, which would put about 10-12 rows of seats between them.
“So, why would you come sit within three rows of me, knowing the effects it would have on me?” My daughter had forgotten his claim that he sat in the very first seat on the bus.
“Well, the front of the bus was full, so I sat down in the first available seat. I’m sorry it was so close to you.” Holy crap, HE forgot his claim as well.
I interrupted (the judge had said he’d allow it at the onset): “Wait, didn’t you say, just a few minutes ago, that you sat in the front seat?”
“Yeah.”
“But, she sat in the back half of the bus…and you just admitted to sitting three rows in front of her.”
The judge’s face was already in his hands. Same with his mom’s. As he began stammering and trying to explain, I couldn’t help myself. Head…hands….
It Begins…All 50 States Fight For Protection (WARNING)
I had this problem with several bosses at different jobs.
I did not take calls from work if I was off duty. My boss would blow up my phone, message me on social media and when that did not work, he would get my coworkers to do the same.
I ignored them as well.
When my boss couldn’t get me on the phone and my coworkers were unsuccessful, the boss would show up at my house and bang on my door like he was the police.
I cursed out one boss, slammed the door in the face of another and got into a screaming match with the other. I could not believe how disrespectful they were being; they violated so many boundaries by showing up at my house.
It wasn’t long before I found another job and split.
You have to stress this and be clear with the boss about not contacting you when off duty. I once had a boss blow up my phone until I answered and when I answered, I said, “If you’re calling me like this at 4:45am, this state better be on fire and you’re telling me I need to evacuate.”
Boss said, “We had several call offs and no call shows for third shift and first shift. We need help and wanted to know if you could come in.”
“No, I am not coming in to work,” I said. “I work like crazy and I want to rest and enjoy life outside of work.”
Then comes the bullshit about how I need to be a team player and I need to step up and help the situation.
“Okay, why do I have to step up at all?” I asked. “Why don’t you say something to the people who call off or don’t show up for their shift instead of putting pressure on me to come in all the time?”
“Shannon, everyone knows you will come in,” said Boss. “No one can count on the others to show up.”
“And yet, they are still employed,” I said. “I’m not coming in. I’m exhausted and want to rest. I am always the one everyone calls on to come in and help; I work 80, 90, and sometimes 100 hours a week because of this and I’m sick and damn tired of it. Call someone else and stop calling me on my off time; I am allowed to have a life outside of work.”
I hung up.
Boss got all pissy because I wouldn’t come in and then all of a sudden I was the laziest employee. I lost all motivation for that job because the boss was mad that I wouldn’t come in to help.
Boss went on and on about how lazy I was. Forgot about the thousand times I did step up and focused on the one time I didn’t.
I eventually had to escalate the matter up the chain of command to get results. It shouldn’t even have had to come to that, but the boss was resentful and petty and passive aggressive and of course I had to go deal with that.
In the end, it took going to the administrator several times over the course of several weeks before I got satisfaction. But by then it was too late; I just found a new job and quit because it was fucking ridiculous for the boss to expect me to make the job the center of my life to the exclusion of all else. They even blew me up when I was at my daughter’s graduation and I made it clear I wanted to be left alone. Ended up going in afterward and then get there and find that I was the only one who showed up…and I was expected to work and do it all, on my own and with no help.
Nursing homes jobs will absolutely fuck your soul.
We had a complex relationship: We were dance partners, business partners, and dating each other.
Couple that with the new condo we just moved into and there was no escaping this firestorm.
Like most nights, our dance rehearsal time went long into the night, and considering our sport requires two humans to move in harmony together, there was plenty of discord in the process.
On this night, a bit of dance feedback hit with a pang of frustration and made impact like lemon juice in the eye.
It wasn’t intended to cause harm but it sure as hell did.
The feedback devolved quickly into a blaming cluster bomb which included dance, business, and relationship “feedback”.
We lobbed these verbal weapons back and forth at each other.
At that time we had two separate dance floors divided by a sliding glass door, so, in an effort to simmer things down, I moved into the other room to practice on my own and clear my head.
But this was one of those arguments with frustration residue, it seeped into the pores of our egos and made for a difficult recovery.
I needed to do something because the car ride to our home and everything afterward wouldn’t get any better unless something changed.
She looked over at me with daggers in her eyes.
I stopped practicing.
She said something I couldn’t make out (probably for the best).
So I treated the sliding glass door like it was completely soundproof.
Me: “what?!”
Her: (angry) “I said, this is a waste of time!”
Me: (playing deaf) “you want me to do what?”
Her: (angrier/enunciating) “I said, this is a waste of time!!”
Me: (stunned) “you want me to take my pants off?!”
Her: (puzzled/angry) “what are you talking about!”
Me: (undoing my belt) “really my pants?! Okay if that’s what you want.”
I drop my pants.
She stands there in shock and then, like a sneeze you’re trying your best to fight off, she involuntarily smiled, laughed, and we made up.
It was one of the best moves of my dance, business, and personal life.
I have three stories about this one. But I’m going to share the lamest excuse I was given.
I’d been working for this employer for about two years and then later left. I was earning the same wage as when I started; this was a year before I asked for a raise and I was earning the same when I left after this event, about a year later.
I’d been the go-to person at this job. I mean, I was called upon to do so much; I was even called away from one client to go take care of another one (home health) and expected to drive back and forth between the clients’ homes, which was 30 minutes apart. So I was expected to drive back and forth to care for two clients rather than just get someone else to pick up one of the cases.
My boss didn’t see any point in hiring more help; in fact he always said, “Why should I hire more people when I have you here? It’s not a big deal; it’s just some extra driving. You can handle it,” and left it at that.
So after a year of this insanity, I finally went to the boss and asked for a raise.
“A raise? Just what have you done to earn one?” the boss asked.
Incredulous, I ticked off all the things I’d done to help out: I gave up my holidays and days off to pick up a new client, I juggled two clients for three months (one of them eventually passed away), commuting and working a total of 18 hours a day, I spent two weeks driving all over town to care for clients during the Hurricane Ike windstorm that passed through, knocking out power. I’d even packed up clients’ laundry and took it to my house to wash it since I still had power and even cooked meals to carry to the clients so they could have a hot meal. I brought my butane campstove cook top so I could heat water to wash them up.
Now you’d think that would have been enough to have been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. But apparently that wasn’t impressive to my boss.
“Shannon, that isn’t going beyond the call of duty. That’s just doing the job you’re paid to do,” he said.
“Really? So what would I have to do to earn a raise? Give you a kidney or lung? I’m busting my ass here and I deserve a raise for my efforts.” I said.
“Well, Shannon, I can’t afford to give you a raise. Don’t have the money,” said the boss.
“Really? I notice that you and your wife have brand-new cars, bought after you returned from your vacation in Hawaii,” I said testily.
“Shannon, that’s why I don’t have the money to give you a raise. Besides, you can always go get foodstamps or go to a food pantry. I can’t do that,” he said.
“Dude, bottom line here, I deserve a raise and you need to give it to me,” I said.
“Shannon, I have to keep my family in the lifestyle they’re accustomed to. Now being poor is a huge issue for me, but it’s not a problem for you. It’s okay for you to not have enough money coming in. I have to be able to pay for my children’s activities and the nanny, I have to make sure my wife gets her cosmetic surgery and that I have a decent vehicle to get around in. If it’s that much of an issue, just go get a second job,” said the boss.
I walked out of the office, questioning my work performance. Was I not doing enough? Was I really doing enough to earn a raise?
So I resolved to earn a raise. And I busted it out. I went over, above and beyond the call of duty for the next year.
So I go back to my boss and tell him I deserve a raise. This time he laughed at me.
“Shannon, what makes you think you deserve a raise just for doing your job? Why do you keep running in here looking for handouts?” said the boss.
I got to my feet slowly. Lean over the desk.
“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” I said. “I earn every nickel of every paycheck I draw on this job; you do not hand me a goddamn thing. I don’t know what seems to be the problem here, but I’ve been busting my ass for you for two years now and I’m still earning the same as when I started here,” I said, furious at his remarks.
“Well, I had to pay for my children’s school, my wife’s shit and I had to remodel the kitchen and finish my basement so I can turn it into a game room for my children. Plus, we’re going on vacation soon and I have to pay for that, so I can’t give you a raise,” the boss said.
I rose and stormed out. The boss actually had the nerve to say, “Don’t ask for a raise again. You’re not getting one,” got up and slammed the office door.
I got in my car and went to the library. I got on the computer and looked for a new job. I filled out applications and actually got a call back within a few minutes. Scheduled an interview.
I attended the interview and was offered the job. I accepted; it was paying 50% more than my current job, offered real benefits and perks and were reasonable when it came to workloads.
I went back to my other job and just waited.
Then my boss announced he was going on vacation in two weeks or so. This was my chance.
I put in my notice. I even set it up to make my last day the day before his vacation. When he learned that I given notice, he was furious and tried to make me stay until he got back. I stood my ground and said No.
The boss offered me raises, bonuses, paid time off, anything to get me to stay. I asked him, “What have you done to deserve to have me stay on so you can go on a vacation? Every time I put in a request for PTO, it’s always denied. Every time I try to call off, you call me over and over, blowing up my phone, coming around to my house to get me to go to work. I’ve been killing myself on this job, generating enough money for you to take vacations and buy new cars and shit, but not enough for a raise. I’m not staying on for you. Don’t ask me about it again,” and left his office.
On my last day, I turned in everything that had been issued to me: keys, phone and such. The office manager mentioned that I had a ton of PTO I never used; well, that’s because the boss never approved any vacation for anyone except himself.
So due to all the overtime I worked over those two years, the office manager had to cut me a check for damn near eight months’ PTO since it rolled over each year. I took my check, thanked the office manager and left that office for the last time.
My boss lost out on his vacation, I learned later. He wasn’t able to get a refund on such short notice. His family went without him because he had to stay back and cover all the work I had been doing. No one would do the shit I was doing and they would quit when he tried to force them to do it. Pretty soon he had about a handful of workers.
I went on to a better job. I feel no sympathy for my old boss and I have no regrets.
Screw that job. Screw that boss. He deserved all that he got.
In USSR, a certain province had a higher yield than the rest of the USSR. The Provincial authorities had tried something new and DIFFERENT from what the Communist Party and Central Control said
Immediately the party leadership sacked the people who had tried something new, and demanded that the province go back to doing what the party wanted even if the yields would be lower
In China, a similar thing happened but instead of clamping down on the province, Deng Xiaoping sent people to find out HOW THE PROVINCE WAS DOING IT and soon made the same thing, the normal standards for other provinces, thereby improving the yield across China in 1971
It was then that Nixon realized China wasn’t the same as the Soviet Union. It was a different form of Communism, something that could maybe give the US a run for their money
This is every foreigners experience in China
China is different
I plan to make a trip later with some Quorans for 4–5 days to chronicle the trip and hopefully record a video on the same
I used to work for a major cosmetics company that had some very strict rules that didn’t always work out as intended.
Example: one day we got a memo saying that employees were required, not by law but by company policy, to take both their 15-minute breaks. Now, you’re probably thinking, why wouldn’t someone take a break?
Well, there were a number of reasons that people, mostly management, were not regularly taking breaks: most times because the store was short-staffed on weekdays. Business was unpredictable and leaving one person on the floor when a crowd of people walked in meant lost sales, theft, and dramatic Yelp reviews (“If I could give ZERO stars I would!”), not to mention it screwed up our conversion numbers, which meant getting reamed out by corporate (“Jaime, you were working on Monday: can you explain why only 15% of customers bought something in the morning?”). Also, per company policy, managers couldn’t leave the building anyway, unless another manager was on duty (for register overrides), and with only enough managerial overlap on a weekday for lunch, we couldn’t leave to smoke or grab a coffee anyhow. As a result, managers would often either punch out for a short break and help out if needed or just take the legally-required lunch break.
Unbeknownst to us, some employees at other locations were fed up with this and had spoken to some lawyers.
Some time later there was a new rule: employees must take all breaks and may not clock in a minute early or a minute late at any time. No more eight-minute breaks, which we had previously been told was long enough to fulfill the break requirement. This resulted in staff standing by the punch clock waiting for the minute to turn over, because if we were a minute late, it would lead to a write-up. As a manager, I began setting the alarm on my phone when I came in early to get work done so I could run over to the punch clock and clock in at the exact minute.
The timekeeping rule was super annoying but served two purposes with corporate: it showed that the company was providing breaks, and it also eliminated overtime pay.
Unfortunately it’s not easy being perfect. Pretty much everyone got written up. Managers would punch out for their “fake” break, be told that so-and-so from XYA was on the phone with a question or run out to help on the floor with an override and then realize that they forgot to clock back in. Regardless, we tried our best. Managers didn’t actually want to give employees write-ups, so we helped staff by monitoring the time. When it was time for someone to go home, we’d cut in and say something like, “I apologize, Megan needs to leave the floor. My name is Jaime and I’ll be taking over.”
One day I got a letter in the mail from my employer saying I had been randomly chosen to speak to lawyers who were representing some former employees in a class-action lawsuit. I was told to be truthful and that it would not affect my job.
Some time later a nice lawyer named Kelly called and wouldn’t you know, she had a lot of questions about the timekeeping at our company. She found it very odd that company-wide, timekeeping was virtually perfect.
“I worked at Clinique when I was in law school,” Kelly said. “I know that in customer service it is not always possible to clock out exactly on the dot, like if you’re working with a customer and your shift ends. We find it very suspicious that virtually everyone has perfect timekeeping.”
Additionally, Kelly wanted to know if managers were able to take “relaxing” breaks without performing any duties, such as retrieving something from the stock room or processing a return, and if we could leave the store on these breaks. She was also very interested to know why, when someone called in sick, no one else was brought in to cover that shift (answer: because the sick employee is getting paid time off, and there is no money to cover a replacement). The conversation was very illuminating.
My employer lost the lawsuit, and checks were sent to employees within the company. I got around $1,200!
8 classes that should be required for all students before they hit adulthood
If we want to prepare kids for adult life, we've got some glaring gaps to fill.
I remember sitting in advanced algebra and trigonometry class in high school wondering if I was really ever going to use any of what I was learning. Math at that level meant nothing to me in a practical sense. I planned to study English and education to become an English teacher, so I couldn’t imagine why I’d need to learn the ins and outs of trig.
As it turned out, some of what I learned came in handy in the functions class I was required to take to fulfill my math requirement in college. But again, I found myself sitting in class with zero idea of why I was learning this level of math and suspecting that I was never going to actually use that knowledge in my adult life.
Now I’m a middle-aged adult and I can say with absolute certainty that I was right. In 27 years, I have not used anything I learned in functions. Not once. Not even a little bit. I agonized my way through that class to eek out a B-minus and to promptly forget everything I’d learned because it was utterly useless to me.
To be clear, higher math isn’t useless—it’s amazing. It was just completely useless to me.
You know what would have been useful? Learning about financing a car or a mortgage or understanding how and why and where to invest money. In all that time I was doing trigonometric proofs and calculating polynomial functions, I could have been learning all the various real-life math-related decisions I’d have to make as an adult.
I see the same thing happening with my kids in high school and college. It totally makes sense for students who are interested in going into math and science fields to take math beyond basic algebra and geometry. But for those who aren’t—why? There are so many more valuable things for them to take the time to learn—things that every single person really needs a basic knowledge of, such as:
Basic Psychology/Mental Health Maintenance
Every one of us has a brain and mental health is an issue for a huge percentage of people. Even those of us who don’t struggle with mental illness benefit from learning about how our minds work, gaining strategies for managing our thoughts, emotions and behaviors, and understanding why people do the things they do.
How many people would have been saved by learning how to spot a narcissist before getting into a relationship with one? How many people could mitigate an anxiety spiral right when it starts because they learned to recognize the signs earlier? How many people would appreciate the support and understanding of everyone having a basic understanding of their mental health disorders?
Basic Sociology/Human Behavior
Similarly, every one of us lives in a society. Understanding social connections, relationships and group behavior might kind of come in handy. If we don’t understand the causes and consequences of human behavior, we’re going to be confused by society at best and allow or enable atrocities to occur at worst.
From learning how cults and conspiracy theories work to recognizing how our prejudices can blind us to reality, sociology has useful knowledge we all need to internalize.
Media Literacy
If we’re going to be bombarded with media 24/7, we’d better know how to process it. Understanding how journalism works, what makes a source credible, how information can be skewed and how to recognize misinformation and disinformation is vital. What is bias and how can it be mitigated? How can we recognize when an outlet values accuracy?
So many of the problems the U.S. is facing currently are due to people watching or listening to dubious news sources. Mandatory media literacy courses would (hopefully) go a long way toward changing that.
The Stock Market and Other Investments
I underestimated how much I’d need to know about the stock market when I was younger. None of that economic stuff interested me, but I wish I understood it better now.
But really, it’s investing in general that we need to understand more about when we’re younger, especially since starting young is the No. 1 best advice any financial advisor will give you.
How Banking, Credit and Credit Cards Work
Every single one of us uses a bank or credit union and credit is a huge part of adult life. And yet most people I know have had to piece together how credit and credit cards actually work through advice from friends and family and good old trial and error, sometimes with devastating consequences.
Taxes
Good gracious, right? Not just how to do taxes, but what taxes get used for.
Financial literacy is what I’m saying. We need mandatory financial literacy classes. (Florida has actually just become the first state to require personal finance education to graduate, so yay Florida.) I think I was required to take economics in high school, but it was much more high-level economic theory than personal finance. We need personal finance first, then the bigger picture.
First Aid/Safety/Self-Defense
Most of us probably got some first aid and/or CPR training in health class, but how comprehensive was it? Did it include infant CPR? Do we know how to recognize if someone is having a stroke? Signs of infection?
What about basic everyday safety, like why you shouldn’t leave a car running in a garage or common household fire dangers or how to spot asbestos?
Self-defense seems like a no-brainer. Basically, a “How to Stay Alive and Keep Others Alive” course that includes most everything you need to know to protect yourself and your loved ones on a daily basis.
Navigating our Healthcare and Health Insurance System
Ugh. I’ve been an adult for almost three decades and everything about our healthcare system confuses and frustrates me. Maybe if we required schools to teach young people how it works, it would shine a big spotlight on how ridiculously and unnecessarily complicated it is because no one could possibly explain it in a way that’s understandable. Maybe that would push lawmakers to actually do something about it, because honestly, it’s just a gigantic mess.
There are surely others, but those are the major subjects that come to mind as vital after being an adult for a long while and seeing what my own kids need to have a decent grasp on as they make their way into the world. And honestly, there are some classes that adults should be required to take well into adulthood. Parenting classes, for example. Or local government and voting.
All subjects and courses have value to some people, but if we want students to be prepared for adulthood, we should make sure they are given the vital knowledge and skills every person actually needs and will use.
When I first found out I was pregnant at 18, I wasn’t scared to tell anyone. Only you.
I wasn’t scared to tell friends, other family, or the internet. I was scared to tell you.
I still remember sitting on my bed with mom, when you walked in and asked why I was crying. I could barely get out the words “I’m pregnant dad..” before you hung your head in disappointment, and stormed off downstairs. Mom hugged me and told me that you would come around.
I gave you a few minutes, and I walked downstairs. You were sitting on the couch. You looked so mad. I couldn’t find the words to say anything to you, so I just sat down beside you, and laid my head down on your shoulder, as I felt tears drip down my face.
Out of all the people I had to tell, that I was pregnant, I was most scared to tell you. And you were definitely the most disappointed.
But, when I came home the next day, and I saw you clearing out the guest room, for your soon to be granddaughter, I knew everything would be okay.
Six months later, you took me to every doctors appointment, when my boyfriend was working.
Seven months later, you helped me pick out a bringing home baby outfit.
Eight months later, you were there through my labour, and reminding me I could do this.
When she was born, you wouldn’t let her go. She became your world, along with me.
Six years later, you, papa, are my daughters world. She wants to call you every chance she gets. She wants to see you every time we go anywhere.
I know that out of everyone, you were the most disappointed when I announced I was pregnant at 18, but my daughter and I, couldn’t imagine doing life without you. And I know that you couldn’t imagine doing life without my daughter.
You two needed each other, even if you didn’t know it back then.”
Many years ago I took my 2 children on vacation in Florida. It was their first vacation. My kids were 6 and 8. We stopped in a restaurant that was very much like the Ryan’s restaurants. It was Buffett or order an entree. I ordered an entree and I believe my kids got an entrees as well. Our waiter was super nice and while we were waiting on our meals my daughter the youngest asked if she could look at the dessert bar. She just wanted to see what the options were for after dinner.
we went up to the dessert bar and she eyed the choices. She said she wanted a cookie for later and I said okay which one?
my daughter said are those chocolate chip cookies or raisins. She pointed at them. The bakery employee came up and before I could ask which one was the chocolate chip cookie she slapped my daughter’s hand. She angrily informed me that she needed tongs to get the cookie.
I was in shock by what just happened. I told the lady we only had a question and we were not ready for dessert. She scowled at me. I gave her a death stare and we went back to the table. Our food came out but I didn’t eat any. The waiter came back and asked if everything was okay. I said to him no it wasn’t and I told him what the bakery employee did. He gasped and got his manager. I relayed the story to the manager and he was very apologetic about it and said he would handle rude employee. A few minutes later I saw rude employee going upfront she gathered her purse and walked out the door. The manager came back and refunded our meals and said we could choose anything else on the menu to take home. He said bakery lady no longer works for them. we choose some entrees and went back to the bakery bar another lady was there and she was very pleasant. I asked her about the cookie and she pointed to the chocolate chip one. My daughter picked up the tongs to get her cookie as she already knew to do this. The bakery lady then put out signs identifying what the cookie s were. Apparently the other lady had forgot to do this.
our waiter took great care of us and the refund I about 20 dollars received from our meal I gave it to him as a tip.
Nobody has the crystal ball. The ball is in USA as of 2024/1/31.
On the 1 hand, it seems both USA & Iran are avoiding a WW3. Yet at the same time, it seems both are waiting for the right moment to start a war.
Let us look at the big picture.
1, UN says the US occupation of Syria & Iraq is illegal. USA was not invited by Syria or Iraq. Nor was it approved by UN.
USA used laundry detergent to falsely accuse Iraq of possessing bio weapon & waged a war there. USA’s war & thus occupation of Iraq is illegal.
It means Iran’s attack at US (illegal) bases can be pardoned.
USA normally ignores UN. Probably this time too. Clearly Biden has concern. Perhaps Biden has no surety to win the war without US casualties. 2024 is a US election year.
2, Since Saudi-Iran reconciliation in 2023, Mideast nations minus Israel are united as 1 big family. They have 1 common enemy ie USA+Israel. They are also waiting for the right moment to kick USA out of Mideast. They want to reclaim their 100% sovereignty in Mideast.
That is, USA is not faced with Iran alone. But the entire Mideast. Does Biden have surety to win?
3, Iran has “warned” USA’s aircraft carriers. 1 US carrier left Mediterranean Sea a month or so ago. Why leave at this time?
4, No doubt. there were 150 attacks in 3 months. But no casualties until the latest one at Jordan/Syria/Iraq border.
Iran was attacked many times too. How many? dont know.
Mind you, Iran denied it was responsible for the Jordan attack. Iran said it was ISIS.
5, Remember the Iran-Pakistan crossfire? It turns out each country wanted to exterminate the same group of people who were recruited by USA+India & who were living in the Iran-Pakistan border. To these 2 countries, these people are rioters who stir up unrest in both countries. It is not a bad idea to get rid of rioters this way without being accused of ethnic suppression by the West.
Back to the attack at Syria-Jordan-Iraq border where there were 30+ US casualties. Could it be a repeat of the Iran-Pakistan action? All 3 countries are actually exterminating the same group of radicals who are recruited by USA in US base.
Imagine getting a frantic phone call to find a needle in a haystack. Except that needle is your whole family…. and that haystack is an unknown location.
My wife didn’t sound like herself.
She was crying, panicked, and talking to other people before she said:
Wife: we were in an accident…
Me: (fearing the worst) where are you?
The next words still give me shivers.
Wife: …. You’ll find us…
Dial tone.
I have no idea where they might be. Adrenaline is pulsing through my body, and my only instinct is to drive as fast as possible toward our home.
I’m trying my best to stay focused on the location of my wife and kids, and not what might have happened to them.
I reach our exit from the freeway. Scanning.
Nothing.
I drive past our kids’ school. School. Today was their first day of school.
I make a right, I know her route home.
I’m confident I’ll find them now, but dread what I might see.
Then I see it. Fire engine.
Our Escalade is flipped on its side. I leave my car on the side of the road like it’s a bike I don’t care about.
I run. There’s glass everywhere. Where are they?
Then I can hear crying. It’s the scariest, yet greatest, sound I can hear. Like the cry of a newborn baby to let you know they are alive, I find my wife and 3 children in the cab of the fire truck – all crying, but all safe.
A welcome relief after the worst two minutes of my life.
A “bystander” told the cops that my wife ran a red light, but my son (who has an unbelievable memory) was adamant that she didn’t.
It turns out that the “bystander” was a passenger in one of the two racing vehicles that both ran the red light and upended our SUV. He hopped out of the car and had fabricated a totally different account of what actually happened.
My wife was petrified to drive after that, but, after a lot of assurances and negotiating, had her drive me short distances around town.
Chicken Mediterranean
Quickly serves one very hungry person or two restrained people. Multiply at will (the portions, that is). Prep the dried mushrooms, have all your ingredients measured and ready, put on the rice and you’ll be ready to dine in 30 minutes. Also perfect with couscous.
mediterranean chicken recipe 1 1024×1536 1
Why you’ll love it
This pan-fried chicken recipe has all my favorite ingredients that remind me of faraway beaches and warm Mediterranean waters. We’ve got a sauce with oregano, Kalamata olives, capers, and of course plenty of feta cheese. It’s got all the best savory flavors!
You know I’m the queen of creamy sauces, but I also enjoy changing it up with healthier fare (Pasta Puttanesca, anyone!?) every so often. This simple Greek-inspired chicken has an elegant, light white wine sauce with fresh tomatoes, so it’s perfect for easy after-work meals and isn’t too heavy.
What you’ll need
Chicken – we’re cutting two chicken breasts in half lengthwise for faster, more even cooking
Seasoning – salt & pepper, oregano, and garlic powder are sprinkled onto the chicken cutlets for infusing flavor into them directly
Olive oil – for pan frying
Garlic – add even more if you’re a big fan
White wine – try sauvignon blanc or pinot grigio.
Tomatoes – a pop of freshness. Use either grape or cherry tomatoes.
Kalamata olives and capers – this duo adds a little tang and so much savory goodness
Spinach – an easy way to get your greens
Feta – this delicately salty, briny, and rich cheese is a staple in Greek-style recipes
Ingredients
2 or 3 dried porcini mushrooms (each the size of a quarter would be nice, or bits and pieces to equal that)
1/2 a small anchovy fillet, mashed, or 1 1/2 teaspoons anchovy paste
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Put the dried mushrooms in a Pyrex cup and just cover with boiling water. Set aside to soak while you prep the remaining ingredients.
In a small saucepan, simmer the broth, capers, and orange peel. Chop the rehydrated mushrooms and add to the saucepan. Save a couple of tablespoons of the mushroom water for a later task (make sure it’s not gritty). Let the sauce simmer for about 10 minutes and then move on to the next task.
In a sauté pan, skillet or small wok, heat the butter and the oil until very hot. Add the chicken stir fry, brown quickly for just a few minutes and remove with tongs OR add the chicken breast and cook about 5 minutes per side until browned. Remove the chicken.
Let the hot fat and chicken juices reduce for a couple of minutes. Then, over high heat, return the chicken to the pan and add the sauce. Add the orange juice. Cook until chicken is cooked through and sauce has reduced even further, turning the chicken from time to time.
Remove chicken once more. Stir anchovy paste into a couple tablespoons of the reserved mushroom water and add to pan. Let the sauce bubble for a minute or two. Return the chicken to the pan, turn it a few times, and serve with plenty of the sauce on a good sticky rice or couscous.
Substitutions and variations
As always, tweak the recipe to your tastes. If you don’t like olives, for example, you can leave them out.
If you can’t/don’t want to use white wine, just swap it out for chicken broth.
Chicken thighs would work great in here, but you may need to cook them for a bit longer to ensure they’re tender.
USA is using the band-aid solution without diagnosing the root cause to the cancer the fentanyl crisis.
China has done its part:
Fentanyl is illegal in China.
China has set up enforcement personnel to inspect import/export of drug incl fentanyl. One of the enforcement unit is in a police/custom. But …. USA sanctioned that unit. It is USA who does not want China to do the inspection work. It is USA who wants illegal drugs to go to USA.
One ingredient in fentanyl is opiod which comes from opium. It is a powerful pain killer. It is legal in the world. But we must have drug control eg doctor’s prescription.
I heard opiod type of pain-killer was regularly prescribed by doctors in USA (before fentanyl has become a crisis in USA). I heard at first they did not believe people will get addicted until much later.
I also observed that the opiod crisis in north America started at the time when USA occupied Afghanistan. During that 20 years of occupation, Afghanistan produced 80% of opium in the world. The Taliban government has banned its growth since US troops left Afghanistan. Is it a coincidence or not?
An Afghan farmer said it was US soldiers who “forced” or bribed them to grow opium.
Back to China. Fentanyl is illegal in China. No fentanyl in USA comes from China. Opiod that makes LEGAL pain killers are allowed to export to the world incl USA. So if foreign countries which use China’s LEGAL opiod to make fentanyl, China cannot stop them. Unless the world bans legal drug incl pain killers.
There is nothing China can do to help USA.
Fentanyl is a US problem. US politicians talk to China, just to fool Americans that they have done their homework with China. It is a band-aid solution without doing a serious job ie prescription control & underground drug trafficking.
Remember, if there is no market in USA, there will be no underground drug trafficking. So, the problem is inside USA.
In 1840’s, UK militarily forced China to buy opium. A British Jewish businessman spread opium in China. At 1 point, 1/2 of the population was addicted to opium. How did China clean up the crisis? Communist China used iron-fist to stop/punish drug dealers & addicts. Some addicts used their WILL POWER to overcome their pain during drug withdrawal.
China is clean since. So can USA if only USA has the will power to rid itself from fentanyl. Dont shift its responsibility to China. Good luck to USA.
The Mass Exodus Of Young Men From Dating/Relationships Is Baffling Both Academics And The Media
I did “energy audits” – home inspections to look for possible energy improvements – for some years. Here are 4 experiences that stick in my mind:
1. Homeowner complains of high electricity bills. Hmm – heating, hot water and oven are all on natural gas. What could it be? Surely not that hot tub, sitting out there in a foot of snow, gently steaming away on its 220V resistance element?.
2. Homeowner complains of high electricity bills. But this is a homeowner who is up with the latest. Insulation is good, hot water is gas but the heating/cooling system is a forced air high efficiency heatpump (=reverse cycle air con unit) with a programmable thermostat. The set temperatures are very reasonable, a bit spartan if anything. But the bills just look too high, especially in winter. Call in the HVAC expert to check it out. Result; the unit has not been wired properly. Since the original installation the unit never switched to reverse cycle, so the electric resistance element turned on every time the thermostat called for heat.
3. Big house, on multiple levels. Huge octagonal living room, 16 foot ceiling, full height windows all round. Homeowner has no real complaints, just wonders if he could save some money. I look and don’t find anything much to improve. The place is pristine, looks almost unoccupied. The wife and young son hang out in a basement room that is fitted out almost like an RV; couch, heater, sink, microwave, hot plate, small fridge, TV, blackboard, toy chest, a computer workstation. It’s a comfortable, snug room. Downsizing would save a heap of energy…
4. Homeowner says electricity bills have skyrocketed over the last few months. Can’t explain it; nothing has really changed, no new appliances, no change in occupants and so on. I check the electric units, everything looks OK.. Sure we can save some money with more insulation, some more efficient appliances, but it doesn’t explain the sudden jump in costs. I take another look at the bills – could have saved a lot of time if I had looked properly the first time. She had signed up with an independent energy supplier. The first year’s price per Kwh was super attractive. But once that initial year was over the price jumped to 50% higher than the regular utility. I guess one does need to read the fine print.
When you hold the hand of a loved one, you feel pain less keenly and worry less.
The more you talk about someone, the more are you likely to fall in love with that person.
Women generally prefer men with deep husky voices because they seem more confident and not aggressive.
Staying quiet often means that you do not think that other person is ready to hear your thoughts.
The smarter the person is, the faster he thinks, and the sloppier his handwriting is.
Your favorite song is your favorite because you associate an emotional event with it.
Smarter people underestimate themselves, ignorant people think they are brilliant.
When someone cries tears of joy, the first teardrop will always come from the right eye. Tears of pain start from the left.
Listening to high-frequency music makes you feel calm, relaxed, and happy.
Doing things that scare you will make you happier.
The happier you are, the less sleep you require. Sadness urge to sleep more.
A 20 seconds hug releases chemicals in the body that help you trust the one you’re hugging.
Chocolate discharges the same chemical in your body as when you feel love. One of which is phenylethlyamine, which causes alertness, excitement, quickens the pulse rate and makes you happy!
Resilient Kids Come From Parents Who Do These 8 Things
Letting your kids fail and talking to them about it goes a long way.
When you’re a kid, everything is a tragedy. Your grilled cheese has the crust on? The horror. Can’t assemble that Lego set? Might as well stomp up and down. You can’t change this. What you can do, however, is arm your kid with the techniques that teach them how to bounce back from their daily struggles so that, later on in life, when the stakes are higher, they know what to do. Because resilience is a behavior learned through explicit lessons and examples, one that teaches kids how to, among other things, better handle stress, understand that rejection is not a comment on their entire existence, and view setbacks as things that don’t need to sideline them for good.
But how, exactly, should you teach this lesson? According to Amy Morin, a psychotherapist and the author of 13 Things Mentally Strong Parents Don’t Do, here are eight common practices of parents who raise resilient kids.
They Let the Kids Struggle
“All kids have the ability to develop skills that will help them be resilient,” says Morin. “As parents, it’s up to us to give them those skills, and to serve as a guide — to help them when they’re struggling with something and give them more opportunities to practice resiliency.”
The worst thing parents can do, says Morin, is rescue their kids too much. Such actions prevent kids from learning how to act on their own. In other words, the parents who teach their kids that hard work is a necessary part of life — and sometimes that hard work is really hard — are the ones who raise well-adjusted kids.
They Let Their Kids Experience Rejection
For myriad reasons, it’s essential for kids to learn how to handle being told ‘no.’ “If your kid doesn’t get picked for the baseball team, it can be tempting to call the coach, call the schools, try to get your kid on the team,” says Morin. “But failure can be one of the best opportunities to teach kids a life lesson. That lesson: Failure is not the end of the road, you’re strong enough to handle failing, and that when you fail, you have choices.”
They Don’t Condone a Victim Mentality
“When kids say they are having a problem, it’s tempting for them to blame other people,” says Morin. “They fail their science test, and they say that their teacher didn’t explain it well enough.” It can be tempting for parents to give into this behavior and side with their children. But even if their teacher is bad or didn’t explain something, that instinct is dangerous.
“Parents need to tell their kids that life isn’t fair, but that they aren’t strong enough to handle the unfairness,” says Morin. “And I think for a lot of parents, our tendency is to make things fair — to advocate for our kids, to side with them, just reinforces to them that they’re the victim. It leads to learned helplessness.” Fight this instinct at all costs.
They Do More Than Tell Their Kids to ‘Buck Up’ When Struggles Occur
Letting kids struggle is important, but telling them to just deal with it, or ignoring that it could be tough emotionally, is not the right way to go about it. “You want to make sure that you validate their emotions and you empathize with them,” says Morin. “Parents can find that balance of knowing when to step back enough to let their child face some of their own battles, but at the same time, empathize.”
Talking to your kids about their feelings as they learn by doing is incredibly important. It will give them skills to talk about their feelings later on in life, as well as help them learn how to deal with difficult times.
“Parents need to ask themselves whether or not they’re giving their kids the skills and tools they need to do things on their own,” Morin adds. “If they don’t have those skills yet, then parents step in. But parents, make sure that you’re teaching them those skills, too.”
They Help Their Kids Learn How to Label Their Feelings and Emotions
“When kids can label their emotions, they are less likely to act them out,” says Morin. “If your kid can say ‘I’m mad,’ he’s less likely to kick you in the shins to show you that he’s mad.”
In other words, kids who can’t talk about their feelings tend to take those feelings out on others, which can lead to adults who don’t know how to cope with anger or sadness. By helping kids feel comfortable talking about their emotions out loud, you are also giving them the skills to think about (and cope with) what’s making them upset. It’s Resiliency 101.
They Give Their Kids the Tools to Self-Soothe
“I know some parents who created a ‘calm down kit’ for their kid,” says Morin. “They have a kit with a coloring book, and some Play-Doh, and lotion that smells good, and they remind their kid to go get the kit when they’re upset.”
Although this specific technique isn’t for everyone, the concept should be as it helps kids learn how to take responsibility for their feelings and calm themselves down. Using such tools and routines will help them manage and continue healthy coping skills as they get older. It’s invaluable.
They Admit Their Mistakes, Then They Fix Them
Parenting mistakes, per Morin, are opportunities for us to turn it around and show kids how to respond to errors and show that we all make them. Even the most well-adjusted parents screw up every once in a while. They get mad at the teacher or yell at their spouse or forget to do something critical. The important thing is that parents need to own up to their own mistakes in front of their kids — and then actually fix the problem. This shows kids that no matter how grave a mistake they may have made, if they are honest about it and try to fix it, things will get better.
They Connect Their Kid’s Self-Worth to Their Level of Effort
“There is research that shows that when girls succeed, we say, ‘You did well because you studied hard.’ But when boys succeed, we’ll say something like, ‘You did well on that test because you’re smart,’” Morin says. For her, that’s a problem. Connecting a kid’s outcomes to their inherent talent can lead to long-term issues.
“When we focus too much on outcome, kids will cheat in high school because they think the most important thing in the world is getting an A, and it doesn’t matter how they get there. We want to teach kids that what matters is being honest, being kind, working hard. It’s really important to focus on their effort. The kid who grows up knowing that it’s all about their effort, rather than their outcome, is going to be more resilient when they fail or when they get rejected.”
How To Regain Your Masculinity In A Relationship
Last Updated On December 15, 2022 by Andrew Ferebee
We have all seen a man who is big and brave when single but seems to crumble into a pile of ashes when he’s in a relationship. It’s almost as if someone flipped a switch.
One minute, he’s still just as manly as ever. Next, he’s wearing an apron, babysitting, and watching the worst romantic comedies since The Notebook.
Losing yourself in a relationship is a universal issue. However, when you’re a man and you no longer feel in touch with your masculine edge, it’s devastating.
You lose what makes you, you. Masculinity is a source of pride in every man, which is why it’s so important to stay in touch with it.
Though it’s rarely discussed, losing your masculine edge in a relationship can and does happen—quite a bit, really.
Masculinity has a lot of definitions
There is no such thing as a man who is purely masculine.
Everyone has both masculine and feminine energy in them, and every person has masculine and feminine traits. This is not a bad thing! Quite the opposite, it means that you are a balanced person.
Being a man means that you have the emotional strength and that you can be the one to take charge when need be. But, it can also mean being the support your wife needs when she breaks down in tears. See what we mean?
You do not have to guzzle beer, be a lumberjack, and smoke cigars to be a man. When you feel like a man, you’re a man. The man who owns a cat and relaxes to bossa nova can be just as manly as the man going on safari.
Masculinity is something that is felt and experienced—and it takes many forms.
Just because you’re not skydiving with Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson doesn’t mean you’re not a man. With that said, there’s a major question that deserves to be asked.
Signs you’re losing your masculine edge in a relationship
Therein lies the crux of the question, and it’s one that is hard to nail down in words. However, there are a couple of telltale signs that you might be losing your masculine edge in your relationships:
You honestly feel emotionally battered and beaten down. A man who’s lost his masculinity looks worn down. He might not have the inner fight in him that he once had. Sometimes, it can even make him feel sick and weak.
It’s been a long time since you’ve felt strong and confident. Do you find yourself questioning your abilities, when you never felt that way before? This is never a good sign.
If you were honest, it’s been a while since you have prioritized yourself. Part of being a masculine man is being able to actively make yourself a priority. Masculinity is all about being assertive and living for you. Do you feel like you’re sacrificing everything for yourself, with nothing in return?
You’re afraid to express yourself. Once again, this is never a good sign.
Your girlfriend or wife has stopped respecting you. If you find yourself begging for attention, pleading for her to meet you halfway, or experiencing serious signs of contempt from her, it’s time to make a change. Women don’t respect men they don’t view as masculine.
8 ways to regain your masculinity in a relationship
If you’re noticing warning signs that you’re losing your masculinity in a relationship, it’s time to take charge and realign yourself with your manhood.
By implementing the 8 principles below, you will discover ways to reclaim control and regain masculinity in your relationship.
1. Re-establish your boundaries and enforce them
There are a few things that will erode a person’s sense of self like having no boundaries and letting people walk all over you.
In many cases, this is why relationships start to emasculate men and why women lose respect for you.
What does this look like? Simple.
First, figure out what you need in your relationship in order to feel better. This can include having time to yourself, having at least one night out a week, or even getting better responses on intimacy.
Have a firm talk to your girlfriend about things you need to see happen. This can be as simple as saying, “I care about you very much, but I am not feeling great in this relationship. Here’s what I need to feel better.”
Tell her what you will not tolerate. This can include things like browbeating you, guilt trips, lying, shouting, ignoring your needs, and threats.
Tell her what you are in need of. Set boundaries that are reasonable when it comes to things like space apart, time with friends, time with family, and sexual needs.
Do not tolerate disrespect, verbal violence, or guilt-tripping. If she behaves this way, then the reason you lost your masculinity is that you’re in an abusive relationship. You may need to dump her.
Expect better, and call her out if it’s not working. It’s okay to remind her that she needs to do better.
If you feel like you’re regularly disrespected or have your needs dismissed, it may be time to call things off. A relationship has to go both ways, and if she’s just not listening, she’s not the one for you.
2. Don’t feel bad about prioritizing yourself
One of the worst things that happen to men on a regular basis is the guilting when they put themselves first.
Self-love is important for men. You can’t set yourself on fire to keep others warm! Boundaries are part of a healthy relationship, so don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
That’s why it often helps to have someone in your corner who can help you figure out how to communicate.
4. Do things that make you feel like a man
Everyone has that one (or two) things that helps them realign with their masculine side—and that’s precisely what you need to start doing.
Once again, it’s important to take time to figure out when you’ve felt your best and what you were doing at that point.
Masculinity takes a lot of different forms. It can be when you’re competing for a 5K, when you’re bodybuilding, when you’re pouring effort into a new business or when you’re making a new song.
Whatever it is, do it for at least half an hour a week. Ideally, you’ll carve out more time for that thing. This is part of prioritizing yourself.
5. Write a list of things that you’ve accomplished in your life
While you might be feeling low right now, it’s important to remember that no one can take away your masculinity unless you let them.
Truthfully, no one can ever take away what masculine things you’ve already done. Sometimes, it’s good to have a reminder of who you are and what you did to put things into perspective.
So, write down a list of all the manly feats you did—from that time you finished a raid in WoW to that one time you did that thing in sports. Keep that list nearby when you’re feeling low.
6. Reach out to your guyfriends and bond with them
There is something truly magical about the bond that men have with their male friends. This is something that every man really needs to experience from time to time.
Men get it. It’s a world where men often are told mixed messages and where men often feel like they are “damned if they do, damned if they don’t.”
Hanging out with your bros is one of those things that is just as much a diversion as it is a practice in male health.
Men need other men as friends, guides, and confidantes. If you haven’t done so recently, call your guy friends and ask how they are doing.
7. Learn to drop your fear of the masculine and feminine
If it feels like we live in a society where men are told to embrace their feminine side, then punish them, you’re right.
There is this constant stigma of being too girly as a guy, and it often feels like we police each other in suppressing sides that don’t stick to the narrative.
Part of being truly masculine is realizing that being a “manly man” means you’re comfortable with your feminine side, too.
Just because you have a girly side doesn’t mean you’re any less of a man. Make a point of reassuring yourself that you’re still you, regardless of what society says.
What other people say about you has no bearing on you. They’re saying that, and it’s on them.
8. Realign yourself with the goals that you have for yourself
The key thing to remember about masculinity is that it’s all about leadership and paving your own way in life.
When you’re in a relationship, it’s easy to start to put your actual goals to the side in favor of all the other little things people expect you to do. This is why you might be feeling emasculated.
Women find a grounded man who makes his own way in life attractive. This is doubly true if his goals are ones that are difficult to attain and have a very high standard of performance.
If you need to focus on your career path or your own personal goals, that’s totally fine. In fact, it’s healthy.
Masculinity wanes when you stop taking your own needs and future into account. Write a list of your goals and ask yourself which ones started to slip away from you.
Start putting together a game plan on how you’re going to pursue those goals once more. Then, follow the game plan.
Takeaways
Regaining your masculinity isn’t always easy or clear-cut.
Let’s face it, when you’re in the thick of it, it’s hard to make the right steps to get your masculinity back. Sometimes, it can feel like it’s just too complicated or difficult to work through—even when you know what you need to do.
Part of being able to get yourself back to where you need to be is having the right support network and even leaning on someone who’s been there.
When you have the right support, being able to realign with your masculine side becomes way easier and even intuitive.
Of course, the perks of getting that masculine mojo back go far beyond just feeling better. It makes you attractive to women, can help you get a better job, and also can change the trajectory of your life.
We help make that happen in our exclusive coaching program where you’ll learn, with our band of brothers, to become the best version of yourself, reclaim your masculine edge and improve your life and relationship.
Originally Answered: You’re in a room with a king, a rich man, and a priest. Each orders you to kill the other two, and you’re the only one with a weapon. Who will you listen to and why?
I just love this question. I fucking love it. What’s so beautiful about this question is that it cannot be answered by analyzing what is given. Rather, the answer can only be found by analyzing what is hidden behind these black lines!
Let’s begin, shall we?
First of all, it’s safe to assume that the three designations described – the king, the priest, and the rich man are the three highest positions of power in the empire. Now, since I am the sword-wielder, I choose to be an ambitious one. And if I am ambitious, I would want one of these three positions for myself!
It’s evident that I’ll kill two of the three and spare one. So, instead of concentrating on what is to be lost by killing a particular person, let’s analyze what is to be gained by letting a particular person live.
Case 1) The king lives.
In this case, I kill both the rich man and the priest. What can the king do for me? The answer is clear – He can make me very very rich. But he cannot make me the priest. (The priest has to command the respect and devotion of the people, something a king cannot buy or order.)
Case 2) The priest lives.
Here, I kill the king and the rich man. Once again, I ask – What can the priest give me? He cannot make me rich. Most of the priests themselves choose to live a life of poverty (Remember High Sparrow?) But the priest can easily make me the king. He holds that much power over people, as is evident throughout our history (Again, remember High Sparrow?)
Case 3) The rich man lives.
I kill the king and the priest. Now, what can the rich man offer me? He can neither make me the king, nor make me the priest. Both of those positions require people’s will, acceptance and devotion; and that is something you cannot buy with money.
So, it is evident that the rich man is the most useless of all. He has nothing to offer to me. I kill him immediately.
Now, the king and the priest remain. The king can make you rich, and the priest can make you king. (Case 1 and 2)
So, it’s just a matter of the exact nature the sword-wielder’s ambition takes. Does he crave wealth or power? If he craves power, then he must kill the king. And if he craves riches, then he must kill the priest.
For me, personally, power is much more important than money. So, if you make me the sword-wielder, I’ll first kill the rich man. Then, when it’s just between the king and the priest, I’ll strike a deal with the priest that if I spare him, he has to make me the king with his support.
Then I’ll stab the king.
Boo ya!
Oops, I mean…
Homelessness In The U.S. Is Up 48 Percent Since 2015, And Americans Are Being Laid Off In Droves…
How can anyone out there possibly believe that the U.S. economy is doing well? As you will see below, the number of homeless Americans has risen to the highest level ever recorded, and large companies all over the country are laying off workers in droves. As I have discussed previously, the number of Americans that were laid off in 2023 jumped 98 percent compared to the year before, and now during the first month of 2024 it feels like we are being hit by a tsunami of layoffs. It literally seems like someone has turned a fire hose on, but the Biden administration continues to insist that unemployment is “low” and that the outlook for the U.S. economy is positive.
Honestly, I don’t understand how the Biden administration can say that the outlook for the U.S. economy is positive when the number of Americans that are homeless has been increasing at the fastest pace ever recorded. According to a brand new report that was just released by Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, the number of homeless Americas has increased 48 percent since 2015…
According to a Jan. 25 report from Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, roughly 653,000 people reported experiencing homelessness in January of 2023, up roughly 12% from the same time a year prior and 48% from 2015. That marks the largest single-year increase in the country’s unhoused population on record, Harvard researchers said.
Homelessness, long a problem in states such as California and Washington, has also increased in historically more affordable parts of the U.S.. Arizona, Ohio, Tennessee and Texas have seen the largest growths in their unsheltered populations due to rising local housing costs.
We can see evidence of this all around us.
Tent cities are popping up like mushrooms in our major cities and countless Americans are living in their vehicles and RVs.
One of the primary reasons why homelessness has been surging so dramatically is because rental costs have soared to unprecedented heights…
Rent in the U.S. has steadily climbed since 2001. In analyzing Census and real estate data, the Harvard researchers found that half of all U.S. households across income levels spent between 30% and 50% of their monthly pay on housing in 2022, defining them as “cost-burdened.” Some 12 million tenants were severely cost-burdened that year, meaning they spent more than half their monthly pay on rent and utilities, up 14% from pre-pandemic levels.
People earning between $45,000 and $74,999 per year took the biggest hit from rising rents — on average, 41% of their paycheck went toward rent and utilities, the Joint Center for Housing Studies said.
Tenants should generally allocate no more than 30% of their income toward rent, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
But Joe Biden insists that inflation is “low”.
You believe him, don’t you?
Sadly, more Americans will soon be hitting the streets because we are witnessing an insane wave of layoffs all over the nation.
Right now, it is being reported that Salesforce has decided to conduct another round of layoffs…
Salesforce is cutting about 700 employees, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The job cuts, which amount to about 1% of its global workforce, follow a series of workforce reductions last year.
In 2023, Marc Benioff’s company laid off about 10% of its total workforce as it grappled with a swarm of activist investors who wanted margins increased faster than planned.
And we have just learned that REI will be giving the axe to 357 workers…
REI is laying off 357 workers, mostly in the outdoor retailer’s headquarters and distribution centers. In a letter to employees, CEO Eric Artz noted that “outdoor specialty retail has experienced four quarters of decline – and that trend has been worsening.” While REI was able to outperform this for much of last year, he said, this trend caught up to the company in the fourth quarter, and difficult conditions are expected in 2024.
Difficult conditions are expected in 2024?
Oh really…
Who could have seen that one coming?
After their deal with Amazon fell through, iRobot announced that 31 percent of its staff would be hitting the bricks…
Amazon and iRobot, the maker of the popular Roomba vacuum, mutually called off their estimated $1.7 billion acquisition deal Monday, citing numerous regulatory hurdles.
Immediately after the deal was publicly squashed, iRobot announced it would lay off 31% of its staff and that founder Colin Angle would step down from his role as CEO, citing a focus on profitability, stability and growth. Glen Weinstein will serve as interim CEO.
Shares of iRobot (IRBT) were down around 9% in noon trading following the news. Amazon (AMZN), which was up about 0.5% in noon trading, will pay iRobot a previously agreed-upon $94 million cancellation fee.
Google, Microsoft, Levi’s, TikTok, Riot Games, eBay, Wayfair and Macy’s are some of the other big names that have also announced layoffs so far in 2024.
Perhaps if they had not made a habit of blatantly lying to us over and over again during the past several years they would not have lost all of their remaining credibility and they would not have had to lay off so many workers.
But even though so much is going wrong with the economy right now, many of the “experts” continue to tell us that happier times are just around the corner.
Ed Yardeni, a veteran market strategist, thinks the US economy might be about to relive the “Roaring ’20s.”
The Yardeni Research president said during Friday’s episode of Bloomberg’s “Merryn Talks Money” podcast that he’s expecting a combination of loose post-pandemic monetary policy and rapid technological change to drive growth higher over the next decade.
Wouldn’t it be great if he was actually right?
Of course the truth is that he is just being delusional.
If you still have a good job and a warm home to come back to at night, you should be very thankful.
Because more Americans are losing their jobs and losing their homes with each passing day, and the level of economic suffering that we are witnessing is already off the charts.
The Unthinkable Is Happening In The USA! (Texas Border Battle!)
You know there used to be this kind of beer in China. It was really odd. Every time I would drink a case of this beer I would end up with a big strong erection. It was darnest thing. That is because beer is a depressant. You have one or two beers and your little manhood turns into wet spaghetti.
LOL. Guys, you know what I am talking about. Ha ha ha.
But not on this beer. Imagine that!
After a while all the cans were pulled off the shelves in all the stores, and I never saw the beer ever again. Then, one day, I was reading the news and discovered that the beer company was adding generic Viagra into the bottles of beer. So no wonder I’d have a woody after a six pack!
Good golly!
Personally, Viagra gives me a headache. So I am glad that I no longer drink that beer. It was a poor marketing decision, and thus, I am pretty glad that the beer is no longer available.
One day while I was thrifting, a Hispanic man came up to the register and asked the price of a huge plastic doll house. His daughter was trailing behind him. The cashier quoted him five dollars at which his face fell and he turned to put the toy back.
I rolled my eyes in exasperation and slapped five dollars down on the counter. I told the cashier to give him the doll house cuz it was obvious he wanted it for his little girl. The gentleman thanked me profusely but I just waved him out of the door. After all I’ve paid ten bucks for a pair of panty hose. No big deal.
Then next day I was in Walmart at the register stocking up on caffeine-free Pepsi when I felt a light tap on my shoulder. I turned to the woman behind me with a questioning look and said,”Yes?”
She held out a five dollar bill. I looked at the money surprised and asked what was this for. She extended her hand and said,”This is for you”.
OMG. I am an atheist but I swear I looked up at the ceiling toward the heavens thinking about that doll house and said .
What? What? Is ,is God watching me.?
Is,is God
Saganaki (Flaming Greek Cheese)
2024 01 31 11 53
Ingredients
1/4 pound Kefalograviera, Kasseri, Kefalotiri or Romano cheese
1 egg, beaten
Flour, as needed
3 teaspoons olive oil or butter
Lemon wedges, as needed
Oregano to taste
2 tablespoons brandy
Instructions
Slice cheese into 1/4-inch thick slices. Dip cheese into egg, then coat lightly with flour.
Heat oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Place cheese in the pan; cook until golden brown on both sides – about 1 minute per side.
Remove pan from heat. Add brandy, then carefully ignite. Douse flame with a squeeze of lemon juice, then sprinkle with oregano.
They are INSANE, and they’re leading us to World War 3 | Redacted with Natali and Clayton Morris
Before this, we’d had a phone plan that fit our needs. We barely used our cell phones so we had a limited number of minutes to use each month. Neither of us ever came close to reaching that limit, not once.
After my husband died I was on the phone non-stop. People calling to see how I was. His job calling with benefit information. His family calling to judge the hell out of me and demand that his death was my fault. Etc, etc, etc.
I need to add that since my husband did not have a will when he died all of our assets were frozen. I was completely unable to work and the rest of the money was unavailable until his estate was figured out.
So, T-mobile calls me to tell me that my phone is about to be shut off. My phone bill had reached$2000! I explained that my husband had died and I was unable to pay the bill. Told them that I didn’t even know WHEN I’d have money to pay anything at all, let alone the phone bill.
T-mobile cleared the entire $2000 from my bill. They also gave me unlimited minutes for the next 2 months.
Say what you will about T-mobile but they’ve done good by me. I’ll forever feel indebted to them and will stay with them til the end.
Large, international companies in the U.S. are not immune to nepotism (no matter what the rules and regulations say) or to giving a friend’s kid a job.
Our department head was asked to give another department head’s daughter, fresh out of university, a job in our unit.
She was cluelessly entitled. She could not understand that most of us worked to survive, not just to get spending money or to please parents. She was surprised when we could not go to a high-end restaurant for lunch because we had bills due.
But she was a sweetheart. She was generous with her things and with her time. We learned quickly to NOT compliment her clothes because she would give the items to us after cleaning them.
If someone was upset, she would listen, soothe and would always follow up. Her positive attitude could brighten our worst days.
HOWEVER, her work was horrid. The supervisors trained her carefully, but she could not grasp the simplest of office tasks. She created chaos in the incoming work, three-step system and crashed the unit’s copy machine for over a week (the Xerox repairman was in awe of the devastation). No job was safe with her.
The department head and the two supervisors wanted to get her out of the unit without hurting her.
They hatched a plan to have her ‘promoted’ to Personnel (H.R.) to a counseling position. On paper, though, she was dismissed from our unit for incompetence.
We had a nice ‘Congratulations!’ luncheon on her last day that made her tear up because we talked all about why we liked her.
She was where she should have been from the beginning and did brilliantly for many years.
Note: She did see the official dismissal notice and then rehire papers. But our department head explained it all gently and kindly as just a formality.
Reports Leaked: China’s Fighter Jet Fleet Is Growing MASSIVELY
If you want to get your crush to instantly fall in love with you, use this love eye trick: You want to look in their left eye for one second, to their lips for one-and-a-half to two seconds and then to their right eye.
If you want people to take your words seriously, say that your father taught you this. People tend to believe parents’ advice inherently.
If you want to know someone is attentive or not, repeat your sentence with a slight change in it. If he is listening either his facial expression will change, or he will point out and question the part.
If you want people to agree with you, just nod and maintain eyecontact while you’re talking, they will nod back.
If you want someone to agree for something, give them a list covering 3 options and drop the one to the bottom that you want them to pick. They are most likely to pick the bottom one.
If you want your friend to carry something, just keep talking to them while handing them the bag. Most people will automatically take the bag without thinking.
Women Treat you Entirely differently When you Become a High Value Man
Oh yes. When I was waitressing in a little hometown cafe, saving money for college. It’s the kind of restaurant where the nearby business owners eat lunch every single day and pretty much always the same crowd.
During a very hectic lunch shift, a party of six unfamiliar men in business suits came in and sat in my section. I recognized one but not the rest. As I had two other orders to take before theirs, I gave them water and menus and said I’d be with them in just a minute or two. The well known guy just happened to be a Senator.
He stood up, grabbed my sleeve and told me they were in a bit of a hurry, and that they really needed me to take their order first. I told him there were two other tables who had sat down ahead of them, and that as promised, I would be right back to take their orders.
That’s when he got indignant and said “Do you know who I am?” I said “Of course I do, Senator” and he informed me that I would be taking their order ahead of the other tables (all regular, daily customers).
I turned around and in a loud voice, I announced to the entire dining room “We have Senator X dining with us today, and he would like to be served ahead of all the rest of you. Would that be OK?”
The guy sat back down, turned bright red and never said another word. He waited his turn just like everybody else….and left me a very nice tip.
Mine was not sabotage. I put in my resignation along with a two week notice. They told me I was fired and I was escorted from the building after packing up my desk. What they forgot was I was the only coder in the building and much of the company’s accounting, inventory, control, security and other software I had customized. Could I have sabotaged it, yes, I left some backdoors to allow me easier access. I also knew all but personal passwords, some of which I was the only one who knew. I also was the only IT person that could do more than plug and play. So all the updates I normally did, weren’t being done. The daily monitoring I did, wasn’t being done. They called several times and I gave them passwords and etc, but no more than they asked. Within a month their whole system was trashed and they couldn’t find anyone that could help with their antiquated programs. They finally asked me to come back to work for them. I only agreed after telling them I would be a contractor, and I put lots of zeros after the numbers. Company went under because they refused to spend money on modern equipment and software.
Her DELUSIONAL Dating Standards Leave Her With No Man
Whether WW3 or Iran war will happen depends on USA.
Either USA withdraws all its troops from Mideast or stops supporting Israel.
The reason why US military bases in Mideast were attacked is because USA is not welcome in Mideast minus Israel.
UN says USA’s occupation of Syria & Iraq is illegal. There is no reason US troops should stay in Mideast.
US troops were not invited by Syria. USA used laundry detergent to falsely accuse Iraq possessing biochem weapons & then waged a war in 2003. … illegal, illegal, illegal.
USA should let Mideast people govern Mideast affairs.
Hence, WW3 is in the hands of USA.
BRICS Sanction UK & US After Recent Missile Attacks On Houthi Rebels!
https://youtu.be/2pU15CpJ4xk
China Deploys Multiple Warships Around Self-Claimed ADIZ – The Japan News
China is deploying multiple warships around the clock in waters near the borders of the air defense identification zone that it has unilaterally established, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.
A photograph taken by a Yomiuri Shimbun journalist on Dec. 30 showed a Jiangkai II-class guided-missile frigate of the Chinese Navy in the zone.
Air defense identification zones, or ADIZs, are set up by individual countries outside their territorial airspace to prevent incursions. Countries decide whether there is a possibility of their airspace being entered, and whether their fighter aircraft should scramble. Just passing through Japan’s ADIZ does not result in the scrambling of Self-Defense Forces planes.
China is operating the zone on the premise that it is Chinese airspace. Aircraft that fly within its ADIZ are told to immediately leave.
China’s move shows that it is a pressing issue for the Japanese government to take action to deal with Beijing’s attempt to change the status quo by force. China’s ADIZ, established in November 2013, overlaps with Japan’s and includes the Senkaku Islands, over which China claims sovereignty
Contrary to international custom, China unilaterally demands that aircraft flying in the zone follow Chinese authorities’ instructions. It also claims it will take “defensive emergency measures” if an aircraft fails to do so.
China is thought to be claiming jurisdiction that is not based in international law. The Japanese government is strongly opposed, calling China’s actions invalid, and the United States and South Korea have also expressed concern.
The Yomiuri journalist photographed the Chinese Jiangkai II-class guided-missile frigate and the Maritime Self-Defense Force’s newly commissioned frigate JS Mikuma facing each other in waters about 20 kilometers inside the border of what China insists is its ADIZ.
During the flight, the Yomiuri also confirmed a radio communication in which the Chinese Navy warship called on a separate aircraft flying within China’s ADIZ to leave the airspace.
China started deploying at least three navy warships around the clock in waters around its claimed ADIZ, according to Japanese government sources.
The three include an air defense missile destroyer, which is the Chinese version of an Aegis-equipped destroyer, and a frigate warship. Equipped with high-performance radar, air defense missile destroyers are highly capable of shooting down aircraft
The Chinese military aircraft repeatedly scramble in response to SDF aircraft, according to the sources. The Chinese military is believed to be strengthening its monitoring of SDF and U.S. military aircraft and warships in the East China Sea.
To effectively establish ADIZs, it is essential to deploy radar that can detect early on the approach of other countries’ aircraft, and improve the efficiency of fighter units so they can immediately reach the spot.
China’s monitoring capabilities were initially believed to be low, and it was thought that its establishment of the ADIZ would have no substantial impact.
However, some observers are warning that China will have its warships, which are deployed around the clock, and fighters work together and increase its military activities.
“It’s intended to block the SDF and U.S. military aircraft [from entering the airspace] in the event of contingencies in the Taiwan Strait,” said an SDF source.
Japanese government sources believe that the Chinese warships’ 24-hour deployment in the area is linked with China’s claim of sovereignty over the Senkaku Islands. In fact, when China Coast Guard vessels operating around the Senkakus intruded into Japanese territorial waters, the warships deployed in the area moved southward.
“When China established the ADIZ 10 years ago, it was meant more as a message to keep Japan and the U.S. in check,” said Yasuyuki Sugiura, a senior fellow of the Regional Studies Department’s China Division at the National Institute for Defense Studies.
“In recent years, however, the Chinese air force and navy are increasingly sharing their information. This must mean their capabilities have become more substantial,” he said.
20 vs 1: Speed Dating 20 Girls | Jubilee x Solfa | Versus 1
I was in a really bad car accident when I was 25 years old. Before the accident I exercised constantly – I walked at least five miles every day, did physically taxing work, swam every day (for a minimum of 45 minutes) in the summer. I was in great physical shape, with great muscle tone. In the accident I broke both legs, my pelvis, three vertebrae and dislocated my left knee joint. The emergency room doctor told me I would never walk again. Well, I’ll show him, I thought.
I had a dozen surgeries to repair the knee (my back wasn’t fixable at the time) and worked very hard at my physical therapy. In fact, I worked so hard that I kept getting tendonitis, which would bring my therapy to a halt. I could walk, but I had a limp, which would make my back hurt after a very short time, but I was determined to be able to walk correctly, no matter how much effort it took.
Finally one of my doctors told me the following: “I like to play golf, but no matter how hard I work, no matter how long I train, no matter how many great coaches help me, I will never play golf as well as Tiger Woods. My wife loves to play tennis. No matter how hard she works at it, no matter who coaches her, no matter how many hours of practice she puts in, she will never play tennis like Serena Williams. They have a unique balance of talent and physical attributes that allows them to do what they do. And no matter how much therapy you have, no matter how many operations to fix your legs, you will never walk without a limp. It just isn’t possible and you are doing real damage to yourself by trying so hard to overcome your disability.”
I burst into tears, mainly because I realized that he had been trying to tell me this for months and I had been doing my best not to get the message. I finally listened to him tell me that I had to stop trying so very hard because instead of gaining ground, I was actually making myself worse. I could walk, and that was something to be proud of, considering the extent of my injuries; but I was never going to be able to go back to physical condition I was in before the accident.
I was really upset by the news, but while my doctor was brutally honest with me, he managed to be compassionate when he finally relayed the message in a way I couldn’t ignore.
So now I walk with a cane. I can’t walk very far, but I do manage to get around, and that is good enough.
edit: Thank you all for the many kind comments and up-votes! I never expected my answer to mean so much to so many people. I am doing pretty well, all things considered. I have great physicians and new treatments have eased the problems with my back quite a bit. I had the dislocated knee rebuilt rather than get a knee replacement (I felt I was too young and needed to put it off as long as I could), but I’ll probably get one in the next year or two. I thank God that I had (and still have) good health insurance which allows me to take full advantage of all the new medical therapies out there. I still exercise every day, but I do so sensibly and don’t try to push myself to hard. I’m happy that my doctor was able to find a way to tell me what I needed to hear so that I didn’t continue to make myself worse.
Bob Lazar Says UFO was an Archaeological Finding | Joe Rogan
I call it “the bullshit factor”. This is why former military are in such demand. They’ve seen this. The hurry up and wait. Drive like hell through the night to make your delivery appointment on time, not stopping to eat or piss, and then waiting around four hours or more waiting for a dock, and then 2–4 hours more, waiting to get unloaded.
And then there’s the grumpy shippers and receivers who don’t like you or their job very much who’ll tell you to check back later if you’re unfortunate enough to ask what’s taking so long.
Breakdowns? Don’t get me started…waiting on the side of the road with your penis in your hand for 8-10 hours until the calvary arrives with an oversize dragon wagon.
Not to mention what it does to your health, but I will. My issues included
High blood pressure, 176/96. Can you say Dead Man Walkin’?
Started in 1990 at 165 pounds. Retired in March at 272.
High Cholesterol, can’t remember the numbers, but the doctor said they were off the charts
Blew a disc out in my back at the age of 44 in 1990, the direct result of all the bouncing
Venous insufficiency in my left leg due to sitting. Had to have several veins stripped.
Doc said if I don’t quit, the job’ll kill me. Told her, we all gotta go sometime.
Put this all together and you’d have to be crazier than a shithouse rat to do this job. So, I guess you can call me “Rat”.
This is why the majority of newbies don’t make it past their first year.
I moved next door to a guy called Dave. He lived alone with his 4 rescue dogs.
Dave was very welcoming. He knocked to my house the day we moved in and gave me a bottle of wine as a gift and introduced himself. I liked Dave from that moment.
Dave had disabilities so had a disabled car speck outside of his house. The parking in that street was a nightmare and had a huge impact on our decision to move. I will get to why this is important soon.
There was an old couple called Mr and Mrs Love (how cute?) Lovely old dears. They stopped to say hi one day whilst I was painting my front wall. Mrs Love told me to be careful of Dave. Apparently he was an awful man who complains and fights with all the neighbors. He would call the police for no good reason and he was cruel to his dogs.
Ok, Wow!
The woman across the street told me he was a paedophile who took videos from his bedroom of kids playing.
Another told me he called child protection on them for abusing their kids.
He shot next door but one’s cat with a pellet gun because it was in his garden, one of them said.
So, Dave was not a popular chap!
I’m not one for gossip but it’s hard not to be wary when all your neighbors are telling you that the antichrist is living next door.
When my dog had puppies, Dave gave me his number and told me to call him any time, day or night, if I needed help. He was slightly deaf and didn’t always hear the door bell.
Dave let me use the shared entry that was also his to store some things that I had no space for.
Dave fed my cat when I went away.
Dave never complained when my teenage son and his friends were rowdy.
Dave told me he was leaving his home to the Dogs Trust upon his death, in return for them to take his dogs and rehome them.
Dave looked after my dogs when I was going through something and wasn’t home a lot. He never pried. He just supported me by being there.
Dave cried when I gave him a Christmas card. He never had one before from a neighbor.
Dave helped me move to my new house which wasn’t far away, by bringing bits around that I forgot when the movers came.
The parking spot was the reason that the neighbors started a witch hunt for Dave. They said he scammed the council and wasn’t really ill. Dave got something that they wanted. They didn’t like it. Dave had cancer by the way. Nobody cared to ask. It was easier to start a hate campaign. It took one neighbor to tell an exaggerated story and begin the snowball effect that had Dave labelled as a pariah.
I still see Dave.
The other neighbors, I walk past them if I see them around. All of them are the worst neighbors I ever had.
I hope the couple who moved in to my house appreciate how lucky they are to have Dave next door.
Edit.
I’m grateful when people edit my typos. Please go ahead. I’m often very lax and don’t proof read my answers.
Speck is not a typo. That is the word I chose to use. To me it means a tiny insignificant space. I also meant to say next door but one. It was the neighbour next door to my next door neighbour!
There are two. The first one was in 1987 after my Grandmother died. My grandfather didn’t want to sleep in the house by himself the first night after her death. So, myself and a neighbor agreed to spend the night with him. Keep in mind that my grandparents slept in separate bedrooms, so I slept in my grandfathers bedroom and my grandfather slept in my grandmothers bedroom. The neighbor slept in the living room. In the early morning hours of the next day I noticed that I was little bit chilly. I felt someone take the covers on the bed and pull them up over me. I turned over only to see my grandmother leaving out of the room! When I asked my grandfather and neighbor the next morning if they had come into the room and covered me up, they both said NO!
The next incident happened many years ago. There was an old lady who lived on the corner of my street. One day the neighbor directly across the street from her had a rummage sale. Although it was in the winter, she had tables sitting out with items to sell and people were looking at the items. The old lady on the corner was one of them. I noticed her as I was driving by. The next week I mentioned to my neighbor that I saw the old lady at her yard sale. She looked at me as if I was crazy and said “That lady has been dead for months!”
Americans Living Abroad: First Time You Realized America Really Messed You Up – American Reacts
I came to the United States in 2006. Looking for full time work, I took a position of checkout operator at a Super K-Mart in a small town in California. The job was basic pay, no fixed hours on call. So was not great but as i had worked retail in the United Kingdom, I saw it as a stop-gap position until I could get a more regular job.
It was Thanksgiving Day 2006 and the store had been open since about noon. There was lots of traffic as customers came in to snap up Thanksgiving bargains.
I had taken several thousands of dollars and my till drawer had a bulge created by all of the $100 bills stuffed under the change drawer.
About 6pm the store manager came to my check-out and told me to open the cash register and give him the $100 bills.
I asked him to count the cash in front of me and give me a written receipt so I could place this in the till so the cash office could reconcile my till for the end of the day.
I had always done this in my own stores in England and I had worked for Tesco, a British supermarket chain where such receipts for large cash withdrawals by managers were manditory.
This manager refused. Opened my cash drawer himself and pulled out all of the $100 bills and put them into a cash bag without running the audit on the cash register.
I immediately closed off the register. Walked to the cash office with the contents of the drawer, told them I was leaving and went to collect my belongings from my locker in the staff room.
There was no way I was going to work for a manager who could come to my cash register, and take cash at will, leaving me with possible charges of theft from my employer.
Deciding to just walk out wasn’t a problem. Going to prison was.
A week later I received an offer of a far better job. Part-time with fixed hours. No cash handling involved.
Expats Share Their American Trauma After Living Abroad
I’ve answered this question elsewhere but might as well do it again. In the 80s I owned a limousine company in Southern California. You get or are in the area of celebrities from time to time.
Nicest – Hands down Robert Wagner (Hart vs Hart, etc). Busy night, MTV awards so I was driving a car. My client was a music producer. Awards ceremony is at the Universal Amphitheatre. They had us park in the back lot which happened to be among the movie sets they use for neighborhoods (Like Ozzie & Harriet, Desperate Housewives, etc). It’s kind of confusing back there and pitch black at night. Out of the night walks someone who asks for directions to the Amphitheatre. It’s Robert Wagner. I agree to guide him and we chatted as we walked and parted once I got him to the Amphitheatre back stage. (I often wondered WTH he was doing at the MTV awares but whatever). Anyway, a year later I’m dropping clients off at a restaurant on Sunset. Walking up the street is Robert Wagner. He approaches me and picks up the conversation where we left off, knew my name, etc. Just like 2 old buddies catching up. He certainly could have walked on by and I probably wouldn’t even have noticed him. He went out of his way to approach me. Not a lot of people would do that much less celebrities. Impressed the hell out of my clients.
Since then I’ve filmed with Jay Leno and he’s another nice guy. I noticed that people like that really have to fly private. It’s not a choice because they are snobbish. They’d never be able to make a commercial flight on time if they had to walk through an airport and not acknowledge people.
Rudest? Hands down Tyne Daly. World Class A-hole. Totally unnecessary to treat people like that. 2nd place is not even close. It was difficult to find drivers that would drive her more than once.
I totally get the autograph thing. If you sign one, you have to sign the other 1,000 people’s who saw you giving out one. Particularly when they are eating. Most celebrities you can get autographs by writing their management. Don’t bother them when they are eating, or god forbid with their children or looking like they are late getting somewhere. If you break that barrier, don’t be surprised if they are not particularly welcoming. I also understand some of the sports stars who won’t sign because their stuff ends up on eBay the next day. I don’t think it’s an issue where they want the money, I think that it’s just not a good feeling to know that the only reason you got asked is so they can use you.
I don’t envy fame, having to be “On” 24/7 while out in public. You turn down one request and you are an instant a-hole.
THE U.S. Wants To Remove The No-Fault Divorce Law & Prevent Paternity Fraud. WOMEN ARE PISSED OFF!
The world—American or otherwise—should bear this in mind.
Chinese ports handled 300m containers last year.
To put the number in context, American ports struggle with 50–60m, with the 10% increase during covid provoking loud creaks of protest from the antiquated system, resulting in transpacific shipping rates going up by an order of magnitude, or >10x.
China is the truly the world’s factory. It imports plenty, and exports plenty.
A naval blockade of China equals a naval blockade of the world, tradewise.
What happens to the >1t in annual revenue that American MNCs generate from within the mainland? Note this is not visible from bilateral trade figures.
What happens to Wall Street?
Good luck with that foolhardy scenario, which will lead to material collapse of civil society everywhere, because China is indispensable to the global supply chain.
Note: It is impossible to blockade China, militarily speaking.
We don’t care if you got a little fat, we didn’t choose you because of the measurement of your waist size.
We’re not overly jealous, your male best friend is over-friendly.
Before you took us to buy nail paints with you, we used to think there were only 7 colours.
We don’t care if you did your make-up by watching a 3 hour long tutorial by James Charles or you haven’t washed your face. Either way you’re beautiful.
Yes we find your friends attractive and we can’t help it but you should know that you’re different.
Doesn’t matter if it’s bold red or nude pink, all of your lipsticks taste like absolute plastic.
We often get emotional but the way we deal with them is quite different.
We use female cosmetics and you better not ask why.
It breaks our heart when we look at you and think that you and I won’t last forever.
Yes romantic movies and parties are fun but can we go on a late night walk?
Not me, but one of my tenants. She was elderly, and complained to me that her cousin stole her life savings of $6,000 when he helped her move in. Going forward about a year later she arrived home to find her grandson hanging from the kitchen doorway. She ran out the back door, never to return home.
I heard she was hospitalized after that, from a breakdown. Her son came from another state and packed up her belongings. He wrote down on a piece of paper that whatever was left behind I could keep, sell, or dispose of. He then turned the keys over to me.
I was shocked when I went into the place to clean it. He had left behind what I considered important items, photos in picture frames, a photo album, nice clothing, etc. I felt anger for her, that her son wasn’t more considerate and caring.
My husband told me to look through everything as I packed it up, as old people hide money in their stuff. Sure enough I found some old pennies hidden in a picture frame. Then I found ninety single dollar bills hidden in a box of socks that must have belonged to her grandson. At last I was going through a laundry basket with neatly layered towels and shoes that was beneath the kitchen sink. At the bottom lay a book that held business cards, her ID, social security card, etc. Page after page held $100 dollar bills. In all it totaled $6,000.
I thought about all I could do with $6,000. After all the son had said I could keep anything I found. The more I thought about it, the sicker I felt in my stomach. This lady was alive and had been through hell. It was the money she thought her cousin had stolen. It still belonged to her. I immediately called the property owner and had her pick it up, along with the picture albums, old pennies, and a few other probably meaningful possessions. We felt skeptical about giving the money to the son whom I sensed didn’t care. (Or maybe he was just grieving his son’s suicide.) Nonetheless, it took a year of finding honest relatives, but the lady did finally get the money back into her possession.
Like Pakistan was forced to pay for all those US weapons from the 1960s to 2000s and ended up unable to pay for their development.
So the Key Question for the Taiwanese is :-
Are the US Weapons Free?
Can US make up a market equivalent to 36% of Taiwanese Exports that the Mainland offers today
The Answer to both is NO & NO
Best example is Australia
40.6% of their export market was China in 2019
Then they had a tiff
Australia couldn’t sell anywhere else. The US and Europe and India offered only a paltry 8% market for Australian Exports
The US couldn’t pick up even 10% of the Slack that China Trade cost the Aussies for the whole of 2020–2021
Meanwhile the US and UK signed a deal to SELL SUBMARINES to Australia and weaponize them against China
By 2022, Albanese flew down, kissed the signet ring of Xi Jingping and today Australia got back a huge chunk of the Chinese Market
Anti China Propaganda is still prevalent but much much lower than under Scott Morrison
Same for Argentina
China is a huge market for their Exports
Can US pick up the slack?
No
Same for OPEC Nations
China is a huge market for their Oil and Gas.
Can US pick up the slack?
No
Same for Europe
Did US sell Europe Gas at Russian Prices?
Nopes
Since the 1960s , tell me ONE COUNTRY that prospered under US intervention
The Answer is NOT ONE NATION ever became better due to US intervention
They became significantly worse
US would meddle in their affairs, sell them weapons with the excuse of fighting for democracy, enrich shareholders of Raytheon, NG and Boeing and all those contractors and kill many thousands of people
Every such Nation has been made poorer thanks to the US
The Corrupt Leadership will enrich themselves like Zelensky or the Afghan President who fled and likely Bong Bong Marcos and Lai
Meanwhile the Poor Citizens will be poorer than ever and worse off
Why should we believe Taiwan would be any different to the 14 Nations where US ‘INTERVENED’ for Prosperity between 1965 to 2023????
If I were a Ukrainian general, I have nothing to win but everything to lose. I will either surrender or I will enriched myself profusely and hide my ill gotten gains away for the rest of my life.
In Malaysia we have an expression that is apt. It is call “nasi sudah jadi bubur” or it means Ukraine is beyond redemption. 2014 when the U.S. bribed and coerced Ukrainians to agree to poke Russia in the eye after the U.S. staged and funded colour revolution to set up a sham government with a puppet ruler started to wrong till today 10 years on.
Well the U.S. and U.K thought wrongly that it could fxxk up Russia or China as it wish! But it can’t! I can send such nation like Ukraine, Isreal or Taiwan to be a sacrificial lamb. Too bad Ukraine allowed the CIA to destroy their wonderful nation.
Women’s Dating Standards have Ruined Relationships
https://youtu.be/MNvpS8UU5l0
Chicken Piccata
Chicken Piccata goes very well with Fettuccine Alfredo or Capellini aglio e olio or some rice pilaf (or risotto) and sautéed rapini (broccoli rabe). This will be “del’arte di mangiare” bene (the art of eating well).
2024 01 31 11 58
Ingredients
1 pound skinned chicken breast, sliced thin, or chicken tenders
1 cup all-purpose flour with a sprinkle of granulated garlic, salt and pepper
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 pound fresh sliced mushrooms or a can of straw mushrooms with juice removed
1/2 cup chicken stock (boullion cubes dissolved in a cup of hot water will do)
1/2 cup white wine and remember, do not cook with any wine you wouldn’t drink*
1-2 cloves finely chopped garlic
Small handful chopped parsley
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 lemon sliced thin, remove seeds
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
* This means do not use cooking wine…ever!
Instructions
Flatten breasts of chicken with the back of a sauté pan between wax paper if you didn’t cut them thin enough (1/4 inch or so). Pat them in the flour mixture and set aside.
Heat the sauté pan to medium/high and add the oil and 1/2 the butter. When back up to heat and butter is melted, add the chicken. (If the butter starts boiling it will burn so lower the heat until you put the chicken in.) When the edges of the first side start to appear cooked, turn them over. Add a splash of lemon and wine, salt and pepper to taste, and cook until done. When done, set aside and keep warm. You may have to do this a few times depending on the size of your pan or how much you are making.
De-glaze the pan over hot heat with the wine to dissolve the brown particles and let it reduce. Note: If you are using gas and tip the edge of the pan over the flame it will ignite ( flambe ) and flame up to burn off the alcohol – BE CAREFUL! Then add the stock, butter, and lemon juice and let reduce further. Add a pinch of flour to thicken or use 1/2 teaspoon of Roux (below). This should take about a minute or so. When thickened, add mushrooms, garlic, parsley, and the sliced lemon to the pan and sauté for a minute or so and blend well. Place the chicken a serving platter or plates, spoon over juices, top with lemon slices and serve immediately. This may look like a lot of work and too much oil, butter or spices but trust me, if you skimp, it will not taste the same. Also, if you don’t want to use chicken, you can substitute with turkey or veal.
Roux: This is the best thickening agent and can be used in anything – demi-glazes, gravies, soups, etc.
Use equal parts butter and flour.
Melt butter; slowly whisk in flour and simmer until golden brown and remove from flame. DONE! When using a roux it must be at room temperature or cooler than the product being cooked. Over medium heat, stir in a little roux until dissolved and let thicken. Start off with a teaspoon per quart of liquid, or fraction thereof, and add as required.
At a class reunion, a classmate I had not seen in maybe 40 years was there. He came over, ask me to dance and proceeded to thank me. I was taken aback. “Whatever for? For a dance?” He then explained he had come to the reunion to thank me and another girl for “saving” him when we were young. (Like 4th-8th grade.) He said I had let him check my homework (I did vaguely remember one incident) to see if his answers were right. He said that Debbie had also helped him. I was still confused. “Why did you feel you had to come thank me for such a small thing from so long ago?”
As the dance ended, he began to tell the story. I was appalled. Seems he was raised by an alcoholic father who would beat the boys if their grades weren’t B’s or above. Hence his need to check our homework, which we accorded him. Little did I know the true depth of his story. I was so appalled that I blurted out, “Why didn’t anyone do anything? The adults, why didn’t the adults do something?” I was even far more appalled when told that most of the school staff knew of those kid’s situation. He said the janitor’s wife fed them sandwiches every morning because they had had no breakfast because Dad would drink up the food money. When I asked again why no one did anything, he told me it wasn’t like it is nowadays back in the mid 60’s. There was no CPS or 211Kids. Especially out there in the country.
Thus, he felt that Debbie and I had saved him from more than one beating. Finally, about the time he graduated he said he and his Dad got into it again and for the first time he turned the tables on his “old man” and beat him. He left for the service within the week rather than stay in that home any longer.
So yes, someone from my past has come back to thank me and broke my heart for the young boy I had known but didn’t know his horrid home situation. Thank God I handed that small boy (he was always sort of scrawny back then) my homework. Would do it again!
21 Minutes of Older Women realizing they are not Wanted anymore and crying on Social Media
It was my first real job, and I helped the company install a new computer system to replace the punch cards and ribbons monster they had used before. The new sexy system used state of the art floppy discs!
So, I had been there for 50 weeks when they fired me (Unfair Dismissal laws apply from 52 weeks on). I had seen it coming and had another job lined up, but I was determined that I would leave everything in such good order that whoever came after me could see how good I was at my job and didn’t believe any slander about me.
My handwriting is pretty terrible, which didn’t matter when I was the only one reading it, but for the sake of my successor, I took all the floppy disks and relabeled them with clear, colour coded labels and legible handwriting.
Then I left and started a much better job the following week.
Later, I heard that the boss’s wife got suspicious of my new labels – AND TOOK THEM ALL OFF ALL THE DISCS. All the payroll discs, ledgers, creditors and bank accounts, end of month totals, and master discs, all sitting in a pile with no labels and no one in the company with enough computer knowledge to know which was which.
The got onto their computer support company in Dublin, but since they had screwed them over they last time they had worked, the IT people were in no hurry to sort them out.
They didn’t ask me.
By the time they found someone, the company had gone bust.
And the thing was, I had no intention of getting revenge, it was the company’s own practices which had resulted in it.
In reality, the best hiding place is the one that the police walk right past and never find. I’m sure it happens, but not in this case:
My favorite is the auto body repair shop we raided which was dealing a lot of heroin. We knew it was in there, but we couldn’t find it. We searched all the cars, all the tools, the tool boxes, the oil tanks – every place imaginable. The facility had a concrete floor and cinder-block walls with a 16′ ceiling — not many hiding places.
During the raid, we detained seven or eight people hanging out. As per standard operating procedure, we ran warrant checks on everyone there. That’s when we got lucky. One of the people there had a reasonably large warrant from another state.
The warrant wasn’t for a violent crime; he was stealing cars and selling off the parts. He must have pissed someone off, because his bail was fifty thousand dollars, full cash. When we were asked to confirm the person’s identity, my sergeant gave a different date of birth so that the warrant wouldn’t execute. Meaning the computer wouldn’t know we had the wanted person in custody.
We took the guy outside and explained the situation to him. Either he gave us the hiding place, or he sits in jail on a fifty thousand dollar warrant. He was very hesitant to give up the location because he said we would never find it on our own, they would know he told, and the dealer was a friend.
We promised to protect his identity and come up with a way to find the drugs which wouldn’t look suspicious. So he spilled the beans. Just off the ceiling, was a typical configuration of sprinkler pipes. The last section of pipe was a fake. The connecting pipe had been internally welded closed. The final length of the sprinkler pipe including two sprinkler heads were dry and empty, except for many bags of heroin. The rest of the pipes were all pressurized and fully functioning as a sprinkler system.
According to our new informant, the dealer would stand on the hood of the same car, which never moved from the shop. As the dealer stood on the vehicle, the lift would be raised. This put the dealer close enough to the pipe to unscrew it and retrieve the hidden drugs.
As the dealer watched, we spent hours acting as if we were searching until our sergeant said, “Look, what’s with all the sneaker prints on the hood of that car.” He had one of us climb up there and stand in the same spot, but the detective couldn’t reach anything and said so. The sergeant says, “How about if we raise the car.” As soon as the lift raised the car, the only thing up that high was the sprinkler pipe. The detective wiggled it around a little, and it was loose. He then yells down, “Hey, this sprinkler pipe has greasy hand prints all over it.”
He unscrewed the pipe and found the drugs and the dealer couldn’t believe we had located his stash. We told him we would recover his prints from the sprinkler pipe and he quickly admitted to owning the drugs.
He had a near perfect hiding place. His biggest mistake was that a second person was needed to operate the lift. This second person not only sold stolen auto parts, but also sold his friend down the river.
Its always been a mystery to me, it’s never been a problem that I have had. Except for a brief period where I had the worlds best maid.
She was the bar maid at my local pub, and over heard me say that my place was a mess, and I needed a maid.
It turns out that she worked days for Molly maid, and nights at the pub, and she picked up any work she could get during the day on weekends. She was only 21, and she was saving up to buy a bed and breakfast in a resort town in a neighboring province. She said she was almost there, at 21.
So I gave her a key to my place, and when I got home from work Saturday afternoon my house looked like a tornado had hit. All of my living room furniture was stacked in the middle of the living room. The smell of pinesol was strong in the kitchen and hallway. The fridge and stove were away from the wall, and there was no one in sight. I went upstairs and all the beds were piled in one room, the dressers pulled away from the wall. She was on her hands and knees, scrubbing a stain out of the carpet, that had been hidden by the bed. She said she was almost done cleaning and just had to put stuff back.
I offered to do that downstairs, while she finished up, upstairs. She gladly accepted. I went down and pushed the fridge and stove back over to the spotless walls, on spotless floors. I moved the living room and dining room furniture back .
I went upstairs and put the dressers and beds back in the guest rooms, while she finished the master bedroom.
She never stopped moving for a second. She said she loved the smell of a clean house. I wanted marry her then and there, but didn’t want to risk losing my maid 😂.
She asked me when the last time I had cleaned behind the fridge and stove, when I said never, she said “I could tell.”
The walls had been washed, all of the light fixtures cleaned, the windows washed. The laundry room was spotless, even the furnace room was swept and dusted.
She came every two weeks for 3 months, and then announced that she had bought a bed and breakfast at 21.
I went from a slob, to the cleanest house on the block, and back to a slob in 4 months.
The way I kept my house spotless was to have the worlds best maid.
There was this Chinese buffet in my hometown at which I used to eat, quite regularly. Probably more often than a person interested in their health and well-being should.
The woman at the front desk would seat me herself, and bring me my drink, rather than the waiters/waitresses.
The head chef would always come out and greet me and give me a polite smile, and ask me if I wanted anything specific made (of which I never really took advantage).
So, in other words, these people knew who I was and actually cared about my business.
I used to go there all the time with my then-girlfriend.
One day, I went in there alone on my lunch break.
The woman at the front desk approached me at my table.
She asked me, “You and your girlfriend break up?”
I was confused. “Uh… no?”
“Oh.” Then she said, very matter-of-factly, “She come in here earlier with another man. She kiss him.”
I was shocked. “What? She did?”
“Yeah!” She said, very excitedly, and pointed to a table, “She sat over there.”
So I texted her.
“Hey, I’m at the buffet for lunch, wanna join me?”
She replied, “No. I already ate.”
“Ah, cool. Where’d ya go?”
She replied, “My mom’s.”
So I said, “Really? Because the waitress said she saw you here earlier.”
Five minutes later, she texted, “Yeah, I went there. But I didn’t eat anything.”
At that point, I lost interest in pursuing the truth, so I just said, “Cool. We’re done.”
I was working for a company that sold, repaired, and installed computer networks, back in the 1980′s.
One guy called on the phone and yelled, “I want you to get over here and fix my fucking computer!” I asked him to repeat it. Didn’t know the voice or phone number, but I wanted to be sure. I repeated it, louder. “I WANT SOMEBODY TO COME HERE AND FIX MY FUCKING COMPUTER!” With total calm, I told him, “Sorry sir, we don’t service that brand.”
Another time, we’d just hired two sales people that a competitor had fired. They were following up all their sales leads that they had brought with them. Their former boss found out that they’d been closing some of those sales while they worked for us, and he called us, mad as hell, to speak to my boss, My boss didn’t want to deal with him, so he just handed me the phone. I was the bookkeeper. It was a small office. He mouthed, “Tell him whatever, I don’t care!” and then introduced me as his “Sales Manager.” I shrugged, took the phone and asked what the problem was. The guy told me that our new sales people had been poaching his leads, that he had come to him originally because of advertising that his company had paid a lot of money for. He wanted me to fire the two salespeople. I thought for a moment while I agreed with him that what they had done was quite unethical, and reprehensible. Then I told him I would see to it that it didn’t happen again, if he would help me, by giving me a list of all the prospective clients that he was working on, with their names, addresses, and contact information. He asked why, and I told him I was going to make sure that our sales staff didn’t call those people, but of course, I had to know who they were. I assured him that if he would fax me that list, I would make sure that all our salespeople received it with “appropriate instructions.’
He hung up without saying another word. And no, I never got the list. “
My little sister was terribly bullied in middle school. She often came home in tears; her grades were low and she had no friends. Although she was still young, it was not difficult to see that she was really depressed.
It was an expensive, selective, all-girl, private school. Our family considered it an achievement that she got accepted, and brushed off her struggles, saying it was only an adjustment period.
They were wrong. She spent two years in total misery. Her time in the counselor’s office told me that she would never adapt. It broke my heart seeing her unhappy and there was nothing I could do about it.
We relocated and she started at another school, where she prospered. It was the fresh start she needed. She had a great circle of friends and her academic performance improved.
My sister grew into a beautiful confident young lady. She managed to overcome all her insecurities and learned to socialize. Her old school troubles became distant memories that we avoided talking about.
Until we had to move back. My family wanted her to go to her old school and her old “friends”. She was devastated, because she was leaving her real ones, but mostly about having to live through the nightmare school once again.
We went there to re-enroll, after spending the night unsuccessfully trying to convince everyone against it. My sister recognized a group of girls from her old class at the gate. She said hello, they ignored her and started snickering.
She just sat there helplessly as the re-admission forms were being filled out. But I was fuming. We will process your paperwork and call you next week to pay the tuition fees so she can start, said the registrar.
It was not too late and I was going to act quietly. The next morning I phoned the school and asked to speak to her then counselor. I reminded her of all the difficulties my sister had when she attended that school.
I told her how well she’s doing in her new one and offered to send progress reports for proof. I asked her to keep our conversation confidential and finally begged her to decline the re-admission request.
“I will review her file and do my best. But please remember that I am only part of the admission panel and I do not have the final say in her acceptance” said her counselor. I hung up and prayed.
A few days later, my dad announced that he had bad news. The school rejected my sister’s application and we will be looking at other options. They did not provide a reason for their rejection.
No one knew about my meddling until she graduated high school. Ten years later, she is still very grateful about it.
China Banned ALL Rare Earth Tech, What this Means for Ucore
Me: “This is my two weeks notice.” Manager, looking stricken, as if I was her child saying I was leaving home: “I’m not happy for you.”
2007:
Me: “This is my two weeks notice. I do not want a party.” Manager : “Why are you leaving?” Me: “Because I am the only person left in this department and for some reason they gave me 10 months notice instead of 60 days, but it’s obvious we are going to be dissolved. I want to walk out of here on my own.” Manager: “No, no, that’s not true. But okay. What kind of party do you want?” Me: “I do not want a party. Please.” Manager: “It’ll just be a small party.”
2010:
Manager, smirking: “We’ll need an official letter of resignation.” Me, placing my ID badge on her desk. “Here is my official resignation.”
No one handled it well. No one had the slightest interest in me, my career, my emotional well-being. Right now I have a boss I’d crawl through broken glass for, it’s the first time in my entire career I feel that way.
How Aliens TIME-TRAVEL… Eric Weinstein explains to Joe Rogan
https://youtu.be/KhRLlwzkN24
Tuscan Chicken Rolls with Pork Stuffing (Rollatini di Pollo)
2024 01 31 11 56
Ingredients
3 large whole chicken breasts (about 2 1/2 pounds total)
1/2 pound ground pork
1 small onion, minced
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup soft bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground savory
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup cold water
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon instant chicken bouillon
Minced parsley
Instructions
Remove bones and skin from chicken breasts; cut chicken into halves. Place between 2 pieces plastic wrap; pound until 1/4 inch thick, being careful not to tear the meat.
Cook and stir pork, onion and garlic over medium heat until pork is brown. drain fat.
Stir in egg, bread crumbs, 1/2 teaspoon salt, savory and pepper.
Place about 1/3 cup pork mixture on each chicken breast half. Roll up; secure with wooden picks.
Place rolls in greased 11 x 7-inch baking dish.
Brush rolls with butter; pour any remaining butter over rolls. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add wine.
Bake uncovered at 400 degrees F until chicken is done, 35 to 40 minutes.
Remove chicken to warm platter; remove wooden picks. Keep warm.
Pour liquid from baking dish into 1-quart saucepan.
Stir water into cornstarch; pour into liquid. Stir in bouillon. Heat to boiling over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute.
I was asked that question one Christmas Eve when I was in Saudi Arabia in 2010. I was working there as a nurse in a major hospital in Riyadh. For us foreigners, Christmas was a particularly dangerous time of year, as Al-Qaidah was still strong, Bin Laden was still in charge, and predictably, they always wanted to give us the same Christmas present, a big bomb, preferably delivered via car. Having several hundred infidel women living together was too tempting for them to pass up.
Living in a 100% Muslim country that didn´t tolerate any other religions, we were warned not to try to celebrate Christmas. Near our quarters APC´s (Armored Personnel Carriers) would roam the streets with soldiers sent to protect us from the inevitable bomb threats. As Christian healthcare workers we were told not to even wish each other merry Christmas, as that could result in our being deported back to our home countries (although we never saw that actually happen to anyone).
There were many Muslims from other countries who would openly defy that order and wish us merry Christmas, but we were cautious, never knowing who you could trust. Some people even asked the Irish nurses how to say it in Irish, and hearing Filipinos and Christian Indians saying “Nollaig Shona” in the hallways to each other was surreal.
A week before the holiday I received a whispered invitation to go to a Christmas party thrown by a Saudi man in his home. My immediate response was “Are you joking?”
The Ukrainian nurse who invited me assured me that she wasn´t.
Abdullah* was a Saudi James Dean. He was a rebel in a white thobe. I learned that he had defied his family and married a tall, blue eyed blonde woman from the Czech Republic, which had resulted in him being rejected by his family. Although he was still a practicing Muslim, in defiance of everything he had been taught, he held a Christmas party in his home every year. The party was a potluck, all we had to do was bring the food and he would supply the illegal homemade alcohol.
My curiosity overcame my fear of arrest and deportation and I baked a cheesecake and set off to the party. There were roughly twenty-five people in attendance, all of us acutely aware of the danger attending this fete presented but throwing caution to the wind. He had invited westerners representing different nationalities and professions, nurses, architects, pilots and engineers, all of us connected only by the fact that we were together in a strange foreign land trying to navigate through the landmines of religious based rules.
Abdullah and his wife Magda* were gracious hosts, and as promised, he soon brought out his homemade wine and grain alcohol as we set up the buffet table full of food. He was breaking every law one could imagine, having unmarried men and women together in one room, celebrating the infidel holiday of Christmas, drinking alcohol, and even having music playing. All we needed was a roast pig to complete the debauchery.
Abdullah revelled in his rebellion like a child deliberately throwing himself in a mud puddle whilst wearing his best clothes.
By the time 02:00 rolled around, Abdullah and his guests were three sheets to the wind, and he leaned towards me sitting on the sofa and softly slurred, “Do you want see my whip scars?”
My mouth dropped open in surprise and I glanced quickly towards his wife, who nodded solemnly.
“Uh, OK, sure.” I stuttered, lying about my certainty.
He stood up unsteadily and stripped off his shirt, causing the other guests to abruptly stop their conversations, wondering why their Muslim host was taking off his clothes in his living room. He turned and showed us his back.
His guests collectively gasped. He sported dozens of lash scars all over his back. The nurses present gave into our clinical curiosity and cautiously reached out to touch his wounds. The other professionals weren´t as used to seeing physical damage as we were and didn´t come near.
We asked him what happened, and he told us that a couple of years earlier, he had been preparing to throw his traditional party and three women who were coming asked if they could bring some of their homemade wine. Abdullah decided that it was too dangerous for them to transport it in a taxi, so he offered to come and pick up the bottles himself.
Unfortunately, he was stopped by the police on his way home and they searched his car. He was immediately arrested, and the sentence was made worse by the fact that he wasn´t just caught in possession of alcohol, but by transporting it in his car, he was charged with intent to distribute, which carried a tougher sentence. He told the police that the wine was his, refusing to turn in the women to the authorities.
He was jailed for three months while he awaited trial, then he was sentenced to a hundred lashes. Even in our inebriated state, we couldn´t believe the harshness of the sentence.
“How do you survive a hundred lashes?” We asked him in awe, still staring at his back.
“They don´t do it all at once.” He explained. “They give you twenty-five or thirty, then you go home and have to come back a month later for more.”
He told us that they finally let him go home and with delays he waited almost a year for the first set of lashings, then a couple of months for the second, etc.
“Why would you go back for more?”
He shrugged. “Where am I supposed to go? They flagged my passport. I can´t go anywhere.”
Understandably, we were horrified by what we saw. One of the Canadian men in the party came up to him and clapped him on the shoulder. “Damn, man, I would take you out and buy you a beer if we lived somewhere where I could do that.”
Abdullah nodded. “I appreciate that.” He said softly.
“After all that, why in the world would you continue having Christmas parties?” I asked him. “Aren´t you afraid of getting caught again?”
He looked at us with a drunken fire in his eyes. “They will never keep me down. I will fight against their rules even if it kills me.”
Now, in 2020, Saudi Arabia has finally outlawed lashing as a corporal punishment for crimes. Every Christmas I think of Abdullah and wonder if he is still fighting the man – James Dean style
Mandatory Paternity Test Law Passed No More Paternity Fraud From Women
“If the average person knew the state of law enforcement in this country, they couldn’t sleep at night” – from one of my academy instructor’s lectures. Nothing has changed in 30 plus years. There is a reason why I always carry a gun off-duty and try to talk all of my loved ones into at least owning a firearm.
There are a lot fewer of us out on the street than you know. Take your local agency’s head count, lop off about 20 percent for administrative assignments, then divide the remaining amount by three or four (shifts). Then subtract about a quarter for those on days off/sick days/limited duty/training/vacation. Make it a busy night and no cars will be available and the calls pile up… and pile up.
After about three years, most officers become civil service workers. They are not looking to invent new case law or do more paperwork. At five to seven years, most officers think about another line of work. If they pass that hurdle, they can last 20. At 20 plus years, unless you are driving like you are competing in the Indy-500, you’re not getting stopped and you have to really, really work to be arrested.
The job is not nearly as exciting as portrayed on Cops or other television shows. There is an inordinate amount of paperwork – at times it seems like we are glorified secretaries with guns.
When we arrive on scene, we instantaneously know who is going to jail: the guy with no shirt (or wearing a “wife-beater”) with a mullet, usually standing in the middle of the road puffing up.
Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, good happens after midnight.
Don’t expect me to fix in under 15-minutes what took you ten years to destroy.
Don’t expect me to raise your kids. You decided for years to raise feral children with no discipline or sense of social responsibility, I can’t do much in a few minutes.
None of us care who you know. If you had any real juice; you’d not say anything, but would just smile and accept the citation or arrest and magically, behind the scenes, things would be fixed. I’ve dealt with the really connected people and have seen how they can manipulate the system – and that obviously ain’t you.
You can’t get our badge. Trust me, we hear that all the time. Just like how you will sue – get in line. Again, if you had power, you’d be as inconspicuous as possible.
Attitude goes a long way. I’ve cited people I originally was going to warn and warned people who I was going to cite. Same with arrests.
If we have to fight you or shoot you, we will be the first to give you medical treatment.
We are not trained as social workers or psychologists but that is a big portion of our jobs. When no one else is available or can help, it seems like a good time to call the police department.
When we are trying to help you and you feel like we are trying to shove a square peg into a round hole – we feel the same way. The laws and policies don’t make much sense to us either.
Law enforcement is one of only two jobs where everyone is an “expert” with no training or experience. The other one is being a head football coach.
I sincerely apologize when we forget to be empathetic. While this our 500th burglary, this is your first time being violated. While this is our 200th dead body call, it’s your first.
I don’t care about your prior bad experience with law enforcement. I’m here now. I’ve had bad experiences with plumbers, physicians and barbers, but I don’t stereotype a whole profession off of one experience.
Our cars aren’t much different than yours. Sure we have a snazzy paint job, some special lights and a radio, but we can get as stuck as easily as you, we can have an accident just like you and we can’t stop on a dime. And, we’re limited on how fast we can get to a call. We can’t go warp speed nor get traffic to part, like Moses did with the sea.
We really don’t care what race, sex or ethnic group you belong to, we are trying to get this issue resolved before going to the next call.
We all H-A-T-E when you scare your young kids by threatening them by telling them we will arrest them. Really? Way to make your kids the next generation of cop-haters and they are now petrified to approach us if they’re in danger or lost.
My mother lived in a large old house that we called “the manor”. Supposedly it was the home of one of the regional governors of the area back in the 1700’s, and it had servant quarters, a large “carriage house”, a barn, and a row of houses that were the quarters for the servants back in the day.
When she bought it (with her second “husband”), my step dad, it was being used a a mobile home park. And so they cleared out the old mobile homes, and the discarded cars, cleaned up the land. Knocked down some buildings, and installed a pool with a pool house, and placed a nice water fountain with a stature in front.
But…
Off to the side was this big spread of land and Lordy, it needed to be mowed. That’s 11 acres you all. Took me a full day to mow all the grass, I’ll tell you what.
But in the middle of that was a flag pole. And my mother would put up a new flag every Memorial Day.
Now, she always bought smaller flags. This is because they gave the impression that the pole was larger, and thus bigger, than it actually was.
Well, one day in 2002, I guess, I went to get a replacement flag and the storekeeper asked me what size that I wanted.
I told her that I did not know.
So he asked me how tall the pole was. And I said about three stories tall, and he gave me a flag.
When I brought it home, my mother was angry.
She said that it was way too large.
But, since it was the end of the day and the holiday was upon us, she gave me the ok to put it up.
And so I did.
Let me tell you that that large flag was GLORIOUS. Simply wonderful.
It moved with strength in the wind, and it was so gosh visually appealing that cars would slow down as they drove by the house.
So people, when ever you put up a flag, select the largest one that would fit on the pole. You will NOT be disappointed.
And as for my mother… well, she changed her mind about what the size of a flag should be, and always insisted on the large size.
You see, everyone.
Size does matter.
This entire post endured a javascript crash, please excuse it, and manually run the video links at the side. Sorry.
Worst. I worked for a family owned business. I was a Sale Rep/Tech. During that year I was Salesman of the Month 10 of 12 months. I sold over $950,000 worth of computers. The closest salesperson was a great friend of mine to this day. She sold $600,000 worth of computers. The Christmas bonus was a $12 ham. Not a coupon, an actual ham.
Best. I worked for a big HVAC company as a Supervisor for their Network Operations Center. There were 16 of us in the office. Our Boss gave us all personal gifts, in my case, (and yes, I’m a Nerd) a replica of the Star Trek phaser. It cost about $125. This was not a bonus directly, this was out of his own pocket. Each person got something that was special to each person. And I am proud to say that even after not working for him for 20 years, we are still good friends. He’s retired, and I’m jealous.
One February my husband and I went on a couples only trip to Jamaica. My oldest daughter was 20 years old at the time and we allowed her to stay in our home in Maine on the promise of her best behavior. I took my younger two children to my mothers house in Philadelphia. We had an oil furnace in the house and had just filled our 350 gallon tank prior to leaving on vacation. Yes
Because we didn’t totally trust our 20 yr. old, I had locked the alcohol into my bedroom closet and had asked our neighbors to keep an eye on the house to make sure there wasn’t any more than 1-2 cars in the driveway at any given time. Feeling that we had covered our bases, my husband and I proceeded to enjoy our time with friends on a beautiful tropical island.
Seven days later when we arrived back at our house, it was to find all the lights on, the doors wide open to the zero degree temperatures and the furnace completely out of oil. There was a note on the kitchen counter written by a friend of my daughter’s reading: “Morgan is in jail, you’ll need to bail her out when you get home.”
Our living room furniture had multiple cigarette burns, as well as the bedroom carpets and some of the beds. The shower had been ripped out of the main bathroom. My closet door had been removed to get at the alcohol I had hidden away. All of us had valuables stolen. The total for the damages totaled $12,000 and THAT didn’t include our lost heating fuel.
For any who may be curious, no I did NOT bail my daughter out of jail. I did however speak to someone at the jail to find out the charge was serving alcohol to her underaged friends.
She had a difficult next couple of months but ended up discovering some real strengths. During that time, she totally turned her life around and when she finally asked if she could come back home, she was told yes but with conditions. Over the years she filled us in on what actually happened and that people she didn’t even know kept coming into the house because they “heard ” there was a party. She tried to stop it but it was far too out of control.
Jerry Seinfeld DESTROYS Woke Insanity in EPIC Video – Hollywood Goes CRAZY!
TSMC has no plans. It’s a slave to the U.S. The U.S. has plans that failed and will never work. They want to make chips in its country and in its slave nations. They thought it could contain China but China did not only buy from other nations. They do it themselves. Hahahaha.
But the person who post this question ought to ask if China has a domestic market that represents 30% of the world’s market and they make 4/5 of everything the rest of the world or another say 40–50% if these 70–80% don’t buy and used your chips, you are left with 20–30% balance!
You barely need a factory let alone 3–4 countries making these chips! Do your simple mathematics. Chinese are superb at maths. They pretend to be up in arms but this chip ban couldn’t be sillier!
Top 10 Unsettling Signs Of Scary Parallel Universes In History
I had lost my wife of almost 30 years 10 months previous. Her best friend invited me to dinner with her sister who incidentally lost her husband at the same time. My deceased wife’s best friend felt sharing our experience would assist in the grieving process. She repeated the process a few weeks later bringing takeout to my place. The friend shortly after dinner stood to leave, my eyes met her sister’s eyes and I could tell there was more to talk about. They left.
Of course I started taking her to dinner alone and quickly bonds formed.
The false pretense part of the story occurs months after, when we announced to her sister we were getting married. My deceased wife’s best friend was absolutely shocked at the idea, no concept what so ever of us being more than consoling friends, hell I was her best friend’s husband and she was her sister. It’s all too early, it’s been only one year. In fact she quietly became scarce, not contacting either of us for months and months. Slowly she adjusted to the idea her best friend’s husband was now married to her sister. It took a while for our dense heads to realize my deceased wife’s best friend also had to go through the grieving process.
All is well now and relationship back to normal.
Faki Soupa (Greek Lentil Soup)
2024 01 22 11 53
Ingredients
3/4 cup brown lentils
1 large onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 (3 ounce) can tomato puree
8 ounces fresh tomatoes, peeled and seeded
Good pinch of oregano
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 3/4 cups water
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
Instructions
Cover lentils with cold water and bring to boil. Drain lentils and return to the pan with 1 1/2 pints water, garlic, onion, tomato puree, fresh tomatoes, oregano and olive oil. Bring to a boil and simmer until the lentils are soft.
Remove from heat and blend, but stop blending before the mixture gets too smooth.
Season to taste.
UKRAINE LATEST: 5,600 DEAD IN ONE WEEK; Matches a Visitor to Ukraine Report
Ukrainian casualties soar: Kiev loses 5,600 troops in seven days – Widespread use of thermobaric shells by Russian artillery.
Ukrainian losses on the various fronts of the war are increasing dramatically as a result of the lack of ammunition that is now plaguing the Ukrainian Army.
On the contrary, the Russian Army has increased the intensity of the bombardments and above all, the use of thermobaric rockets from TOS-1A systems.
Ukrainian casualties increased – 5,600 dead in seven days!
The Ukrainian army has suffered heavy casualties during front-line fighting where Russian forces have the military initiative in all directions, Moscow said on Friday.
The numbers above are a confirmation of an email I received on January 6 from a woman who had just returned from a trip to Ukraine. While I did not publish that letter when it came, I think the news story above cries out for her letter to be reported. Here is her report:
———-
I just got back from Ukraine, where I was visiting some friends.
Everything we have heard about what’s happening in Ukraine is a lie.
The reality is darker, bleaker, and unequivocally hopeless. There is no such thing as Ukraine “winning” this war.
– By their estimates, they have lost over one million of their sons, fathers and husbands; an entire generation is gone. – Even in the Southwest, where the anti-Russian sentiment is long-standing, citizens are reluctant or straight-up scared to publicly criticize Zelensky; they will go to jail. – In every village and town, the streets, shops, and restaurants are mostly absent of men. – The few men who remain are terrified of leaving their homes for fear of being kidnapped into conscription. Some have resorted to begging friends to break their legs to avoid service. – Army search parties take place early in the morning, when men leave their homes to go to work. They ambush and kidnap them off the streets and within 3-4 hours they get listed in the army and taken away straight to the front lines with minimal or no training at all; it is “a death sentence.” – It’s getting worse every day. Where I was staying, a dentist had just been taken by security forces on his way to work, leaving behind two small children. Every day, 3-5 dead bodies keep arriving from the front lines. – Mothers and wives fight tooth and nail with the armed forces, beg and plead not to have their men taken away. They try bribing, which sometimes works, but most of the time they are met with physical violence and death threats. – The territory celebrated as having been “won back” from Russia has been reduced to rubble and is uninhabitable. Regardless, there is no one left to live there and displaced families will likely never return. – They see the way the war has been reported, at home and abroad. It’s a “joke” and “propaganda.” They say: “Look around: is this winning?”. – Worse, some have been hoaxed into believing that once Ukrainians forces are exhausted, American soldiers will come in to replace them and “win the war”.
There is no ambiguity in these people. The war was for nothing – a travesty. The outcome always was, and is, clear. The people are hopeless, utterly destroyed, and living in an unending nightmare.
They are pleading for an end, any end – most likely the same “peace” that could have been achieved two years ago. In their minds, they have already lost, for their sons, fathers and husbands are gone, and their country has been destroyed. There is no “victory” that can change that.
Make no mistake, they are angry with Putin. But they are also angry with Zelensky and the West. They have lost everything, worst of all, hope and faith, and cannot comprehend why Zelensky wishes to continue the current trajectory, the one of human devastation.
I didn’t witness the war; but what I saw was absolutely heart-breaking.
Shame on the people, regardless of their intentions, who have supported this war. And shame on the media for continuing to lie about it.
Maria Mateiciuc 8:37 AM · Jan 6, 2024
American Woman In Asia Discovered Men Are HAPPY Overseas
I trained in and taught karate for about 20 years yet I wouldn’t want to go up against two or more young punks who were assaulting me on the street. Too many chances they’re carrying a weapon or might get in a lucky punch.
My wife and I walk a lot in the evening at our coastal home. Where we live is safe but you never know who might drive by looking for trouble.
So I added a weapon to my arsenal. And I train with it regularly.
Yet, it’s perfectly legal to carry personally or in your car.
You can carry it into a restaurant or movie theater.
You can have it in the bank or the courthouse.
You can take it on a plane or a bus.
It’s inexpensive to buy and easy to learn how to use effectively.
It’s innocuous looking so it would be a surprise to a bad actor.
Yet, it’s devastatingly effective as a weapon.
You can use it to even the odds of more than one attacker and against a weapon.
It’s a walking cane.
But not just any old ten dollar pine one.
It needs to be hard wood like oak or hickory so it won’t break and has some weight.
The ones I carry are Irish walking sticks and canes made of Blackthorn wood. It’s very dense and is the wood used for traditional Irish fighting sticks.
And you need to learn how to use it effectively and practice regularly to become proficient with it.
You can find lots of videos on line about how to use a cane for defense effectively.
Actually, there is are whole martial arts devoted to cane and walking stick fighting. Watching videos on them you realize how devastating of a weapon it is.
So, you don’t want to spend 20 years learning karate? But you still want to have some means of self defense in this increasingly chaotic world?
You’re in luck. Buy a good cane that can be used effectively for self defense.
Then learn how to use it effectively and practice,
Oh, and try to never need to use it. That’s the best self defense.
I had a relative who wanted to borrow money. His vehicle was towed as he failed to pay on a title loan.
As this relative was bad at money matters, I asked how much he needed and who was the lienholder. I wasn’t going to just give him a sum of money, without proof that he actually needed it, and wasn’t going to: 1. Use it to go gambling. 2. Give it to a woman. 3. Use it go on a drunken spree. (He was an alcoholic).
He threw a tantrum worthy of a toddler, calling me, “a selfish bitch”, among other things. This was at my job. He had already borrowed a few thousand from me that he had never paid back.
Needless to say, he never got the vehicle back, although he later apologized about the name calling.
That was the day I learned that you could divorce your family, love them from a distance and stop buying into their bullshit.
He died in London, UK, 1979. We had no family living there, just mom. I was living in Miami, and my sister was living in NJ. My dad and I had a huge falling out when I married a Roman Catholic, but we’d come back together by that time, and my dad and my wife and her family actually had a good relationship.
We arranged the funeral there. It was just my mom, my sister, and me. And my mom had a hang-up about death and funerals. She literally couldn’t even bear to say the words, “death” or “funeral,” and I had never been to a funeral before, or even a viewing. I was 28 at the time. They had friends, but I think only one person came and that was it. I don’t know if my mom even told any of them.
There was no viewing service, no synagogue service. Just the burial at Rainham Cemetery. My sister and I were waiting for the coffin to be brought out, and it was wheeled out on a cart, The thing had three wheels, one of them had a mostly flat tyre, and the thing squeaked loud enough to wake the dead.
It was so surreal, like something out of Monty Python. could barely keep from laughing out loud.
There was this rumor in middle school about this white, tall, blonde girl. She was really mean and kinda rude but she didn’t bully anyone so I just ignored her. But as you can probably guess a rumor started about her at some point, I first heard it in the girls locker room after she yelled at someone for getting in her way.
The rumor was this: She had gotten pregnant by a 19 year old and later when the baby was born her (or her parents) killed it.
Of course no one knew if the rumor was true and neither did I so I brushed it off as a stupid rumor. But you know what’s worse….the rumor was true!
I didn’t learn this until early high school.
In my history class I had unknowingly sat by the step brother of the girl as I was retelling the rumor to another girl as I was talking about how crazy it was. But the step brother interrupted me to tell me and the other girl that the rumor was true (at least part of it anyway). The girl and I were shocked, he told us that the mean blonde girl had gotten pregnant, gave birth to it, and luckily put the baby up for adoption soon after the birth.
What’s worse is that I don’t know if the mean girl was forced to date the 19 year old or if the guy raped her to get her pregnant, even her step brother (who didn’t like the mean girl either) didn’t and wouldn’t say.
Maybe that’s why the tall, white, blonde girl was so mean.
Everybody had to have a Que (pony tail) to show subservience to the Qing. The Qing / Manchus were the top level of society for a couple centuries.
After that? Nobody cared.
EXCEPT for in Hong Kong which was held by Britain until 1997. The clan wars of Guangdong and Fujian between 1855 and 1867 left DEEP scars and well into the 1980s there was general dislike of mixing between Hakkas and Cantonese.
My grandfather expelled one of his daughters for marrying a Cantonese man.
Also amongst many post WW2 types there’s a mentality of don’t marry Cantonese, this died out in Mainland China decades ago but lingered around in the overseas Chinese community. I still remember in the 1980s in the UK being told by my uncles that I should stay away from Cantonese.
Early 60’s, little tiny farming town … Liz was the subject of nasty gossip and rumors. People said Liz was a slut, a whore, a filthy tramp and lots of other names. Liz never had sex until she got married. She dated four or five boys – one date per boy. She assumed the boys asked her because they liked her. They asked her because they assumed she would have sex anywhere with anyone. Liz was modest in dress and behavior, but still was called a dirty slut … not because of anything she did, but because of her three older sisters. All three of her sisters got married at 16 or 17 because they got pregnant. Shotgun weddings, we called it back then. So …. these guys, who had no ethics, who were as dumb as bricks, asked her for dates. Instead of driving to the movies, they drove out to an isolated area and demanded sex. She refused. The boys threatened to tell everyone they got what they wanted. She still refused. The last boy she went on a date with tried to force her. She managed to get out of the car and begged strangers for a ride home. After that, she refused to date. She got lots of insult, ridicule and some physical harassment, because she came from a family “where all the girls were sluts.” Her last three years of school were awful. She was bullied so badly that she had to take sedating medication to keep from crying, to keep from having a breakdown. Both adults and kids were cruel to her. She toughed it out, went to college and refused to ever go to high school class reunions.
Several years ago, I was at Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden at The Mirage in Las Vegas. This was many years after Roy’s tiger accident, but before he passed away. It was Thanksgiving, and we were walking through, looking at the tigers playing and eating melons.
As we walked around, Siegfried himself appeared. Of course, being his exhibit, a number of fans wanted to get pictures and autographs. I’ve been a fan of theirs since I was a kid, so this was a one in a lifetime, completely unexpected occasion.
When he got to me, he did the standard “hi, how are you” nicety that people do without really expecting an answer, but I looked at him and asked, “I’m fine… how are you doing?”
He looked at me through his ubiquitous sunglasses. I could see his eyes measuring me up as he stood about two feet from me. After a long pause, he said “well, Thanksgiving is always a hard time… when you’re an entertainer and everything ends suddenly…” and just talked with me for a few minutes (while everyone else waited patiently). I got the definite feeling like he was rarely asked how HE was doing, surrounded by starstruck fans or associates, and he felt the need to talk.
image 168
Thanksgiving Day, Roy injured (and never recovered), I’m sure he felt the need to be around people. It was a special moment, one that I’ll always remember.
Celebrities are just people, and a lot of people forget that.
I was visiting Mom when she lived a good two hour plus drive from my sister’s family (I live out of state). It was probably 1998 and we were chatting in her kitchen. She was silent for a moment and then she said, “Richard”, (you know the way your mom says your name that you know you gotta pay attention?) My ears birddogged.
“Richard, when I turn 90, I am going to stop driving.” (Mom was still a very good driver, but she didn’t want “someone to hit me and then blame the old lady.”)
“I’m going to stop driving and I’m going to give my car to my grandsons…
“I’m going to stop driving and give my car to JR and Mike and I’m going to sell the house and move to (a retirement facility) closer to Sue and my family.” Such a major decision to give up her house and her car. Then she said something that to this day I carry with me.
“And I plan on liking it”, she said firmly.
Now Mom loved to read (especially her Ellery Queen mysteries) but I don’t think she ever read a personal growth motivational book in her life (except the Bible) and here she is framing one of the biggest major life changes ever with positive expectations.
That gave me a glimpse into how she perceived the world and focused on good rather than bad consequences. What a gift she gave me.
Mom passed in 2019 at 110 years old.
I think Mom was full of good intentions and had a very strong moral compass and truly lived the life of a good person whose influence spread wider and farther than she could have ever imagined, as good a definition of badass as any.
CALLISTO -1940’s Retro Pulp Science Fiction by Skyward, Action, Music, Total Mayhem, Runway Gen-2
Users are almost never right. Go shadow them and get the real story.
Understand 100% of the problem, design to solve 90% of it.
The last 20% effort is 80% of the engineering cost.
When designing, make it survive 3–5 years. You should be rewriting it by then anyways.
Software engineering is a process. Don’t overfit the initial requirements, you need to stay flexible for future readiness.
First pass is to solve it. Second pass is to clean up and learn. Third pass is to deep design using what you’ve learned.
CPU is cheap. Don’t over optimize.
Focus on enabling people to do more. 1 hour of work should become 10 hours of output when you enable humans.
When prioritizing consider the models of (1) attacker (2) defend it (3) bandaid it (4) clean it up. Each one has an associated operational cost, solve permanently cost, and a cost to perform. You need to pick your battles.
If only you can fix it, then only you will babysit it, forever. You can’t move on to more interesting things.
Edit: These are MY golden rules. They do not have to be YOURS. Please share YOUR golden rules. 🙂 We can learn from each other. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my life, is that I have learned everything, EVERYTHING from others. Mentors, peers, and friends. Some random written article should have zero social pressure on you to conform. My knowledge probably applies between 2007 to 2025? Then some other pattern will take hold.
NOTE: This is a true story, I’m not making it up or taking the piss. The episode I’m about to describe was not tongue in cheek or satirical in anyway.
Before my wife and I moved to Australia from the U.K. I assisted my in-laws in purchasing a laptop computer. The idea being that we’d be able to make skype calls etc to help them stay in touch. As they were both totally computer illiterate I set the laptop up for them and tried to give them an understanding of how to use skype, email & internet explorer (as it was back in the day).
For internet explorer I showed them how to open the program, told them about the “tool bar” and some of the basic functions on it. I explained about search and how they could find any information they required or shop for anything they needed using it. All seemed to be going reasonably well when I popped out to pick my wife up from work for fifteen minutes or so.
At this point I should mention that my father in law is a joiner (carpenter) of many years.
Anyway, I returned after picking my wife up to find my father in law at the laptop with internet explorer open. After a minute or so of watching him staring at the screen in a perplexed manner I asked him if he was having a problem that I could help with. “where are the saws?” he asked me.
“I’m not sure what you mean John, if you’re looking for something you’ll need to type it into google” I explained.
“Yes, I need a new saw. You said I could get whatever I needed on here & I’ve been looking at the tool bar for five minutes and I just can’t find the saws!”….
Fortunately, they were able to get skype working through their sky TV shortly after we left.
I shit you not. This really happened. My father in law couldn’t buy a new saw because he couldn’t find the ‘saw button’ on the ‘tool’ bar.
When I was a senior in high school, I was about the size of Rosie Greer—6’5″ and 250#, and like most people my size, I was extremely patient and gentle with “little people,” but being gentle was perceived by stupid people as being weak or a coward. Horrible mistake.
One day after school, I was walking to my car. That required me to walk between cars full of students waiting to get out. The space that I chose to walk through was in front of a junior who drove three eighth graders to and from school, and he wanted to show the younger kids how tough he was, so as I was walking between his car and the car in front of him, he pulled up and hit my shins with his bumper. And these idiots were laughing.
I walked over to the driver door, and tried to open it, but the stupid child smiled and pointed at the locked door, obviously thinking that he was safe from retribution. He was safely in his 1968 VW Beetle.
I smiled back at him, and put my hands together like a sledge hammer, and starting with the roof, I pounded every piece of sheet metal with my “sledge hammer” fists once—leaving the car covered with dents. Then, I walked to the driver’s door again, still smiling (he wasn’t) and I bent down, grabbing the frame and lifted the left side of his car so that the left tires were eighteen inches off of the ground. (Actually a lot easier to do than it sounds with the help of adrenaline,) and I calmly said, “Idiot, if you ever mess with me again, I will break your f~<#ng neck.” Then, I dropped that side of the car back on the ground.
Word quickly got around about what had happened, and even though I remained a patient and gentle person for the last six months of my senior year, 1973, nobody tried to show how tough they were by messing with me.
And yes, I know that I could have ignored the light tapping of his car and walked away, but I didn’t feel like it that January day.
Did I bully him? Perhaps, but I frankly didn’t and still don’t care.
This one’s about a friend, but it’s worth sharing:
I used to work at a tutoring company, where one of my coworkers (nicknamed “Minty”) used to tell all our students that he was six years old.
The preschool class actually believed him, because those little four- and five-year-olds didn’t have any real concept of age. Minty convinced them that he was just a really big “big kid.” In fact, he pulled this off so successfully that he even became close friends with a couple of the students.
Whenever kids claimed they didn’t believe him, he’d just look at them with indignation and said, “I just drink all my milk and eat ALL my vegetables!”
Once, a kid said suspiciously, “I bet you have a wife!”, and Minty replied, “Will you please tell me what she looks like, then? Because I’m still trying to find her.” (He was 21 and single.)
And so on so forth.
Then, a few months into the school year, he caught one of his favorite students staring at him out of the corner of her eye.
After a while he said, “Hey, what’s up?”
She said, accusingly, “I think you’re a grown-up!”
Turns out he’d forgotten to shave that day, and a little bit of stubble was showing on his chin. So then the whole class started staring and saying, “You’re a grown-up?!” in tones that ranged between awe and betrayal.
After that, the cat was out of the bag, but it was really entertaining while it lasted.
The 17th defense policy coordination talks between China and the United States were held in Washington on Monday and Tuesday, China’s Defense Ministry announced on Wednesday.
In a statement, the ministry said the talks were co-chaired by officials from the Central Military Commission and the US deputy assistant to the secretary of defense.
The Chinese side said in a statement that it is willing to develop healthy and stable military-to-military relations with the US on the basis of equality and respect, and jointly implement the military-related consensus reached by the two heads of the states during their meeting in San Francisco in November.
The statement said that the US should acknowledge China’s concerns and do more to promote the development of bilateral military ties.
China also reiterated its positions on the Taiwan question and the South China Sea issues.
It said it will never make any compromise on the Taiwan question and demanded the US side to abide by the one-China principle, implement its relevant commitments, stop arming Taiwan and oppose “Taiwan independence”, the statement said.
China also urged the US to reduce its military deployment and provocative actions in the South China Sea and stop providing support to certain countries that are infringement on its territory and causing provocations.
The US should fully recognize the root causes of maritime and air security risks, strictly restrain its front-line troops and stop hyping up problems, the ministry said.
China has also made clear its solemn position and major concerns on issues concerning China’s core interests and international hotspot issues, it added.
Time-Traveling with The Jetsons: Futuristic Nostalgia
A few years back I took over running a significant IT project at a bank which used Oracle who had just shafted the bank’s IT director. He had got board level approval to upgrade and unify all the different databases which was serious money. Oracle then decided to double the price, he resisted but facing unsupported systems he gave in. That altered his career somewhat.
I didn’t know that when Oracle turned up to negotiate price for our systems, since I was an interim project manager and quite low in the food chain.
In this situation I never dress to impress vendors, indeed I tend to talk down my understanding of tech as well, to see if they are being straight with me.
I took along the guy I’d just hired as development manager and I ran the conversation. These tend to be one of two patterns. Either the management guy does all the talking and the techie just puts in points or the techie runs it and the manager blesses the outcome..
Oracle wanted more than list price.
I was bemused by this, also the trading system didn’t need very advanced features since it just logged things and ran reports, but the Oracle rep said we would only be allowed to buy the most expensive version because you’re a bank.
To which I responded but it’s the same binary Mary Pat.
Because these reports would be seen by many people in other firms she also demanded that we buy hundreds of client licences.
At the binary remark she looked at my non-great suit and then at my development manager’s and started talking to him, literally ignoring me since she had decided that he was my boss because I was only a techie.
He has dressed up for the meeting, actually put on his tie for it, since he thought that showing Oracle that you had money was good thing. It’s not.
He looked quite bemused, I’m not sure he’d ever bought any software for a firm and certainly wasn’t going to start now. I literally moved myself and stuck my head in the way and said are you going over my head Mary Pat ?
Yes she was and it didn’t stop there. I indicated that I was buying Sybase which was vastly cheaper and did not run the risk of an Oracle punitive licence audit.
Days later the head of the division spoke to me about what happened next. This system would pass billions through it and so the bank was quite keen that it worked well. Oracle had somehow got to a board meeting and demanded that I be fired, that I was damaging the (abusive) relationship they had and that I was buying a cheap and unreliable system which would destroy the firm.
for those not in IT Sybase has been used for decades for banking systems, it may or may not be right for you, but it’s not an insane choice.
The system would go on not just to work, but would end up being used by the British Government to manage their rather large debt mountain.
One version of the meeting which reached me later was that she literally stamped her foot. That was how entitled Oracle was with my firm. This may sound unusual to you. Ask anyone who’s done business with Oracle,
The board were very impressed. Not with her, but with someone in IT standing up to Oracle bullying. So the edict came down find Dominic and give her a job. So I ended up Head of IT for that division.
My first job was working at Woolworths, in the UK. I worked there from the age of around 15 to 18 years old, from 1993 to 1996. I did Saturdays and evening shelf stacking.
Woolworths in Britain famously opened the first self-service shop back in 1955. It was distinctly different from Woolworths in other countries. At the time, it sold household items, like pots, pans and Tupperware, sewing items – the dreaded haberdashery (the hardest thing to do a stock take on in the known world). Its famous pick-and-mix sweets included things like Cadbury’s Roses chocolates, where you could see which ones were everyone’s favourites by what was left in the container*. It also sold children’s clothes, records, CDs, tapes, and lottery tickets.
It closed for good in 2009, unable to survive the financial crisis, and in my opinion, as someone who worked there but hardly ever bought anything, for failing to offer anything unique or better than other lower-cost stores. The quality of many of the products was decidedly average. The Ladybird brand children’s clothes and the pick and mix were good but weren’t enough to keep it afloat.
My first Christmas working in retail was Christmas 1993. That was when the magic of Christmas died.
We, the hard-working, little-paid workers of Woolworths, arrived on Christmas Eve 1993 at 7.30 am, the shop opened at 8 am. We worked until 10 pm. We had four tills, and queues of around 15–20 customers were present at each till the entire day. Once a till had around £5000 in it, we emptied it to the back office. They were each emptied 4–5 times that day. We stood at the tills. Standing for 1–2 hours is tiring, but standing for 12–14 hours is hard work.
At the end of the shift, we are all knackered, it’s 10 pm on Christmas Eve, and the boss brings us each out a bottle of Babycham. For those who have never had “the pleasure”, Babycham looks like this:
A tiny bottle of “sparkling perry” which is a mildly-alcoholic cider made from pears. Named to somewhat pass itself off as baby champagne. Which it tastes nothing like, whatsoever.
Christmas bonus 1993, after a 14-hour shift, where we, as a fairly small store with 7–10 employees, likely took £100,000 (£200,000 today – $250000) was a tiny bottle of pear-cider, worth at the time around 59p (it could have been less, I cannot find out the price of a 75ml bottle of Babycham in 1993).
Merry Christmas.
I still miss it, the people I worked with were a good laugh, and some are still my friends today.
*Talking of the pick and mix, we would refill it with huge bags of sweets. They were 7 kg bags (15 lbs). One memorable incident involved me and a 7kg bag of Smarties (like M&Ms but British), which ended up being spilt and going all over the floor at the front of the shop. It was like a cartoon when the characters spill marbles, and everyone falls over, except we only fell over laughing and ate quite a lot of smarties. Maybe things like this explain the boss’s reluctance to offer a decent bonus.
My wife and I had a friend, an MD, who was having issues with his wife – not sure what they were, but he seemed to be a gentle and meek soul. Perhaps too meek with his wife, I don’t know, but here’s what happened to him;
His wife was seeing a psychologist for help with her depression, completely supported in these visits by her husband. Turns out that, unknown to him, the psych was a lesbian who had started to fall in love, or become infatuated, with the wife. Of course, she should have excluded herself as a therapist at this point, but she developed a better plan.
The psych convinces the wife to bring in the children (2) for additional counseling, separate sessions from the wife. Again, unknown to either our friend or his wife, she starts to place into the mind of the kids, one daughter and one son, that their father has been sexually abusing them. Both kids are young, under 6, and it isn’t difficult for her to place some ideas and then doubts into the minds of these naïve and gullible children. Over a few months of weekly visits, they are slowly coached by the infatuated lesbian psych, into being able to recount some stories of how this non-existent sexual abuse occurred, along with enough details to make their stories believable.
The psych then encourages the kids to tell their Mum some of these coached stories. The Mum, our friend’s wife, is naturally outraged to hear that her kids have been molested by her husband. She confronts her husband who denies it all, but she has fallen under the influence of this demented psych. She discusses the supposed molestation with the psych who encourages her to call Child Protective Services (CPS) to report the abuse.
Naturally now, the wife does so and an investigation is launched. The husband is prevented from seeing his children, has to move out of the house he shared with his family, and is allowed only supervised visits with his kids on every other weekend. Dependent upon the outcome of the inquiry, he now stands to be charged with sexually abusing his kids and quite possibly sent to jail. The kids will tell their coached stories, supported by the wife who now believes that it’s all true, and the final nail in his coffin will be this crazy psychologist who has discovered his “crimes”.
He’s now separated from his wife, and the psych makes her big mistake. Before the completion of the investigation, she is so in lust for his wife, that she successfully seduces her client, and they move into an apartment together as lovers. This is suicidal for her plan. The investigation team is informed of this development which is improper behaviour professionally. She is suspended of her license to practice, the wife leaves her and returns home. Finally, perhaps as long as 9 months later, the kids recant on their coached stories since they are no longer under the influence of the psych, and are finally visiting an impartial therapist.
The story ends wonderfully, the husband forgives the wife and the children are allowed to move back home. But this was hell on earth for the husband who was innocent from start to finish.
Just started putting stuff in the corner of the basement, with the intention of dealing with it later.
and soon , the corner of the basement was full.
and then, another corner.
Then, the work room started filling up.
Then the garage.
Mostly old clothes that the kids had out grown and then there was the stuff that we used to use but didn’t anymore, but couldn’t bear to throw away.
We fully planned to purge all this shit.
Rent a dumpster and get ruthless.
Then my wife got sick.
And sicker….
And then terminally ill.
And that took up all my energy.
And then I was a widower.
And the kids had moved out.
And I was either at work or out with friends or on a trip and the basement became a series of paths around a canyon of old clothes and stuff.
And so it remained for a year or two, slowly increasing.
I thought, “In just don’t have the energy or time to deal with this”
And then…………..Covid.
And my neighbour sold their house and the guy who came in wanted to gut the place, as it hadn’t been looked after in years.
And he brought a big ass dumpster.
And I saw my sign…..
I asked him and said, if I went in halfway with the dumpster rentals, could I use them to dump my shit in as well?
Sure, he said.
So, over the next while, I emptied everything out.
I could have spent hours sorting out the useable from the trash, especially in clothes, but I feared that if I did, I’d get bogged down in decision paralysis.
She died of a heroin overdose a few years ago. It makes me sick when I think about it.
For the purpose of this story, I will refer to my bully as HM.
When we were freshmen in high school, HM and I started off as friends. We were part of the same loosely organized network of friends, and we were in a few of classes together. Everyone said we could pass for twins — we were both short with dark hair, light colored eyes, round faces, and cutesy noses. Our birthdays were even only like a day apart or something. So we became friendly, but we never became super close. This was mostly because of me — I was secretly judgmental of her because she was very promiscuous and not very bright. Maybe she could sense that in me, and maybe that contributed to how she very suddenly started to hate me.
One day, a mutual male friend of ours asked me to go out with him, and I turned him down because I wasn’t interested in him in that way. He was upset that I rejected him, and sought comfort from his other female friends, HM being one of them. This flipped a switch in HM’s brain — she went from being my casual friend to hating me mercilessly.
On the first day, she screamed at me, cursed at me, and called me a slut in front of everyone in our gym class. She harassed me all the way from the gym to the locker room until one of the gym teachers finally told her to knock it off and change.
Initially I didn’t defend myself because a) I was really meek and mild mannered at this point in my life; b) I do not handle confrontation well at all; c) I was a religious catholic at the time, and truly believed in turning the other cheek; d) I was an avid karate student, and I believed it was dishonorable to fight in this way; e) I was kind of nerdy, I was in marching band, and I thought defending myself would make me a bigger target to others; and f) I was honestly shocked by how she was acting. I mean, she was like really in my face screaming with spit flying from her mouth and everything. It didn’t make sense to me that she would be mad about something that had literally zero effect on her life.
Needless to say, I went home that day very upset, but I figured that it was an isolated incident. I figured, ok we’re not friends anymore, and that’s that. But I was wrong.
The next morning, she was waiting for me by the entrance of the school. She never once touched me. She just followed me to my locker cursing at me and calling me names. We were in the same homeroom. She told every person in homeroom that they shouldn’t talk to me because I was such a slut and bitch. Any time a person would talk to me, she would physically insert herself between me and the person and tell them not to talk to me. She also started telling people vicious lies about me sexually.
She followed me from homeroom to my first class cursing at me and calling me names. When I left my first class, she was waiting for me down the hall ready to verbally harass me again. She continued to do this throughout the day. During classes we had together, she took every opportunity she could to alienate me from others. This occurred mostly in gym and english class, both of which were loosely structured by lazy teachers.
At this point, she was being fully aggressive to others in order to keep them from talking to me. Like physically grabbing them and pulling them away from me kind of thing. She did this for weeks. I continued to do nothing. I just walked faster when she was near me, and tried not to look at her. I took advantage of moments where she was distracted, and slipped away from her before she saw me.
Eventually I had basically not a single friend left in my grade. Nobody wanted anything to do with me. In retrospect, I guess they just didn’t want to be involved with the situation. The teachers were also unhelpful. We were in a very crowded school, so many of them possibly didn’t notice, and the ones who did notice were terrible teachers. I was alone, miserable, crying every day, and I didn’t want to go to school anymore.
HM’s torment became a regular part of my life for a couple of months. I was starting to become numb to it. Maybe she sensed that her words weren’t having the same effect that they used to, so she decided to change things up. She started to threaten me with physical violence. It was mostly variations of “I’m gonna kick your ass,” or “I’m gonna f*ck up your ugly face.” One day in english class, the teacher asked HM to lend me her book for the day (there was a shortage of books), and she threw it at me and then snatched it out of my hands when I picked it up (the teacher did nothing because she was also a terrible human). HM also started slamming my locker shut whenever she walked by.
I don’t remember what specifically drove me to my breaking point, but very soon I had had enough of the situation. HM had made my life a living nightmare, and I couldn’t stand it anymore. I had a green belt in karate, so I knew physically I was capable of fighting and that I would probably win. I still had reservations about it because of spiritual/philosophical reasons, but I was at my limit.
One day she came up to me at lunch, and she again threatened to beat me up. So I calmly said, “Ok HM. When and where? I am ready to fight you whenever.”
Well, that was the game changing moment. As I stood there quietly waiting for her to set the date and time, she bounced around like a rabbit, yelling about how she was really gonna let me have it. “I am ready when you are,” I said. She got more and more agitated, and just kept making threats. The bell rang, lunch was over, we went to our next period. I didn’t see her for the rest of the day.
The next day, she started again with the physical threats, this time while we were in the hallway before homeroom. I said, “So just come for me already and let’s fight. I want to get this over with.” She looked at me like I was stupid and said something like, “Pshh not right now I don’t want to embarrass you in front of everyone. But when I do kick your ass, you’re gonna wish you were dead.” In spite of myself, I laughed and said, “Ok fine HM. Let’s do it today.” And then I told her exactly when and where we were gonna fight. She said “OH I’M GONNA BE THERE, YOU’RE GONNA BE SORRY!” before running away from me.
Later that morning, I had a class with HM’s bff. I approached the bff and said, “HM should know that I take karate regularly, and I recently earned my green belt. I’m stronger than I look and can probably seriously hurt her. I am not going to be easy to take down, and honestly I might accidentally kill her. You should tell her that before we fight.” That last part was only a small exaggeration. I did know 2–3 potentially fatal moves but there was no way to do them “accidentally.” Anyway, I didn’t say this as a threat, but as the truth of the matter. I had already thought of several ways to take her down, and I had already anticipated some of what she might do and had an idea of how I would handle those situations. At the end of the day no matter what, she was gonna end up being seriously injured, and I would probably be mostly unscathed.
The day went on. I didn’t see HM at all in the hallways or at lunch, and she skipped the classes we shared. I was starting to feel really pumped, and honestly really powerful. People all day were asking me about the fight, if I was scared, did I really know karate — stuff like that. They were excited, like Romans going to the Coliseum. After months of being a pariah, I ate it up and was loving all the attention. Finally, the last bell of the day rang.
I went to the place we were supposed to fight. A few people were there, waiting for something to happen, but they left after 10 minutes so they could get on their buses. I waited for almost an hour. HM never showed, and I went to marching band practice.
Maybe I should have left it at that, but I couldn’t help myself. The next day, when I saw her in homeroom I (LOUDLY) asked her, “What happened yesterday? You never showed up.” All eyes were on us. She muttered angrily, “We’ll do it today, same time.” I agreed to it, but my gut told me she was gonna be a no-show again.
I went again to the meeting spot. This time, there were a lot more people waiting to see what was gonna happen. But again, HM didn’t come. I waited for a while when finally HM’s bff came up to me and told me that HM went home early because she was sick. I shrugged and said, “Then in that case, I guess we’re done here. Tell her to leave me alone from now on.” HM didn’t come to school for the rest of the week. On the following Monday, she didn’t even cast a glance in my direction.
Life moved on, years rolled by. HM mostly avoided me after that. Sophomore year she tried to rekindle a friendship, to which I was like, are you f*cking serious? With every year that went by, HM became more and more of a social pariah. Finally it was our senior year. HM was pregnant. By the time spring arrived, she had a huge baby belly. Whenever people would ask her about it or ridicule her, she swore up and down that she was just getting fat.
And I took a lot of pleasure in this. Right now as an adult, I am not proud of this, but at the time I was LIVING. She was miserable, everyone made fun of her, and I thought she was just a huge loser. I loved it, I relished in her misery. And then one day when we were all changing after gym class, I took a shot at her.
She was trying to change in a way that her baby belly was covered up at all times. One of the other girls noticed this and was like, “Wtf are you even trying to do?!” HM said something about being self conscious of being fat. I laughed, and said, “HM everybody knows you’re f*cking pregnant so stop pretending like you’re just fat. Do you even know who the father is, ya dumb slut?” And I walked away laughing at her. It took me about 2 years to realize how super messed up it was for me to say that. And now it makes me sick to remember it, to know that I’m the person who said those words. In the end, I was no better than her.
About two years ago, she popped into my head for no reason. I decided to look her up on Facebook, and saw that she had died of a heroin overdose. The weirdest part was that the day that I looked her up was also the anniversary of her death. Chills ran down my spine. She had left behind two children, and before she overdosed she had been sober for 6 months. I have so many weird-sad emotions about it.
First off, by a random coincidence of life I had 2 doppelgangers in high school — her and this other girl who I was friends with, and both of them died from drug overdoses. I know it’s sh*tty for me to make their deaths about me, but their deaths make me feel really weird in a way that I have trouble describing.
Second, HM was obviously a troubled person, and almost everything she did was coming from a place of pain. I feel guilty that I couldn’t see that and instead I played along like a cardboard character in a crappy high school movie.
Third, I hate that the last thing I said to her was something vicious. It makes me upset that my hatred has the power to warp me into such a mean person. I hate that my hatred was so strong back then that the ghost of it reverberates within me to this day. Every now and again, I can taste that dark disgust in the back of my throat. Which leads me to my final weird-sad emotion.
Fourth, even though she has passed, I love retelling this story. It feels like it was the one moment in my youth where I was fierce and powerful. However, I drive myself crazy with guilt about that pleasure. I mean, wtf is wrong with me; she is dead, she left behind children. It’s weird and messed up that I’m here, alive with my whole life in front of me, and instead of trying to make peace with this, I’m enjoying the toxic fumes of an ancient memory because it boosts my self-esteem.
Idk what the moral of this story is. I’m still trying to figure that out.
Another Active Duty NATO Officer KILLED in Ukraine
One of the Active-Duty Officers in a NATO Command has been killed inside Ukraine.
Italian Army Lt. Colonel Claudio Castiglia, who was part of NATO Command structures, has been killed fighting in Ukraine according to the National Association of Bersaliers.
The Bersaglieri, singular Bersagliere, are a troop of marksmen in the Italian Army‘s infantry corps. They were originally created by General Alessandro Ferrero La Marmora on 18 June 1836 to serve in the Royal Sardinian Army, which later became the Royal Italian Army. They can be recognized by their distinctive wide-brimmed hats decorated with black western capercailliefeathers, which is worn with the dress uniform. The feathers are also applied to their combat helmets.
Why was an Active Duty NATO Officer fighting in Ukraine? Are we at war with Russia?
Sh*t happens. Life can be difficult. It can be uncomfortable. Some days I have every reason to feel depressed and give up. Some days I just want to stop, I need a break — yet the difficulties keep on coming and coming.
I used to complain about it. “Why is it so difficult? Why has this happened to me … again? I hate this situation! Why don’t they do something about it?”
One day, I realized that the difficulties of this world will never end. Never! This is when I finally understood that if I wanted to improve the quality of my life, I was the ONLY one who could change it! No one would ever be able to do it for me!
Change is inevitable and never-ending. I used to face change with the wrong attitude. I hated it because it pushed me out of my comfort zone — today I understand that it’s challenges which actually make my life better! I’m growing, I’m improving, and growing and improving are what make life a life worth living.
So, to answer your question: What life goals should you have?
Live outside your comfort zone!
Your comfort zone is the death zone.
Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.
If we don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we aren’t really living.
Here’s a quote from GE’s CEO Jack Welsh that I like to remember.
Yes and it was the best thing that ever happened that I knew in advance, so I was ahead of the game even though I knew it was coming and I couldn’t stop being fired. This is an important lesson for people to learn, be aware of what is going on so you are not caught out.
You know when you are not fitting in or they are downsizing. It is almost impossible to miss the signals if you have your antennas out. Here is what happened to me.
It was 1992, the China market was booming and I had a big job based in Hong Kong. We had a house paid for by the company, American Club, car, kids in private school, annual trip home, highest salary of my life at that point but nothing was going right. (First signal there were ‘anonymous’ complaints about me relayed via HR). No matter what I did I was wrong and I was headhunted away from another job so I know I was doing a good job but I could feel it was probably about ‘fit’.
They kept telling me, accept 7% growth, don’t push for more, I didn’t listen (2nd sign to watch for, not listening and overplaying your hand).
One day I was feeling like things were not going so well, but my position was, hey I was a Director for the Asia Pacific with a US$100 million budget, no way they could fire me without cause. And I was giving them nothing no real cause in my view so I felt safe or perhaps not?
I thought, I need to check this out, so I went in early to the office and the EVP (later CEO of DHL) had a letter right in the middle of his desk about me stamped CONFIDENTIAL.
I will never forget it. It was all about, how can we handle getting rid of Greenfield as while he is doing a good job, we would like to save money and get rid of his package and a couple of people complained about him. The question was, was it enough to fire him for cause.
It was a fax and the answer by the EVP was, he had already thought it through and they could make my severance nil if they could get someone to make a complaint about me which he could arrange.
Armed with this knowledge, I got all my ducks in a row, went in that day before anything else could happen (3rd rule, if you know it is coming, be preemptive as if you wait it will be worse, trust me on this) and said I thought it might be time for a mutual departure as it wasn’t working out as we had hoped, now 3 years into the contract.
They were pleasantly shocked, gave me a good deal which allowed me to start over with another company and a new life without completely crashing my entire life.
My suggestion? Be watchful, if you can do it, get someone on the inside to let you know if things are not going well and you might be cut for whatever reason. At all costs, do not be caught flat footed thinking everything is ok when it is not.
You can feel it, it is what life is all about these days, anticipate, keep informed, don’t be paranoid and always and I mean always have an exit plan or as they say, Plan B in your back pocket. Especially if you have kids a mortgage and a lot of expenses and as in my case, a spouse who was not working but living a very nice lifestyle which she expected to maintain.
She did but I took a lot of pain and pivoting to get out of Dodge before the hammer fell and just in the nick of time.
Exohiko
Exohiko
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients
2 pounds lamb leg
2 onions, chopped
1 cup butter
1/2 pound kefalograviera cheese
Salt and pepper
6 sheets puff pastry
Instructions
Cut the lamb in portions. Simmer the onion in a frying pan with a little water. Add a teaspoon of butter and brown lightly.
Add the lamb and salt and pepper and brown for a few more minutes. Turn the element off, add the cheese and separate in portions.
Butter each sheet of pastry and use them to wrap each portion. Place in a buttered pan, top with the rest of the butter and bake in medium low oven for 1 1/2 hours.
I went to Best Buy about 10 years ago because my computer monitor had gone out and I needed to replace it. I had a warranty which allowed me a free replacement, but I wanted a larger one and I readily agreed to pay the difference.
As the rep walked me to the front of the store to check out, I heard a man literally screaming at the top of his lungs. Not just yelling. This man must have gone through the dictionary on his way to the store to refresh himself on every profane word and phrase he could find. As I got closer, I could see the middle-aged man yelling at this girl (couldn’t have been more than 18) behind the customer service counter. Apparently, his coupon for a $30 discount on a digital TV antenna was expired (not just expired; expired by months!) and he expected her to honor it anyway. She kept explaining that the coupon was expired and there was nothing she could do. The man continued to scream and pound his fists. I could see that this was going nowhere, so I just said, “Sir, I’m sure this young lady had nothing to do with preventing you from getting to the store before your coupon expired.” He looked up, startled, and before he could start yelling at me, I said, “STOP.” I turned to the girl and said, “Please put that antenna on my card.” I went over to the man, picked up the antenna, placed it in his hands and said, “I really hope that you can enjoy some good TV with this thing. After that, please go out and use the money I just saved you on some good anger management or at least a session of yoga or two.” The man stood there with his mouth hanging open, not knowing what to say. I just waved my hand at him and told him to “run along.” The girl mouthed, “Thank you.” The man “ran along” I completed my purchase, well, purchases!
That most of my undergraduate education didn’t do much if anything to prepare me for medical school. To be honest, My bachelor of science in zoology was far less helpful than being a paramedic for nine years.
That I would make some of the best friends of my life there. I would have cherished them and the experience more I think.
That I was smart enough. I spent a lot of time worrying that my peers were going to be smarter than me. Turns out emotional intelligence is more valuable in the long run anyway.
I would become so good at emotional distance that it would impair me on some level.
That a certain degree of hypochondria is fairly normal. I had classmates that had “leukemia, parasites, heart disease, tumors and aortic dissections.” Of course, they were all just fine. Oh, and I didn’t turn out to have a gastric ulcer either.
A great deal of what I was going to learn would be obsolete prior to ending my medical career. A fair chunk was wrong before I finished residency.
Competition creates problems. There were a fair number of people in my school that we would classify as “gunners”. For them, it was not simply good enough to do better. It was critical that you do worse than they did.
Some of the smartest professors I would have in medical school were the ones with the strangest personalities. A lot of the younger students would tend to blow them off. That was a mistake. They turned out to have a LOT of quirky wisdom.
Just because you got accepted to medical school doesn’t preclude you from having a personality disorder. I trained with some people with some pretty significant impairment. A few were incapable of empathy or even sympathy.
That the experience would fundamentally change me. I had a professor that said fundamental personality change can only happen from experiencing combat, motherhood, psychotherapy or medical school. I have not experienced the first three so I cannot say he is right. However, I can attest to the fact that medical school and especially residency changed me in some profound ways. That was hard to come to terms with early on.
They are everywhere in 800 odd military bases worldwide. To me they are wasting money that they really don’t have. They certainty cannot afford it overtime it will implode their nation and bring misery to its people.
They are there to war monger and trouble make without getting much in return except disdain and hate. This in turn means that they need more resources to defend themselves hence it is really a deep and endless money pit. China and Russia should goad them everywhere to burnt their own house down. Yet many fools think that having many bases is good for them.
It’s all over by 30, and it’s the women not men that are now saying it.
Back in the day, I would periodically use hydrogen peroxide to clean my ears out. This was done by my family doctor and he recommended it along with soaking my head in a bathtub of warm water.
You see, I had a problem with excessive earwax fabrication. Oh, not a common problem for certain, but I had to maintain this particular issue with my body.
So one day, my ear got stuffed up, and when I tried my hydrogen peroxide solution, it only seemed to make things worse. Instead it got more and more clogged up. Indeed, for an entire month, my ear was caked full of earwax and I was at a loss as to what to do… not so serious to go to the doctor, it’s earwax after all, but serious enough to be a real problem personally…
…enter a business trip. I went and interviewed at a hot water heater company in Tennessee. And after the interview and meal, I went to the hotel. I drew a tub full of hot water and lay down to soak in it.
I soaked for a good hour, and then I held my breath and tried to blow the water out. And then it happened!
An explosion of earwax released, and many it was a sight to behold. Where the heck was all this earwax from? I don’t know, but I must have had globs and globs of the stuff. It was amazing!
Of course it ended up falling apart in the hot water, but you could tell, it was like thick honey that turned to slimy powder. Quite the experience, I’ll tell you what.
Here’s a LEGO Millennium Falcon, retail price $100:
image 163
Here’s another LEGO Millennium Falcon, retail price $7:
image 163
Back in 2004, scammer Bill Swanberg realized that Target, Walmart, and other stores sold both of these sets. Here’s what he’d do:
First, he went into a store, and bought both sets. Totally legitimately. He took the smaller one, and scanned in the barcode. Next, he re-sized it so that it would be the same size as the barcode of the larger set— and printed out gobs of them on glossy sticker paper.
Next, he’d bring a few with him into an unsuspecting store. He’d find the LARGE version of the LEGO Millennium Falcon, and cover up the barcode with one of his stickers of the SMALL set’s barcode.
Then, he’d trot up to the register, and the associate would ring them up. “Woah, this big set only costs $7.00?” “Yeah, it must be on sale, that’s why I grabbed it, LOL!” “Wow, nice find!”
Then he’d leave, remove the stickers carefully, and sell them online at a “discounted price” of, say, $50. Everyone online was amazed at the great deal, and lined up to buy them. They expected he got a great deal on them, but 50% off didn’t seem like it was all that suspicious.
He did this for quite a while— but gradually the various stores became aware that their inventory wasn’t lining up. Target noticed the pattern in 5 different states, and eventually had a security guard stop him in a store in Portland, Oregon, after he bought 10 copies of the same Millennium Falcon set. In his car, he had over $6000 of LEGO, as well as a laptop denoting other stores in the area that he planned to visit (or had already visited).
Upon review, Target alone estimated that he had resold over $200,000 worth of their merchandise— and that he had sold over $600,000 online for the past couple of years (much of it likely being from similar scams).
Why is China so afraid of asking for help when there is a virulent virus outbreak?
In 2008, a Richter Scale 8.0 earthquake shook the mountainous Sichuan province in China. When the dust settled, ~ 70,000 people were dead. ~ 20,000 people were missing, presumably dead. ~ 375,000 people were injured. ~ 5 million people were left homeless. It’s one of the greatest natural disasters in the twenty first century. The disaster was so great, that China immediately asked for help from the rest of the world.
The US government gave ~ $4.5 million in aid, plus a guy to the Beijing Earthquake Center to look at their data. So that’s what, 80 cents for each affected person?
The rest of the world pooled together ~ $450 million, plus some emergency supplies. Most of it came from China’s immediate neighbors.
The Chinese people donated $1.5 billion within the first 2 days.
The Chinese government gave the earthquake-stricken area $130 billion. 98% was spent in the first 3 years. 100,000 PLA troops rushed into the earthquake area within 2 days to help.
This was back in 2008, when China’s GDP per capita was only about ~ $3,500 a year. Now it’s over $10,000.
So I don’t think China is “afraid” of asking for help. They are realistic. They simply don’t expect to get much help. Something symbolic, maybe, which will be much appreciated, but they must do the heavy lifting themselves. Big countries must stand on their own two feet, because you really can’t expect a bunny to lift up a fallen elephant! The elephant needs to get up on its own. Reactions to the 2008 Sichuan earthquake – Wikipedia
No normal country should count on foreign aid to solve their problems.
In the current Coronavirus outbreak, China is mostly helping other countries: It isolated and published the sequence of this new virus, developed diagnostic kits and diagnostic protocols, and shared all these with the WHO and the world. It has put in border controls aimed at keeping infected people from going abroad. It publishes treatment protocols and regular updates as doctors discover and develop their knowledge of this disease. It has put 50+million people under quarantine. It is doing a lot of the heavy lifting in the global management of this novel disease.
PS: The US gave Haiti $12 billion in aid after Haiti earthquake. 2010 Haiti earthquake
Haiti is right at America’s doorstep, and the American people are very generous towards Haiti. Today Haiti looks like this:
Turned out that a big chunk of that $12 billion was the US State Department writing checks to the US Department of Defense for sending 200 guys to Haiti to “provide security”. The rest mostly went to NGOs’ hotels, jeeps, salary, and “hardship pay”. It’s a legitimate question to ask if International Aid is really worth it, not only for the Chinese People, but also for the American People as well.
“USAID has spent about $1.5 billion since the earthquake,” Johnston told Goats & Soda. “Less than a penny of every dollar goes directly to a Haitian organization.”
Where I live anything that the courts could say was a trap was illegal. I had people cutting across my property to get to the river, the previous owner had just laid razor wire coils in the bush. If anyone had got hurt on it. I would have gone to jail. So I carefully pulled it all out and placed monster boulders everywhere. No one can say a boulder is a trap.
There was a guy who had a private road leading to his place. People kept tearing it up after it rained in their 4×4 , side x side, and atvs. He had no trespassing signs, and private road signs, and people ignored them. So he stretched a steel cable between two trees, with a padlock, so he could open it. He could only put up the cable where he had two big trees close enough to the road, to string it, and enough trees to stop them from driving around the make shift gate, so it was about 50 m up his road .
A teenage girl on an ATV drove by his private road and no trespassing signs, and got knocked off her quad by the rope. They sued the land owner and won. This is in Canada, rules might be different elsewhere.
A few years ago, when I was agonizing over my future career path, my dad told me to make a list of the things in life that make me happy.
Then, split the list into two categories.
The first category includes any type of happiness that you can feel instantaneously. Sipping hot chocolate on a chilly day. Hitting the snooze button to steal another five minutes of sleep. Binge-watching the new season of your favorite show.
The second category includes any type of happiness that takes a long time to appear and a long time to fade. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Mastering difficult skills. Building closer relationships with the people you love.
Some of the items in the first category, my dad explained, might clash with the items in the second. The more hot chocolate you consume, for example, the less nutritious your diet becomes.
But a few items in on your list, just a few, might actually fit into both categories. The best painters in the world obtain joy both from the instantaneous act of painting and from the ultimate goal of becoming a world-class artist. The best soccer players love being out on the field just as much as they love becoming better athletes.
Circle these items, these things that bring you both short-term happiness and long-term happiness.
These are the things that you can spend your life doing, and never feel like you’ve worked a day.
You ever been to a Mcdonalds where the manager is an ass and the employees have had enough of it?
I once went to a Mcdonalds that had a mass quit a few hours later. I went up to the counter and ordered a Mcchicken, a regular coke, a small fry and an ice cream cone.
They take my money and a few minutes later come back with my order, which is… heavier than normal. And my ice cream cone is a foot tall. And my coke is a large.
image 115
(It looked like this)
“Woops.” says the cashier. “Looks like we accidentally supersized your order.” she says with a wink. I could tell from the sarcastic tone that there was no accident about it.
I returned to my table and sat down, and noticed that my McChicken wasn’t alone, there was also a chicken select sandwich in there. I was a really, really poor kid at the time. The Mcydee’s dollar menu was a rare treat for me, and getting one of the main menu items was just amazing!
image 114
Definitely still my favorite Mcdubbers sandwich.
My ‘small fry’ took up an entire large fry box, and then there was about a large fry’s worth of loose fries in there. Like the entire bag was drowning in fried potato goodness.
So intentionally giving me a lot of extra food to spite your boss? That’s the strangest way my order’s ever been messed up. Part of me wished I had ordered more.
Edit: So Quora apparently thinks I need a credential to prove that I sometimes eat fast food and sometimes get my order messed up. This is what happens when you let an AI make decisions.
I knew my dad was a Bad Ass early in my youth. I didn’t realize how much of a Bad Ass he was until last spring. You see my father served in WWll with the 100th/442nd Regimental Combat Team in France and Italy. A segregated US Army regiment made up of Americans of Japanese ancestry from the US mainland and Hawaii. A large portion of these warriors came from “internment” (prison) camps from which their fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters and family were incarcerated. These guys had something to prove. We are AMERICANS! And prove it they did. For their valor the 100th Battalion/ 442nd Regimental Combat Team has been recognized as the most decorated unit in American history. The 100th Bn/ 442nd RCT earned more than 18,000 awards, including 9,500 Purple Hearts, 5,200 Bronze Star Medals, 588 Silver Stars, 52 Distinguished Service Crosses, 7 Distinguished Unit Citations, 21 Congressional Medal of Honor awards and the Congressional Gold Medal. Now that’s BAD ASS! My dad was gravely wounded in Italy and left to die on the battlefield as he was not believed to survive his wounds. When the burial detail came upon my father he was still alive and eventually recovered after a long convalescence. We know this story as it was told to my cousin by the soldier who found my father still alive. Unfortunately I never had the pleasure to meet his as he passed a few years ago. My father was awarded the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart and other awards for his efforts. He was never better than 70% disabled and eventually upgraded to 100%. So I had the opportunity to travel to France and Italy last year on a tour that follows in the footsteps of these American heroes. I walked where they walked, saw the trenches whey they lay and climbed the slope’s and mountains that they climbed. But I did it in the daylight. They did it at night in the cover of darkness. These were the mountains near Carrara Italy. Impressive just to do this in daylight. Crazy to think it could be done at night! That’s when I knew how much of a BAD ASS my father and the Nisei warriors of the 100th Bn/ 442nd RCT were. I could not be more proud. R.I.P. dad. PFC Roy T. Tsutsui Co. F 442nd RCT
Whenever I was in public school, I had fairly good grades, I didn’t study much so it was crazy how good I was doing. This all lasted until 4th grade, whenever I got put in this horrible woman’s class. I was the kind of child to speak my mind and get SUPER excited about things. This woman (not calling her a teacher because she doesn’t DESERVE the title) did not LIKE that. She decided to target me specifically for her relentless bullying of literal infants. Anytime I would get excited about anything, she would tell me to flip my card (yknow, the stupid elementary punishment bullshit). Anytime I would do something that would be considered out of place in a classroom, she’d make me flip my card. She would rally my classmates to bully me too.
As the school year went on and the bullying from the woman and my classmates got worse, I started falling into a deeper pit of my own depression stemmed from the abandonment of my dad, over-protective (yet still somehow neglectful) mom, and the bullying I had to suffer at school. This made my grades drop HARD. Specifically in my math and science class, as I was not being properly taught by this woman.
Every time we would get to a new part of our science workbook, we would get given a science study guide that we had to fill out ourselves that she would then grade and fix whatever mistakes we had made. A month prior to the specific incident I’m about to tell you, my mom had noticed how bad my grades had dropped and made sure I studied (which did NOT help). She always made sure I had my study guides and stuff I got from school.
It was a regular school day for me, we had just gotten a new study guide that we were going to fill out. The woman decided to put us in pairs to do them so we could discuss the answers and stuff. She put me in a pair with the nicest girl in the class (picture the human incarnate of an excited golden retriever) and we began working on it. We finished around the same time the others did and submitted our papers. After we all finished, the woman started grading our papers. Whenever she had finished, she handed most of them out, but she held on to two of them, my friend and I’s. She waved them around in the air and said “THESE two don’t have any names… Oh well… Who wants to play 20 pickup?” and then ripped them to shreds and threw the remains on the floor. My friend and I were crushed (and fucking humiliated) as we both really needed those papers and here we were, watching our classmates pick up and fight over who could get the most pieces like it was some sort of game played at a birthday party.
A few minutes later, she picked up her copy of the study guide and said to us, “I’ve got one more left. I’m thinking of a number and whichever one of you can get closest to it wins the paper.”
I ended up winning and she gave it to me, which I instantly started working on. I figured she would want me to redo it as soon as she gave it to me. About a minute passed and she walked to my desk, swiped it from me and gave it to my friend saying that I “Wasn’t paying attention”. I felt like absolute shit the whole day.
My mom had asked me where my study guide was, and I told her what happened. She went on an absolute RAMPAGE.
Luckily the next parent-teacher conference was pretty soon after and she didn’t want to embarrass me by showing up to the school while my classmates were there. I don’t know exactly what happened during the meeting between her and my mom as I was sat outside the classroom. All that I know is that whenever the door opened, the woman looked pale and terrified and my mom had her classic murder look that she would get after laying heavily into someone.
She never told me what she had said or done, but that woman never dared to bother me again. She didn’t even like LOOKING at me. Anytime I did something she didn’t like, she would glare at me like I just killed her entire family and set her house on fire and reply something passive aggressive.
My mom ended up finding out that she had done this to other kids too at other schools. Pretty sure the bitch was on tenure though, so there wasn’t anything we could’ve really done.
I still see her around town though and she acts overly excited to see me. The first time I had seen her after I finished 4th grade, I was about 13 and was super socially anxious and had panic attacks whenever I was reminded of that experience, I was at the dollar store with my grandma and the woman came up to me and started talking, I of course was trying to keep my shit together and not start having a full blown panic attack so I was very quiet. She said “Aw, what’s wrong? Are you shy now?”, all of my fear was replaced with rage and I had to stop myself from giving her the sickest right hook of her life. I regret not doing it while I was still a kid and wouldn’t have had very many repercussions for it.
SO, I’m not going to name-drop her, as I’m pretty sure that’s illegal, but I will say that if you live in or are planning on moving to Sabine parish, LISTEN to your kids if they tell you about bullying from their classmates or any of the school staff. Hell, do that even if you DON’T live in this area.
Burkina Faso’s President Has Good News for Africa but Very Bad News for the West
My parents started middle class and worked their way to the 1%.
It isn’t this huge party. But there are some basic things you don’t worry about as much.
It is weird because I didn’t grow up wealthy at all. And had a strict-as-hell dad.
At some point after I left home, things really ramped up. My dad left the military and became a high ranking exec with SAP.
My mom started a vineyard at their farm. And sold off a lot of great real estate investments she’d made over the years.
But you would never know it if you bumped into them at the store or something. They have very humble personalities. If you went to their home however..
image 113image 112
When I wake up in the morning in their guest room I get to enjoy a view like this:
image 111
When I visit they spend most of their time working around the house and on the farm. We don’t really sit still much. And even when we are it is because we are working on something. We are worker-bees.
Also, I think everyone has a misconception as to how wealthy the top 1% is. 10 years ago, even I had the impression that 1%ers don’t work hard and take 9 vacations a year. I think it is just different if you started small and got there in your middle age and have kids.
At that point, you are more concerned with managing everything and making sure your kids are doing OK.
(Maybe that it is .01 percenters that do all that laying around by the pool…)
Either way I love visiting my parents, but every time I get home here in Florida my house feels really really small! 🙂
My last name is Warehouse, just like the building. This has led to lots of interesting things, like getting calls at my work about finding things at our district warehouse or getting my account banned on Quora back when they cared if you used a fake name. It also means I get weird deliveries.
One day a big cardboard box showed up addressed to my wife, so I left it on the table without really looking at it. A few days later it was still untouched, so I asked her why she hadn’t opened it yet.
“That’s not mine, it’s got sports stuff all over it.”
And it did! Now that I looked, the box clearly had a Nike logo on it. And on closer inspection, its address tag was a mess. There was a weird poorly printed label that said “redirect” that had my wife’s name and our address in California on it, slapped over a very official looking original label that said the box was bound for a warehouse in New Jersey.
And that’s how I ended up with a bow of 24 pairs of XXL Nike football gloves meant for the New York giants.
In 1981 I worked as a computer operator for a company, then owned by Tex Schramm (owner of the Dallas Cowboys). There was a young woman, from a well to do family and graduate of Radford, working there. She was really into women’s lib.
There was also an older gentleman, long past the possible retirement age. One day I was in the lobby as the young woman, who I had recently begun dating, was ready to leave. The older gentleman was leaving, and held the door for her.
She lit into him. “Just because I’m a lady, you don’t have to hold the door for me.”
The response: “My dear Joanne, I do not hold the door for you because you are a lady. That would be presumptuous of me. I hold the door for you because I am a gentleman.”
In my second year at my current job, a lady was hired to replace my senior who had resigned.
The job was in a public office and for the most part was quite easy going. Somebody off the streets could learn the essentials in just a few hours.
The lady who came had seniority and several years more experience than me working at a different branch. I therefore expected her to have a wealth of knowledge and experience to share with me.
‘How does this work again?’
‘Did I do this right?’
‘How about you be the one to do that? You’re so good at it.’
‘Can you show me how to do (such-and-such) again?’
The lady transferred from a location that had the exact same type of system and technology as mine yet she had not a clue how to do anything!
How was this woman in a senior position? She didn’t know anything about the job. Was she dumb?
A week of ‘training’ had passed and she didn’t really learn anything and had to be supervised at all times. Before I could find out how it was that she was so slow she suddenly vanished.
She stopped turning up at work and calls to her phone went unanswered. I sent an email to HR explaining that she had gone AWOL. They gave some half-assed reply. A few months later, after she had long been forgotten, I get a frantic letter from HR saying that they have been paying her salary and they’ve just become aware that she has not been turning up to work.
‘No shit,’ I say in my mind.
HR investigates and finds out that she had accepted another job elsewhere the entire time and was gladly accepting two salaries. HR demanded that she return the unearned salary. She said she would but she was going through financial distress at the moment.
She never returned a cent. HR washed their hands of the matter and kept it hush hush.
Turns out she wasn’t dumb at all.
So my answer to the question ‘what sets off red flags on an employee’s first day?’
When I was small, my parents sent me to my grandparents (who lived in a rural area) every summer so they could look after me when school was out.
My grandpa was born late 191x or early 192x – even he didn’t remember exactly.
When I was 6 years old, I started going to elementary school which started to have summer assignments. So, when my parents sent me to my grandparents for the “vacation”, I brought my textbooks and books with me to study. One day, I remember, I brought a book to my grandpa and asked him for some help with my summer homework. He smiled, “Oh, sweetie, I can’t help you with that!”. “Why?!?!”, I was surprised, he’d never said “No” to me. A second of hesitation, then he said, “I don’t know how to read”
It didn’t make sense to my 6-year-old me; but later, when I grew up, I knew, it was the result of war and poverty, my grandpa never went to school.
Anyway, “But you know EVERYTHING!”, the little me was shocked and questioned him. He stroked my hair, “Ah, I just don’t know how to read texts in the book. I can read other things. I can read leaves to know their trees. I can read the soil to know what I need to do to get more produces. I can read the river to know if it’s safe to go down and play. I can read the night sky to know if tomorrow it will be rain or shine”, he explained to me.
A light bulb went off in my head; he taught me to ‘read’ some of those things, why didn’t I teach him to read texts? So, I offered him, “Do you want to study with me, grandpa?”.
So, I started to be his ‘teacher’. I taught him a, b, c. He studied, then forgot everything in the next summer because he didn’t use it frequently enough; so I had to teach him again.
I taught him to read, every summer, until he passed away.
I have had a number of jobs in my time. I’ve been a framing carpenter, finish carpenter, furniture maker, the army, and being in the office in the construction industry as a project manager for the last 16 years.
Working in the trades can indeed be very lucrative, and I know a number of plumbers and welders that do significantly better than me financially, but from someone that has worked in the trades and in the corporate office, there are a lot of benefits of the office world that help pull people away from going into the trades.
The first is simply being warm when it’s cold, dry when it’s raining and cool when it is hot. It’s pretty tough going to work everyday to be freezing cold all day or burning up hot. Secondly, you can do stuff after work without needing to take a shower or change clothes first. Third, you don’t beat up your body so much working in an office. I’m 47 so still well short of retirement age and I really can’t imagine doing the type of work I did in my 20’s all day, every day. That was tough work and I got injured a lot and had to just suck it up and work through it. Injuries these days take a lot longer to heal too.
Occasionally I get all nostalgic about walking floor joists 30 feet up with a 16ft 2×8 on my shoulder, then I’ll have a flashback to what that actually feels like doing it every day and appreciate very much my AC and roof and clean clothes. My nostalgia forgets doing that same joist walk with feet numb from the cold, or sweat in my eyes or a lingering injury.
The trades are good, solid, well paying professions, but if you have any other alternatives they are definitely a young person’s game. The people I see my age still working in the trades (doing the work, not management like me) are physically beaten down for the most part with bad backs, bad knees, and a collection of scars that make anyone take notice.
The Duran: Neocons want WAR in Middle East and Israel, the US will LOSE Big
https://youtu.be/k8AHFfv-pA4
Serbian Skillet Pork (Muckalica — Yugoslavia)
Muckalica
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds boneless pork shoulder
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 cup water
3 medium onions, sliced
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 medium green bell pepper, cut into strips
2 ounces feta cheese, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
Hot cooked rice
Instructions
Trim fat from pork. Cut pork into 1/2-inch slices; cut slices into 1/2-inch strips. Heat oil in skillet until hot. Cook and stir pork in oil over medium heat until brown, about 15 minutes; drain. Add water, onions, tomato, salt, paprika, pepper and red pepper. Cover and simmer until pork is tender, about 30 minutes, adding water if necessary.
Add green pepper. Cover and simmer until green pepper is crisp-tender, 5 to 10 minutes. Top with cheese.
When I was about 21 or 22, I worked for this remodeling contractor. My dad does remodels and has rental properties, and I’ve always been a DIY type of guy, so I learned young and had about 10 years of experience at the time. Anyway, one day I was at work, and the boss nor the crew lead could figure out how to solve a problem with some vinyl flooring and the customer was there watching them for a good half hour or so. I repeatedly tried to make suggestions but just kept getting ignored. Finally I just stepped up and tried something and it worked. The next day the owner told me that work was slow and he didn’t need me to come in. That same afternoon he called me and let me go due to “not having the quality of work that his company is known for”. I’m sure he was just upset that I made him look like an ass in front of a customer. Anyway, fast forward to a week later, this customer had a family member that was also gonna get some work done by the same company. The previous customer gave the family member my Facebook info and she contacted me and asked if I could do a job for her. About 3 days in, my old boss came and the look on his face when he saw me doing the job he came to bid for was priceless.
1. Don’t call someone more than twice continuously. If they don’t pick up your call that mean they have something more important to attend to.
2. When someone drops something on the floor by mistake or drops food from the plate or doesn’t know how to use a knife/fork don’t stare at them. The same goes to people sneezing, coughing or even an uncontrollable fart. It’s an involuntary reaction.
3. Always skip using the washroom beside the occupied one. It makes it uneasy for the person in the occupied washroom as well as yourself if you occupy the one right next to theirs.
4. If you’re talking to someone and notice any of the following, they’re trying to end the conversation:
Their eyes keep darting away.
They angle their body away from you.
They give you rapid one-word answers.
5. When someone you know has an obvious change in appearance, e.g., weight gain/loss, bald spot, acne. never comment on it until they talk about it to you, they already know what is happened to them.
6. If a colleague tells you they have a doctors appointment, don’t ask what it’s for, just say hope you’re ok. If they want to talk about it they will and you don’t put them in the uncomfortable position of having to tell you their personal illness.
7. Treat the cleaner with the same respect as the CEO. Nobody is impressed at how rudely you can treat someone below you but people will notice if you treat them with respect.
8. Do not make plans in front of those you are not involving.
9. When meeting someone after a long time, unless they want to talk about it, don’t ask them their age and salary.
10. When a friend/colleague offers you some food, you can politely say No. But, don’t do this after tasting or smelling it. It’s an insult to the one who has offered it to you.
This is John Eisenman. He lost his daughter to s-exual trafficking. She was sold for $1,000 in Seattle Washington. He did what a father should do and researched, investigated and found out about her abduction. He RESCUED her HIMSELF. He found out the person who sold her into trafficking was her 19 year old boyfriend. He met up with him, abducted him, bludgeoned and stabbed him to death in Nov, 2020. The authorities found him [dead AF boyfriend] in Oct 2021 in the trunk of the car he abandoned. John Eisenman sits in jail knowing his daughter is safe and growing up after he has already lived 60 years of his life. I bet you, he rests easy. Live your life to the fullest. He did his absolute best to make sure his child have the opportunity to do the same no matter what the sacrifice.
image 157
My POV:- I think justice can’t be black or white, it’s a greyish territory. I’m not a supporter of taking revenge but rather law doing the job. Although, we all know how deeply fukced up is our law and order.
The decade of the 1950s was the time of my well-remembered childhood. Some of the memorable un-nice features follow:
Coal shuttles in basement windows to fill the coal bins for the furnace that kept you alive in subzero weather. The loud roaring rattle of the coal can never be forgotten. My wife grew up in destroyed Berlin where the kids snuck onto the train tracks to steal coal for cooking and winter heat, especially before 1950.
Ice trucks for the “ice box,” which was the refrigerator of the day. Great fun to persuade the iceman to chip you a sliver (possibly unsanitary) in the steaming summer.
Raking and burning leaves either in the curb or in our own home trash bin (a large ugly concrete “bathtub” for burning all wastes) beside the separated garage.
After we graduated from paying marbles on the sidewalks, the never-forgotten aroma of the lightly powdered flat bubble gum accompanying Topps baseball cards used for flip-card contests. Still remember the rules.
Friends and relatives died a lot. Lost a cousin to polio despite her father being chief of staff of the largest hospital in St. Louis. Lost two more to a house fire and others to asthma. I narrowly avoided rheumatic fever and a close call with total vision loss from measles. Number 1 brother developed Type 1 diabetes, but that was hereditary (skips a generation); lasted a LONG time.
Turning on the lights to visit the bathroom in the middle of the night and watching hundreds of roaches scurry across the floor into the corners and cracks.
Sticky asphalt from the tarred streets that would permanently ruin any carpet in a snooty home.
Kids (and adults) hitch-hiked. I hitch-hiked regularly many miles to high school and college and back rather than take buses with long cold/hot waits and transfers. Just after the 50s, noticed how remarkably easier it was to hitch a ride when in my ROTC uniform.
Teenagers still in school who had never worked had no vote in national elections.
No air conditioning. Vornado floor fans, window fans blowing over block of ice, or car rides with windows open down to “Cool Valley” (yes, a real town) a low-altitude area with much lower temperatures were our only options when temperatures soared far over 100 degrees and humidity was ~80%.
Construction sites were wonderful if dangerous playgrounds for kids. Unsafe, with nails sticking out, deep ditches and holes to avoid. Taught caution and the value of tetanus shots. Learned aromas like the smell of wet concrete, rebar, freshly cut wood; mountains of dirt for King of the Hill games, playing “war” with wooden toy 1904 Springfield rifles in literal miles of dug-up ground for the interstate highways.
Homes and office buildings were insulated with asbestos, long before attorneys and asbestos-removal firms became millionaires from it.
Local stenches were many and varied. Worst were from the fish processing plants and cattle/pig stockyards, with the “nicest” smells being chemical fumes from riverside plants.
Working on the USS Admiral, was required to check for “floaters” under the port paddlewheel every morning by opening the trash slot over the water.
Learned to water-ski on the turd-filled muddy Mississippi.
US Army chemical warfare testers sprayed my hometown with zinc cadmium sulfide, a fluorescent additive of some kind and a possibly radioactive agent to secretly study possible bio/chem weapon vectors … later explained “to protect us from potential Soviet attack”.
Nearby communities (Weldon Spring, West Lake and Berkeley … but not CA) were being contaminated by toxic waste buried by one of my future employers after they processed the uranium for the first nuclear weapons. Not done on my watch; however, as an adult I did work at a number of the other tainted sites: their original chemical plant and their radiological branch.
Cap guns: actual gunpowder explosives were loaded in a tight roll to be fired by your Lone Ranger or Cisco Kid cap gun. Bangs and sparks with gunpowder’s sulpuric stench …
Bows and arrows (with real points).
Jungle gyms were tall blocks of hard unadorned steel pipes over bare dirt dusty in summer and frozen in winter.
Complete and utter obedience to our family’s Commanding Officer who actually posted duty rosters for my 4 siblings (girl was exempted) which I was required to enforce as senior NCO.
Amused myself by playing war battle games with bottlecaps. Falstaff, Budweiser and a few Stag … strewn from the six-pack dad chugged every night. Didn’t realize he was a drunk until years later.
Black and white TV with the Indian-head test pattern after midnight when all stations went “off the air.”
TV showed stereotypical characters in every show like: the Howdy Doody Show; Kukla, Fran & Ollie; Texas Bruce’s Wranglers’ Club; Lone Ranger, Cisco Kid, Zorro, etc.
Friday night fights: boxing matches every weekend.
Racism was acknowledged but not celebrated. Had black school/playmates (parochial school) and babysitters who all lived in a nearby section of the city.
Racial mockery was the basis of much TV/radio humor. Amos & Andy on the radio, Milton Berle’s burlesque schticks, Pat & Mike Irish insults, Sid Caesar’s fake Japanese babble, Jose Jimenez jibes at Mexicans on the Steve Allen Show … don’t remember German accents being considered “funny” until Hogan’s Heroes.
Classmate who later became a Japanese citizen used to play records advocating anti-Communism from John Birch (didn’t know of his Society then). Nothing mean or nasty that I remember from those lectures but quite un-PC now, I guess.
BB guns: never permitted in our home, with 4 boy, 1 girl; but vet dad built us an actual shooting range for my 13th birthday present, a .22 bolt-action Winchester … a literal deep sandbox at one end of the basement under a steel sheet canted at a 45 degree angle. Access controlled by dad, of course.
Joined my school’s rifle club in 1959 when they (not me) won the national championship with open sight .22s mounted on Garand 30–30 war surplus stocks. Kids shot rifles as a matter of indifference. Safely too, because safety was taught, responsibility was demanded … and disobedience was both unthinkable and unacceptable.
History will one day see how the U.S., its dog nations, the EU, its fellow colonialists and native slaughtering nations and its slave nations, treatment of China. Is a modern version of African slavery, Nazi Crimes, barbaric colonialism by the Europeans and the Savage rape and murder of Nanking!
How do they treat China and the Chinese race. Terrible, obnoxious and despicable. What more to say! Slurring at every turn, blindly accusing China without facts, evidence and proof calling them copy cats, stealing intellectual property, cheating, for being aggressive and threatening nations, genocide that never happen, causing Covid! All are no different from the Nazi blaming of the Jews!
Just backed by a pack of lies. And using coercion and bribery to get a dissident or two to cast doubt on China! If you are one of the group I single out please stop being a pawn or a parrot in these fake news. China won’t yield to these ludicrousness and shameful act of throwing shit!
To me you can accuse China of not bordering about its cosmetic cover up of its desire to ensure that the century of humiliation can never happen again and that it will do everything in its power to get back it’s rightful place in history. Remember how thousands of black people are wrongly accused by the white people for all sorts of thing and them lynch them!
History will show the truth that the U.S. and the west are doing the same to the Chinese. Sure without the lynching!
I owned a flying school and had a receptionist who was good with the customers.
One day I got a phone call at about 4PM from a student asking why we had shut early. I assured him we hadn’t as we had people flying till 7 that night. He told me he was standing outside and the doors were locked.
When I came in next day I checked CCTV and sure enough she had locked up at 3:30 whilst people were still flying. She returned at just before 5:30. I checked the day before and the same thing had happened. She locked up at 3:30 and returned at 5:30. It was near the end of the month so I waited till the end of the month to see what hours she had claimed for.
I also called a government employer hotline that is set up in the UK to give free help and advice. After explaining the situation they told me she was in breach of her contract, and it was gross misconduct which is a sackable offence. They said she was “stealing time” from me. I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt so I decided to listen to her before I took action. The helpline advised that if her answers weren’t agreeable then I should suspend her on full pay whilst I investigated.
Sure enough she had claimed for her full allowance on her payslip so I called her into my office to explain herself. She claimed to have “forgotten” to take it off her hours worked. I was more concerned about leaving the building unattended whilst we had students still flying. What happened if we had an emergency? She refused to answer me so I was left with no option but to suspend her.
I studied the CCTV for previous 30 days and she had done it for almost 50% of her shifts! Despite this I didn’t want to lose her, the students loved her.
So I invited her back for a formal interview and offered to allow her to bring a witness. She declined the representation. I explained that the interview was being recorded and I had my solicitor on speaker phone to listen and ensure we both were acting within the law. It was to protect both of us.
I asked her for her reasons and she said that she had been visiting her boyfriend and having lunch together. He was an instructor pilot for me but had never left mid-shift. I then explained about why it was wrong to leave the premises whilst we still had aircraft in the air. She just shrugged her shoulders. I asked her to wait outside whilst I spoke to my legal adviser.
Truth be told I couldn’t afford to lose her. I had previously told the helpline that and they recommended “based on my explanation” that I give her a final written warning. This should be enough to make her realise it was wrong. I decided to go down this route.
After 5 minutes I invited her back into the room to give her the final written warning and a good explanation why this was happening. As I said to her “Thank you for your patience,” she replied, “Are you really doing this?”
“I am.”
Then she erupted! Quite a verbal assault against me! Then she pulled out an envelope and handed it to me saying, “I can’t believe you have blown this out of proportion, here is my 30 days notice, and as you owe me some holidays I will be taking them so I don’t have to work with you any more.”
I just calmly said, “Don’t worry about the 30 days notice, you won’t need it because I’m letting you go for gross misconduct!”
*screaming at me*“YOU CANT DO THAT!”
*a tiny voice on the telephone*”Yes he can, you stole from him and he is within his rights to terminate your contract with immediate effect and without compensation. Now if I was you I would leave quietly or Mr Savage could have the police involved for theft.”
A week later I received a letter asking for a reference as she had found a new job!
While writing this answer, I called my wife (I’m at work) and asked her to send me the photo of this knife from our kitchen. I hate using it, especially while cutting soft veggies. It is dull, useless and cheap-ass piece of cutlery. I bought it for $0.50.
With a kitchen knife exactly like this one shown in the picture.
I was going to work, when I came across a domestic street brawl. Men and women screaming, abusing and beating each other. I remember a wooden ladle in action too.
It was too awkward for me not to do something. I had no cellphone back then as it was too expensive and uncommon.
I tried calming them down with help of a few neighbors.
And during that peaceful effort… a young man out of nowhere attacked me with this kitchen knife. The swing was so swift and forceful that it scared me if this connects at all. I tried to grab his hand but the knife pierced my palm and popped out from back of my wrist.
Now I wish to stress couple of issues here.
A knife is a knife and it does not matter if it is big, small, sharp, dull, scary or funny looking. When used with intentions to inflict damage… it will damage the body inflicting stab and slash wounds, and might very well cause fatality.
And even more importantly…
This was quite a harmless bout, typical domestic quarrel between two neighboring families that usually just ends up with them receiving a bruise here and there, a noisy chest thumping exercise for the most part that goes around here over stupid disagreements.
Still…the moment I saw that guy approaching me with knife, his glowered and gloomy expressions alarmed me of imminent danger, I understood this is not just a warning… this guy wants to hurt me. To anyone else, he might not seem to be posing a palpable peril towards the cop but I as a cop perceived the incoming.
I was unarmed; I could not protect myself intelligently.
What if I was armed that day? To whom do I look up for the use of deadly force authorization?
That’s no one else’s but my decision to make.
It is my judgment call even if it is objective or weak in other’s opinion. If I have reasons to believe the person is a threat and warnings don’t serve the purpose, I have to neutralize the threat. I don’t want to hurt anyone; that’s the last and the most distasteful option for any cop in all sincerity. But at the same time, I want to protect myself and others with my best effort and ability.
I assure you, it could have been a fatal blow.
The department would have lost one of theirs, my mother would have gone crazy upon hearing of this news. All of this because of someone’s absurd, idiotic and senseless aggression.
I don’t deserve that.
No cop deserves that.
So in my opinion, if a knife-wielding person advances towards the cop and chooses to ignore the warnings – and sends an apprehension that he actually might attack the cop –
I’d consider that a legitimate threat.
And using deadly force to neutralize that threat is justifiable legally and morally.
We were married in Las Vegas over a weekend, never had a honeymoon, and it appears there wouldn’t be much romance or emotion, which appeared to suit both of us fine.
My life goals had always been to earn as many degrees as possible and to have a significant career. When my husband said he wanted to apply to law school, I stuck around to find out what would be happening.
On our fifth wedding anniversary, I was working on my masters’ degree and pregnant – not in my life goals, but I was accepting of the situation. We were both graduate students, living off student loans with no money for anything.
When I woke on our anniversary day, my husband presented me with a six page long poem he had been writing for days. He called it “FANGS for the memories.” The poem was written in the cadence of the song “Thanks for the memories” which would have been way too sentimental for either of us.
It’s been 45 years later and I still have not only that poem but also the poem he wrote on our 10th anniversary.
This past year we celebrated our 50th anniversary and not one celebration. But I do have two amazing sentimental and romantic poems to read and reread over and over – I will never forget those!
When I attended university there was this strange routine that we went through at the end of each class. The professor would provide us the CORRECT answers to the questions in the back of the book. You see, our engineering classes all had us attend classes, labs works shops AND do the questions in the books. But, for some darn reason, the answers to the questions were always wrong.
Why is that?
A angry graduate student perhaps? A mistake by the book publisher? Maybe something else.
It’s really not a big mystery… but it still remains a mystery to me. Why?
It’s one of those things that I muse about from time to time… the wrong answers were the ones published.
At least this is what happened to this beautiful woman here:
image 151
Her name was Mercedes Grabowski, a pornographic actress who went by the stage name August Ames.
Near the end of 2017, she took a stand and refused to shoot with a male performer which also happened to star in gay scenes. She believed that STDs among gay actors have a higher probability to spread. So given that the actor was bisexual (gay, for what matters to this point), she thought she would be in a higher risk of being infected. “My body, my rules”, right? It was not abortion that was in question; it indeed was about her own body. I thought that was the feminist’s motto, and they should have sided with Ames.
Apparently not so. Instead, a twitter mob started a smearing campaign to call her homophobic, hypocrite, hate bastard and so on. A lot of porn actresses now declare themselves as feminists. Instead, only one or two stood by August.
She was only 23 years old and apparently suffered from depression. She hanged herself on December 6, 2017.
Afterwards, some gay activist stated: “she went on hatred against our community and paid the price.”
This was all because suddenly it became a social sin to criticize gays or point anything negative about them. Some said August was misinformed about how seriously and often blood tests are conducted on gay performers, but that’s besides the point: she just didn’t want to; she had autonomy, exercised her autonomy and paid with her life. Also, if some LGBT supporter brings to attention that the blood tests are more frequent and thorough within the gay community, then it should prove her point about being afraid to shoot in the first place.
As far as I can tell, August Ames was the first fatality due to the political correctness.
Feta and Mint Rice
Feta and Mint Rice
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 small onion, chopped
1 cup long grain rice
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can chicken broth
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
3 tablespoons minced fresh mint
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Instructions
Heat oil in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes.
Add rice and stir for 1 minute.
Add broth. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook until broth is absorbed, about 20 minutes.
Fluff rice with fork.
Add feta and mint and mix in with fork.
Season with salt and pepper.
2 servings; can be double or tripled.
I’m gonna say it
Helen Beveridge’s Haluski Grange Stand Favorite
This one is a stand favorite. If you can’t wait a whole year, here is the Haluski scaled down.
Helen Beveridges Haluski Grange Stand Favorite
Ingredients
1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine
1 large onion, chopped
1 large head cabbage, chopped and steam until tender
1 pound egg noodles, cooked al la dente
Salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste
Instructions
Using pot large enough to accommodate all the ingredients, melt the margarine and sauté the onion until tender.
Add the cabbage and the noodles and stir to combine. Heat thoroughly.
Season to taste.
Serves 10 to 12.
Final Comments: Once a year only. Customers love it because ” It’s such a comfort food”
In 1988, at the height of the AIDS crisis, my childhood friend became infected. He lived in a large Canadian city and I lived with my spouse 90 miles away, but commuted by train to his city for my job in an art department at an advertising agency. Because my friend had been rejected by his family for being gay, I offered to watch over him and monitor things as his life came to an end.
The far religious right wanted all gay men jailed until they died. Fortunately, religious folk weren’t taken too seriously in Canada.
My friend, who had always a bit eccentric, became extremely eccentric. I lived with him during the week and went home on weekends. As his condition became more unpredictable, I arranged with a local hospital to keep him on weekends so I could go home and sleep.
His short term memory left him. He became worried about my safety. Then he lost his ability to read. He began misunderstanding his medication instructions and displayed stroke symptoms, and skin ulcers due to mis-management of his drugs. There was a new crisis every day.
At work, the other employees quietly took on duties that were mine. My boss ignored my erratic hours. My spouse supported me as best he could. And then, two months before my friend’s death, Canada’s first AIDS Hospice, Casey House, opened. Everything was free and they had room for my friend. It was a quiet, comfortable death.
I lived with a straight man in one city and a gay man in another city and still did my job.
I did this for a whole year without any prior experience in palliative or nursing care. It was the most difficult thing I ever did, and the best thing I ever did.
I went for an entire year without a movie and without having any fun.
My spouse was still there at the end of it, and I felt that if I could do all that, I could manage anything that came my way.
No Mother Around, Little Kitten Got Bullied By Teenagers, He Can’t Resist And Just Cried…
I belong to a middle class family where meeting the ends is somewhat tough. Most of the times, we are a bit short of ration and we eat outside very less(once in a month).
We are three siblings. My two elder sisters and me. Four years back, we married my eldest sister and spent 15 lakhs on her marriage. This year, we married my second elder sister and around 6–7 lakhs were spent.
In this way, we spent all my father’s savings + Gold belongings of mom in two marriages. On the other hand, I pursued my BTech from one of the best engineering college and my father spent 4 lakhs on my engineering also.
So, all in all, he spent 25 lakhs in total on his kids. Now we have no savings and parents got scared how we will make our ends meet in coming days.
I was in final year of engineering and I knew this phase would be coming. So I did my best to get placed. I was so much prepared and still I got rejected in last rounds of interviews. It was kind of a roller coaster ride. Firstly, I would not be able to clear aptitude test. Then in some companies, I stocked in interview. You will not believe my presentation skills are so fine that I can easily attract a room of people while presenting.
Then in one company, I cleared 5 rounds of interviews and was rejected in the sixth round. That day was the toughest day in my life. I am stubborn and never give up easily, so while coming back home, I managed to forget that day and prepare for further companies.
Then, one day 6 Feb 2018(After trying for 5 months to get placed) , a company visited which was nearest to my hometown and profile was very much suitable for me. Package was average but still I was giving more importance to profile. So I got through 5 rounds of interviews and cleared all rounds with flying colors. That was my day, because I had feeling since morning that I will make it today.
When I called at home, my mother started crying after hearing the news. My father always hides his emotions but I knew that day, he was also crying. So, my parents got a hope for future. Now, they know that our son will be earning from July and we will start saving for our future. I never hesitated to spend our entire earnings in my sisters marriages because I knew, I will easily do it myself.
That was the most happiest and proudest day of my life. No doubt, I have been a brilliant student always but getting a job with an international marketing profile when your family is at most toughest phase is proudest feeling.
Unhappy, unmarried women are the only reason why Democrats are competative
I have never understood Americans who go to a foreign country to live for an extended period of time who don’t attempt to learn the language. Or at the minimum, learn the basics. Despite America not having an “official” language (although English is the language in which most everything is done), I hear people here complain about “foreigners who come here and don’t learn English.” Yet the very ones who grumble about immigrants here are the same ones who give Americans the reputation of being rude, arrogant, and ignorant when traveling internationally.
Someone in China told me awhile back that they knew a teacher who had been there for thirty years who didn’t know the most basic Chinese words. I sighed and rolled my eyes because, while I’m not surprised, it certainly disappoints me.
It also just doesn’t make sense. I went to Southeast Asia for only a few weeks but I learned some basic phrases in Malay because it’s respectful to do so, but also, to make my life simpler. Sure, plenty there spoke English, but many did not and how was I to interact with them if I couldn’t even say things like “hello, thank you, where is, goodbye” and so forth? To live long term in a country and not learn their language sounds torturous to me. The local language will help you with directions, help you with shopping, help you with bartering, help you with public transit, help you find a bathroom in public, help you order food, make reservations, run errands, talk to neighbors, make friends, seek help from police, tell a doctor what your symptoms are, help communication at your place of employment, watch the news or television shows, read the newspaper, read street signs, and so much more.
How does one even live for months or years in a foreign country and not absorb some of the language naturally, anyway? I find that both astounding and confusing.
World War 3 Is Coming – Robert Kiyosaki’s Message To The World
Oh, yes! Several years ago, I had lost my house to foreclosure, and about six months later lost my car as well.
The company I worked for at the time had an abandoned, older, little pickup truck sitting in weeds at the back of their lot, broken down, so I asked my supervisor, “If I get that old Mazda pickup running, would it be OK if I drive it?”
He said it had sat there for over a year, unable to start, and left in the weeds to rust; “If you can get it running, you can drive it; make sure you have proper insurance.”
The fix was not difficult and it was running within a day or so. It was filthy and beginning to rust—but it was running and I could drive it for free!
Due to a divorce, a second child who needed support, and a maximum paycheck garnishment by the IRS, I had lost everything: home, car, and most of my (very modest) paycheck. I had no savings and no money to buy even a cheap used car.
My girlfriend had allowed me to move into her house (with her mother and daughter living there as well). Thank God. I had nowhere else to go, and the money to rent nothing.
After a month or two, my supervisor took me aside and told me that some of the other employees were beginning to complain that no one else in the company could take a vehicle home—not even the drivers! So I had a week to find something else to drive. Oh, crap.
So, at the end of that day, I got my paycheck from my desk and went to the bank.
My bank was closed for the day so I went to drop my paycheck into the night deposit box. As I pulled into the driveway of the bank, there was an unattended car sitting in the middle of the driveway and I drove around it. After I dropped off my paycheck, the car was still there but this time there was a woman standing outside it. I was too tired and depressed to stop to help, so I passed her and got on the highway to go home and continue my search for car money.
After I drove a few blocks from the bank, my conscience got the better of me and I turned around and went back to the bank I had just left. The woman was removing some packages from the trunk of her car. I parked the pickup truck and asked her if she needed help; she said she had just called a girlfriend of hers to come get her and she complained that she only needed that car to run for a few more days and it had broken down.
“Why only a few more days?” I asked.
She said that her elderly father had just passed away, out of state, and she was his only child and executor of his will.
“He has a nice Lincoln Town Car that I’m going to start driving and won’t need this one anymore. And now it dies on me!”
“What were you going to do with it?”
“I don’t know,” she replied. “Donate it, maybe. I paid it off years ago and got my money’s worth from it so I thought I’d donate it somewhere.”
“Well… I don’t have a car…”
She held the keys out: “Now you do!”
She asked for help to push the car back into a parking space so it didn’t block the driveway into the bank, then asked for my girlfriend’s address so she could stop by to bring me the title before she moved back to New York. Of course, with her being busy packing to move, I never expected to see her again.
When my girlfriend got home from work a few hours later that day, we drove her SUV back to the bank, hooked a chain up to the car, and towed it home. Now it was parked in the driveway at home. I cranked the engine over but it wouldn’t start, so I opened the hood. The problem? A small vacuum line had come off of its fitting. I put it back on and the car started fine. Time to fix? Five minutes.
Two days later, the kind woman showed up at my girlfriend’s house, car title in hand. I offered her a $100 bill for the car—all that I had—and she politely refused to take it.
To this day, many years later, I have no doubt in my mind that God Himself arranged for us to cross paths so that I could get what I needed but couldn’t afford. I still give thanks to this day for that mercy.
China’s Shocking Message To Argentina! Is The World Ready?
If someone confronts you with a knife you pull the coins subtly from your pocket and drop them on the floor. The attacker will always look down to the floor upon hearing the coins drop and this will buy you a second or two to turn and run. This can also be used if someone is intent on fighting you and you know you need to land the first blow, it’s a distraction technique.
2. Never use an ATM while wearing headphones and if wearing a coat/hoodie, never have the hood up, both will affect your awareness and makes you more likely to be robbed.
3. When entering any room, work out where every available exit and hiding place is. In the event of an emergency you will react a hell of a lot quicker if you have planned scenarios in your head, it will make you far less likely to freeze up. This was something explained to me by an ex-special forces guy I was chatting to at a conference (he was head of security). He was sat at the same table as me, one of those big round ones with 10–12 people on each. I noticed his eyes were never still and he was always glancing at each door, window etc, basically any entrance to that room. I got chatting to him after the conference and asked him about what I had observed. He said “imagine you are at a public event and an armed terrorist storms into the room and starts shooting, most people are going to freeze for the first couple of seconds and that can cost you your life, plan for it to happen and although incredibly unlikely it ever will, you’ll react instantly and it could save your life”
When the Chinese leader says, go this way, it will improve lives and bring social progress, the people respond enthusiastically, because there is material benefit that they or their children will live and enjoy.
When the American leader says, go this way, to maintain American hegemony and prestige, it’s a mixed bag, because only SOME will draw material benefit from the machinations.
Unfortunately, those who benefit have a stranglehold on decisionmaking.
The Chinese economy as we find it today is a product of over 7 decades of unequal, and discriminatory suppression. In fact, China was embargoed for 30 years by the US-led west, while the Soviet Union instituted soft sanctions from the 60s until its dissolution.
The Chinese know how to handle economic suppression, because they have taken many lessons from decades past. In fact, Deng’s post-reform and opening up economy is designed around sanction-proofing. We are now seeing evidence of the multi-layer systemic robustness built into the Chinese economy, from finance, to manufacturing.
I won’t worry about China, other than the train being a few seconds late to destination. That’s the aggregate effect of the US’s half hearted attempt at trade war.
Why half-hearted?
National security threats are confronted head-on, an all-of-nation effort because survival is at stake. Donald the Orange’s trade “war” is more political shock and awe than a real trade war, because his administration LOWERED tariffs on Chinese medical products during covid. The was maintained by Joe the Elderly.
The US NEEDS China, and that calculus hasn’t been fully absorbed by the American leadership, resulting in half-baked, and sometimes, hare-brained policies and words that have been repeatedly walked back on, or exposed as failures and fraud.
American prosperity is maintained by the US per capita GDP being 10x or more than the global south. What happens in a world where that multiple shrinks, such that the unnatural size of the US economy begins to correct into a more equitable world? What happens when the global south can develop their own economies by trading among themselves, without the first world’s financing and technology?
In other words, what will inflation look like in a non-dollar holding sway world?
That day is coming, accelerated by the exhausting (and futile) efforts to contain China’s rise.
What’s actually booming is not China’s economy, but manufacturing.
image 152
Once upon a time, Chinese had to pay 300K+50K of RMB for a top model VW Tiguan. That’s about 50K USD.
The 50K is additional price, for guarrantee to get one in 3 months. Otherwise, you could expect to have one in… 100 years.
Now with 350K RMB,
image 153
one of my friends got a Nio ONE, and it’s bigger than Range Rover, with all the equipment you want. Tiguan on the other hand is just a compact or A-class SUV, which is based on Golf.
My father got a Changan Deepal SL03 with 20K USD.
image 152
It’s 4820mm×1890mm×1480mm, a proper VW B-class sedan.
Even the most standard Passat Hybrid in China costs 29K USD.
SL03 has EV range of 165KM, comparing to Passat’s 52.
SL03’s tire is 245/45R19, Passat is 215/55R17.
SL03 has Lane Departure Warning System as default, which for Passat is a selection.
SL03 has driver fatigue detection system, which Passsat doesn’t.
SL03 also has door opening warning, rare collision warning, internal driving recorder, and rescue calling system.
SL03 has a 360 degree camera system while Passat has only rare view camera.
The L2 assistant driving system is default in SL03, but an option for Passat.
SL03’s trunk cover is electric.
SL03 has bluetooth and NFC key, and support keyless entree for all 4 doors. Passat has only a remote key, and only the front doors can be opened keylessly.
SL03’s main screen is 14.6 inches, Passat’s is 9.2 inches.
SL03‘s shift is electric, Passat’s is mechanic.
SL03 has AR-HUD and wireless cellphone charging, which Passat doesn’t.
The only thing which 29K Passat doing better than 20K SL03 is probably the seats. Passat has geniuen leather, while SL03 is man-made. However, SL03’s front seats have cooling and heating, while Passat can only heat front seat.
With less money, Chinese are now able to get much much more from local brands.
We may not earn much more, but the cars are much cheaper now, and they are better.
Because of the overwhelming pressure, international brands also put down their prides and started to offer more equipment with lower prices in China.
And Chinese cars start to have advantages:
When other brands are still trying to make their auto-parking system more usable in real situations, Huawei already has cars which can park themselves without people staying around.
And they can pick you up at where you left the car when you finished your business.
This auto-parking system not only works in smart parking lots, but can also manually scan regular parking lots and achieve almost the same function.
This Huawei Luxeed S7 is only 35K USD.
Also, Huawei’s auto-driving system is almost road ready. It doesn’t only work good on highways, but also very good in chaotic downtown areas.
This is because China managed to dramatically lowered the price of laser radar, which used to cost 10K USD each when it was made in the US. Now in China, one car may have 3 or 5 of them and still is cheaper than its European competitiors.
A VW ID3 costs less than 20K USD in China. In Europe, it’s 40K EURO, which is around 44K USD. So is the BYD Seal, which the Chinese price is about half of European price.
It’s the same in other regions.
Active electronically scanned array, which is the core of US Navy’s Aegis Combat System.
Most countries don’t even have the ability to develop a AESA.
Meanwhile in China, it’s widely used in agriculture.
image 27
DJI T40, an agricultural drone with AESA and dual eye-sight system.
Infiwave/InfiRay S5000 surveilliance radar. It’s able to monitor man or animals in 10KM radius, and vehicles in 12KM radius. The whole system is only 15KG, plug and play, and support one bottom start. Even a total amature could use it.
In China it says this to be used to monitor boars, to prevent them from damaging the crops.
The massive manufacturing of China also benefits people in a daily basis.
image 26
25 of such windproof disposable lighter costs 24.98 RMB in Taobao, which is 0.14 USD each.
Whole selling could be cheaper.
How much does such a lighter cost in your country?
WHY MEN NEED SEX ? (why should sex be non-negotiable)
There was that girl that had been lonely all her life. People, especially in school, disliked her because she was “strange”, “a nerd”, “too quiet” and just “different”.
One day she decided to talk to her teachers during the breaks instead of trying to fit in where she didn’t. She always acted older than her age and her teachers liked her, so they usually didn’t send her away, but had a friendly chat with her ever so often instead.
By tenth grade, she had almost developed some kind of friendship to a few of her teachers. When she got the “strictest teacher of the school” as her major course teacher in grade eleven, it took her mere weeks to find out that he actually wasn’t so strict at all.
They talked for at least half an hour after the lessons. About science, about our society, the people in school and whatever came to mind. Those two thought quite alike, despite an age difference of 34 years, and the girl now almost a woman could for the first time in years really live her passion for learning. Her teacher was highly intelligent and very knowledgeable, having not only written a dissertation in the past and worked in research for years but also being interested in a broad spectrum of topics.
Well, doesn’t sound so bad, now does it? So what happened?
Well, because teenagers are teenagers, it took about half a year for people to start whispering about the girl and her teacher. It started off lightly, she was still strange and why would she even talk to him?
But a few months after that, some people thought it to be funny to make up a non-existent romantic relationship between teacher and student. Despite that girl having been very close to other teachers before, but now that it was a male teacher, it suddenly was completely different. Because people of opposite gender can’t just see each other as friends, right? They just have to be in love to even think about talking to each other.
A less than funny “joke” became something way bigger. After two weeks, all of the 1600 students knew about this. And most didn’t know that it was a joke. People were laughing and pointing at her, throwing insults at the girl for something that never happened.
Finally, after about three months of dealing with it alone, she had the heart to tell her teacher. They decided to never talk to each other outside of class again, to prevent the teacher from getting problems with the school. While it was just a rumour, that didn’t mean that it wouldn’t lead to problems.
Both of them lost a friend on the day they made this decision. And the student lost a person she saw as a second father – her father barely ever was at home and her teacher had been one of three people (the other ones being her best friend and a female teacher she knew since fifth grade) she ever fully trusted. It might not have been cruel at the first glance, but it hurt her in more ways than the others students could’ve ever imagined.
That girl was me.
If Walter White had a Cat
This is amazing! Enjoy the laugh for all you “Breaking Bad” and cat fans out there.
Credit to Bora Tas for digging this out. US intelligence is now all propaganda and non-experts.
The Chinese idiom for taking kickback type of fraud is “injecting water”. The idiots in the US intel thought this was literally injecting water. They had no idea that Chinese ICBMs use solid fuel rockets. So there is nothing to inject water into. (Edit: I was born in Taiwan. According to Liner AI, “The Chinese idiom “注水” translates to “fraud” or “to adulterate with water,” often used to describe the act of diluting or adulterating something for fraudulent gain.”
US intelligence should have realized that something was wrong with the translation instead those morons gave it to MSM as news. You have to ask yourself, how can the entire intelligence department on China makes this mistake. And no one realized that Chinese missiles use solid fuel.
And now the Chinese are laughing themselves to death because the US is just a joke. Even the intelligence is clueless. They are too cheap to hire people that actually speak Chinese and understand Chinese culture.
I owe the rest of my life to one last moment decision I made.
To better explain the gravity of my decision, I must firstly give you some information on my background.
You see, when I was younger I went to one of the worst schools the world has to offer. We didn’t have proper English education, we lacked the access to the Internet, the school couldn’t afford to buy desks and some classes didn’t even have windows. Welcome to Turkish public education.
Before you get the wrong idea, I must admit something. I didn’t go there because we couldn’t afford to send me somewhere better. I wanted to go there because my family taught me the idea that being used to living on the bare minimum would always best prepare me for life. I trusted them.
I spent eight years there, always working hard, and always doing my best.
In Turkey, students sit one centralized exam at the end of 8th grade, which determines the high school they can go to. Because the student population of the country is incredibly high, this exam is bone breakingly competitive. A single question wrong is the equivalent a death sentence. As a result, candidates woke up early to study, and fall asleep at night, again studying. There is no room for complacency.
Up until and during 8th grade, everything seemed to be going perfectly well. I was almost guaranteed to get 100% from the exam, against all odds.
Weeks before the exam, something catastrophic happened.
My father, who is a well known intellectual in Turkey, was arrested by the Islamic government on charges of criticizing the religion. This devastated me.
For weeks, I couldn’t study. Hell, I couldn’t even go to school. Being in a school like mine in a country like Turkey has a serious downside, you see. People are horrible. The day after my father was arrested, everyone, including the teachers and the principal directly said to me that my dad deserved what was coming for him. To them, questioning Islam was a sin. I was entirely torn, lost and disoriented.
Consequently, when the day of the exam came, I messed up. I totally messed up. I did my best but all I gained was a top 5% mark. And believe me, I am not being a nerdy attention seeker. The educational gap in Turkey is massive. You either go to a world class high school with top professors and tutors, or to a building full of illiterate and religiously biased classmates and teachers. Unfortunately, 5% would get me into the latter. I was done.
Later, the idea that I could go abroad appeared to me. And so I looked up tens of different schools in tens of different countries, and I applied to around 50 of them. The problem was, I didn’t speak English and it was already May. I had missed all deadlines by months. Only five responded at all, and I was turned down by all of them.
One last time, I went online to find a school. I came across a school called Stewart’s Melville College. I was completely shocked by the school. It looked like it came straight out of Harry Potter, and it was in Scotland. Well, I didn’t speak English, and my former education had been taught in a hellhole, so I realized I stood no chance at entering this school.
However, I thought I would send an application anyway. I filled my name and my details, and right as I was pressing “send”, I realized that there was a £60 application fee. I would never pay that for such a long shot. I could buy 60 Snickers bars for that! And so I exclaimed, “oh, nevermind mom, there is an application fee” and I closed the website.
However, my mom didn’t agree. She told me to do it. I said no. She wouldn’t change her mind.
And so I placed my application.
Surprisingly, they replied.
They would send over the entry exam to a local school in Turkey where I would sit it under supervision.
When news of this came, I spent every moment of the four days I had into learning a bit of English. I worked day and I worked night.
When the day came, I took the exam. The English half was impossibly difficult. However I absolutely aced the maths and the verbal reasoning.
A few days later, I received the long awaited e-mail. This was it. It was my last hope. It was either this or a life wasted.
I opened the e-mail.
I couldn’t believe my eyes.
I had been accepted.
I guess the people working for Stewart’s Melville saw that I was willing to give everything I had for the opportunity of studying with them, and this was enough.
I thank them every day for this. I went from studying in a Third World public school into studying in the most beautiful place in the world. Without exaggeration, these people saved my life. For the first time in life, I am truly happy.
Fast forward four years and unfortunately, my father is still in prison, but I have been saved. Life gave me a golden opportunity, and I will never let go of it.
Because in the last four years, I have been given a real challenge. A real goal to strive for. In the last four years I have been taught to be independent. I have learned how to speak English, and finally I’m in a place where we are given real education.
So yes, my life was changed at the last moment for the price of 60 Snickers bars. Knowing what I know, I would have given a hundred times that.
I study in one of the best high schools in the world, and I am incredibly proud of it.
Sorry for the long post, but this is the story of my life.
Here are some short and somewhat ridiculous psychological facts about humans:
1. The average person spends approximately six months of their life waiting for red traffic lights to turn green.
2. Studies show that people are more likely to believe something is true if it’s written in bold font.
3. The fear of running out of phone battery is so common that it has been given the name “nomophobia.”
4. Research suggests that people are more likely to remember information if it is presented in the form of a catchy song or jingle.
5. The phenomenon known as “earworms” refers to when a song gets stuck in your head and plays on repeat, sometimes for hours on end.
6. Studies have found that people are more likely to trust someone wearing glasses, even if they have no expertise in a particular field.
7. The average person will spend about six months of their life searching for misplaced items, such as keys or glasses.
8. Research has shown that people are more likely to remember dreams that are in color compared to those that are in black and white.
9. According to studies, people are more likely to make impulsive purchases when they are hungry.
10. Research indicates that people are more likely to find others attractive if they are in a high-arousal state, such as on a roller coaster or during a scary movie.
My final job was at a company called Power Design. Our office had the nickname, Power Divorce, because so many office romances would pop up between coworkers. They primarily hired young and attractive people. And when you are working in close proximity all the time, staying late at the office—it’s deceptively easy for feelings to develop.
And all it takes is one simple question, “Want to get a drink after work?”
Then you are both going to a hotel that night, or to someone else’s home while the spouse is gone.
I’ve heard of several instances of employees being moved because of a crisis at their home, and an ultimatum given that meant either this high performing employee left the company, or moved to a different location—away from the person they’d fooled around with.
Who needs fiction when real life is just as interesting.
Bohemian Chicken Paprikash with Spaetzle
thumb2
Ingredients
3 pounds chicken with skin, cut in pieces
2 teaspoons salt
4 teaspoons Hungarian paprika, divided
1/2 cup butter
1 large onion, chopped
2 cups water + 3/4 cup
1 (16 ounce) container sour cream (2 cups)
1/4 cup flour
Spaetzle or other dumplings
Instructions
Sprinkle chicken on all sides with salt and paprika. Melt butter in a large Dutch oven. Add chicken. Sauté until golden. Turn chicken, add onion, and sprinkle with 2 teaspoons paprika. Simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.
Add 2 cups water and cook slowly covered until tender. Remove chicken; keep warm. Whisk together sour cream, 3/4 cup water and flour until smooth. Gradually add sour cream mixture to broth. Stir over low heat until sauce is thickened. Add paprika as desired. Return chicken.
I had a clock watcher boss one time. I routinely came in early and usually stayed late. I worked weekends when necessary, and usually racked up 50–60 hours per week. One day I came in early as usual. I finished a project I had been working on, and it was about 4:45 pm. Quitting time was 5:00 pm. I decided to leave a few minutes early for a change. I was walking past my boss’ office when she looked at me and made a snide remark about “bankers’ hours”. I walked into her office and politely asked her if she wanted me to adhere strictly to the regular times. I told her I would do so in future. Two weeks later, she called me into her office and asked why something was not finished yet, and when would she have it. I politely told her that since I was no longer working 50 hour weeks, she would have to wait a little longer for things to be done. After that, we agreed that I could keep my own hours.
My ex-husband liked to do this and was pretty good at it. I would often ruin it though as I couldn’t keep a straight face. We were in Walmart one time near the back of the store, he in one aisle and I was in the next one over. I overheard him telling a sales associate that he’d seen a cat run by and that she’d better notify management right away. I heard her thank him and then saw her hurry off to the front of the store. A few minutes later, we were in the hunting and fishing aisle and an associate rushed up and grabbed a large fishing net. My ex asked him what he was going to do with it and he said, “there’s a cat loose in the store, and I’m planning to catch it!” As he turned to walk away, he yelled, “look, there it goes!” and took off running. We looked at each other bemused and then burst out laughing. Once we had everything we needed, we headed to the checkout. While the cashier was ringing up our stuff, she said, “did you hear that there is a cat loose in the store?” My ex told her that he’d seen it earlier and she excitedly shared that she’d seen it as well while on her break and that this was the most fun she’d ever had while at work.
Fenikia
Fenikia Greek sweet cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
1 cup peanut oil
1 cup butter
1/2 cup water
1 jigger brandy
2 eggs, beaten
3 cups flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground cloves
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup sugar
Dash cinnamon
Dash ground cloves
Chopped walnuts for garnish
Syrup
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup water
1 pound honey
1 lemon, sliced or 1 orange, sliced
Instructions
Cookies: Heat oil and butter over low heat until butter is melted and mixture is hot. Remove from heat and stir in water and brandy. Cool.
Stir in beaten eggs.
Sift together flour and baking powder with the tablespoon each of cinnamon and cloves. Add to liquid mixture to make a dough that is not too soft. Add a little more flour if necessary. With floured hands shape dough into ovals and indent lengthwise with thumbs.
Combine chopped walnuts with sugar and dash each cinnamon and cloves. Put 1 teaspoon of this filling into the indentation in the dough and close dough over filling. Place on cookie sheets and bake in a 400 degree F oven for about 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool.
Dip cooled cookies into hot syrup and place on racks to drain. Decorate with chopped walnuts.
Syrup: Combine above ingredients and boil for 5 minutes.
I am 70 and a retired.former Apple engineer who now lives in Texas. I was visiting my son and his family in the LA-area in southern California over Christmas break in December 2023. Having finished that I was at the airport security line getting ready to fly with my wife to the San Francisco Bay Area to visit my daughter’s family. I didn’t feel all that well, but thought I just had a minor cold. The next thing I knew I was in the back of an ambulance with my wife sitting next to me on my way to St. John’s hospital in Santa Monica. One minute I was in a line the next I was in the ambulance. (That was really weird!)
They soon diagnosed me with a relatively serious case of the COVID virus. I was promptly put into an isolation room at the hospital and was visited by doctors and nurses occasionally in lightweight hazmat gear to check up on me. Two days later the doctor told me that he was going to release me to self-isolate. He told me that if I hadn’t had my vaccines and boosters up to date that probably wouldn’t be happening. It seems my body had a strong enough immune system due to the vaccines to allow me to recover relatively quickly. I would be a dead man without them.
I spent up until January 3, 2024 in my son’s back bedroom by myself until I no longer tested positive for the virus. And, then I flew back home with my wife on a long flight first to Seattle, WA and then to Austin, TX. That was the best we could do on short notice. I never did get see my daughter, her husband and the other two of my five grandchildren. And, then, of course, my wife caught COVID too. She, however, just got a slight fever, headache, and a cough and is now clear of the virus. She too was fully vaccinated.
Isn’t it weird how this damn virus can practically kill one person even if they are relatively healthy and leave another person with just minor symptoms. That, in itself, is the weirdest thing of all.
The year 2023 ended badly for me. Good riddance! I hope you all fared better than I did.
Top 10 Real Life Glitches In The Matrix | MARATHON
Guys, this is a whole new world. And there are changes and revolutions and adjustments everywhere. But you will see, in the next month or so of my posts that the AI revolution is here. And it is both awesome and frightening.
Today, consider the text to video technology that is out there.
Six videos. Watch all of them. You will know when you watch them why I am so freaking out. Imagine what a desperate, corrupt and evil government or corporation could do with this technology!!!!!
-MM
We start with an overview. The next three videos…
AI Generated Videos Just Changed Forever
No shit!
Can you tell what’s real? – AI Generated Videos
You Can’t Trust Any Video Anymore… (OpenAI Sora)
Now, lets really get into the details of Sora.
Amazing!
OpenAI Sora: All Demo Videos with Prompts | Upscaled 4K
And, guys… that’s not all!
It’s a race with everyone competing against each other…
Massive Midjourney V6 Update: Consistent Style is Finally Here!
Image to Video Comparison: Pika vs Runway | Who Wins?
People can be odd sometimes. I wish to relate a story that took place a few decades ago. At this point in time I was sponsoring some Americans to visit some factories in China, and this group of four guys were all pretty nice. But one of them was a gnarly cuss who insisted on not eating ANY Chinese food while he was in China.
Instead, he wanted no part of the Business KTV lifestyle, food, friendships and was generally a royal pain in the ass. He insisted that no one smoke at the table… (WTF? this is China), and that we go to a grocery store to get cereal and milk so that he can have a “safe” breakfast in his room.
OK. Different strokes for different folks. I get it.
Anyways, Instead of eating at the many, many delicious restaurants for dinners, he convinced everyone to eat a McDonald’s, Pizza-hut, KFC and Burger king instead. And I begrudgingly allowed it. That was, until the last day.
There we took him to a steak restaurant, and we all ordered steaks.
It was a nice Western style place, and they were known for their decent steaks and fine dining atmosphere. Everyone loved the decor and the food looked great. We all sat down and placed our orders.
Imagine my surprise when he received a fine filet Mignon, and then promptly drowned it in ketchup. It went from this…
ee472e3e21002e2f8c037c4597bed3c1
To this…
tomato ketchup 1024×576 1
You couldn’t even find the meat under all the ketchup. I couldn’t believe it. Thinking about it now, and again… I still am incredulous. Jeeze! Louise!
In 1971 the 18 year old me worked 10 hours a night 7 nights a week overnight pumping 29 cent a gallon gas at an Exon station on Highway 14 near Los Angeles. An endless parade rolled through every night.
The cult bus from up the canyon gassed up heading for LA to recruit and gassed again coming back with newbies. The cult escapees on foot stopped for food or directions.
My usual directions to lost drivers was “you can’t get there from hear” with a smart-ass grin. One time the person just said Ok and left quickly. I guess they went somewhere you could get there from!
I had an endless supply of free food from the catering trucks fueling up. Newspapers, donuts, bread and more.
Guest appearances by two dozen of the Galluping Goose Motorcycle Club (Google them) swarming the stations islands was interesting. A sheriff car chase through the station code 3 was entertaining. You never knew what was next.
The problem was I tried to go to the local junior college full time and slept a bit in the morning and a bit at night. Zombies had nothing on me. Mom wpuld tell me the time, day and where I needed to go when I woke up.
One night, around 3am I was leaning against the front of the station waiting for the next car and noticed three dollars sticking out of my shirt pocket. A customer had filled up and paid while I slept standing up!
I took it as a clue that I should retire and joined the Air Force.
But I came away with so many great stories 🙂
Memnon of Rhodes (died 333 BC)
Memnon was a Greek soldier from the island of Rhodes in the southeastern Aegean Sea. He was born around 380 BC and entered Persian service at a young age. His first patron was Artabazus, the satrap of Phrygia, who married Memnon to his daughter Barsine, a beautiful and well-educated woman. The Greek soldier proved his worth during Artabazus’ revolt against King Artaxerxes III of Persia; at some point, he even rescued his captured father-in-law.
When Artabazus fled to Macedon, Memnon followed him. He stayed there for about five years and gained valuable inside knowledge. He met the then king, Philip II, and his son, the future Alexander the Great — he had supposedly lengthy discussions with the latter. He studied the Macedonian tactics and realized how keen on invading Persia Philip was. He also understood how precarious the Macedonian hold on southern Greece was — Greek unity wasn’t deep yet.
All this theoretical knowledge was soon combined with practical experience. Memnon fought with considerable success against general Parmenion, whom Philip II sent on an expedition shortly before his own death. Thus, Memnon was the perfect man to lead the Persian defense when Alexander the Great crossed the Hellespont in 334 BC. Indeed, he sat at the war council of Darius III along with Persian satraps and other high-ranking officials.
Memnon proposed a dual approach. First, the Persians were to follow a scorched-earth policy: burn the crops before Alexander’s army and constantly retreat instead of opt for an open, pitched battle. Second, using money and diplomacy, they should cause as much unrest as possible in Greece, behind Alexander’s back. It was a careful and well-thought strategy, because the Greek armor, training and battle tactics were superior to those of the Persians.
Darius and his satraps didn’t agree with Memnon. They were unwilling to destroy Persian land, believed it would be below them to not fight openly against the invader and possibly hesitated to follow the advice of a Greek. Thus, they assembled an army behind the river Granicus and waited for a battle that eventually took place in May 334 BC. Memnon was one of the leaders of the left flank, opposite Alexander. Reality proved him correct: Alexander won.
After the battle, Darius changed his mind. He made Memnon supreme commander of the West and gave him the authority to carry out his initial plan. Although several Anatolian cities surrendered to Alexander, others like Miletus and Halicarnassus resisted, and that could wear out the invading army. Memnon didn’t care how many individual victories Alexander would win; he played the long game and was content with the Greek losses.
Soon, Memnon started his counterattack. Since Alexander’s fleet was not very strong, he attacked the islands of Chios and Lesbos; the first he captured completely, while the latter partly. He also accepted representatives of the Cyclades — with them, he could control the Aegean route. Persian money worked miracles, as it had in the Peloponnesian War. Athens, led by the anti-Macedonian Demosthenes, Sparta and other cities were almost ready to rebel.
In this crucial hour, Alexander’s good fortune prevailed. Memnon got sick and died in 333 BC while besieging Mytilene on the island of Lesbos. The Persian generals, seeing that Alexander was moving slowly, thought he hesitated to face them openly. Thus, they abandoned Memnon’s strategy and pushed for a second direct confrontation. A few months after Memnon’s death, Alexander defeated Darius himself at the battle of Issus. The East was open to him.
It’s always hard to pose What if … ? questions, but Memnon’s plan had many chances of success. His shrewdness, experience and what steps of his plan he managed to carry out before he died show that clearly. If he had forced Alexander to keep advancing slowly and with constant losses, exploited the favorable dynamics at sea and stirred up a major revolt in Greece, the invading army might not have been able to get beyond Asia Minor.
It’s not necessary to get into details about this, but Alexander’s campaign was indeed world-changing. Although he died too early, his conquest set the bases for all sorts of historical developments. Greek became the common language of the new oecumene, the Greek civilization came in closer contact with those of the East — a new era began. Even Rome would later build on Alexander’s legacy. Who knows if any of that would be the case had Memnon lived to execute his plan to the end?
Fun fact: Memnon’s wife, Barsine, was later captured by the Greeks. Alexander made her his concubine, and she bore him a son named Heracles. He was the only child we know Alexander lived long enough to see: his legitimate son by Roxana, Alexander IV, was born a few months after his death. Both Heracles and Alexander were murdered at a young age, victims of the bitter antagonism among Alexander’s generals over his kingdom.
I was 11, and for some reason, I wasn’t at school and with my father when he got word that my older sister had run-away, again.
Dad went to a couple of houses, with me staying in the car. Then, we went to a biker bar. Dad said, “Stay here!” Then, walked into the bar.
Being the brat that I am, I waited briefly, and decided I needed to use the restroom. I walked through the door and spotted my sister on the right at the far end next to the bar. My father was just in front of the door, and to his left were two pool tables, with those low-hanging stained-glass lights over each table.
There were FOUR extremely large biker dudes – right out of central casting. All were much taller than my father, who stood at 5′7″. All four had cue sticks in their hands, and all four began moving.
My father shifted quickly to stand between the two pool tables. The bikers spread-out and one circled back, going behind the rear pool table. Dad grabbed the table light and shoved it violently to sideways, hitting the biker solidly in the face.
Then the guy on the far side of the tables stepped forward, swinging the pool cue like a baseball bat. Dad blocked the cue, gave two punches to the face, grabbed the cue, swiveled it around and punched him with the base of the cue several times to the neck and face.
At this point, the third guy came from behind, and struck Dad viciously in the right kidney, causing a grunt. Nevertheless Dad swiveled around with the cue, hitting the biker on the side of the neck. Then Dad did a little jump and kicked the knee out from under the biker. The crack was audible.
Guy #4, clearly not being bright, tried to do the same trick with the other table light, and missed as Dad ducked beneath, grabbed the biker by his vest and pulled him onto the table, then elbowed him to the throat.
Guy #2, having recovered enough on the far side of the tables, pulled-out a knife and came with a stabbing motion. Dad caught the thrust arm, twisted it with both of his arms, and broke or dislocated the man’s shoulder / arm – again with an audible sound – and a screech from the biker.
#1 guy, face bloodied from the splintered light, put his hands up in a placating gesture and backed away.
#2 guy was on the floor, holding his right arm
#3 guy was on the floor, groaning, and holding his leg, which was bent in an odd manner.
#4 guy was gasping for breath, on hands-and-knees on the floor.
At this point, the bartender started rummaging around under the bar for something, and Dad said, “She’s 14 years old.”
The bartender stood up, backed away from my sister, next to the wall and put his hands up.
Then we went home.
Please note, that while Dad was quite powerful, and lifted weights, with biceps that split shirts – he also had a bad right leg, and was only 5′7″.
You see, the ascent stage was the part of the Eagle lunar module that blasted off from the moon’s surface on July 21, 1969, carrying Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin back to the command module Columbia.
After they docked, they jettisoned the ascent stage into space, leaving it in a retrograde orbit about 125 kilometers above the lunar equator.
NASA assumed that this orbit was unstable and that the ascent stage would eventually crash into the moon.
But a new analysis by James Meador, an independent researcher at Caltech, suggests otherwise.
image 2
He used a NASA tool called the General Mission Analysis Tool to simulate the trajectory of the ascent stage using data from GRAIL, a mission that mapped the moon’s gravitational field in 2012.
He found that all of his simulations showed the ascent stage maintaining a steady orbit for over 50 years, despite the influence of the sun, other planets and solar radiation.
Of course, there are other factors that could have affected the fate of the ascent stage, such as fuel leakage or explosion, but Meador thinks that there is some possibility that it is still up there and might even be detectable from Earth.
How cool is that?
But don’t get too excited yet.
This is just one study and it has not been peer-reviewed or confirmed by other sources.
Meador himself admits that his analysis has limitations and uncertainties.
He also says that finding the ascent stage would require a lot of effort and resources from NASA or other agencies.
So, for now, we can only speculate and hope that one day we will know for sure what happened to the ascent stage of Apollo 11.
Maybe it is still orbiting the moon as a silent witness to one of humanity’s greatest achievements.
Or maybe it has already crashed and become part of the lunar landscape.
image 26
Either way, it is a fascinating piece of history that deserves our attention and respect.
I was 32 when I got married and had been on my own, building a career and supporting myself for 10 years. I refused to be “given away” because no one “owned” me. So, I told the officiant to eliminate the line where they ask who’s giving me in marriage. My dad simply escorted me down the aisle, sat down beside my mom and I joined my husband.
I’d attended and been in enough weddings by this time to have very definite ideas about what I did and didn’t like. So, I also made the following changes to the reception. When I was planning our wedding, all kinds of people told me I “had to do all this stuff because it was ‘tradition.” I said, “NOPE!”
No long wait between the ceremony and the reception – The photographer took a few pictures of me and my husband at the church and we arrived at the reception along with the last of the guests. We took the family and wedding party photos after we ate.
No sit-down dinner – I’d been to too many receptions that were ruined by guests banging on their glasses to make the couple kiss. We decided we weren’t trained monkeys that perform on demand and had a cocktail-style reception.
No obnoxious, screaming DJ – We had a guy playing background music on the piano and guests were able to converse without shouting.
No smashing cake in the face – I don’t know who ever decided this was cute, funny or amusing. It’s tacky and an insult to your new spouse, and I didn’t spend hours on my hair and makeup to have it messed up with smeared cake and frosting. As a side note, any DJ who sang “The Bride Cuts the Cake” to the tune of “The Farmer in the Dell” would have had the cake smashed in HIS face—by me!
No dollar dance (or anything else that solicits money or gifts) – I subscribe to the old-school view that you don’t ask guests for gifts or money. If someone gives a gift, you should thank them regardless of whether you like it or now, and follow up with a nice note.
No bouquet toss – Some women don’t want to get married. Others recently lost a spouse or are getting over a breakup. They don’t want to be singled out or embarrassed by “well-meaning” guests or insensitive DJs who want to push them into catching the bouquet.
NO GARTER TOSS – I saved the best for last. I ABSOLUTELY REFUSED to do this. The “tame” version always made me uncomfortable, but the way many couples do it nowadays is raunchy, nauseating and disgusting, especially when the groom removes the garter with his teeth! I definitely DO NOT want my new husband or anyone else sticking their head up my dress in front of a hundred people! Maybe I’m just an old fogey or fuddyduddy, but some things should be kept private!
It’s YOUR day. Do what you want and don’t let anyone force you into doing anything that you don’t like or that makes you uncomfortable!
China’s ‘Golden Veil’ To Launch Cruise Missiles For Sneak Attacks
During the toxic, soul destroying ICU rotation of residency, we admitted a young lady intubated for a “community acquired pneumonia”. It ended up being acute myeloid leukaemia, and she had to start chemo in ICU.
She turned out to be an incredible, inspiring, resilient and kind soul. She developed every possible complication of chemo, including being septic while having profound pancytopenia (all cell lines down).
During a particularly busy call with multiple sick admissions, she started bleeding (sepsis plus inability to clot), and I remember noticing frank blood in her catheter. At some point after midnight, she weakly summoned me to the bedside. There were tears on her face and I remember they seemed blood stained, which seriously alarmed me.
I thought she was calling me to tell me how sick she felt. But, teary eyed and all, she said, “I’ve been watching you…you’re having such a hard evening. Are you okay?”
Here was this woman battling for her life, and she had enough compassion left over to care for me. I thanked her, told her to please not worry because she/they were the only priorities.
Then I went into the bathroom, bawled my eyes out, put my game face back on and got back to work. People like that make everything worthwhile.
I’m glad to say she survived and was discharged from hospital several months later, but my colleague who managed her after she was discharged from ICU said it all took its toll and she was a shadow of her former self.
I still think of her. I hope life gave her her flowers, because she deserved everything.
Many years ago we moved into a house where the garden had two gates, a small one at the back and the front double gate which gave access for the car. I was amazed to see people idly strolling through our garden one day with their dog. I went out and challenged them and they said they’d been doing it for years. The previous owner let them use his garden as a short cut to the shop instead of having to walk round past the church.
I said it had to stop now. We had a young child and I didn’t want to risk total strangers coming into the garden. Besides which we had two dogs at the time and although they were not dangerous I didn’t want to risk them getting involved with trespassers. As a child I discovered that people tell lies and they can report that your dog attacked them even if it didn’t.
We put a lock on the gate, and a notice saying Private Property. Keep out. We had no end of abuse from people. The one who really stunned me was the one who said they picked the apples and other fruit every year, it was their right, and now we were stopping them from doing it. The woman even said the fruit wasn’t ours because the trees weren’t planted by us, they’d been there for years.
We only lived there a few years. We didn’t like the weird neighbours so we moved.
Men are Avoiding Marriage and Modern Women Don’t Get It Ft.
Back in 1993 my first wife and I purchased a house on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Our house was a new construction, we were the first owners, and it was also the last piece of property in the subdivision to be developed. Our right-side neighbors, an elderly couple, had been one of the first residents, moving in back in 1975.
For all the years they had lived there they used our property for extra gardening space, and as a dumping ground for their yard waste. Our one-acre lot was partially wooded, and I found huge piles of branches, leaves, and household trash scattered throughout the woods. Apparent leftovers from these neighbors. No problem, it was pre-existing conditions, so my wife and I just worked to clean up and do our own landscaping.
The problem was, our neighbors didn’t seem to understand they couldn’t use our yard as their private dump anymore. We woke up one morning several months after moving in, and discovered a huge mound of leaves, branches, and other yard waste right in the middle of lawn area in our backyard. Trying to be polite and “get-along,” I talked to the guy and explained they couldn’t use our yard as a dumping ground. he agreed to remove it. His method of “removal” was to just torch the pile and burn it. No fire permit, no warning to us, and he left a big burn scar in the lawn.
We let this go, which turned out to be a big mistake. For the next several years, we would periodically discover piles of yard waste in our yard. The lady next door would simply clean up her yard, and haul everything over into our yard. She would always haul this waste over during the night, or times when my wife and I were both gone. No amount of complaints would change her behavior, and her husband would openly avoid us.
After nearly five years of this, my wife and I had enough. After finding yet another pile of yard waste, I called the police and filed a trespassing complaint against my neighbor. In Mississippi, this was a misdemeanor and so I had to go to night court to testify in support of my charge.
The night of our court hearing, the judge had my wife wait outside the courtroom while I testified first. The night court prosecutor and judge were pretty hostile to me during their questioning. Extremely hostile. They included comments about how “neighbors were supposed to get along,” and other similar crap. I managed to hold my own during their questioning, then they called in my wife.
The judge asked my wife to explain our reasons for the trespassing charges, and she just lit into the judge with “They have been doing this for five years!” How long should we have to put up with this?” The judge looked shocked, looked at me, said “five years?” and I nodded my head in confirmation.
My wife finally ran down, the judge gave some judge-homily crap about neighbors getting along and ruled against us – no trespassing. One week later we found yet another pile of trash in our yard, and I called the police, again. When they showed up, I explained we had already taken the neighbors to court once, the judge decided this wasn’t trespassing, and now our neighbors did it again. I suggested that possibly if their house accidently burned down, this crap would stop.
The police, not happy with the entire situation, and not happy with my comments, finally took action. They issued our neighbors a “no trespass” order and advised them that if they set foot on our property again, it would be in violation of a police order and they would be charged with a misdemeanor.
We finally had peace. Then a year later the husband lost the house due to gambling debts and they moved away.
Scott Ritter: “US Naval SUPERIORITY IS A MYTH! Our Navy has been exposed in the Red Sea as weak!”
1) Document everything. A journal format is best. Date, time, who, where (desk, hallway, restroom), what, and your impressions. I’m a nerd: I use Excel.
2) Once a year, ask HR to let you see your file. You’d be surprised what random people put in it. I once saw a note from a coworker that said “she used the F word.”
An example of how the advice worked to my advantage. I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease after six months of “what the F is wrong?” A couple days later I mentioned it to my immediate supervisor. I asked about partial disability and should I contact HR? She said no no no do not call HR yet. (I thought that odd).
The next day I heard through gossip that layoffs were coming. So I went and copied my HR file a couple days after. Wow, I found that my boss emailed her boss about my diagnosis. Boss’s boss wrote, “Well, she’ll be one of the first to go” and “I won’t let someone faking a disability continue working here.“ It was in there because it had info about work performance for a review due in 4 months. I have no idea why those sentences weren’t redacted.
One week later, I get called to HR. During the “exit interview” she gave me a big envelope. I asked, no, I told her to increase my compensation package by a factor of ten. She said nothing. I said, “I’m getting laid off because I have Lupus, which as you know, is against the Disabilities Act … { long pause }… and I have proof.“ She mumbled, I’ll get back with you before the end of the day.
Packing up my stuff, HR came and gave me the envelope, asked me to sign an NDA. I noticed the final check was not increased. “My lawyerl will contact HR soon. I’m not signing this NDA. Goodbye.”
End of story. I got a settlement with the compensation multiplied by 10. It took almost two years and if not for my journal and the copy of my HR file, it would have been pointless to sue.
Okay, this is something I legit struggle with. When you’re talented, one of the lovely little gifts that gives you is the ability to see the flaws in the things you create.
Like, I’ll have people gush about one of my books and I cringe inside because when I look at it, all I see are the bits I’d fix if I could rewrite it. I read books from people who are better writers than I am, and then I read something I’ve written and I’m painfully aware it’s not as good.
The same was true when I was really into B&W photography. I was dedicated enough to have a darkroom in my house, but that didn’t give me confidence in my own ability, it gave me an acute and sometimes pointed awareness of the gulf separating me from people who are actually talented.
Like, I look at the best thing I’ve ever done, and compare it to the most mediocre thing Robert Mapplethorpe ever produced, and there’s a gap that’s actually more like a chasm.
I have a lot of writers, artists, photographers, and other creatives in my social circle, and pretty much all of them are plagued by this. The ability to create comes with the ability to evaluate your creations, and when you do that, you realize the gulf that separates you from genuine masters.
Online Dating App Creator Regrets What Online Dating has Become
He was tall (6′2″) and “manly”, yes. But he was never handsome, even as a young man. More than that, he was expected to be a failure.
He dropped out of high school at 16 and lied about his age to join the Marines, but he didn’t care for military life, having an admitted “problem with authority”. At 21, he moved to New York City, where he bounced from job to job; then, in 1956, when he was 26, he decided to pursue an acting career, something he said he’d dreamed of since watching James Cagney films as a kid in Illinois.
As a teenaged Marine:
image 25
Hackman moved to California and joined the Pasadena Playhouse, where he befriended another aspiring young actor, Dustin Hoffman. The two were noted outsiders, and their peers didn’t think much of them — jointly voting them “least likely to succeed”. Hackman also got the lowest score in the Playhouse’s history.
But he was determined to prove them all wrong.
He moved back to New York and took a job as a doorman at a Howard Johnson’s to support himself while taking bit parts here and there. Here he ran into one of his former Playhouse instructors, who told him, “see, Hackman? I told you you wouldn’t amount to anything.”
It was in 1967, at age 37, that he had his breakthrough role as Buck Barrow in “Bonnie and Clyde”, which earned him his first Academy Award nomination. He would be nominated again 3 years later for his against-type performance in “I Never Sang for My Father”, then became a bona fide leading man — and Oscar winner— with his unforgettable turn as Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle in 1971′s “The French Connection”.
As Popeye Doyle:
image 24
He received BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations for his performance in “The Conversation” (1974), another Oscar nomination for “Mississippi Burning” in 1988, and won his 2nd Oscar for his brilliant turn as Little Bill Daggett in “Unforgiven” in 1992, while “The Royal Tenenbaums” (2001) garnered him the Best Actor Golden Globe.
Two-time Oscar winner:
image 23
He retired from acting at age 74 in 2004 to write historical fiction, with 2 Oscars (5 nominations), 4 Golden Globes (8 nominations), and 2 BAFTAs (5 nominations) for his career, in addition to countless other awards.
Not bad for a funny-looking guy whom everyone expected to fail.
Beef Piroshki
Beef Piroshki
Ingredients
1 pound ground round
2 medium onions, chopped
2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
3 tablespoons sour cream
1 teaspoon dried dill (or 1 tablespoon fresh)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
5 (7 1/2 ounce) cans buttermilk biscuits
1 egg, well beaten
Instructions
In a large skillet, cook ground round, onions, and garlic over medium-high heat, stirring often to break up lumps of meat, until beef has lost its pink color, about 5 minutes. Drain off excess fat. Off heat, stir in hard-boiled egg, sour cream, dill, salt and pepper; let filling cool completely.
Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
One can at a time, separate biscuits. On a lightly floured surface roll out each biscuit to a 3 1/2 -inch circle. Place about 1 tablespoon filling in the center of each circle. Fold in half to enclose filling. Press edges with a fork to seal closed. Place on ungreased baking sheet. Brush tops with beaten egg.
Bake piroshki for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown. Keep unbaked piroshki batches covered with clean kitchen towels.
Serve warm or at room temperature.
Baked piroshki can be frozen and kept for up to one month. Thaw and bake as instructed.
The most badass thing I ever did in grade school was during a Dodgeball game. I was in the 5th grade, 10 years old. Being the competitive little fuck I was, this game made me ever more hyped up than a monkey at a banana buffet.
The teacher chose who went on which side. I ended up going against the class bully and a couple of my friends. The class bully’s name will be Derek. Derek was a mean motherfucker who was fatter than a whale.
But you couldn’t tell it to his face or he’ll make sure to break yours. Derek never really picked on me that much since I usually kept to myself and away from him and his friends. But he did pick on my friend; Mike.
Mike was a full-on geek. Me and him both liked comics and Star Wars, but I kept that geeky side of myself hidden while Mike foolishly waved it around. He was also a very easy target.
I was really fit and tall compared to everyone else in my grade so not many people would try to physically start a fight with me. Simple insults were as far as they’d dare to go.
Mike, however, was really short and frail. You could kick him like a soccer ball if you had the lack of heart to go for it. He was also a super nice kid, so it really hit me in the feels when I saw him getting picked on.
In this Dodgeball game, Mike was on Derek’s side of the field and 2 of Derek’s friends were on mine. The balls we had for that game weren’t your typical soft and airy ones. No, they were all green and red plastic ones.
The plastic shells for these balls were hard and lordbabycheezit’s only knows why they allowed it for a game where the sole purpose of winning was to throw them at other people. Ironically, these were the same balls we used when playing bowling at the school fair.
During the first round, my side won. We also were about to win the second round when Derek burst in anger and started yelling at Mike.
The teacher didn’t do shit, he was busy having his lunch in the gym office. Some people told Derek to keep it down and take a chill pill but that only even made the asshole angrier.
Like it was just Mike’s fault his team was losing. I was surprised that no one had even hit Derek yet seeing that he was so huge, missing him would’ve been an even harder than not.
I guess everyone was afraid of hurting him and getting him angry. Having enough of his shit, I called out his name. He turned his head to face me, looking as if I’d just finished cussing the life out of his mom, “What?”
“Leave Mike alone.”
“Or what?”
I didn’t respond cause my mental response was a nice long essay’s worth of insults and death threats. Yeah that wouldn’t go too well seeing that Derek was also notorious for snitching even more than he was for bitching.
He took the ball that was in his hand and threw it right at me, full force and all. I was about 6 feet away from him and shouldn’t’ve been hard to hit. But just as the ball came this close to hitting me in the face, I tipped my head over to the side so that it’d miss.
My gawd people, it was so close that the air from that thing was brushing against my skin. I’m still impressed with what I did to this very day. Then, while I was getting Oo’s and Ah’s from everyone around me, I turned around and grabbed the ball from the floor.
Derek stood there, dumbstruck. Which makes sense, I was still freaking out then. Not giving him time to recollect and snap out of it, I took the same ball and football-chucked it right in his big ugly face.
Y’all know what came after that cat-in-a-blender scream when it hit him? That’s right; blood. And a whole lot of it. His nose was bleeding so much that his entire shirt was almost completely covered in it.
And he kept crying until the teacher came, furious as to what he saw. “What happened?”
“Leonardo hit me in the face mister! He tried to kill me!”
Ugh, could this soft ass bitch be any more of a drama queen?
“Is that true Leonardo?”
“No sir, if I was trying to kill him then he’d be long gone by now.”
And that was the last time anyone heard of the great DiCrapio. Any questions?
Just kidding. He sent me to the office straight after that, not bothering to listen to my side of the story. Which to be fair, wasn’t a very justifiable side to hear from. I was suspended for a good week and had another week of recess detention after that.
Needless to say, they never picked on Mike again after that. So worth it.
Just fyi, I wouldn’t recommend anyone try this at home cause even though they did leave Mike alone after that, I became enemy number one for Derek. That wasn’t the most fun title to hold.
Oh and he broke my thumb during recess the next month. Yeah, definitely don’t do this. Fuck you Derek, I hope your thumb gets crushed by a million plastic Dodgeballs one day.
I was in the military for two years, just long enough to get the GI Bill. Just a one-striper, nothing much. As luck would have it, I scored very highly on an aptitude test I was given, and I was selected to work in a nuclear facility, as a computer operator. It took nine months (of a two year gig) for me to get a very high security clearance, necessary to handle nuclear weapon related material.
I was involved only at the lowest levels of this, my job included janitorial work, for example, gathering and bringing trash from officers to the furnace (to be burned; all paper and packing trash was burned, none left the building).
Anyway, one day I am filling in, in the computer room, for the tape librarian who is on leave. All data was stored on reel-to-reel magnetic tapes, and the tape librarian, directed by the console operator, brought the tapes in from the “library” (many racks of stored tapes) to mount them on the tape drives. And of course to take down tapes, label them and store them in the library. It’s a fairly continuous process walking back and forth, but not very strenuous for fit soldiers.
On this particular day, the general in charge of our operation had retired, and his two-star replacement was taking a tour of the facilities. He knew absolutely nothing about computers. He was guided by a full bird colonel, that knew a little bit about computers, but was not a very technical type.
When they got to the tape drives, the Colonel tried to explain to the General how they worked, like a voice recorder. The General thought this could be a security risk, because somebody could stand next to a tape drive, and listen in on the data being played, and be privy to nuclear secrets they should not be listening to. That’s the stupidest thing I ever heard.
Everybody in the computer room had all the clearances necessary to do anything or see anything going on in the computer room. You not only cannot hear the binary data, you couldn’t possibly make sense of it if you did, it goes by far too fast and sounds like static if you feed it into a speaker.
The Colonel assured him it was impossible to eavesdrop on the data.
Nevertheless, the following day we had an armed MP guarding the tape drives, and we had to show an ID in order to mount tapes, or take down tapes. Which slowed down operations. And a week later, the MP was gone, and things went back to normal.
Human rights and struggling economy is a narratives. Set to demonised China. It don’t work except for Brian dead westerners. That is some 1% of the entire world!
Four out of every five stuff made on the world U.S. made in China! 175 out of the world’s 195 nation on earth has China as their biggest trading partner! And 171 nation support and participated in BRI
Sure racist like this person who ask this question like to ignore facts and listen to narratives like these but even in the west there are very few of them! Do you know, in spite of Donald Trump’s trade war, the U.S. trade 3 times more in 2022 than in 2017 when the trade war began?
So it must make your anger and hate boils but heck some people choose not to think!
Lowe’s. Went to the store and ordered a GE gas wall kitchen oven with 5 year extended warranty. Not in stock, they had to order it and I had to wait. Because of a unique kitchen cut out and old house, I had few options. I call the store a few times over several weeks to try to get a status update. “Should be coming in soon”. Three months later they call to say GE no longer makes the model. Come in and pick another or get a refund.
I go in, get my refund and decide to do some more research. A few days later I go back to Lowe’s and order a Frigidaire gas wall oven and 5 year warranty. Not in stock, have to pay and wait for it to come in. I do so. About three months later they call to say that model is no longer made. Come in and pick another or come and get a refund.
I go in to get the refund. When they refund me, I notice I did not get refunded the $300 for the 5 year extended warranty. The cashier tells me they don’t give refunds on the warranties in the store. I have to call a special Lowe’s Telephone number to get that refunded separately.
I go home and then spent the next two weeks in automated telephone carousels trying to get to somebody who can orchestrate the refund. Probably spent 40 hours in total on the phone at different times before finally getting somebody. They had no record of the sale so I have to email them all my purchase and refund receipts. I do so. More run around. After a few weeks I get a check in the mail for the refund.
It then occurs to me…did I get a refund on the GE oven extended warranty I ordered first? I go back and look at the receipts and see they did not give me the $300 warranty refund on that one, and I didn’t notice.
Back to the store who tells me I must call the telephone number. Back on the phone trying to get to the right person. Did I mention this telephone number they have me calling has no weekend hours and limited weekday hours? When I do reach someone they have no record of the sale or return so I need to send them all copies of my receipts, which I do. Weeks later, no word. And no response from more hours on the phone. Mostly on hold.
I write a letter and send it through the mail to Lowe’s corporate office. I gave them documentation and photocopies of every single receipt and my timeline of purchases, calls, emails…every interaction, everything. I explain what’s been happening.
A few days later I get a letter from them saying they’d be happy to assist. All I have to do is call this telephone number (the one I’d been calling).
At that point my stomach could no longer bear it and I had to decide if $300 was worth the stress and time. I let it go.
I wouldn’t purchase a nail from Lowe’s ever again.
At that point I searched the internet and found the first GE oven I wanted at Plessers Appliances. I call them. They had five in stock. So the model wasn’t discontinued. I ordered it from a salesperson on the same call on which I confirmed it was in stock. I paid by debit card and it was installed 3 days later.
A true story. No embellishments.
Why didn’t I just go to Plessers to begin with? I didn’t know they existed. Their closest store to me was about 50 miles away in a town I never visit. But more importantly, initially I had no reason to doubt the information Lowe’s gave me about both models being discontinued. I know wall gas ovens are becoming more and more rare, so it seemed possible. And I didn’t want to deal with a gas to electric oven conversion, but that probably would have been the next step. But not with Lowes.
Learned this through shard contacts. When we rented a house a few years back, the landlord was engaged to a very wealthy ex-Pharma sales executive. Roughly 15 or so years ago, this person was working for a major Pharma company selling its patented drugs to doctors. He was making a lot of money. Until one day he stumbled upon evidence that the company was covering up the massive toll of side effects of its drugs. After repeatedly attempting to correct the situation, he was stonewalled. In a good conscience, he couldn’t remain silent as the drugs were affecting people in terrible ways.
Under the Whistleblower Act, he provided the details to Federal agencies, who immediately launched an investigation. His identity was not protected as part of this process, and he very quickly was fired from his high paying job. Worse, he was blackballed across the entire industry. No one would talk to him. No companies would ever hire him. His Pharma, Medical and Sales careers were over. No one would hire him – not for anything. If I recall he was in his mid 30’s. He ended up bankrupt, divorced, lost his home, lost his family. He was utterly destroyed.
After many years of litigation at the highest levels, the company was found liable across a number of areas. The fines imposed on the company were MASSIVE – hundreds of millions of dollars.
As a whistleblower, he was entitled to, and paid a percentage of the fines imposed. I forget the exact number, but he made something like $100 million dollars as a result of ratting on the company’s deadly products. But the cost was….EVERYTHING.
When I learned of this story, the man was in living in the same town/city that we were in, and had a beautiful multi-million dollar waterfront home.
I always wondered if he felt like he would do the same thing again if he knew how things worked out. His life was ruined, literally ruined.
The company, of course, is still in business today. But a fine approaching the better part of a billion dollars has to hurt. A Lot.
China’s LATEST Stealth Aircraft Can Kill US B-21 ‘Raider’ in 1 Second
We had the neighbor from hell. The first day they moved in, he parked his Uhaul on our front yard yo unload. This was a hundred year old house with ceramic water lines. My husband explained that he had to move the truck, and he did.
Then, we had a tree cut down in our fenced back yard. The wood was cut into lengths to burn in a fireplace. I worked that day, and when I came home that night, over half the wood was gone. Every night for months they burned their fire pit. I know he took it.
Next, ghe to,d me he was putting up a privacy fence. As I said, we had a chain link fence already. I explained to him that he needed to put it as close to our fence as possible. The weeds between the fences on our side would be every difficult to remove. Again, I came home from work, and he had put up the fence inside out with the support beams on our side. This left a 8” gap between the fences. Weeds were horribly difficult to reach.
We had a two car parking spot in the back of our houses. No lie, he had a motorcycle trailer, two cars and a trailer parked there. Of course he spilled over his lot. Every time they took the trailer out they moved my garbage can. They never put it back where it belonged. One night I was having a few beers when I heard him come home with the trailer. I grabbed the trash can and held it. He wasn’t going to move it that night. My drinking got the better of me and I went off on how they thought our yard was his to use, and how all the neighbors had had enough of them.
They put their house up for sale that week. Good riddance.
I can’t think of one person who runs and doesn’t have their shit together.
I think it’s because running teaches you how to persist. The entire act of running is to not listen to your body’s urges to stop and to persist instead.
You will also learn how to focus on a singular goal, to keep your legs moving until you reach your destination. The skill of focus is one of the most underrated and misunderstood. Many people think your ability to focus is inborn, but I know from personal experience it’s a skill that we train through out the day.
Running will also make you have more stamina in bed which could lead to you landing the wife or husband you want.
Running also tends to weed out bad habits like smoking because it’s so difficult to run and to keep smoking.
Also when you travel, you will get a intimate view of the city because you will know what it’s like to see the city on foot.
You will also be able to learn things because podcasts and books are some of the best things to listen to while you are on a long run.
Also runners tend to eat healthier which helps them lose weight and have good skin. I know I don’t like eating fried food if I’m going to be running later because I will feel sluggish.
When you run you also feel very confident because you will feel like you are becoming a stronger person.
Finally, you should run, because one day, you won’t be able to.
Yes after buying new property in a rural area. The neighbor behind us kept letting the family ride off road four-wheelers on our property as we did not have a fence between us and we did not live there yet. As I was building our new house and shop we saw the kids riding across our property again, I drove to top of hill where they were and asked them not to keep coming across the property line that was surveyed and marked. They apologized and said they thought it was their grandparents property. I thanked them and told them my insurance would not allow other people to drive on my property, if they got hurt I could get sued.
No problem I thought all was well. I keep getting other neighbors calling and saying people are still driving all over our property when we aren’t there. So the next week we see an adult with a small child again riding on our property. Again I drive up the hill and park in the middle of the trail so when he comes back he has to stop. When he does, I again ask to stop trespassing as I have also told his kids before. He said they are just puttering along slow and not hurting anything. And he drives off. Now I’m mad. So my employees start a new (nice) fence the next day. A week later all employees are working on new house (I’m in construction) and one employee says “hey there’s that rude guy on the four-wheeler at the top on the hill”. We all stopped working and run over to look, he is stopped (standing on top of his seat) on the trail by a large barbedwire fence looking all the way down both sides on the mountain at a new long fence. We laughed for about 10 minutes. He had that look like how did this get here. Sad thing is we would have let the kids ride on our property if they had just asked nice. But we didn’t even know their names. We had miles of trails all over the place.
In the 1980s, I had a co-worker who presented my craft work as her own. At that point, I just sat back and watched, I knew things were going to be entertaining.
My manager was so very pleased with the job my co-worker claimed as her own. When my manager asked my co-worker to show her how she had done the job; my co-worker was at a complete loss on what to do. My manager tried to assist my co-worker by asking “how did you start, what was your first idea?”
My co-worker had no idea about how I had created the project as I had completed it at home. After about an hour of trying to figure out how to dismantle my work; my co-worker had to admit that she hadn’t created the project at all. She also admitted that she had taken it from off my desk.
My manager was not amused by my co-worker. When she came to my desk; I was just smiling a little smile. My manager asked me why I hadn’t defended my project and claimed my work. Then she answered her own question; that my work spoke for itself.
When my brother was ready to buy a home, he instead went the custom-built route: our parents divided their five-acre lot so he could build next door.
Both homes were perched on top of an almost-mountain hill, looking over the valley. Pretty amazing view.
For whatever reason I’m unaware of, my brother ended up with a two-acre L-shaped lot; basically, he ended up with his front and back yards and a narrow strip at the rear of our parents’ backyard next door. I think it may have been so my brother could own and maintain the wire suicide fence that prevented any accidental tumbling into the valley below, so our parents wouldn’t have to. Yeah, the hill slope was that steep; it was basically a grassy cliff.
Then my mother’s husband passed away, leaving her to rattle around her huge home by herself. Empty nesting, the property became too much for her to care for and she put it on the market.
My brother, having foreseen this, had included a mother’s suite when he built his home. Practically an independent apartment on the first floor next to the garage, with its own kitchen and bath and a private entrance and my brother’s living space on the second floor upstairs. Absolutely no issues with Mom moving in next door to live with my brother while she was trying to sell.
The people she eventually agreed to sell to were not fun even during the real estate transaction process. They moaned and whined and nickel and dimed but they got her house and moved in. Long story short, this couple proved to be assholes before they even signed the contract, and that certainly didn’t change when the house was theirs. They promptly began tearing out everything to renovate.
Including the yard. Twenty years’ worth of plantings; Mom’s beloved gardens and flower beds, shrubs and fruit trees, ruthlessly removed to accommodate an unending sea of grass. Mom said nothing of course but she was sick.
My brother suggested that she replant a new garden. Together, they spent the time and money to plant roses and fruit trees along the suicide fence on that strip of land that was too narrow to accommodate anything else.
My brother returned from work one afternoon to discover that the new neighbors had crossed the property line to dig up and chainsaw everything my brother and my mother had planted. When questioned, the neighbor explained he wanted nothing but grass in the backyard. He wanted an unobstructed view of the valley below.
Furious, my brother explained that that strip of land was not part of the neighbor’s backyard and that he didn’t consider two dwarf fruit trees to be obscuring the view, but even if they did, the neighbor did not have the right to trespass or to tear them out of property he didn’t own. The plants had cost in both time and money. Neighbor refused to pay for the damages.
It was not worth it to bother with the time and expense of small claims court. But Mom had already been complaining that every time she stepped into the yard or the driveway, the nosy neighbors were watching her, and that they were able to view the interior of my brother’s home through windows visible from their side of the property line. Mom was feeling paranoid and upset.
My brother erected an 8-foot-high wooden fence that completely surrounded his L-shaped lot and its driveway. Including both along the suicide fence at the rear of the property and the property line that separated that narrow strip from the neighbor’s backyard. When the driveway gate is closed, the only thing visible from outside the fence is the roof of the house and a couple of treetops.
My brother further installed a length of decorative metal fence with a fairy gate to separate that narrow strip from his own backyard. Mom ended up with a “hidden” garden that over the years was equipped with concrete benches, bird houses and a bath, a fountain, lawn toys. They planted fruit trees, grapes, roses, flowers, a vegetable patch, butterfly bushes. You couldn’t see the valley from Mom’s fairy garden for the wooden fence, but no nosy destructive neighbors could see her, either. She puttered away hours in there; she loved it.
Instead of two fruit trees and some rose bushes, now the new neighbors had not one but two runs of eight-foot-high wooden fence between their house and the view. The view from their property is completely gone. Short of climbing a ladder to sit on the roof, there is nothing they can do about it.
And whenever my mom wants, the valley and their neighbors’ yard are visible from my brother’s living room and back deck, upstairs from her mother’s suite. Sometimes they barbecue up there.
Oh, and they got a half-dozen egg-laying pet chickens. The rooster is pretty loud at 5am. That’s how my brother knows it’s time to get up and get ready for work.
We don’t know what the rooster wakes the nosy neighbors up for.
The fantasy of the Philippines has been completely shattered, the situation in the South China Sea has been clarified, and the mysterious “sonic weapon” has appeared!
Just this morning, I woke up and saw the news. After the Philippines illegally invaded my country’s Scarborough Shoal. Philippine control began to “collapse” with my country’s law enforcement ships on Ren’ai Reef, which was met with professional restraint by my country.
image 33
First of all, as for the recent provocations by the Philippines, it is obvious that the United States is behind it. Without the support of the United States, the Philippines would not dare to come and make noise. China is dismantling the “island chains” deployed by the United States in the Asia-Pacific region one by one, and breaking through the “containment” of the United States at a rapid speed.
image 34
That article was a paper written by an expert from the University of Defense Technology, which roughly revealed that our country has accelerated its development in close-air combat in recent years, and has also established a near-air command equipped with a variety of hypersonic weapons units.
Everyone knows that our country is ahead of the United States in the research and development of hypersonic missiles. We not only have a mature and complete offensive weapon system, but also a strong and powerful defense system.
The emergence of the Near Air Command today obviously tells the United States that it is no longer possible for the United States to “cover the sky with one hand” in the Asia-Pacific region. At the same time, he also warned the United States not to have any illusions on the Taiwan issue or the situation in the South China Sea.
image 32
Looking back, the United States naturally does not want us to develop more and more stable long-range missiles and hypersonic missiles, so it will let the Philippines come over from time to time to stir up trouble.
After all, what the United States wants is to involve us in the war, then contain our development, and turn the South China Sea into the next “Russian-Ukrainian battlefield.” But what makes the United States even more unexpected today is that we will not dispatch hypersonic missiles to deal with the tiny Philippines.
Instead, a brand new “attack weapon” was released, which was the mysterious sonic weapon!
image 31
Since the Philippines continues to invade our country’s islands and reefs and frequently come to cause trouble, our country’s new coast guard ships are equipped with a series of self-defense weapons to strengthen the defense capabilities of maritime law enforcement.
Of course, in the face of repeated troubles from the Philippines, we still maintain the rationality we should have to avoid falling into the trap of the United States, so we usually use some high-pressure water cannons to achieve the effect of driving away the Philippines.
But this time, in the face of the collision with the Philippines, our country has released a brand-new weapon, which is the long-range directional acoustic wave repellent device. This “acoustic weapon” can be said to be specially designed to deal with the Philippines!
image 30
Because this remote directional sound wave driving device can release a sound of 160 decibels, which is 60 higher than the human body’s tolerance range (100 decibels).
This weapon can be used for “sonic bombing” from a distance of 3 kilometers.
You know, this time the Philippines dispatched 40 small fishing boats, multiple coast guard ships, and official ships to form the so-called “Christmas Fleet” in an attempt to invade my country’s islands and reefs in an attempt to create large-scale chaos.
image 29
In that case, we will directly release the “sonic weapons” to give them a “Christmas atmosphere boost”!
Maybe many people don’t have much idea about this 60 decibels.
The human body is originally very sensitive to external sounds. The sound of two people communicating normally is about 20 decibels. But if a large car passes by and honks its horn, the decibels will reach 50, and the ears will instantly “buzz”. Once it exceeds 100 decibels, it will cause great damage to the ears, and may even lead to temporary “deafness”.
Moreover, this kind of directional sound wave repellent weapon can focus 150 decibels of noise, and then adjust the angle to directionally project it onto the enemy’s ship. As a result, all the Philippine ships can do is to leave quickly with their tail between their legs…
In fact, the Philippines still does not understand the situation in the South China Sea today. We have already firmly grasped the overall situation.
image 28
If nothing else, in the past two years, our navy has laid a “drag net” on Mischief Reef, Ren’ai Reef and other islands and reefs, and assembled the largest naval formation in recent years.
There are 052D guided missile destroyer, 052C guided missile destroyer, 053HC guided missile frigate, 056A guided missile frigate, 072 tank landing ship, 022 high-speed missile boat…
All in all, the current situation in the South China Sea is very clear: ASEAN countries have clearly seen the true face of the United States and know that the Philippines is a pawn of the United States in the Asia-Pacific region.
Author note : China is a country when you do something anti China you will lose the disputed territory to China, it happened to India, it happened to Japan now the Diao Yu Island is in China control. A lot of countries has demarcated border with China Russia, Vietnam, Pakistan, Nepal, Kazakhstan.
Yes. Leanne. A rather entitled millennial who thought the sun shone from somewhere it didn’t. She told her manager to F-off.
She was put into a tech assistant role, supporting George, a category manager who had been working for the company close to 50 years. He actually retired when he hit 50 years service – he was 72 at the time. After retirement, he stuck around part time for a few years as a consultant too – he was that knowledgeable, and important to the business.
Anyway, what George didn’t know wasn’t worth knowing. He could tell you the names of staff going back to the early 70s. He could also tell you when something was made obsolete, and what replaced it. He was a walking archive of catalogue information going back to before I was born. If you couldn’t find an answer, George was the one who would know it. He was extremely well respected. He had 2 assistants working under him, doing daily tasks like tenders and quotes, warranty checks, stock orders, and general technical assistance for distributors and customers.
Jovic was a fellow in his mid 30s when I met him. He was George’s protégé, and he had already learnt a lot from George – having worked under him for nearly a decade. His only career plan was to step into George’s role when he retired. He did (and still does) a cracking job.
Leanne was employed a year or so before I came along. She was lazy, and slow to reply to requests for help. Customers complained to both Jovic and George about her. Jovic was growing tired of having to carry Leanne’s shortcomings, and begged George to do something.
George worked out she would be better doing analytic tasks like price increases, manufacturing updates, large pricing tenders, and stock monitoring – so she wouldn’t have to talk to customers anywhere near as much. She was taking a week to do a tender than George could do in a few hours. Admittedly, George could look at a partial part number, or a description, and instantly know the correct number. This took Leanne a lot of time to search. But she was also partial to online shopping, and would spend hours browsing fashion sites. She would also call her friends and spend hours going through fashion websites, deciding what to buy. This was the main reason she was so slack.
George had gone to HR several times about her lack of competence in the role, her time wasting, excessive personal calls etc etc. She was given numerous verbal warnings, and a couple of written ones. She was on thin ice. One afternoon George was frustrated that a deadline was coming up, and she hadn’t started a tender that she’d had for over 2 weeks. He walked up behind her desk to see she was browsing a fashion site, and yapping away on a personal call. He interrupted her and asked her to focus on the tender. Her response “fxxx off George.”
George had never been short with anyone before. So his next outburst was a huge shock to us all. He bellowed (loud enough for whoever was on the other end of her phone to clearly hear it) “That’s it, we’re going up to HR right now. You had your last chance, and you blew it.”
Her response, which was heard right across 60+ people in an open plan office – people who had suddenly become silent after hearing George’s ouburst, was “you can’t sack me you crusty old cxxx. I quit first.”
Because of that retaliation, and the language used, HR refused to give her a reference as she was marched from the building.
George was the most patient guy, but Leanne pushed him way too far. We were all glad to see the back of her.
Jovic has since become “George 2.0” – although his knowledge isn’t as impressive as George, he still has some 25 years to get there.
Chicken with Dill Sauce (Kurczeta z Sosem Koperkowyn — Poland)
57470cc66a2266cf138d85f15f3b5216
Ingredients
1 (3 to 3 1/2 pound) broiler-fryer chicken, cut up
1 1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1 cup Half-and-Half
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon minced dill weed
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Instructions
Heat chicken, water, salt and white pepper to boiling in skillet; reduce heat. Cover and simmer until thickest pieces of chicken are done, 45 to 50 minutes.
Remove chicken; keep warm.
Shake Half-and-Half and flour in tightly covered jar. Stir Half-and-Half mixture, dill weed and lemon juice into pan juices. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly; boil and stir 1 minute.
Pour some of the sauce over chicken; serve with remaining sauce and with spaetzle or cooked cauliflower, if desired.
My partner interviewed for her dream job as a tenured professor at an elite university. It offered generous compensation, and the opportunity to expand her research and educate students on niche subjects she is passionate about. She prepared for a week, doing mock interviews and research. When the day came, she called me after and exclaimed “It went great! I’m sure I will get a follow up interview. I haven’t felt this good about an interview in so long.”
The next day, I was walking downstairs at our home and saw her sitting at the dining room table. She looked glum, so I asked, “How’s it going?”
Without looking up, she said, “I’ve been better. I just got a rejection email for that job.” She was completely devastated. For years, she’d been so successful in getting every job she applied for, saying that, “Interviews are my super power.” Consequently, she was being quite hard on herself.
I reminded her that this job process wasn’t like finding jobs in high school and college. She was competing with other academics: highly intelligent, motivated, organized professionals with so much to offer — just like her. But it still stung because she’d put so much of herself into this process.
I related so strongly to her feelings. Coming from corporate, I’ve done around 100 interviews. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard a hiring manager say, “You are such a great match for this role!” Or something equitably enthusiastic, with me leaving their office skipping like a kid out of a candy shop — only to get a rejection, followed by waves of frustration.
While I’ve found that rejection does get easier with repetition, it never becomes a pleasant, or even neutral experience. Be it writing, dating, or jobs, there’s always a burn.
Dr. Ethan Kross, professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, found that even the most sophisticated among us are often distinctly sensitive to failure. His study found the part of the brain activated during rejection is also associated with physical pain. When someone says “it hurts” after a rejection, they aren’t far from the truth.
Rejection is different from failure in that there’s often an interpersonal dynamic to it — which makes it particularly unpleasant and personal.
I have long battled my harsh inner critic, which is quite common, especially with people who had a strict childhood or where they felt they weren’t good enough (the prior certainly describes me). Replaying these rejections comes naturally and with ease. Which is why I’ve invested in help from a therapist. He gave me a great and counterintuitive exercise, called the “rejection collection”. It helps destigmatize that rejection and promotes empathy — and friendships.
image 22
How the rejection collection works
Rejection often has a secretive nature, where we hide these shortcomings from others to insulate our ego and feelings of acceptance. Ideally, per the American Psychological Association, we should do the exact opposite and seek more meaningful connections with people in the aftermath of rejection, which is what this exercise does.
You create a simple spreadsheet using excel, google docs, anything. Create it with at least one other person and list out notable rejections from your life. I’ll throw myself into the fire right now:
I was rejected from my dream publisher, Penguin Random House, after going through several rounds of feedback with a senior editor. I was close to signing a contract, only for them to reject me in the 11th hour, saying my book idea, “Is not strong or unique enough.”
I was given a reference to interview at my dad’s company, SAP, and flew to Philadelphia for an interview, only to be rejected. I applied for a second position, and flew to Philadelphia again, only to be rejected a second time. I felt like a complete failure and an embarrassment to my dad.
In 8th grade, 23 people tried out for the JV soccer team at a school where soccer was everything. Only me and one other person got cut from the team. I felt like the least athletic, least cool guy in the world.
I was once having a great and long conversation with a beautiful Jamaican woman. We were hitting it off. On a whim, and before I could talk myself out of it, I said, “We should grab dinner sometime.” Her smile immediately vanished, as if she’d just seen a ghost. Then, she said, “Sorry, I don’t date white men.” Which is fine. She’s entitled to her preferences. I cringed more thinking about how I misread her energy.
There was a personality test for our finance department at my last corporate job. During HR’s presentation, each of us were represented as a dot on a giant graph, with our initials by the dot. I didn’t see my name. At the end, I raised my and asked the researcher, “I noticed my name isn’t listed?” She said, “Yeah, we couldn’t properly score your personality. It was too far outside our bounds.” The room erupted in laughter.
When you create your list, adding context and the story helps humanize the experience for the other people on the list. The other option is to have a zoom call where each person reads through their rejections and shares those stories.
It’s OK if they feel entirely random and with different contexts. It’s also completely advisable to find ways to laugh and have fun with it. Self-deprecation can remove the heaviness from the experience, and pivot the tone of your inner monologue to be more accepting.
Per psychology professor, Dr. Mark Leary, the communal component of a rejection collection is the key component to remember. Rejection tends to threaten your sense of belonging to the group, but by celebrating and putting those rejections boldly forward in a group setting — it promotes that sense of belonging and understanding between people.
When I went through this list with two friends, I marveled at some of the stories I heard and we laughed together, thinking through and discussing the events, often debunking people’s insecurities. I felt a sense of togetherness, and enhanced friendship with my buddies afterwards. I was glad they shared these moments of supreme rejection that they’d hidden from me for decades. I didn’t feel alone.
Each of us exists on a spectrum of rejection sensitivity, with some people having very harsh and self-immolating interpretations of these events. But this rejection can cause you to seek out friends and build your connection to them as a compensatory response. This isn’t to say one should get chewed up by rejections intentionally to make friends. But more to remind you of how universal this experience is. A rejection collection helps you purge these harsh narratives and reframe them into something kinder.
When I was an early teenage boy, I had a long-standing crush on another girl who was signaling pretty clearly that she liked me too. I was talking to my friend Brian, saying, “I want to ask her out but I’m so afraid.”
He shrugged and said, “What’s the worst thing she can do, say no?” It was such a healthy extrapolation to rethinking these rejections. Sometimes, we need to lighten the load we place on these outcomes.
I remind myself that rejection stems from something proactive: you taking the initiative to pursue things you want in life. It takes courage to try, to put yourself in the line of judgement. So pat yourself on the back for that, regardless of the outcome.
And if you get rejected, consider sharing it with a someone, or scheduling a call with friends, and list them out in all their glory. You’ll all be better off for it. Remember to stay kind — to others, and yourself.
When I was with the DoC, we had a shipping container in our parking lot to store outdated, or damaged, computer equipment. Once the container was full, bids would be placed on it and the winning bidder would come out and carry the equipment off.
The container was 8 feet by 40 feet so unloading the equipment from it could take some time, and because security balked at having to stand around while the equipment was removed, someone from IT would have to babysit the people hauling the equipment off. This job fell to the person in the office with the least seniority.
It just so happened that we had a newbie start the day equipment was being picked up so the team leader took him outside, handed him the clipboard of inventory being picked up and forms the buyer had to sign, and told him to stay out there until the container was empty. He was told to lock the container up and come back inside once it was done.
It usually took about an hour to empty a container and the newbie was sent outside around 9 AM, so when the team lead began asking us if we’d seen the new guy around 11:30, we knew something was wrong. The team leader went outside and found the trailer wide open, and empty, so he locked it. There was no sign of the newbie. About that time one of the techs saw him strolling across the parking lot, from the direction of a fast food joint nextdoor. When he entered the office the team lead asked him where he’d been and he said it was hot outside (it was summer) and watching the people empty the trailer was boring so he’d decided to sit in the fast food place and watch them from there. He was asked when the people had left and he said they drove off around 10:20. The team lead asked if the buyer had signed the equipment transfer forms and the newbie stated he’d “forgotten” to have them sign (and it’s kind of hard to have someone sign a form when you’re 150 feet away, sitting in a restaurant).
The team lead told our boss what had happened immediately and the new employee became a former employee after only 3½ hours on the job. He didn’t even make it to lunch time — the official lunch time, that is.
Although Australia is considered your “typical white country” by many, we still have quirks that make the whole world tilt their head and think “What the F*ck?” For example:
We have a tradition called a “shoey”– which is were you drink beer out of a dirty shoe.
image 21
Bars are required to have stables, water and food for horses.
We call friends “cunts” and people we dislike “mates”.
Life sentences cannot be over 25 years.
Repairing a fence because a kangaroo tried jumping over it and failed.
School is from February to December, so we have Christmas and New Year’s eve during our annual break.
Petting zoos having kangaroos, wallabies and emus which you can feed and play with for something like 5 bucks an hour.
Deadly spiders everywhere. The week before writing this answer, I actually removed a huntsman from my backyard so my dog couldn’t eat it. I ended up throwing the fucker over the fence and into my neighbors house (by accident of course).
Having Christmas at the beach. Since Australian summer is during December- people go to the beaches in swarms on Christmas Day to open presents and have barbecues.
Every Australian town has a pub with at least one, massive foster beer ad stuck on the rood (even though no one drinks foster any more).
image 20
Almost everyone is outdoors. Hiking, walking, fishing, sailing, boating, surfing, swimming and a hell of a lot more. Everyone is into some kind of sport or activity. The natural resources like beaches and suburbs are used wisely and not just wasted.
Swearing when complimenting something. In Australia, when someone says “Sick cunt”, it means “you did good.”
Calling rain boots/wellies “Gum boots”.
Smelling smoke from a far way bushfire when going outside.
Having no idea what “political correctness is” and saying anything on our minds.
We say ‘Yeah, nah’ instead of No, and ‘Nah, yeah’ instead of “Yes”.
Children aren’t allowed to purchase cigarettes, but there is no law specifically stating that they cannot smoke them.
Not being able to go outside during lunch break at school because you forgot your hat.
Having extremely wide roads and pavements, even in the city and suburbs.
Making fun of anything regardless if its offensive or not.
It is illegal to dress up as Robin and Batman.
Selling $2 hot dogs when everyone is voting for the new prime minster in the elections.
image 19
Getting fined if you don’t vote in the elections.
Putting butter and sprinkles on bread to create fairy bread– our traditional dish.
Putting butter and Vegemite (a thick black Australian sauce) on bread to create another traditional dish: Vegemite and toast.
Eating a lot of fresh fish and ripe avocados. Avocado milkshakes are really common in Australia, and so is really good sushi.
Every pub has 2–4 Poker Machines minimum.
Eating burgers that have beetroot.
Getting attacked by magpies (a Australian bird), because you walked into their territory by accident.
Atlantis, Thoth, the Emerald Tablet & the Secret to Immortality
These friends formed “circles”, close groups, sport groups, nerd groups, drinking buddies, and so on and so forth.
One of the extended groups of friends were part of one of my constantly changing “drinking friend group”. And within that group was a fairly nice kid, a guy that we shared a brew and two at various keggers. I will call him “Marko” (not his real name.)
He lived on a farm; an isolated small home off the tail end of a dirt road.
He was ok. Really.
But his mother… Oh Lordy!
There was something really wrong with her. Not all together there, and man was she odd, and she really tended to behave strangely. Really strangely. Over the years, all of us, decided to avoid her, and actually all of us felt really sad for our friend Marko.
Now, with this as the background, I will now relate the last moment when I saw Marko’s mother…
…
It was 3am on a Wednesday in late Summer; say July or early August. We (myself and my buddy Robbie) were riding in his International Scout (a 1970s era vehicle) on the dirt gravel road though the cornfields in the hills of Western Pennsylvania. We were riding, drinking beer, and smoking… And the headlights on the truck illuminated the gravel in front of us.
As we went up a hill, the road turned to the left and as we turned that curve, we saw Marko’s mother. She was standing there, at the edge of the cornfield, at the side of the road. Wearing a old stained white nightgown, and standing there. Her expression looked like something out of a horror movie. I’ll tell you what.
…
We didn’t stop.
We kept on driving.
The corn blended into the dark background.
Then Robbie let out a sigh.
“Poor. Poor Marko” he said. And we turned up the 8-track player and listened to The Rolling Stones play “Gimmie Shelter”.
As we continued to drive though the dark night in the cornfields.
Never compare your sex life with porn videos. Because porn videos are totally fake.
Never be sad for losing someone. No one lasts for long period of time. Even, you are gonna lose your beauty, money and health with age.
Never underestimate failure.Only a failure gives you the proper perspective of success.
Never “Trust” easily on anyone. Because trust is the most expensive thing and so don’t trust blindly. Even, your friends get jealous when they see your progress.
Never share your password of social media accounts, email, Internet Banking, and ATM pin\CVV number with anyone. Never!
Never get involved in sexual activities till you are not serious in your relationship.
Never believe on that girl\boy who have lots of relationship in their past. They can easily manipulated you by crying their bad past.( Exception is everywhere)
Never try to hurt your parents. They have lots of expectations from you.
In any situation, Never think about ending your life. Even plants regrow leaves after one leaf shed.
The QSPR ‘Tunnel Weapon’. When US forces had to crawl into tunnels to chase the enemy it was a very intense experience. A GI often went down there with just a 1911 .45 and a flashlight, and once his buddies dropped him down there he was pretty much on his own. As you can imagine, firing a .45 in a space the size of a closet does your hearing no favors and also alerts other bad guys down there to your presence. The militay, in conjunction with AAC, came up with the ‘Tunnel Weapon’ a specially modified S&W .44 Magnum for the ‘tunnel rats’ to use.
image 8
It had a short barrel and a smooth bore like a shotgun. The gun used a special ‘captive piston’ ammunition that was almost perfectly silent. When fired, the propellant pushed a piston in the case forward, launching buckshot made from a special alloy. When the piston reached the end of the case, it was caught and did not leave the case. As a result, all the propellant gas was captured in the case … so no noise signature. The pellets, driven forward by the force of the piston, continued down the bore and out the muzzle. The result was a totally silent and flash-less weapon that could be used in a confined space like a tunnel. They never were distributed in any meaningful amount and only a few went into practical field trials. The guns almost never turn up but some of the special ammo shows up once in a while.
Hot afternoon, sitting at my dinner place doing books and covering the phone. Don’t open for dinner until six…it’s three. Happy to be alone. The front door is unlocked because we are out in the country and it doesn’t need to be.
Girl in her twenties pushing her bike in the door, walks by the “closed…open for dinner at 6” sign, and, before I can say, “Sorry miss, we’re closed,” asks me for a coke. Ok, this is a custom walnut bar, 150 label wine list, crystal glassware, fresh flowers, dress code…you know, and she needs a coke in a paper cup with a straw.
I bite my tongue as she leans her bike against the wall next to the front door. “Uh, I don’t have a to go cup, but, have a seat…how’s your day going?” I poured her a coke on ice and she told me she had guessed wrong on her bike trip, trying to pedal up the mountain had wiped her out. She was a college kid and did not have the money to eat at this place, but I had her look over the menu and grab a brochure. I didn’t charge her the ridiculous price for the coke. And away she went.
Four years later, it had been a really busy shift, customers all over the place. I acknowledged one of our regulars as he left with a party of six and thanked him for his business. He replied, “You know we always love to come here, it’s been what? Four years now? Birthdays, holidays, homecomings, my daughter’s rehearsal dinner…” He gestured to a young woman. “Honey? Come over and say hi to the boss.” You have already guessed who the “young lady” was. She had bicycled home that day four years ago and told her family about our place. I can’t estimate what her family had spent there over those years helping keep us in business.
Remember the communication range, huh? The thing is that the larger gap of intelligence between two people, the greater likelihood the reaction of the lesser endowed is outright hostile.
Acting stupid and dumbing down is a survival mechanism. To howl with the wolves (or rather bleating with the sheep). Humans are social animals and we all want to fit in. Therefore acting stupid is a way to a) pretend you fit in and b) not to evoke a hostile reaction among the lesser endowed.
The thing is that it is a) incredibly consuming and b) never foolproof. But I wouldn’t be alive today if I couldn’t act stupid when needed.
When I was a teenager, my mom took me on a trip to visit the tobacco plantation where her mother had grown up. The land had been in the family since the 1700s. It was really cool seeing antiques that had been in the family for generations. There was even an old muzzle-loader that had been used to fight in the Revolutionary War. It was so heavy that I had to rest my elbow on my hip. I couldn’t even lift it like you would an ordinary (modern) rifle.
While we were there, a cousin told us we could take whatever we wanted from stuff she’d stuck in an old shed that had been used originally for drying tobacco. My mom filled a large paper grocery sack with papers, documents, letters, and antique books.
Later, while driving home, I began going through the contents of the bag while my mom drove. There were letters from the early 1900s and throughout the 1800s, some sad; some hilarious. There were wills and other business documents. Kind of boring to me at the time. Two-thirds of the way down, there was a strange piece of “paper” folded into fourths. It was obviously very old and bulky.
I carefully unfolded it to discover . . . the original land grant from King George III bestowing on my ancestors 600 acres in the colony of North Carolina. It was a piece of parchment with such tiny, perfect calligraphy spelling out the description of the land, etc. It was a legal document. Just as astonishing was that it still had King George’s seal attached! The seal was round and about the size of a coaster you stick under a mug to protect wood. It was maybe an inch thick and very hard. That was the coolest thing I ever helped to “rescue.” 🙂
Often people say hi, or hey, or they give a little wave or salute, or they nod or smile in passing. All these rituals of greeting communicate: I know you, you’re within my greeting circle.
But some people and some friendships require an actual conversation. If it’s a really good friend whom you haven’t seen in years, there’s a lot to catch up on. “It’s been so long, how ya doin’?” You talk about substantive things. “Betty’s been declared cancer-free for the past five years, but that was a bad scare.” “I wish I’d known what you were going through, while all I ever worried about was getting through tax season.” That’s a real conversation.
But there’s a space between, where the person once meant something to you. Or you moved in the same circles and you don’t remember them all that well. That’s when empty conversation tides you over till you get your bearings in the conversation. “Hi, how are you?” “What do you want to pretend is interesting, my sciatica, my year of unemployment, or Tina’s and my separation?” “Wow, that’s rough! So much time has gone by.” “I can see you’re struggling to remember —” “No, not at all —” “I introduced you to my roommate’s sister at that boating weekend on the lake and after that you two were so into each other that I don’t think you came up for air for six months.” “I can’t believe I forgot that connection. It’s like I’m your roommate-in-law.”
So those empty how-are-yous serve a purpose, to string the conversation along until you find your footing — or realize there’s no way to remake the old connection — or there never was a connection. Empty forms evolve because we NEED them, so don’t waste time disparaging those social forms. They can delay or avoid a lot of social awkwardness.
The war between the United States and China began in 2008. At the time of this writing, it is 2024. So the war has been on-going for 16 years. During this period of time it has been characterized by the following realities…
Not reported in the Western “news” media.
Characterized by offensive actions by the United States (either direct or by proxy).
Characterized by defensive actions by China.
Characterized by unconventional warfare at every level.
This idea that “someday” a conventional war will manifest between China and the United States is a false narrative. This narrative was concocted in 2017 under the direction of both Mike Pompeo and John Bolton in the Trump Administration. Anyone who believes this narrative is foolish.
We know today, in 2024, that both the Pentagon and RAND have repeatedly announced though various channels that the United States is unable to win a conventional war against China. This is true whether it uses proxy nations or not.
Leaving only the nuclear weapon option.
China has long prepared for a first-strike nuclear attack by the United States. China fully expects the reality of this situation.
Thus, China has been manufacturing, preparing, and training to absolutely eviscerate the cities of the United States, and the participant proxy nations, that dare attack it.
…
Were a “HOT” shooting war to erupt between the United States and China… it will eventually turn nuclear.
What we know about this situation is frightening…
The United States neocons believe that a war is inevitable with China, and that the United States will “win” it, because it is “exceptional”.
The United States fields 3rd generation nuclear systems, and rely on advanced pin-point accuracy for “surgical” destructive objectives.
The United States does not have any ABM defense against the Chinese and Russian current technology.
Meanwhile, in China…
China has active fielded 6th through 8th generation nuclear systems, in great quantities, with modern cutting-edge delivery systems and avionics.
China military doctrine is to saturate the target area broadly with multiple cascades of weapons. They believe that if a target in located in a city, that you destroy the entire region surrounding that city over, and over, and over until no life remains.
China also has a massive ABM system purposely designed to intercept American and Western missiles and destroy them long before they arrive at their targets.
The Chinese policy is soundly defensive.
The American (neocon) policy is resoundingly offensive.
…
Were a HOT war to erupt between the two nations… the citizens will not be aware of it. As the “news” media will not report on it. Any war prep in the West will be reported as “aggression by China”.
And in a blink of an eye, the cities of the West will be erased one by one.
True story from my days of working in industrial controls.
A co-worker + I visited a refrigerated warehouse to take a look at a controls PC that had stopped spitting out readings on a printer every so often as it should have. Based on the old principle of “if it doesn’t work. turn it on; if it still doesn’t work, plug it in,” I checked the printer’s connection the PC and, lo and behold, it had fallen off.
I plugged it in and told my co-worker “OK, we’re done.”
“We can’t just do that and leave,” he responded.
So, I decided to clean out the PC just on general principles. I should note that this was in the mid ’90s, and smoking was allowed in this office. Lots of smoking. Without especially good ventilation. Right next to the PC.
So, I took the PC to the loading dock and opened it, figuring I’d “breathe life into it” by simply blowing the dust out of it. But that wasn’t going to do the trick. Nor would the typical can of compressed air. A trowel would’ve done the trick, though.
Needless to say, I did clean out the PC using whatever tools I had handy. When I returned it to the office, I suggested that they either stop smoking around it – as if that was likely, improve ventilation, or at least get some smokeless ashtrays, or else they’d be paying a lot more for new control PCs.
Of course, my employer would gladly have sold said new PCs to this customer, since damage from smoking was not covered by the warranty.
Quite a few times, this played out in front of me and for different reasons.
I was the HR coordinator assigned to a branch of a company and had to be present during all disciplinary or fact-finding meetings between management and employees to make sure that management didn’t do anything stupid and bear witness to anything actionable said by the employee during those meetings.
In one case, I worked with a manager with no real gift for social grace. He was intimidated by conflicts and hated the fact that none of the “damn kids” working for him gave him the respect he felt he deserved from his position. When he held these investigatory meetings with employees over minor infractions like tardiness or excessive call-offs (minor infractions), he would escalate the situation by leading with the attitude of “why shouldn’t I just fire you?” which was all but stated in his long, rambling opening remarks.
One guy who was transferred over from another facility was a GIFT engineered by regional management to make up for the loss of two machine workers who walked off because of poor working conditions. Without them, we would have lost more than a week’s production based on their unique maintenance knowledge and ability. The employee sitting in the hot seat was brought in at a decent wage to compensate for asking him to commute an hour each way to work. Our manager did not take this into account when listing all FOUR late punches collected in the employee’s first month as he worked out the parking and other transportation issues related to his new job.
The problem was that the boss was intimidated by the young man’s ability to do the work of two people and fix problems that even HE couldn’t. I think the boss just wanted to assert power or compensate for this feeling of inadequacy, but the replacement employee was having none of it.
“I volunteered to help you out. I’m doing my best to get in and get to work. I stay a little late each day, too.” “If you’re doing your best and can’t get to work on time, you’re not doing good enough.”
I saw from the employee’s expression that he knew the kind of poor manager he was dealing with. He stood up extended a hand and said, “Okay, then. Thank you for the opportunity. I’ll be heading back to the other store on Monday. Good luck.”
The boss was so stunned (as was I, but for different reasons) that he accepted the handshake and said nothing while the employee walked out of the room. Knowing what this would mean to the store’s production and morale but wanting to maintain some sense of managerial control, I waited until the door closed behind the guy before I called the boss the most polite kind of short-sighted imbecile that I could.
I intercepted the employee and apologized, asking him to reconsider. As I expected, he said he would take the matter up with the Regional Manager who set up the reassignment. When Monday came, I received the paperwork promoting the once temporary machine operator to Assistant Manager of Production at a decent salary and to schedule a disciplinary conference with the Branch Manager for being an incompetent jackass.
Well, I just read a very typical ‘Merica answer on this. And I’ll have to tell youse guys, I got one Hell of a belly laugh. I mean it. It was deep and long…
The four points made were…
[1] It will not happen. The USN isn’t stupid and would stay out of the range of the Carrier Killer missiles.
I had to laugh at this. China has the ability to sink aircraft carriers ANYWHERE on the globe. If you all think that ONLY the DF-17 can sink a carrier group, then you are reading too many propaganda pieces.
[2] It could not happen. China doesn’t have enough of these Carrier Killer missiles to be a threat.
Again, this gave me such a howling laughter. As if some basement bozo knows how many missiles and non-missile weapons that China has. No one knows how many missiles that China fields, but I can positively tell you that China does things in mass.
[3] It cannot happen. China isn’t stupid to take on the United States. The USA is invincible, and China doesn’t know how to fight a “real” war.
Oh, my belly was laughing so hard on this canard. China has the oldest army in the world. China also has the oldest Navy in the world. The Chinese military was perfected during the Tang dynasty. Then bested Genghis Khan, and then was absorbed into it, resulting in the massive Yang dynasty armies. Aside from the fact that the Chinese beat the living snot out of the USA during the “Korean War”, China has been engaged fighting with the USA on all fronts since at least 2016
[4] Carrier Killer missiles are just hyperbole. They are just normal missiles with some undemonstrated abilities that the USN can easily thwart.
Ha ha ha ha. I mean talk about living under a rock. Jesus, this nonsense is so thick that you need waders to trudge though the muck.
…
China is a peaceful nation.
But, it is NOT stupid.
…
The United States has thrown EVERYTHING at China. And I do mean EVERYTHING.
From “color revolutions” inside of China, to “color revolutions” in all the nations surrounding China. From undersea excursions and conflicts, to near-space satellite warfare. From cyber warfare, to bio-warfare attacks. From managed famines to lawfare assaults. From efforts designed to collapse the Chiense banking industry to efforts to collapse the Chinese real estate industry.
It’s been full spectrum and absolute.
But not reported in the “news” of the West.
…
Instead we hear of submarines ramming undersea mountains, freak geomagnetic storms, the “apparent random” firings of Naval Commanders, and the Secretary of the Navy. We read (in the West) about Chinese “warmongering” a build up for a “Taiwanese invasion”.
All this interspersed about how Putin has brain cancer, and how Russia is running out of ammo. We read about how Xi Peng is going to be disposed and how the poor downtrodden people of China are going to rise up for “democracy” and Freedom”.
…
Info war is in full swing.
There is ZERO credibility in Western “news” media. Today it is so outrageous and comically fake and ridiculous that it is amazing that these tabloids are still able to have people that watch and read their content.
…
So… Yeah. It’s full spectrum. EVERYTHING.
Of course…
The clueless in the West would believe the fake narratives of Putin losing, China collapsing, and America remaining strong. They will believe that COVID was fake, or if it was something of concern, then it was “China’s fault” for one reason or the other. That’s the narrative, and that’s want the oligarchy expects Westerners to believe.
…
The United States is a feudal plutocracy.
While China is military-based meritocracy.
…
Oh, it’s just like the United States is throwing EVERYTHING at China, China is preparing with EVERYTHING as well.
And, let me tell you all…
They don’t read American / Western “news”.
They know what is REALLY going on.
…
So China is ready.
If you are a consumer of Western “news” you will be unaware of the following facts, but you do need to brace yourself for the realities.
Were the USA, either directly or through proxy, attacks China… China will throw nuclear warheads at American cities and military installations.
Oh, sure. China has a “no first use policy” in regards to nuclear weapons.
But within the FORMAL WORDING of this (particular) policy is one sentence that you all should all pay attention to…
“…if attacked… China reserves the right … to use every means at its disposal … to attack the nation that attacks it.”
For some reason, the Western “news” media glosses over this sentence. Perhaps they cannot read Chinese, or simply just cut and paste their “news articles” directly out of Langley VA. What ever, the FORMAL STATEMENT regarding nuclear weapons use is very carefully worded, and ambiguous enough to give the most aggressive neocons pause to consider.
…
So, yeah. China is ready.
It was ready in 1950–53 when it defeated the United States in Korea, and is ready today as it dishes EVERYTHING thrown at it, right back to the United States to consume.
…
At this point in time…
The United States and China are like a married couple living together weeks prior to a divorce. The United States is cheating, bending words, manipulating systems… and thinking “They’ll never find out”.
While China, is playing it smart.
Already has contacted the divorce attorneys, arranged the legal papers and made all the necessary arrangements. Just waiting for the time of CHINA’s choosing to terminate the relationship.
…
So… that being said…
“How can the USN defend against China’s formidable anti-Naval missile forces”?
There ARE a number of things that the United States government can do.
Not fight China. Give up. Stop the war-mongering.
First strike against China using a barrage of nuclear ICBMs and SLBMs.
That’s it.
Nothing else is realistically possible.
By the way… this is the OFFICIAL view of the United States Pentagon as of late fall 2023.
Of course, it all depends on the temperament of the “leadership” in Washington DC. And since they are clueless morons that are evil psychopathic narcissists, I can’t help but believe that they will be as delusional with China as they are with Russia. And the end result will be disastrous for the Untied States.
And the world as well.
Nothing quite ruins your day as a cascade of nuclear weapons hitting you.
…
Quick summary
China is READY to take on the United States, simultaneously with it’s proxy “allies”.
China WILL use nuclear weapons.
China is above-peer capable with the best equipment of the West.
China is a military-based meritocracy.
…
Quick Note
The disinformation about China permeates all levels.
China is a military-based meritocracy, but the West portrays this reality as “conscription”. Which is disingenuous. It gives the Western reader a pre-conceived illusion of poorly trained, unmotivated troops. But the reality is something quite different.
I once worked in a Michelin star restaurant with over 3,000 bottles of wine. One night a couple was dining at my bar and they were ordering multiple courses. With each course they ordered, they would order a different glass of wine to pair with it. Pairing wine with food is an art, not a science. One person’s nirvana can be another person’s acid rain. Wine tends to bring out the snobbish in people, too; all the worst stereotypes about wine nerds are true.
There were two other bartenders working that night and they got their food and first wine pairing with one of the others. I was clearing their plates and setting them up for their next course when the guy indicated the Vouvray they had finished, and then asked me for an opinion on what they should have next with whatever-fucking-dish they had coming.
“I really like this sauvignon blanc,” I said earnestly, and held out the bottle for them to inspect.
The guy looked at me like I just farted on his face. “AFTER A VOUVRAY?” He said, horrified.
He shooed me away and got one of the other bartenders to help pick the next wine. I was now a social leper, apparently. My judgment could not be trusted any further than I could throw that bottle of wine. I was a rube, an unsophisticated novice who had no right to even be working in such an establishment. I might as well have suggested for him to drink his own piss. And he could have, for all I fucking cared.
The line became a running joke at the bar. Anytime I touched the sauvignon blanc bottle someone would gleefully ask, “They weren’t just drinking the Vouvray, I hope?” And we’d laugh our asses off. I have since asked multiple people why that might be a faux pas as a wine suggestion and no one has ever given me a legitimate answer.
Cat claws aren’t really meant to kill (although they can and surely do). They are meant to grab and hold.
A kill typically consists of a sequence: grabbing the prey and getting it to the ground, suppressed, and then finishing the job.
And boy do they come equipped:
A lion claw to hand comparison:
image 48
Now it is a different story for most birds of prey.
A harpy eagle, and many eagles, can actually use their claws to kill their prey.
They pin their prey down and hold them, jerking their claws back and forth.
image 47
They also use their beaks to tear the animal apart, which, if it is lucky, happens quickly.
This is why you often see a predator eagle seeming to just stand and stomp on its prey. The prey moving around is actually what kills it in many of these instances.
It’s believed that the T-Rex shared this in common with predatory birds.
image 45
Their arms weren’t functional for hunting, so they would use one leg to lean in and hold the prey down on the ground, while their jaw did the rest of the work.
One of the closest living examples of what dinosaur claws looked like belongs to the Southern Cassowary, which lives in papua new guinea and looks like a deformed ostrich.
image 44
But when you see their claws, it’s immediately obvious who they are related to:
image 46
Fortunately, they are omnivores.
Nature is metal AF. Death by another animal never seems to be a fun way to go.
Airline executive: hey, if we squeeze the seats closer together, we can fit in one more row of seats, sell more tickets, and make more money!
Health and safety: but you can’t squeeze the exit row seats closer together — people have to be able to get through to the exit. So those seats would have to stay further apart while you squeeze the other ones closer together. It’ll look stupid.
Airline executive: that’s not a bug — that’s a feature! We’ll sell those seats at premium rates for people who want legroom just a little less than what they used to have, rather than a lot less!
Exit row seats used to be unattractive, due to the additional responsibility.
Now, they’re apparently fairly popular, due to the guaranteed minimum legroom. Which the airlines are not providing out of the kindness of their heart, but because an ‘exit row’ has to, you know, allow people to exit, so they’re legally mandated to keep them a certain width.
And some people apparently get annoyed when the stewardess asks them whether they are willing and able to assist in the unlikely event of an evacuation….
In high-school my friend and I were selling Christmas wreaths door to door.
We would take turns with the sale line.
This time it was his turn.
My friend was usually out going and very talkative.
We get to this door he goes up and knocks. This beautiful girl opens the door and kind of lifts her leg around the door cradling it and she bites her lip.
My friend was silent didn’t say a word he just stood there dumb founded.
I laughed, said sorry for my friend here…and then gave the whole sales pitch. She giggled and declined. Thr whole time my friend just stood there looking like a fool with his jaw just hanging open.
After she closed the door ot took him a moment to collect himself.
He commented about how beautiful she was. I said yeah, she was nice.
We go down another street and I realize that this side of the street was just the back side of the houses from the other…
I tell my buddy who was still somewhat dazed he gets this next house… (it was hers but from the other side)
She opened the door again same spill but this time I sold the Christmas wreath.
I don’t remember what happened after the second incident. I just remember it was hilarious.
I have so many different stories. We’ve even run across people answering the door in the buff. Usually not the good looking type though!
He has set a world record for the farthest swim under ice, going 188.6 feet under.
He has the fastest half marathon barefoot on snow and ice, running 2 hours and 16 minutes. (most can’t do this in regular climate!)
He has spent 1 hour and 53 minutes in full body contact with ice.
Normally, this should kill anybody between 15 and 45 minutes in.
He has climbed Mt. Everest to 25,000 feet in just shorts and boots.
So the big question remains.
How?
He employs something called “The Wim Hof” method.
He manipulates his mind and his breathing patterns to help his body create an ability to warm itself.
Sounds weird right?
He went under a study with researchers at Wayne State University.
He showed that when he didn’t employ his method of rapid breathing, “his skin temperature would fluctuate between about 33.5 degrees Celsius with the warm water and 31.5 degrees Celsius with the cold.”
However, when he did use his method, “his skin temperature stayed almost perfectly steady at just under 34 degrees Celsius.”
They found in the PET scan later that “the rapid breathing exercise worked by warming the capillaries in the lungs.”
Additionally, and weirdly enough, “Hof didn’t demonstrate an increase of activity in the anterior insula, where higher-function thermoregulation is done. Instead, he had an unexpected spike in the periaqueductal gray matter, which is associated with control of sensory pain. Maybe it really is mind over matter after all.”
During the filming of the movie Robert De Niro had a huge crush on her.
He even asked her out on a date.
But she turned him down.
After that during the entire shooting De Niro did not speak to her except when he was in character.
Shooting over.
Movie released.
Taxi Driver did really good business at the box office and also received positive response from Critics.
But rejection from his crush did not stop De Niro. He did classic films like The Deer Hunter, One upon a time in America, Raging Bull, The King of Comedy, Casino, Heat , Goodfellas, Cape Fear, The Irishman etc.
image 4
He won an Oscar for the Best Actor for Raging Bull.
image 3
And now he is considered as One of the Best Actors of all time.
On the other hand Cybill Shepherd was forgotten with time.
The only character she played worth remembering was Betsy in Taxi Driver.
40 years later when she wrote an autobiography, She wrote that she regretted turning him down a lot. She wrote, it was the biggest mistake she made in her life.
Now what De Niro did after she turned him down is worth reading
Did he threaten her boyfriend? NO
Did he start doing drinking and drugs? NO
Did he try to get revenge from her anyhow? NO
What he did was – He kept working. He concentrated on his career. And now he is THE ROBERT DE NIRO. Who inspired hundreds of other actors from all over the world.
image 2
So if a girl rejects you, what is the best way to get her to regret her decision?
Respect her decision and focus on your career. Build an empire. Self destruction and revenge mindset (Easy Path) will not do anything. Forget about her. You’ll regret later if you choose the easy path.
One of the most badass thing ever uttered was: “We’ve been fighting in the West throughout the war and we have enough experience to assess our situation. We will not allow ourselves to be taken hostage! You will die like rats when we break out of here!” – Viktor Leonov.
This man is Viktor Leonov:
image 7
In 1945 after the fall of Berlin, Viktor Leonov, a grizzled old Russian naval commander who had inflicted crazy amount of death and misery on his Axis enemies was sent to fight the Japanese in the east.
Viktor was assigned to a naval parachute division and was dropped with over 145 men into what was supposed to be a lightly-defended airfield somewhere in the midst of china. Fun fact, it wasn’t lightly defended. Over 3000 Japanese soldiers were waiting for them and the second they landed they were rounded up.
image 6
Viktor and his officers were forced marched into the Japanese HQ where the Japanese garrison commander ordered their surrender. Viktor refused and told the Japanese to surrender.
The Japanese officers laughed and told them this is no place for jokes and that he should just sign the papers for the Soviet official surrender and get it over with. Viktor was not joking. He jumped out of his chair, slammed his fist on the table and yelled in a heavy, very deep and intimidating Russian accent:
“We’ve been fighting in the West throughout the war and we have enough experience to assess our situation. We will not allow ourselves to be taken hostage! You will die like rats when we break out of here!”
Right at the end of the sentence, one of his men pulled out a hidden grenade and threatened to blow up every single man in the room.
The Japanese surrendered.
Viktor and his troops walked back to the soviet base with his over 3,000 Japanese prisoners who only hours ago were telling the captured soviets to surrender.
After that, he went back to fighting and captured four Japanese ports along the Korean and Manchurian coastlines. During his daring operations against the Japanese, he lost a grand total of nine soldiers. Seven of them died parachuting into that airfield I just talked about. Viktor apparently only retired because there was no more room on his chest for any more medals.
Viktor died in 2003, his death was not even mentioned in the newspaper.
Back in the late summer of 2000 or 2001, I was looking for a job because a freelance customer had stiffed me on six weeks’ worth of invoices. I wasn’t thrilled about either of those things, but hey, at least I like my field. Anyway, my brother called me up out of the blue and we had a conversation that went something like this:
“Hey, you’ll never guess who I sat with on the plane today: John Prine!”
“Oh, cool. How’d he look? He wasn’t looking all that good last time I saw him.”
“He looked OK. He was coming into town for a show tomorrow night with Mary Chapin Carpenter and someone named Lyle Lovett.”
“OMG! Don’t ask any questions, just GO.”
“Oh, I’m going. But I was wondering if you want to go.”
“Uh… I’m broke and in Winnipeg. And I have to be at a job interview at 3:00 pm the next day. Is that even doable?”
“Oh, yeah, it’s totally doable, I have a zillion points. Let me see…” <keys tapping> “OK, I can get you on a flight that comes in about 4:30. I’ll pick you up, we’ll grab some dinner, take in the show, then I can drop you at the airport in the morning and you’ll be back in town by… about 1:30.”
“Uh… OK!”
Next day I take the bus to the airport, fly to Toronto, Scott picks me up in his minty 89(?) Porsche 911, zoom we’re downtown, bam we’re getting a falafel for supper, then we’re off to the venue. Prine was awesome as ever, Mary Chapin Carpenter was great, but Lyle Lovett and his Large Band absolutely killed it. I’ve seen a lot of damned good shows, and that one was right up there with the very best. Then it’s back to Scott’s place, up early, zoom back to the airport, fly back to Winnipeg, and I’m taking the bus to my interview and asking myself, “Did all that really just happen?”
It was an incredible pick-me-up at a time I could really use one, and by far and away one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me. (He’ll probably read this, so I’m just going to say “Thanks again!”)
After a 4 year stay in Japan, representing my husband’s company, we returned to the States and settled in California. We registered our children in school. After a few days our youngest daughter came home and reported that a man had come to the school and taken her out of class and they had gone for a walk. The man had shown her lots of pictures. I was horrified and asked what kind of pictures. She told me one was of a policeman with a bad guy.
next morning I was at the school and in the Principal’s office demanding to know if it was true and if so, why. I was told that I had made a mistake when filling out the enrollment form and had put down that my daughter was born in Japan. My reply was that as her mother I would certainly know where she was born and that was in a hospital in Tokyo. Then I learned that California law requires that any student that doesn’t understand English must have an interpreter.
I told the Principal that if she had spent two minutes in conversation with my blue eyed daughter, born of a British mother and American father she would have known my daughter was fluent in the English language.
Hungarian Pork and Sauerkraut Sandwich (Peshene)
2024 01 04 19 08
Ingredients
4 slices pork butt, as meaty as possible, sliced thin, pounded if necessary
1 large can (27 ounces) sauerkraut, rinsed, squeezed dry
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
Salt
Pepper
Hungarian sweet paprika
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) salted butter
8 slices of the best rye bread
Instructions
Prepare the pork butt and add some seasoning to it. Gently brown the pork in the butter until done. Don’t over cook.
Set pork aside and add sauerkraut, onions, garlic and seasonings to the pan. Be generous with the paprika. Fry the kraut until browned.
Make up 4 sandwiches being generous with the sauerkraut mixture.
I sometimes add 1-2 peeled raw potatoes (diced small) to the frying kraut.
Every time I visit my parents’ house, I would see someone drinking tea and talking to my mother. They’re usually female, ages 20 through 40. From their appearance, I can see that they are not doing well financially. I call them my mother’s “projects.” She has maybe 4–5 “projects” at a time.
They are visiting my mom to get help, discuss a problem, get some advice, and occasionally some of them would bring gifts to say thank you. I don’t know how it started, who these women were or how they met my mom. But their stories are depressingly similar. All of them were women who had kids, frequently didn’t have husbands, or were in abusive relationships. Let me tell you about one of them.
I’ll call her Zaya. Zaya is a young woman, around 27 years old. First time she met my mother, was when she was 20. She’s developmentally a little slow. Reads and writes with difficulty, and it takes her some time to understand difficult concepts. But she is a hard worker. Always does her tasks diligently. From what I know my mom helped her in some small things:
One winter she bought her and her child winter clothes.
Helped her daughter go to a good public school nearby. To do that my mom registered her to her house.
What is special about her? Nothing really. But she has encountered so many problems in her life that, I think, really shows how difficult it is to be poor:
She was adopted and her family, except her mother, treated her like an unpaid maid.
She became pregnant when she was 18. The father of the child disappeared, never to be seen.
She worked as a cleaner in a small company and received a modest salary. My mom took her to a bank one day and helped her open a savings bank account. After several years, she saved an equivalent of 5–6 months salary.
When her relatives learned about it, they pushed her to liquidate her account and contribute to her brother’s wedding.
She met one guy, who was a driver and they decided to live together. They built a small house. She used her savings to buy appliances, furniture etc. Just before they officially registered, the guy died in a car accident. His family, moved in and kicked her and her kid out on the streets. I offered to help her write a report to the police and go with her to submit it. She didn’t want to go to all the trouble.
She opened a new account and kept the bank book with my mother for safekeeping. Her family learned about it and forced her to pay for renovation at their house.
Her mother, the only person who supported her, passed away. She told her on several occasions that if she passes away she wanted her daughter to live separately from their family.
The last time we heard from her, she was moving to a different city, since her oldest brother was moving there and opening a small barber shop. He promised he would pay her salary. After she moved there, she changed her cell number and stopped calling my mom. It has been more than a year since we heard from her.
Whenever I hear people say that the poor are lazy, or bad at managing money, I always think about her. Her life is like a boxing match with a pro boxer. She gets knocked down, she gets up to be knocked down again. The sheer amount of sh*t that she experienced in her life is really astounding. This is why many of the poor remain poor. Because life is unfair…
Neocon Debacle and Declining Empire | Richard D. Wolff
Beware the following email originating from John Liu <chinaregistry177 (at) aliyun.com address individually to you. It is a scam trying to get you to part with your money. The website at the end of the message does not exist.
Mine was a Mr. Albert Liu.
Albert Liu<albert.liu@chinaregistry.org.cn>
Subject: CN Domain and keyword
“(It’s very urgent, please transfer this email to your CEO. Thanks)
We are the domain name registration service company in China. On Dec 30, 2015, we received an application from Huaxun Holdings Ltd requested “XXXXXX” (name removed) as their internet keyword and China (CN) domain names. But after checking it, we find this name conflict with your company name or trademark. In order to deal with this matter better, it’s necessary to send email to you and confirm whether this company is your distributor or business partner in China?
Kind regards
John Liu General Manager China Registry (Headquarters) 8052, Douhai Building, No. 59 Baolian Road, Shanghai, China Tel: +86 21 6191 8696 Mobile: +86 138 1642 8671 Fax: +86 21 6191 8697 Web: www .chinaregistry.com.cn Email: john (at) chinaregistry.com.cn
Phone numbers and URLs are equal to what what I got in my mail.
Comment and Advice
The unsolicited email you receive is from a Chinese domain registrar (could be a certified registrar, agent, affiliate or private person).
In the email they explain that a supposed company (try to Google the name) is interested in some available domain names (typically .hk, .cn, .tw), which correspond with your brand name.
In only a few days the other party will register these domains, unless you secure them first. The domain registrar can even send you an email from the interested third party (it comes from a hotmail address) claiming that they want to register your domain names, and they are only waiting for approval from Mr. Jim or whatever his name is.
Identical to what happened to me. Only this was from a sina address.
Zhihai Ning<zhihaining@vip.sina.com>
There is a similar domain name: www . chinaregistry.org.cn.
Yes. This is the URL.
In trying to connect to this my anti virus protection gave the following message so beware:
“When we visited this site, we found it may be designed to trick you into submitting your financial or personal information to online scammers. This is a serious security threat which could lead to identity theft, financial losses or unauthorized use of your personal information”.
It can be very expensive if you fall for it. Just ignore it.
Yuppur. It’s a pretty well established e-mail scam.
2024 02 10 13 05
Remember the name of the organization that registers domain names is CNNIC. Not “China Registry”.
Thank you for asking. It is easy to understand. Western governments need to hoodwink their own people who are now very wary about their dropping standard of living for close to 3 generations now. The average westerners are now worst off then their parents and even their grandparents.
Homelessness is rampant, inflation exceed their growth rates and set them back further. Take the UK. In 2023 it’s economy had a negative growth of -3% yet its inflation is a full 4.2%. Together British people suffer a 7.2% deterioration of their standard of living.
The U.S. grew by 2.4% in 2023 but suffers a 3.4% inflation. So once again it’s standard if living fall by 1%. But it has deteriorated back to the levels of 1960’s. Even life expectancy has dropped below that of China! Homelessness has reached a million and a third of Americans cannot afford their health insurance and their college debts consume most of them.
So with such a scenario, it is hardly surprising that they used their media to channel western minds to Chinese economy that is purportedly deteriorating. These are simply a pack of lies to deceive the westerners. Just imagine 2020–2022 over the 3 years post pandemic China grew by 5.5% per annum while most western economies had negative growth.
But what is worst is that it suffered close to double digit inflation while China’s inflation rate is on average 0.5%. In 2023 China grew by 5.2% with a mere 0.2% inflation. Chinese people’s standard of living grew by a net +5.0% in 2023! Yet if you read western media it accuses China of a host of things casting doubt on China!
By right westerners ought to be mad at their government for lying to them. But most pretend to be living better than the world. It’s a fell good factor! It is not good because truth will dawn on them sooner or later.
I realized my mother was verbally abusive when I was around 13. One of my first friends invited me to dinner. I was worried, but I went. It was a normal dinner, with home cooked casserole and green beans. I wasn’t used to that. Everyone sat at the table, and the father cleared his throat. Uh-oh, I thought, here it comes.
Then, he launched into a funny story about how he and a coworker kept hiding each others waste baskets, and how he had won the last round thanks to his daughter’s suggestion of putting a plastic lei on it and photographing it as though leaving the office.
Then her older brother spoke. He was in college, and told an anecdote about a professor who kept losing chalk. Mum spoke up about Chippy, a little squirrel that she fed by the back door. My friend moaned a little about a huge homework project.
Everyone turned to me. I actually spoke, suggesting that we should build our school project in such a way that it blocked the principal’s door. None of these stories were actually that good. but there was a tenderness in the telling and listening that I had never seen. People listened. They chuckled. They talked. They praised Mum’s cooking. No one said one derogatory thing.
They were a normal family. My friend teased her brother about his lack of hockey prowess, and Mum and Dad liked different baseball teams. My friend got grounded for sass, sometimes. But, instead of the parents trying to destroy the children, they held them up.
I cried all the way home. It was winter, and the tears froze on my face. Mother was there. Her first comment, what did you do to your face? My God you were an ugly baby and it’s just gotten worse. It’s good you don’t wear make up, lipstick on a plow horse.
And it didn’t stop until I went to bed. It never really stopped until I left home, always under the guise of helping me fix my flaws.
But after that dinner with the B family, I knew there was another way to live. And that made all the difference.
Pasta con le Sarde
If there is any pasta dish that represents Sicilian tradition to its fullest, it is pasta con le sarde. Combining the culinary footprints of Sicily’s kitchens, this classic recipe mixes maccheroncini (macaroni) with fennel, tomatoes, pine nuts, raisins, anchovies, onion and fresh sardines.
pasta con sarde
The pasta is always ladled out of the pot, never poured into a colander, and then put in a serving dish. During two weeks in Sicily, we never had a piece of overcooked pasta. Test, test, test was Chef Tino’s rule, and, apparently, every other chef’s.
Ingredients
1 pound fresh sardines
1/2 pound fennel bulb
Olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 onion, chopped
8 ounces uncooked tomato sauce*
4 ounces pine nuts
1/4 cup raisins, softened in water
2 salted anchovies
1 pound macaroni
Pecorino cheese
Instructions
Bone the sardines. (If you slit the fish lengthwise and grab it by the tail, the bone easily strips out). Chop the fennel and boil under just tender in water that you will use to cook the pasta. Strain the fennel out of the pot and chop finely.
Heat a sauté pan over medium heat and add enough olive oil to just cover the bottom. Brown garlic and onion in oil until soft. Add tomatoes, chopped fennel, pine nuts, raisins, and anchovies. Simmer for 10 minutes. At this point, start the macaroni and add the sardines to the pasta sauce. If the sauce is too dry, add a very small amount of the fennel water. Don’t stir the sauce once the sardines are added, to avoid breaking them up.
Place the cooked pasta in serving dish and pour the sauce over, finishing off with a sprinkling of Pecorino and a little olive oil.
Serves 4 to 6.
* This is best made with fresh tomatoes, coarsely chopped, skin and seeds included. If tomatoes aren’t in season, you could use good canned tomatoes.
The first Emperor of a unified Germany, Wilhelm I, was a strict and conservative man. His son, Frederick III, was a liberal mind. A brilliant man and a keen reformer, he was full of ambition to transform German society, do away with stuffy nobility and its ancient war-like ways, and usher in a new, open-minded and scientifically oriented Germany.
image 4
Wilhelm I, however, kept on living… born in 1797, he didn’t die until 1888, aged almost 91 years old. Frederick had to wait for a long time for it to finally be “his turn”. He was eager, and excited for the task. But then, three days before his father passed away, Frederick was diagnosed with throat cancer. He had been ill for a while, and his health rapidly took a turn for the worst. By time his father was buried, he was already too weak to walk in the procession. He looked on from the palace window, and wept…
image 3
No small part of Frederick’s sorrow? His son and heir, Wilhelm, was a war-like man, imperialistic, aggressive, expansionist, conservative… the polar opposite of his peace-loving, progressive father. Frederick wanted desperately to make good use of his remaining time on earth. But cancer of the throat soon took away his ability to talk, and a botched operation to fix his pain resulted in even greater pain and discomfort when the resulting wound became infected.
“I had so hoped to have been of use to my country. Why is Heaven so cruel to me? What have I done to be thus stricken and condemned?” wrote Frederick III in his diary. He died in June 1888, a mere 99 days into his reign, aged 56. It is often speculated that, had Wilhelm II not ascended to the throne, his father would have moved away from Prussian militarism and Germany may never have entered WWI. WWII would have been averted as well.
We were all working overtime and being stressed out. Sales weren’t doing well, people were quitting, and everything was dysfunctional. Some items at the store weren’t even there or expired.
My boss was in a bad mood, taking it out on everyone. Nitpicking, tearing others down, and calling people incompetent. I’d already gotten a warning for talking back. I had told her that she shouldn’t be treating people that way. We were all working hard and doing our best. She said that if I didn’t like how she ran the store, then to get out. I was really tempted, but kept working.
It was the final straw when a pregnant co-worker needed to go home on time because she had to walk home at 11:00 PM. My boss refused and my co-worker was in a lot of pain. My boss told her to suck it up, that it was her fault for being an irresponsible wh*** and being stuck as a single mom. This made my co-worker burst into tears; her boyfriend had just broken up with her and left her after the news she was pregnant. She’d been taking it hard since.
I marched right up to this and told my co-worker to gather her things because she worked enough for the night, that I would drive her home. My co-worker listened.
My boss was furious for undermining her. I blew up at her, telling her that she needed to work on her morals and values. I asked her how she could even think about doing this to someone, especially her own worker? My boss answered that it was the wh***’s problem, not ours.
I told her that she should never call someone that and her behavior is exactly why she was losing employees. I said this was why nobody wanted to be around her or get to know her. She was an awful human being, no matter how many times she lied to herself.
I ended it that she was right, that I couldn’t work for someone like her. I didn’t like how she ran the store and I quit; the only time I ever did.
I drove the pregnant woman home and thanked me for everything. I explained that I quit, but would drive her if she needed me.
Apparently, I started a chain. Five people quit after me, including the pregnant woman.
The ironic part is that two months later, that boss was fired… for her treatment of employees.
I don’t know that it was the dumbest, but it was certainly an interesting and unusual complaint against me.
I was notified that officers were at a housing project and were requesting permission to force entry into an apartment. The officers had identified a man who had multiple warrants for his arrest. As they were arresting him he broke away from them and ran into an apartment where he did not belong.
I was a watch commander at the time and advised them to set up a perimeter around the apartment and I would be there in two minutes. Upon my arrival, I knocked on the door and spoke with the tenant who was very angry that my officers were threatening to kick down her door.
I had an advantage in speaking with this woman as I knew the complex manager and I also had studied the lease agreements with the various complexes. One reason for an immediate start of eviction proceedings was allowing criminal activity to be conducted at the apartment. I explained that I did not want to see her violate her lease, or have to pay for the door if the police had to break it in.
I explained the search process, and that we were just going to take the man who had run into her house into custody, and leave, without messing anything up inside. She allowed the officers to enter as long as I agreed to stay at the scene. I entered with the officers and actually helped in the search, checking one downstairs closet.
The man was found upstairs fully dressed in bed under the covers (so creative!). He was taken into custody and transported to the department for processing.
Several minutes after I get to the station, I receive a call from the resident. She said, “One of your cops stole $1000 from my apartment.” I advised her that I would take the particulars of her complaint and get to the bottom of this immediately.
I asked where the money had been located and she answered: “In the downstairs closet.” I thought for a minute and replied, “I’m the only one who searched the downstairs closet and I didn’t see or take any money.” She replied rather sarcastically, “Well, it was there before you came in and it’s gone now, so if you didn’t take it, where’s my money?”
Now my mind is going over each minute of the search, with no reasonable explanation. I asked to place the woman on hold for a minute and went to the processing room where the accused was.
Also in the room was a young woman who was counting out a pile of cash. I asked whose money is this. The girl replied, “It’s my money and I’m posting his bail.”
Now I remember, the girl was in the house. I said, “I saw you at the house. Where did you get all that money from?” She replied, ”From the closet downstairs.”
I put the resident, who was the girl’s mother, on speaker phone and had the daughter explain where the $1000 in bail money came from.
I spoke to the mom afterward and she apologized repeatedly. I told her it was already forgotten, and how much I had appreciated her cooperation at the scene, putting her trust in me.
After that, she thought I was a good cop and would wave to me or stop and say hello. Out of a silly misunderstanding, a higher level of trust would develop. So much of police work is about building trust, one person at a time.
I learned how to do some simple programming on my own. I wrote simple programs at work for my own and my department’s use. My boss knew about it. One day she came into my office and demanded that I write a program for another department. I tell her, politely of course, that I would be happy to do it but she had just hired a well-trained person to do just that sort of thing and it might be better if he did it. She quickly turned on her heel without saying a word, walked immediately to HR and wrote me up for insubordination. HR suspended me with pay immediately and I was escorted out of the building by security. I hired a lawyer, the best employment lawyer in the area and a friend, immediately. The lawyer told me that I would eventually get fired and then he would go into action. He also told me that my boss would be fired in 6 months and her boss would be fired within a year. Soon I got fired in person by my boss, who smiled throughout the whole ordeal (I had been with the company 21 years and had nothing but excellent reviews), while a security guard stood behind her. I was smiling on the inside.
My lawyer went to work. With 3 weeks my status was changed to retired (at age 56), my legal fees paid, was given a sizable settlement, and never had to go back into work. In about 8 months my boss was fired and her boss was transferred to corporate Siberia. To my surprise, a year or so later the company newspaper published picture of me standing in front of a beautiful new RV in the retiree’s section of the paper. I had bought the RV with part of the settlement check and sent the picture in as a joke. No one probably knew that it was a joke.
Back in about 1990 I was waiting on a group of six men at Baker’s Square. Five of them were normal people, but the sixth was just a funnel when it came to coffee. He wanted me to leave a pot at the table, which we weren’t allowed to do. I told him I’d keep him topped up. He was skeptical, and he was right to be.
I have never seen any three people drink as much coffee in an hour as that guy. I couldn’t keep up. I asked my manager if I could leave him a full pot and was told no. The guy was going from kind of irritated to outright crabby, probably partly due in part to the caffeine overdose he had to be on the cusp of. Glares, passive aggressive remarks, like that.
Near the end of their meal I got kind of slammed and the poor man’s cup was probably empty for five minutes. As soon as I had the chance I hustled to the table and was filling cups. Coffee Man was on the far right and I was going left to right. As I was tipping the pot over his cup he snapped at me, “Could you take a little longer with that fucking coffee?!”
Instantly aborted the pour with less than a teaspoon in his cup. Looked him in the eye with a smile (more of a smirk tbh) and said, “Yes, I absolutely can.”
Turned on my heel and left, with the sound of his friends laughing behind me. Went to the break room and had a cigarette. A whole one. Customer’s always right yeah?
Told the manager what happened on my way back out to the floor. He couldn’t keep from laughing but also said you can’t do that and he was taking over the table. I think he comped Coffee Man’s meal, but I never heard another word about it after that.
Ended up with a pretty good tip, I assume from his friends.
Passport Bros – The Men Fleeing The West | Japan Street Interviews
Bob loved me unconditionally and always respected me during our entire relationship.
We were married for over 31 years. We worked together for much of that time in a very public business. We met on the job when Bob was hired as the news director at a TV station I was already working for as a reporter/anchor. So not only was he my boss, but we co-anchored the evening news as well.
Bob was incredibly careful to make sure I was never granted any special privileges in the newsroom. His decision at work, went. He would always listen to my point of view and that of the rest of the staff, but his decision was final.
He was always able to switch to the mindset that we were equal when we went home.
He loved me like nobody ever had before , even when I didn’t love myself. He loved me when he was mad at me and when he really didn’t like something that I had done or said.
Bob was my husband…my partner and my best friend. He was my teacher and teammate as well.
Although he was not purrrfect (sorry, we were owned by cats), he was purrrfect for me.
I lost Bob to suicide. He had gotten incredibly sick and wasn’t going to get better. I believe that even this final decision and action, was done with me in mind. He didn’t want me to live the rest of my life as his caregiver while our bank account dwindle to pay his medical bills.
One thing about his final decision. In my opinion, Bob wasn’t wrong very often, but for me, this time he was wrong. The problem is, he was DEAD wrong. I will love and honor him forever. I work hard to make sure people remember his career and his accomplishments instead of just his final decision. I also work with several mental health organizations, including the local medical college, in both suicide prevention programs and postvention efforts (following up with people who have lost a loved one to suicide). I have done very television and radio interviews about Bob as well. I believe that since we spent most of our careers telling other people’s stories, that I should be willing to share ours.
Bob loved me, unconditionally. That is what he did for or to me.
Several years ago, my job was to sell robots to SWAT teams. Every SWAT team (except two of them) wanted one, but they couldn’t all afford them, so the problem wasn’t that the potential customers didn’t want to buy. The problem was that it was difficult to get to the SWAT teams. Lots of people wanted to get to them to sell them various things they didn’t want nor need, so the department didn’t make it easy to reach the SWAT commanders. I had several different ways of getting to them, all of which worked some of the time, but none that worked all of the time.
Then one day I figured out a new approach. Whenever I saw a cop along the road waiting to catch speeders and such, I would deliberately speed up in order to get pulled over. When the cop walked up to the window, I would say, “I have a SWAT robot in my trunk.” The response was always a variation of, “You have a what?” I would then ask if he wanted to have a look at it.
Sometimes the cop got very nervous about me opening the trunk, but they always wanted me to. (Could have been a guy with a gun in there; the cop had no way of knowing.) Once the robot was revealed, I would hand the cop the control and show him how to operate the robot. Then I would ask for the department’s SWAT commander’s name. The reason for this was that I wanted to be able to say “Officer so and so told me you would want to have a look at this robot.” It worked every time.
However, one time the cop was already writing the ticket on his way to my car. After the standard conversation and demo, the cop said that he couldn’t tear up the ticket, because he would get in all kinds of trouble for a missing ticket number, so he wrote me up for 1 mile per hour over the speed limit. If I had gone to court, the judge would have thrown the case out, but I just went ahead and paid the ticket instead.
Later, when I told the founder the story, he said, “From now on, the company will pay for every ticket you get while on the job.” I never got another ticket, though.
Ukraine SitRep: Finally A Wonder-Weapon That Does What It Promised To Do
The city of Avdeevka, (not to be confused with the small town of Andreevka near Bakhmut), is situated immediately north-west of Donetsk city. It has been used for years as a Ukrainian fortress well positioned for artillery attacks on Donetsk. The whole city, and especially the coke and chemical plant in its northern sector, was well prepared to defend against Russian attacks.
But despite all attempts to hold on to it the Ukrainian garrison within the city is about to be encircled and fall. Source: Live UA Map – bigger
2024 02 09 1e3 19
The Russian attacks are coming from multiple directions and are more progressed than the Ukraine friendly map above is showing. The biggest danger to the Ukrainians is the Russian move in the north west which threatens to cut the city off from its supply line through the northern coal and chemical plant.
The Russian victory in this battle was accomplished with the help of one type of weapon created during the current war in Ukraine.
In the early 1990s the U.S. developed a strap on kit for unguided bombs that turned dumb weapons into precise ammunition.
… a guidance kit that converts unguided bombs, or “dumb bombs”, into all-weather precision-guided munitions. JDAM-equipped bombs are guided by an integrated inertial guidance system coupled to a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, giving them a published range of up to 15 nautical miles (28 km). JDAM-equipped bombs range from 500 to 2,000 pounds (230 to 910 kg).[5] The JDAM’s guidance system was jointly developed by the United States Air Force and United States Navy, hence the “joint” in JDAM. … The JDAM is not a stand-alone weapon; rather it is a “bolt-on” guidance package that converts unguided gravity bombs into precision-guided munitions (PGMs). The key components of the system are a tail section with aerodynamic control surfaces, a (body) strake kit, and a combined inertial guidance system and GPS guidance control unit.
The JDAM kit, of which more than 500,000 were produced, allowed for the use of large piles of cold-war era bombs with previously unknown precision.
After the 2022 start of the war in Ukraine Russia engaged in a program to develop an equivalent to the JDAM kit. The program was finished by the end of 2023. The Russian version can be strapped onto a 500kg or a 1,500 kilogram dumb bomb extending their range by attaching wings, guidance kit and control surfaces to already existing dumb bombs. Prototype of a FAB 500 with (folded) wings and guidance kit
After being programmed with target coordinates the bomb gets dropped, turns 180 degree around its length axis and unfolds its wings. The wings enable the bomb to fly some 50 miles before hitting the ground. This allows the planes dropping these bombs to stay outside of the enemy’s air defense envelope.
The guidance kits are cheap and can easily be mass produced.
Yesterday some 65 FAB500 and FAB1500 were used against targets in Avdeevka.
The use of these bombs, which carry 300 kilogram and more of explosives, near one’s own troops requires careful planing and observation. Observers on the ground have to make sure that their own troops are outside of the deadly circle of these bombs and that the coordinates of targets are submitted in a disciplined but secure and timely manner. Pilots have to make sure that the received coordinates are programmed into the bombs and that their release is done at the right attitude and positions.
This kill chain requires intensive training and disciplined soldiers. Yesterday’s attacks demonstrate that the Russian army and air-forces have mastered this discipline.
Any detected resistance or position of Ukrainian troops was visited by a precise FAB attack within just a few minutes.
There is no defense against these weapons. It is no wonder then that any resistance against the Russian onslaught is breaking down. Russian troops can proceed through bombed out Ukrainian positions without taking losses.
Previous reports have talked about a Russian superiority in artillery by a factor of 5 or higher. But consider that a 155mm artillery round has a weight of some 50 kilogram, 60% of which are explosives. One FAB carries 10 to 30 times the explosive equivalent of one artillery round.
The Ukrainian army has nothing comparable in its arsenals.
The introduction of mass FAB500 strikes onto the Ukrainian battle field have given the Russian forces a new qualitative advantage that will change the course of the war (though not its outcome). The U.S. political and military specialists who still believe that attrition is a viable strategy for the Ukrainian army are clearly way off the path of reality.
On February 1 the German broadsheet Bildreported of the conflict in the Ukrainian leadership:
The Bild publication writes that Zaluzhny wanted to withdraw troops from Avdiivka a few weeks ago, but Zelensky refused him this and on December 30 he personally went to the city to the front line to support the Ukrainian Armed Forces fighters.
So all the coffins that arrived from near Avdeevka to Ukraine since December 30 are solely on the conscience of Zelensky and his passion for narcissism.
Zelenski had asked Zaluzny to resign which the General rejected. The Ukrainian president has since made clear that he wants to fire the more popular general but is still looking for the right time and reason to do so.
The loss of Avdeevka may give him a marketable excuse to finally do that even when it is clear that it was Zelenski’s narcissism, and not Zaluzny’s advice, that has caused high Ukraine losses while inevitably losing a not holdable position.
Posted by b on February 8, 2024 at 12:38 UTC | Permalink
It was my last job in Vietnam before I moved to the U.S. I was in that job for almost 5 years.
When I first started my position and reported to my boss, he was extremely difficult with me. He questioned everything and demanded an explanation for everything I did, including why I did it the way I did and how I came to that solution. This continued for six months. I felt so ‘roasted’ by him.
After those six months, one day, I received an email from him saying, “Read this email thread and tell me what I should do.” In another email, he replied to someone else’s email about a solution, added me to the loop, saying, “++ [my name]. I will approve this after [my name] has reviewed and gives me the green light.”
I had earned his trust.
One day, I messed up something important in an important project. I panicked, ran to him, and asked him what I should do. He sat me down and told me, ‘Remember, after you mess something up, admit the issue and come up with a solution to fix the problem yourself. You need to control how YOU are going to fix it; do not let anyone tell you what to do, because it won’t be in your favor.’ Listening to him, I calmed down and thought of a solution myself.
That was the most valuable lesson I learned from office. He is the best boss I’ve ever had, and I am thankful for the time I had the chance to work with him.
My dad was called as a witness to an accident that a member of the public had allegedly had on a building site he was foreman on. The victim had apparently fallen into a deep hole that had not been labelled clearly and then been laughed at and not helped by my father. Apparently when the victim had spoken to my dad he had refused to offer any help. The victim was suing the company for actual injury and for pain and suffering.
Prior to appearing in court the victim’s lawyer had contacted my dad and told him what was going to be said (I don’t know why, the case was a long time ago) My dad replied with “Are you really sure you want to do that?” The lawyer said of course and see you in court. My dad repeated “Are you really sure you want to do that?” The lawyer hung up.
On the day of the court case the victim told their story then they called my dad to the stand. The lawyer asked what job my dad had been doing onsite on the day of the accident. My dad replied with “None, I wasn’t on site on that date.” The lawyer called my dad a liar so my dad got his passport out which showed an exit date of 2 days before the alleged date of the accident and a re-entry date 6 weeks after.
Guess who ended up paying costs for that little debacle!? The victim’s lawyer was less than impressed.
She got a gold star
Guys give out the relationships. Women give out the sex.
All I can add about what to do if captured. At first simply give name, rank and serial number. During the class I asked the following, “what do you do when they bring pliers and a few other devices?” The instructor replyed, “ask politely for a ream of paper (a ream is 500 sheets of paper) and a dozen Bic pens; as long as you are writing they’ll leave you alone that is until they send the notes you wrote up their chain of command.” LOL. We always had a cover story that would make us so low on the classified stuff and if they persist; I would if captured I would tell them that I’m simply a cook. If pressured I’d ask them to let me cook them a meal. LTC Nick Rowe convinced his captures that he was a cook, this worked until they found out his real MOS; that he was a Special Forces 1LT. Nick knew that after 24 hours anything he told his captures would have been changed and will no longer be of any use to his captures. Nick was the go to guy on how to survive capture. He escaped after five years as a POW.
During capture you’ll always be looking for an opportunity to escape. Nick was assassinated while on duty in the Philippines.
The Famous belief that an emerging power will always be a threat to an existing power and war between them is inevitable
The Belief is incomplete
This is the case only when the Emerging Power desires to be a global hegemon
This is NOT the Case with China
image 120
China needs Cooperation for its growth and development
China needs Energy, Oil and Gas from others
China needs almost 23% of it’s Food from others
China needs Global Markets for its Trade
Thus China lives on a WIN WIN cooperation
China can flourish only as part of the Global Economy
The only thing that has changed is SO DOES THE USA
Until maybe three decades ago, the US could flourish on its own domestic economy, it’s own Oil & Gas, it’s Western and Japanese allies and satellites
Today the US needs many more countries to flourish and CHINA is one of the most important of them.
US needs China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and several other Nations in order to flourish as an economy
This the US does not like
The US doesn’t want to be dependent on China for it’s welfare and prosperity
The US policy has always been to CONTROL ANY NATION ON WHICH IT’S PROSPERITY DEPENDS
Thus it has two options :-
A China that is shaped as per US requirements. A Lackey basically. Like Japan and South Korea and now even Germany and France OR
A China weakened enough to accept US guidelines on what constitutes FAIR PLAY
China of course will not agree to either
China believes in a direct win win cooperation in the “May the best man win” mode of competition
So it’s the US that wants to keep the OLD WORLD ORDER rather than the Chinese wanting a new one
The Chinese just want to make money, grow and develop their economy and not be subject to throttling by the West and so to develop their own independent and safe technology and financial systems and military
Maybe 50–60 years later China could change but today there is zero chance of China wanting a New World Order or be a hegemon
We bought a used couch from someone on the Facebook. Seemed too good to be true. $1000 for a couch that goes for $3500 new. Leather sectional with 4 electronic leg rests, cupholders, USB charging ports, etc. A very nice upgrade from our existing sectional.
So, we went and checked it out. They had it in their garage. I asked why they were selling it for such a low price. Aside from some scratches on one seat, it looked almost new. They said he was a surgeon at the university and he was getting a job in North Carolina. So they were packing up and preparing to move quickly. We plugged it in and tested the leg rests. Everything worked. We had a minivan, so it was going to be three trips to get the whole thing home. 30 minutes each way. Kind of a waste of a Saturday, but I felt it was worth it.
On our first trip home, the smell hit us. It was a strong smell of orange, like they used an orange scented cleaner to clean it. This should have been a larger red flag than it was at the time. We still needed to move our existing couch to the basement, so we decided we’d kill two birds with one stone. Move the new couch into the garage, let that orange smell dissipate, and take our time disassembling and moving the other one to the basement.
When we went back to the seller’s house, we asked about the strong orange scent. They downplayed it and basically said they used whatever cleaner they had on hand to clean it before selling. Red flag #2.
We accepted their answer and continued making trips back and forth. They seemed trustworthy. All the pieces of the set smelled of orange cleaner, but especially one section. That piece was much more intense. We left the couch in the garage and sure enough, the smell faded. We moved the living room couch to the basement and the new one to the living room. The orange smell was gone. However, it was replaced by a much worse odor. I don’t know how to describe it except that it was musty, pungent, and kind of stuck with you. It was mostly coming from the leftmost recliner piece.
We reached out to the sellers a couple weeks after buying it. We asked about the smell. She played dumb and said they had hardly used the couch. They had it in their basement and there was never a problem with it. No water damage, no nothing. Clearly lying to us. Red flag #3.
Over the next few weeks, we tried multiple off-the-shelf products and home remedies for removing smells from furniture. None of them improved the smell at all. We finally contacted a fire restoration type of place. They had specialty equipment to deal with all sorts of problem smells in furniture. The cost was high and we didn’t know if it would work, so they offered us a deal. They said, bring in the problem recliner. They’ll try to remove the smell from that one piece. If they succeed, we’ll bring in the rest and they’ll fix each piece at a total cost of $700. If they can’t fix that recliner, no charge and we go our separate ways. Handshake, done deal.
I brought the recliner in and the guy who received it immediately started sniffing all the parts of it like a dog. He got underneath and focused on that area. From under the back, he exclaimed, “Tomcat! Nothing’s gonna work. We’ll try, but it won’t come out. Nothing gets tomcat urine out of furniture.”
Why I’d question the expertise of a guy who crawls under furniture and identifies tomcat urine is still a mystery to me. He was absolutely right. Their process didn’t put a dent in that scent, and we didn’t pay them a dime when I picked it up.
At this point, we’re pissed. We spent $1000 on a couch that’s unusable, and we’ve moved our clunky sectional to the basement and back again, not to mention spending a Saturday moving their couch home. We keep reaching out to the seller. She tries different tactics, from ignoring us to just refusing to do anything for us. All the while, she still insists that the couch never smelled in their house and she sold it in good faith.
Finally, I’ve had enough. I tell my wife to tell this woman that they’re going to return our money and take the couch back or we’ll take them to small claims court. Then she offers to give us $100 back, still not admitting there was a problem with the couch. No. Everything or you’ll be sued. Finally, she agrees, but somehow is able to act like she’s the victim. Great. She transmitted our money back to us, but doesn’t say anything about the couch. A couple days pass, and she demands that we bring it back to them. My wife asked me when we can return it to her. My response? “Oh no. She can come pick it up from us. I’m not spending one minute or a single calorie on bringing her that useless couch.”. She says fine and asks for our address. She responds a couple days later and says they don’t want it either. Yeah, nothing wrong with it. Sold it in good faith. But you don’t want it at all. Huh.
We put it up for sale for free on the Facebook. We were very up front on its condition. The guy who came to get it was excited about it. I warned him that the scent is strong and nothing will improve it. He didn’t care. Said his sense of smell is very bad and he didn’t think it’d be a problem.
The reason most fights come down to bare knuckle brawling is simple. All that stuff you see on TV, MMA, martial arts tournaments etc are people that are trained to fight like that.
I have had my fair share of fights over the years, some I won, some I took a beat down. I have never seen anyone win a street fight using martial arts. Its probably not because it isn’t effective. Its because 99% of people are just watching TV or taking weekend course at Bob’s Dojo and that makes them think they are qualified to put the moves on Joe the drunk.
Pro Tip: Joe is not interested in style points or looking cool when he fights.
The worst thing in the world you can do if your not a trained professional is to try to kick someone in a street fight. Your foot leaving the ground means you have lost all your balance, your center of gravity is gone and your probably so slow doing it any reasonable healthy twenty-something man see’s it coming a mile away.
When I was young I had this happen to me once (not bragging) I caught the guys leg and slammed him into a brick wall. His Bruce Lee impersonation was over in less then a minute.
That wasn’t special. If you are not highly trained do not try any fancy kick moves you saw last night on TV. It wont end well. To effectively get away with kicking someone or doing most martial arts type moves like you see in the movies requires tons of training. It isn’t something Joe average can pull of just because they saw someone else do it or they took a couple of classes at the local community center.
#1: I went to high school with this girl, Lisa. She kissed me once. Later, in my early 20’s, I kept randomly running into her, all over the world: in a dive bar in New York, on the street in San Francisco, and in an obscure back alleyway in Oaxaca, Mexico.
#2: When I lived in New York, I had a dream in which some voice kept repeating a 4-digit number, like 3264, 3264, 3264, like it was very important. At the time, New York had a lottery you could play by choosing four numbers. I thought about playing 3264, but then dismissed the idea, as I had to go to work. As I was about to get on the subway, I noticed that my subway car was numbered 3264. That did it for me, I ran to the nearest lottery kiosk and played that number. The following day, the winning number was announced: 3265. One digit off. I was rather annoyed with the universe over that one.
#3: I exited my gym and hopped into my car, at that time a rather sad and beat-up green mid-1980’s Toyota Tercel. As I was pulling out of the parking lot, I noticed that there was someone else’s stuff scattered around. And then it hit me: This was NOT my car! It turns out that for that particular model, the keys are sometimes interchangeable. Toyota made about 13 possible key shapes, and the woman who had already driven MY car away, had the same key I did. It took her longer to notice.
My wife would occasionally smell something odd. She couldn’t describe it. It happened at random times in random places, like in her classroom or at a concert or on the sidewalk downtown or in our house. If she was with someone she would ask, and nobody else smelled it. This happened over the course of at least two or three years that we can remember.
She also occasionally stumbled or lost her balance, which she attributed to natural clumsiness.
One Saturday afternoon in late March 2022 I came home from an errand to find her shivering under a blanket but not cold, and stammering her speech. I declared “something ain’t right with that girl” and took her to the Emergency Room. There a CAT scan revealed “a concerning mass” in her head. She was transferred across town to the major regional medical center. Sunday morning a MRI showed detailed pictures of a mass the size of a tennis ball behind her right eye.
That Tuesday she underwent 9 hours of surgery to remove a meningioma – a tumor of the meniscus tissue surrounding the brain. It was contained (not invasive) but growing. It had been growing for some years before it pressed on nerves and on the brain itself enough to disturb their function, including vision and smell and balance and eventually seizures. I brought her home that Friday afternoon, six days (to the hour) after we entered the ER.
Beginning immediately and now two years on, her olfactory hallucinations (remember the question was about smelling something?), tremors, and problems with balance and coordination are gone. She has a new eyeglass prescription. Follow-up MRIs continue to reveal no recurrence, and her brain is expanding to re-occupy the space from which it had been shoved aside by the tumor as it grew. She has made a more-than-full recovery, engaged with new sporting challenges, and enjoys every day as a teacher, musician, and Grandma.
By the grace of God expressed through a surgeon’s skillful hands, she no longer smells things that aren’t real, I get to enjoy more years with my lovely bride!
Here in my little town we had this business called the Executive Whirl-A-Sage. It offered massage and spa services for the “discriminating client”.
Everyone knew what it really was.
Anyhooo… The IRS decided to take notice. But they couldn’t figure out how much money the place made because it did everything in cash. They got clever.
Sent an agent in as a “client”. (I always wondered which lucky dude landed THAT plum assignment!) He had his “service” (which I suspect didn’t include the happy ending, but who knows???). He carefully counted the number of towels used.
The IRS then demanded all the laundry bills for the business. They counted the total number of towels and divided by the number used per client to determine the number of clients. Some simple math and they had their estimated revenue.
Needless to say, the place was closed down when it couldn’t pay the bill.
I’d just like to start off by saying, gentlemen, I love y’all. You’re half the world. Most of you are great, many of you are just sweet and adorable.
And then there’s the rest of you who come out of the barn in which you were raised just long enough to scare me out of leaving my house.
The right to have sex with me is earned. It’s not transactional, it’s not a bought and sold commodity, and I don’t owe you just because you bought me dinner or even a lousy cup of coffee. In fact, I owe you nothing of myself except my public courtesy, and that can be withdrawn at any time if you show yourself unworthy of it.
What you men—and this is where you stop being gentlemen—do to really creep me out is that you forget that I am the ultimate keeper of my body, and try to wear me down when I say no. Constantly badgering, hinting, whining like a toddler in a checkout line full of candy. Like a toddler you sulk and stomp around when I say no, and double down on trying to get your way. And just as the toddler screams “I hate you!” because mom won’t buy them a Kinder egg, you turn on me when I won’t give in.
“Bitch.”
“Fat pig.”
“You’d be lucky to have someone like me, you ugly piece of shit.”
Yeah, that’s just the right way to get me into the sack.
You don’t respect the word NO, and in that you disrespect me. That’s just creepy and you make me question my lifestyle choices.
To me I believed most of the global south world agree with me. I am sure the U.S. dog and slave nations very much prefer to lie to themselves that the U.S. is the most powerful for their own self interest and wishful thinking.
No matter how pretentious you can be, the world’s most indebted nation, the world’s highest deficit nation, the nation that spends more on defence than the next 10 biggest defence spender, the world’s most over reach, over extended war monger and trouble maker cannot be powerful. So the U.S. is at best is a desperado trying to grasp at anything to stay relevant at the cost of bringing its economy down further.
The real power is China whose respect comes from its actions. Not like the U.S. on coercion and threats. China has overtaken the U.S. in most counts. Even militarily. China does not want a poor U.S. or even a collapse U.S. it still wants a good trade with the U.S. but one that has mutual respect.
Why are universities making students pay for classes that have nothing to do with life
I work with a woman whose WHOLE family doesn’t “do funerals.” I asked her why.
She told me that it started when her paternal grandfather passed away, and they were planning the funeral. It was emotionally draining to plan while grieving, not to mention expensive.
Her paternal grandmother decided she didn’t want a funeral, and that Thanksgiving, with the whole family (my co-workers parents, co-workers in-laws, aunts, uncles, extended family on both sides) she made a declaration.
“I don’t want a darn funeral. Donate the money you’d use for a funeral for me to an animal shelter or a food bank.”
After a long discussion, it became a tradition.
They just don’t have funerals, they put up an obituary and ask for donations to whatever charity the deceased picked.
On the anniversary of their death, the family members take the ashes of their loved ones and spread them.
I don’t think it’s such a bad idea.
EDIT: (04/24/2020) Wow, I have gotten a LOT of feedback on this answer. Thank you all!
One thing I’m going to suggest to all of you is, if you choose to be cremated, please get your cremation set up and prepaid for as soon as you can.
My mom was diagnosed with Stage IV Pancreatic Cancer in March of 2017. One of the first things she did was get her cremation set up.
She prepaid for her cremation, she picked out an urn (a plastic box.) She also separately bought “keepsake urns,” for my sister, grandmother, one to be interred and one for me. She bought 10 death certificates (my dad had passed away on 2010, and she knew you’d need a lot of them for different things.)
When she passed away in February of this year, all my sister and I had to do was call the funeral home and they picked up her body. They had my sister and I go in a few days later and sign paperwork.
They didn’t try to sell us anything, they were able to be human to us. To help us grieve.
When you pass away, your family won’t have to pay anything extra out of pocket unless taxes or death certificate prices rise. We actually received a refund check for $11.38.
The cost of her “package” in 2017 was around $1,600. The funeral liaison we met with said today, it would be around $1,800.
At the time of the loss of my mom, I was so grateful she took care of it for us. It was an amazing gift.
I was doing part of my internship in a bank in the safe deposit department. It turned out to be quite fun, actually. One day a client came down and asked to rent a safe deposit box, a large one. He was in a hurry, so I did the paperwork as fast as possible, and then took him to his box, leaving him alone to deposit whatever it was he wanted to leave with us (as we were not supposed to watch) and then he left.
About ten days later, the gentleman came back, and, by chance, I was the one who went to open his box with him. I was about to leave him at it, when he stopped me and said “No need, I’m just getting this and I’ll return the box.” I looked and he had a big bag of chocolates which he was pulling out of the box! I gave him a puzzled look and he laughed: “My wife demanded I buy Swiss chocolates for the whole family, but then I had to add a leg to my trip, and I couldn’t take them with me. I thought it would be a pity to throw them away…so…”He raised his shoulders and left.
Still, he’d paid one year’s rent for a large sized safe deposit box, which was about 500 to 600 francs, to avoid throwing away maybe 200 francs of chocolates. And created an insect infestation risk for the bank, if he’d forgotten or neglected to return for his chocs!
I never had a situation like that,but just last year one man that has a restaurant in Rovinj,Croatia called my ex boss to ask him for my phone number since he saw me work the previous season.He then called me and said that he wanted me to work at his restaurant,and since he knew that I’m good at my job he offered me 3000€ a month,accomodation and food.He said that he knows that I’m worth it and that he won’t haggle because he wants me to work for him.I accepted and got there,and started to work. To cut the story short,from all the things he promised,nothing was delivered. It was close but not what was promised.When I got the first salary I noticed that the money paid to me was off,but since my first month there I didn’t work the full month i decided to wait for the next salary and to see what is what.The salary for the full month I got 2300€.When I called him to speak about it he said;”The conditions are what they are,if you don’t like it,good luck!”,and he raised his hand like he wanted to shake my hand.I grabbed his hand right away and said “I don’t like it.”He was surprised,and when I was walking away I heard him say that 2300€ is still a good salary and non of his other workers had that much.But to me it would have been the same if he gave me 1€ less than promised.I would still left.You can’t lie to me like that and expect me to take it.And besides the way he said that”if you don’t like it,good luck”that would be humiliating if I were to stay.Fuck you and your 2300€ a month.If he offered me 2300 from the start,and kept his word I would still come to work for him,and I would be satisfied.But anyway when it comes to your case,I think that saying to people:”If you don’t like it,you can go.” is degrading,and I would go.I think that there should be mutual respect between the worker and the boss,not just respect for the boss.
Some of what was said in the interview by Putin:
image 119
– Russia is ready to supply Europe with gas through the “Nord Stream 2” pipeline, but Germany does not want to
– The United States was the one who blew up the “Nord Stream” pipeline.
– Elon Musk’s creativity cannot be stopped, but rather an understanding must be reached with him
– Russia and Ukraine will reach an agreement sooner or later
We want to reach a solution to the Ukrainian crisis through negotiations
– NATO has options to recognize Russia’s control over the new territories
We have information that the United States supported terrorists inside Russia
The West fears a strong China more than it fears a strong Russia
– The Americans pledged not to expand NATO eastward, but the expansion happened 5 times
– The world will change regardless of how the crisis in Ukraine ends
– Russia becomes the first economy in Europe in 2023 despite the sanctions. American attempts are of no use.
– Ukraine is an artificial entity established in the Stalinist era
Russian relations with Ukraine are distinguished by language, kinship and religion
We proposed that Russia join NATO after the collapse of the Soviet Union, but they refused
– When NATO refused to let us join it, they feared Russia as a large and powerful country
We will never attack Poland unless we are attacked by them
How the heck did Andy Dufresne walk into nearly a dozen banks in the Portland area and walk out unrecognized with hundreds of thousands of Warden Norton’s money the day after his escape from Shawshank Penitentiary?
Signature cards, no photos on driver’s licenses, and no CNN or World Wide Web.
This stumped me for a long time, too. I couldn’t figure out how someone could use a phony driver’s license with no picture on it, and take out tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars out of any bank in the United States.
But apparently photos weren’t always required on driver’s licenses in every state. The first photos appeared on driver’s licenses in California in 1958. Texas didn’t require them until the mid-1970′s. Even New York and Tennessee didn’t require pictures until 1986.
I couldn’t find what year Maine began putting photos on theirs, but, it’s probably safe to assume that in the mid-1960’s, Maine didn’t yet require pictures on a legal form of ID.
The Maine driver’s license Andy presented to the bank was probably state issued and not forged, if we assume it was Warden Norton who created the alias to hide the money he was making by taking bribes from construction companies who didn’t want Shawshank’s cheap labor taking over major construction jobs in the local area.
Also, I remember, from working for a couple of years for a bank when I was in college that signature cards are placed on file with the bank, so if someone comes in without ID, they can just match the signature to the card, and accept that as legal identification.
We would think of that as somewhat of a lax form of ID in today’s day and age, but fifty years ago, the world was different.
Anyway, it makes sense that Warden Norton would use Andy and his wealth of banking knowledge to create all these accounts under the alias, Randall Stevens (Peter Stevens, in the novella) even having Andy sign the signature card (that doesn’t always have to be done inside the actual bank, believe it or not) so as to further insulate Norton from the crime.
As for why no one in the banks or on the street knew Andy by his face, someone else mentioned that this was 1966 (or 1975, if we’re talking about the original text) and in that era, it took a day, or so, to get someone’s photo into the newspapers (which was the World Wide Web back in those days) to get a photo distributed to the three major broadcast companies, and maybe a couple of days to reach all the local TV stations state- and nation-wide.
The instant gratification of the Information Superhighway was still a couple of decades away, so the wheels of communication could take a few days or even a week to get up to full speed back then, so it’s completely plausible that Andy Dufresne could have walked into a bank the following morning to clean out all of Warden Norton’s false bank accounts without anyone even knowing there was an escape at Shawshank, much less recognize his face.
The only thing that’s a little bit implausible is that he could get to eleven banks, all in one day. It has always been a tedious, drawn-out task to go into a bank and close an account, especially if you get an accounts officer, then an assistant manager, then the bank manager, all trying to talk you into keeping your account open, which Andy would most assuredly have run into, considering the money he was taking out of each branch, so the idea of getting to that many banks in a single 24-hour period is a bit of a stretch.
She was young and timid and always wore full-length skirts and hats whenever she was outside. She was one of the three women who ran the gifted program in my middle school. That may have been a part of her student teaching (internship), now that I think about it. Like I said, she was very young.
The gifted program in middle school was a one-hour-per-week pull-out program. Three or four kids from each class (I was one of them) left our regular class for that hour and went to a different room where the three teachers played logic games with us, discussed current events, and generally tried to challenge us more than the regular teachers were able to, since the regular teachers had to aim for the middle of the pack, student-wise.
The best part of that program was the field trips. It was nice to spend extra time with just that group of classmates and those three teachers. I happen to have some pictures from an 8th-grade gifted class field trip, and she is in some of them. I can tell now that she was maybe 25 years old at best back then.
Two years later, when I was a sophomore in high school, she got hired as a full-time English teacher at the school. It was cool to see her again. All of us former gifted class students of hers were happy to see her again, but sad that she wouldn’t be teaching the advanced English class we were in.
Within two weeks, we saw her for the last time, jogging down the hall mid-class period, crying, heading for the exit.
She was used to working with gifted kids in small groups… Kids who were well-behaved and genuinely interested in what she was trying to teach them.
As is the norm with high school teachers, the newest teachers get the last pick when it comes to classes. So she was stuck with teaching the remedial English class… the students who had the most academic and behavior issues. Apparently, those students were able to get under her skin so much that she walked out on the job. Broke her contract and everything. We never saw her again after that.
I remember seeing the assistant principal running down the hall shortly after that, into the room that she’d left teacher-less. It was the first time I’d heard an adult actually swear at students. (Although I was told that the coaches did it all the time to their student athletes.) He got the class back under control for the rest of the period, mainly by yelling at them like a drill sergeant.
But perhaps that’s what they needed all along: someone with the demeanor of a drill sergeant, not the timid young lady whose teaching career they ended quickly.
I’ve read many of the comments on this topic, and I believe my offering here can be helpful.
I worked in food service for 14 years and held the title of Executive Chef at two American institutions. The most notable was at the Augusta Country Club in 1987 up to the Masters’ Golf Tournament of April 1988.
The grilling, broiling, or searing of a Rib Eye steak will bring a distinct flavor to the flat surface of the cut, which is common for all beef seared grilled or broiled. However, that flavor will not be present along the outer perimeter of the cut, and tenderness is not guaranteed, especially once it cools down. (I’ve had to use a jacquard tenderizing device on some.)
A roasted Prime Rib can be prepared in an oven to achieve a dark brown upper/outer surface and can then be placed under a broiler/salamander to add more of that coloring/flavor to the outer surface. Also, a sliced Prime cut can be seared to get that browning onto the face of the cut. Au Jus is a lesser preferred option for me in that it “waters” the flavor as it rinses off some of the rub/seasoning.
Now, just last year I developed what I believe is the pinnacle of prep for Prime Rib. (I moved away from buying ribeye after I got less-than great results in tenderness after paying a high price per pound.)
What I did was to season a whole Prime Rib with a plain mustard binder, and my custom rub. THEN I thoroughly pierced the entire Prime with a long skewer to promote self-basting INSIDE the cut. The final step is the “ringer.” I put the Prime into my Cuisinart pellet smoker on 250 degrees, until the core temperature reached 200 degrees. (about 10 hours) I use dark wood pellets like Cherry, or a dark fruit blend. The outer surface comes out as dark as any sear. The smoke ring all around the Prime is always at least 1 centimeter wide, and the inside is always full of flavor!
Some of my guests who like rare meats believed they got rare from me. “Rare” is (arguably) around 165 degrees internally, but my Prime at 200 degrees was so tender, juicy and flavorful inside and out, that it pleased all my guests.
I am retired from my career, but I’ll be smoking another Prime Rib for visitors at my home next week!
Both. We had one restaurant that charged all cops $2 for a meal. It was a greasy spoon that health departments and vegans despise but it was the only place in town open 24/7 that we did not have to worry about some crackhead cook “doctoring” our food.
That $2 was usually supplemented with a $5 tip, which covered the meal and the waitress’ tip.
The chief stopped us from going to the diner unless we paid full price. So we paid full price. Orders are orders.
When the owner found out why we were paying full price, he was livid. He went to the next city council meeting and actually yelled at the mayor and city manager about how they were trying to dictate to him what he wanted to charge cops and firefighters. He had been doing it so long, everyone knew about it and didn’t care.
The day after the city council meeting, the chief rescinded his order and $2 meals were back with the $5 tip.
This was a place we could bring a homeless guy on a cold night for coffee and a meal and we did many times in the winter. We always left enough money for both and when we came in for our meal hours later, the waitress would give us our money back.
The owner would always feed someone in need for free and didn’t want us to pay for it. He felt it was his duty to do so.
Great food and a better man who, sadly, passed away many years ago.
I was born to answer this question. I have three distinct instances when my neighbors have called the cops on me, well rather my parents but still.
When I was a child I had a neighbor who would literally spy on my family and called the cops on us several times. The first time she called the cops on us was because she saw a sleeping bag on the roof and was calling because she thought one of us was on the roof. So the police come to our house and ended up waking my mom who was asleep (she works night shift as a nurse). What had happened was one of my sisters had spilled water on the sleeping bag and thought it was a sunny day she would just put it on the roof to dry.
image 122
As you can see my house has a window above the one roof so it’s not particularly hard to do this. Anyway the cops came questioned my mom and then went about their merry way.
The second time my neighbor called the cops was when we all were getting ready to go somewhere and my dad was at work so it was just my mom and us kids and so we all got loaded into the van and we were going about our merry way when the cops call my mom and ask if she has all of her children with her. She says yes and the cop asks if it’s okay if he comes and checks. She says yes and he comes and sees that we are all there and goes on with his life.
The third and final time was the most serious. The neighbors kid threatened me and said if I didn’t come over to her house in the middle of the night she would burn my house down. Now of course that wouldn’t make sense but I was under nine and she was three years older than me and I was scared of her. So I went over and spent the night. Her mom was totally okay with this and didn’t call my parents at all. Instead in the morning she gave us breakfast because we were hungry and we went home. Later that day she calls the police on my parents because she said we were not well taken care of and were starving. All because we had asked her for breakfast because after all we had not eaten all night. So the police came and inspected our cupboards and such. They decided that my parents were fit parents and left.
So that’s my crazy neighbor for you. I hope you enjoyed my stories.
My girlfriend back then was working at a hotel near my house. She went to work in the morning, and noticed a puppy in the back of a pick-up truck in the parking lot. It was yelping and whining, like puppy’s do, so it was hard to miss.
When she left work 8 hours later, the puppy was still in the back of the truck in the parking lot… in Texas. No water. No food. It was a hot day. She grabbed the dog and brought it to my house.
She was a yellow lab mix, and my girlfriend named her Vive. The girlfriend didn’t last, but the dog did. Best dog I ever had. We traveled together through thick and thin for the next 12 years. From small apartments to horse farms, and for a few weeks living in my truck, we were best friends. I could take her anywhere. Never on a leash to control her. Only when others demanded it. She was good with children, kittens, horses, and I could leave a steak dinner on a low coffee table, and she’d never touch it.
She had 2 drawbacks. The first, was that she loved the smell of a dead skunk. Thought it was Chanel No. 5 and loved to roll in it whenever she could find it.
The second, was that she didn’t live as long as me.
I attended college in the ‘80s, when miniskirts were (again) in fashion. In one class, a lovely young woman sat beside me in the front row.
During the first week of classes, the professor dropped the chalk mid-lecture (intentionally, I suspect) and peeked up her miniskirt. Her legs were not crossed.
She was taking notes, so she didn’t notice. He saw that I had, and he quickly resumed the lecture.
In the hallway after class, I asked did she have a moment. She was wary, probably used to being hit on by strange guys. I told her what had happened, and that she should probably switch seats.
She switched out of the class. I should have.
The professor had seen me talking with her in the hall. From that point forward, he nitpicked my assignments and test answers. (It was an English course, so all answers were written.) Nothing was ever wrong, but he’d find ways to subtract a point here and there until the deductions added up. I had a D in the class at one point.
I was naive, never before having received a bad grade. (Yes, overachiever.) I assumed that eventually the reprisal would end. The realization that college professors are almost completely unaccountable came too late — after the period to drop a class.
My final grade was a C. I was distraught, not only because it was my first C, but also because it threatened my scholarship, which required that I maintain a minimum GPA.
The assistant dean called me in for a conference. I explained what had happened, bringing exhibits of his grading of my work. I also provided the name of the peeking victim to corroborate my story.
A few weeks into the next term, I received a notice that my grade had been changed to a B. It was my only B in my major field.
And I avoided future classes with that professor.
Green Lasagna with Two Sauces (Lasagna Verdi al Forno)
recipe lasagna with two sauces
Yield: 12 servings
Ingredients
Meat Sauce
8 ounces bulk Italian sausage, crumbled
4 ounces smoked sliced chicken or turkey, finely chopped
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 medium stalk celery, minced
1 medium carrot, finely shredded
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 3/4 cups water
3/4 cup dry red wine
1/3 cup tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon Italian herb seasoning
1/8 teaspoon pepper
Dash of ground nutmeg
Green Noodles
8 ounces fresh spinach or 1 (10 ounce) package frozen spinach, cooked as per package directions
2 eggs
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 1/2 quarts water
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
Cheese Filling
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup snipped parsley
Creamy Sauce
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
Dash of ground nutmeg
3 cups milk
Instructions
Meat Sauce
Cook and stir sausage until light brown; drain. Stir in remaining ingredients. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, 1 hour.
Green Noodles
Remove root ends and imperfect leaves from spinach. Wash several times in water, lifting out each time; drain. Cover and cook with just the water that clings to leaves until tender, 3 to 10 minutes. Rinse spinach with cold water; drain.
Place spinach, eggs, 1 tablespoon oil and 1 teaspoon salt in blender container. Cover and blend until pureed, about 20 seconds.
Make a well in center of flour. Add spinach mixture; stir with fork until mixed. Sprinkle with a few drops water if dry; mix in small amount of flour if sticky. Gather dough into a ball. Knead on lightly floured cloth covered board until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes.
Divide dough into halves. Roll one half into a 13 x 12 inch rectangle; cut rectangle into 6 (13 x 2 inch) strips.
Repeat with remaining dough. Spread strips on rack; let stand 30 minutes.
Heat water to rapid boil; stir in 1 tablespoon salt, 1 tablespoon oil and the noodles. Cook uncovered over medium heat until nearly tender, 15 to 20 minutes.
Drain; rinse with cold water. Place in single layer between sheets of wax paper.
Cheese Filling
Toss all ingredients together.
Creamy Sauce
Heat butter over low heat until melted. Blend in flour, salt and nutmeg. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until smooth and bubbly; remove from heat. Stir in milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir for 1 minute; cover and keep warm. If sauce thickens, beat in small amount of milk. Sauce should be the consistency of heavy cream.
This happened a very long time ago in Corporate America.
Our department worked closely with another that was managed by Marsha, a 40-year-old workaholic who was brilliant at her job. In fact, headquarters had her conduct workshops twice a year to share her methods and to update procedures.
She was totally immersed in effective management, efficiency, quality control and motivation.
Occasionally, she would ‘come up for air’ and momentarily consider that life included much more than work. She would look around for something to do that would benefit the less fortunate and made donations of money, goods, old clothes and books.
Then it was back to being a workaholic.
She was approached by Stan, a fifty-eight-year old, homeless man who refused charity and asked for a job. She spoke with him several times at a cafe where he was sometimes given meals in return for doing odd jobs. Marsha was impressed by his attitude, but most of all, by the love he had for his dog SweetPea, a Lab mix.
That was a side of Marsha that none of us were aware of.
She put her reputation and position on the line, cleaned him up and got him a job in the company’s mail and supply room. Stan lasted two days: he insisted that SweetPea had to be with him.
Marsha didn’t blink. She negotiated a position for him in the large parking area of the office building. He and SweetPea were still there, three years later when I moved on to a different place.
Whatever the US do, or tries to do it does not matter. At the best it will only slow dow China the the U.S. expense of slowing it selves even more. China will grow till it is effectively be 5–6 times the U.S. real size. It may take the most of the 21st century but it will ultimately come to that.
The reason is simple. China has 4 times the U.S. population but it’s political and social system is simply far more superior and stable. It’s growth is sustainable and very healthy. Hence it should put grow the U.S. on per capital basis. But in the real sense. Not in U.S. dollar or even in GDP narrow sense that is frankly a farce and meaningless.
Chinese people are harder working, they are certainly more discipline, the learns more and are more industrious and highly driven. The Chinese language may render its people less descriptive but it makes them more learned and helps them learn faster and better. China is not distracted like the U.S. to get itself into endless wars like the U.S. hence it ought to be at least 50% more successful over time.
That is provided there’s us no war with the U.S. but if war happened it either end the world as we know it or it it world totally implode the U.S. till it becomes several nations. Both are not good outcome for the U.S. To me the U.S. needs to accept that the best option it to hang on to being a strong number 2 till India get its act together sometimes by the 2nd half of 21st century.
I needs to partner not try the shit of containing China right away. It needs to benefit most from China’s inevitable ascendency. Not obsessed with stoping China by cutting of its own limbs.
“You told my granddaughter her shirt was ugly,” an angry woman I’d never met before told me as I was supervising my kindergarten students during their breakfast time.
I looked down at my little student, then up at the grandmother and asked, “I’m sorry, what’s this all about?”
She repeated her claim, saying the girl came home from school the day before and told her the teacher said her shirt was ugly. I couldn’t even remember what the little girl had worn, and I most certainly never said that to a child.
Speaking to the girl, I asked her who had said her shirt was ugly and she replied, “The kids.”
Grandma went berserk at this and yelled at the girl, “No! It was your teacher who said that! That’s what you told me!”
At that point I suggested we take it to the principal and asked the other teacher in the cafeteria to cover my class. Once grandma and I were in the principal’s office, the whole conversation was repeated. The principal told the woman that she’d known me many years, that I would never speak to a child in that manner, and that clearly it was indeed other children who had said the shirt was ugly.
Grandma threatened to take her accusation to the district office. The principal pointed to her desk and said, “There’s the phone.” Grandma turned and left the office without another word, and that was the last I heard of the strangest complaint I ever received as a teacher.
Debt – had a sgt, when I first started, that lived about a mile from me, so we hung out sometimes. I get a call one day that he got arrested for bank robbery. He bailed out and my roommate and I went to talk to him, because we couldn’t believe it. He said, “I was just trying to show them how weak their security was.” We were new, but we weren’t born yesterday. Apparently he had some big gambling debts and was desperate. He went to prison.
The slippery slope – A team of narco cops decided, amongst themselves, that they weren’t being treated fairly. They were bringing in all this money in seized assets, but the department wasn’t giving them money for equipment they felt they needed, like night vision scopes. So, they kept (stole) some of the the money they seized to buy the equipment they felt they needed. mmmmm Okay. But then the equipment they needed turned into houses, cars, jewelry and boats. They went to prison.
Greed – A case I heard about recently, a deputy offered up his services to provide security for dope shipments. He said he and his coworkers would escort shipments for a certain amount of money. His “coworkers” were actually just people he knew. They all went to prison.
Born dirty – A kid from a generational gang family was raised to stay out of trouble and get good grades. The sole purpose was to get him hired on the sheriff’s department so he could help with the gang’s jail drug smuggling operation. He was found out and arrested. Within a week, he was all tatted up. He went to prison.
Stupidity/Naivete/No good deed goes unpunished/Blackmail – Inmates have nothing but time. Career criminals use that time to plan. They will try to identify, target and “groom” young naive deputies. In a case a few years back, 2013, or so, a young kid graduated from the academy and was assigned to one of the jails. An inmate started making conversation with him and being friendly. At a certain point, he gave this kid some sob story about his family and that he couldn’t get in touch with them, or something like that. Whatever it was, this young deputy decided to do something for this inmate, like take a message to his family, or something and then bring a message back. I forget exactly what it was, but it was against policy and being in his first year, he could be fired. The inmate used it against him and blackmailed him into smuggling drugs into the jail. The inmate was caught, gave the deputy up and the deputy went to prison. He made a video for the department about it that the department now shows in the academy.
Until a few years ago, when my mom was still working, she had a very strange habit — She would come back from work tired, request for a glass of coke, a couple of papad, and sit down for a few minutes before resuming other household work.
We would often tell her that rather than coke and papad, you can eat something healthier, perhaps a glass of juice and some fruits. But no, these advices would just fall on deaf ears. I wouldn’t just understand why would she not want to stay healthy.
She would often have headaches in the morning and would wake up tired. Being an advocate of yoga, other fitness activities and it’s importance, I would keep persisting with my efforts to convince her. But no, she would just not have it.
For me, it was difficult to understand why would she not want to have a better life.
Just, why not!
Surprisingly, my father, who used to go for jogging and would really care about his fitness, started ignoring the healthy bits of his life and slowly, with time, stopped doing it at all. He seemed to be following mom’s route of not caring about his health anymore. I tried to persuade him to restart with the brisk walking again, but to no avail.
Years later, I realised the reason — It was the stress that was killing them from inside — something I was not aware of, until recently, especially about the intensity of it they were dealing with.
When it was my turn to get a share of their stress coupled with some of mine, I found out how it overpowers your willingness to do things which makes you happy. It smothers you slowly, makes you want to avoid putting any extra efforts, even for those things which are absolutely essential. You become a person who just wants to do things which makes them feel normal, if not better — like having some unhealthy meals in my mom’s case; or stopping the exercises in my father’s.
Advices, suggestions, words of wisdom are the most readily available things in this world. Every body seems to give it, very few can follow it under every circumstance. What a person is going through and whether he can even make something of your suggestion (intended in a helpful way) is way beyond our understanding at times.
And unless you can be in someone’s shoes, you will never understand why that someone behaves in a certain way, or chooses not to.
I think a story from 2005 illustrates it fairly well.
This was at the Norrtäljeanstalten prison, Sweden’s highest security facility. We’re talking murderers, armed robbery, that sort of people.
One fateful evening, there was a major slip in security. Total disaster. In one wing, the cell doors remained unlocked as the staff went home for the day.
So. It’s not like the inmates could get out – they were still behind several secure layers. They just had the run of the building for one night.
So what did they do?
They made their way to the kitchen, baked a cake, and ate cake and watched TV all night. They all said it was the best night ever.
In the morning, they were unceremoniously put back in their cells, but faced no further consequences. The two staff who had managed to forget to lock got a weeks’ pay docked, and a stern warning.
Swedish prison: turns bank robbers into cake bakers.
My cat went missing for several months. He was a stray that kind of adopted my home as an inside/outside mellow lap cat. I searched and asked around, posted flyers all around town but he was just…gone. One day went to a customers home and on her living room couch is my missing cat!! This older lady had been feeding it and coaxed it inside and he stayed. He remembered me, I pointed out a little crook in his tail that convinced her it was him. I told her that he seemed pretty happy and I guess he lives here now. I gave her his vet records, cat bed, and favorite toys. Part of me was mad because she HAD to have seen those missing cat signs but I was at the same time glad he was warm and happy and not flattened by a truck or something.
About a year later, this crazy lady comes to my door with VET BILL! He got a bladder infection and she took him to the vet and asked them to charge me for it. She took the paperwork I’d given her and told them it was on my account. A bill had been mailed and I was on the phone with them before it even arrived letting know it was her cat and her problem now!
When I was a young boy, I reckon somewhere around 7 years old, we were living in Monroe Connecticut. It was (at that time) a growing middle class neighborhood, and my father bought a plot there and was building a house.
(Later on, it became a wealthy suburb, and our house that we sold at a loss in 1965, became worth many, many millions of dollars. Sigh).
I used to explore the woods around the home.
And one Easter, my father woke us up with our baskets of chocolate, and Easter eggs, and a live white rabbit.
And us kids… being kids… well, we spent all day feeding the rabbit chocolate. And that is what happened all during Easter.
Well…
The very next day, we woke up to find the rabbit dead.
Yup.
Chocolate ends up killing animals like rabbits, dogs and cats.
Sheech! We didn’t know!
So that morning, once we all got our clothes on, we filed in a line… a procession… and carried the rabbit to the swamp and trees behind our property.
And there, my dad dug a hole, and we buried the rabbit.
We all threw some dirt on the cardboard shoe-box, and said goodbye to our short-lived friend.
Sometimes, the best intentions… due to ignorance… can be lethal.
Napoleon Bonaparte, who became Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, is the most famous self-made man in history. The other great men with whom Napoleon is compared, such as Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar, began their careers with tremendous advantages. Alexander was already king of Macedonia when he conquered the Persian Empire and earned the title “the Great.” Caesar was born into the aristocratic patrician class, and was governor of Spain before he conquered Gaul and became dictator of Rome.
Napoleon was born in Corsica, a backwater province of France, and through his father’s efforts attended military schools in France. At any other time, he might have simply served as a career officer in the king’s army, perhaps with some distinction. Instead of this fate, the chaos and violence of the French Revolution provided opportunities for ambitious men. Like hundreds of other French military men and politicians, Napoleon was literally the right age, at the right time in history, in exactly the right place to exploit fortune.
Through a combination of talent, ability, patronage, boundless energy, and great luck, Napoleon circumvented potential rivals and rose rapidly to prominence and power. By 1807, fourteen years after his first success at Toulon in 1793, Napoleon had created an empire unlike anything Europe had seen since Ancient Rome. He was 38 years old.
From the siege of Toulon to the battle of Waterloo twenty-two years later, Napoleon fought more battles than Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar combined. However, this era was far more than just the sum of his military exploits. The transition period between the 18th and 19th centuries was the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. People listened to the new, powerful sounds of Beethoven’s music, were inspired by the Rights of Man to overthrow the rule of kings by divine right, were appalled by the beheading of thousands during the Reign of Terror, were awed by the discovery of an ancient civilization in Egypt, and read the first works of the Romantics like Byron, Kant, and Goethe.
Gifted military commander, innovative administrator, and ruler of an empire, Napoleon seemed to influence everything and everyone. His enemies were so impressed with his genius and abilities that Prince Metternich, Austrian Minister and Chancellor, named the period the “Age of Napoleon” shortly after the French Emperor’s death.
Napoleon Bonaparte rose from obscurity on a small island to become the most powerful man in Europe, then lost it all to die in exile on another small island. It is one of the most incredible stories in history.
We got scam calls alot at our office…always an India accent. One Tuesday a call comes while I was on lunch break and frankly bored. I listen to the spiel. An American stranded desperately needs our help to get to the embassy. Why he/she had an Indian call would have been a good question, but I’m in this for the fun. So I loudly relay to my co-worker what they’re telling me…”Oh my gosh! Sarah you’re not going to believe what’s happened to this poor woman!” Making a long story shorter, we strung them along all week on lunch break having them email and call back while we tried to figure out how to make this $5k transfer. Friday rolls around and they call with wire #’s so I can send the cash on my lunch break. We wait about 20 minutes and they call back. I very innocently explain that I couldn’t send the money because my bank said they’re scammers, but not to worry…I gave the bank their phone number, wire numbers, and email address so the bank can verify they’re legit. Lot of cussing in the background and they hung up. It was quite satisfying and we got no more calls.
A young immigrant taxi chauffeur had raped a girl who was 14 at the time. Oh well, sexual crimes happen and often the perpetrators come from cultures where the woman’s value is somewhere between cows and furniture. The Swedish law is rather jovial and lenient, also on what comes to sexual crimes.
The girl’s boyfriend had gotten furious, and had decided to avenge. He had called his brothers, and together with the girl, they had ambushed the chauffeur. They had assaulted him, tied him, kicked him and finally hanged him on a tree in a nature reservate.
The chauffeur’s colleagues had gotten worried as he had not arrived to work, and they found him hanged on the tree a week later.
The gang of five was caught on basis of the mobile phone data. They are charged of murder. But since they are all underagers (under 18), they cannot be tried and sentenced as adults.
It is easy to see the girl was a native Swede, as the boyfriend and his brothers killed the assailant to avenge the rape. If she had been an immigrant, the boyfriend and his brothers would have killed her as a honour murder.
All in all, I am not amused of this case. It is a direct slap upon the Sweden’s collective face. First, this whole case would have not happened if rapists were punished severely enough in Sweden. Second, vigilantism is a sign that the official crime investigation and punishing machinery is not working as it should. Third, because murdering a rapist is not an eye for an eye – murder is a far more grave crime than rape itself. And fourth, because the murderers are all underagers. It is utterly unlikely adults would have taken the law on their own hands and murdered the rapist, but underagers with too much testosterone and too little consideration can commit crimes like this.
He asked him, “don’t you feel cold being outside, and not wearing any coat?” The old man replied, “l don’t have it but I got used to that.” The billionaire replied, “Wait for me. I will enter my house now and bring you one. ‘ The poor man got so happy and said he will wait for him.The billionaire entered his house and got busy there and forgot the poor man.
In the morning he remembered that poor old man and he went out to search for him but he found him dead because of cold, but he left a NOTE, “When I didn’t have any warm clothes, I had the power to fight the cold because I was used to that. But when you promised me to help me, I got attached to your promise and that took my power of resisting.
MORAL: Don’t promise anything if you can’t keep your promise. It might not mean anything to you, But it could mean everything to someone else.”
Only the British will know the “Slaughtered Lamb’s” most famous extra.
If you drink ten pints, your body will GPS itself towards a Kebab shop.
Only the British will know what Stephen Fry, Emma Thompson and Robert Lindsay have in common.
Only the British will know that Roger Moore nearly appeared in an Andrew Lloyd-Weber musical.
Only the British will know why the bowler was holding the batsman’s willy.
We know which part of Spain the rain mainly falls on.
It’s not a great idea to look the guy at the next urinal in the eye and smile!
Men know that five shakes and more, is getting ‘iffy.’
Only the British know what “Dogger” means when I say radio four.
Only the British knew about ENIGMA
Only the British will know about the use of inflatable tanks in WW2.
Only the British will know what an Anderson shelter was.
There’s always going to be one fat bridesmaid.
That part of the wedding where the vicar says, “Does any man or woman know why this man and this woman should not be wed?” – that’s the bit where Brits start playing in their head, what the outcome would be if someone says yes.
Only British drivers can navigate a double traffic island, with traffic lights and live.
Only British people know that a 747 over London actually STOPS, mid-air, then proceeds to land at Heathrow, while barely moving.
Only British people standing on the beach of Dover know that on a clear day you can see France, and that no bugger has yet seen France.
Only British people that the only thing that the City of London was designed for, is lunch.
Only the British know that the USA has NEVER lost a war in which donkeys were used.
Only the British will think that American history is an oxymoron.
Only the British know that the difference between burned toast and the US Army, is that you can still make soldiers out of burned toast.
Only the British know that the sea at Southport is only half true.
The French call it an outside cafe. The British equivalent of tables and chairs outside is called an eviction.
It is horrible to be forced to keep a brain dead 16 year old on massive machines because the mother knows God will do a mighty healing and threatens legal action and calling me a murderer. By the way I am a Christian Doctor and I do pray with my patients and families. Two Neurologists declared this man brain dead. All the protocols were done proper . She refused any organ donation from her son. She had all the pastors and elders praying for this miracle. She glared at me horribly. I had prayed with her. She called me a murderer. I felt overwhelmed and miserable and helpless. I did not dare “ unplug “ this young son of hers. Very very depressing and sad . I consulted with the neurologist who said from his long experience to just stop trying to fight mom. He said the patient will “ die “ within a week even with full tubes and support. Forget the ethics and all the money lost and wasted that could have gone to better use. Just let it happen.
This helped me a lot.
After a week the patient went into total heart failure and no rhythm and was declared heart dead finally and the mother gave up. She was satisfied all was done and God took her son home.
Who gets to win even when the family are flat out wrong by science ? Who gets to pay all these bills? Who just eats it? We could build a whole school for what this all cost. And this sad game plays out all the time.
Olaf Scholz and Annalena Baerbock and that group have single handedly performed Harakiri on their Industries and People
By tacitly cooperating with the destruction of Nordstream and by getting access to Cheap Gas and Oil taken away, they have subjected their people to inflation of almost 9% and forced their industries to pay between 57% –117% more for energy
image 531
Joe Biden, Blinken and that group have single handedly forced a level of de dollarization never seen before even in the 2008 Global Crisis
They have forced inflation on their Citizens
They have ignored Financial Struggles back home
image 530
Boris Johnson and Sunak and that group have done the same
Kept Europe in a state of war, Kept Oil and Gas impossible to buy for Europe or UK Without paying a 20% premium on the price to 40% premium
Plus knowing their actions have caused double digit inflation of 11% across the last two years
Are these really Democracies??????
Are they doing a SINGLE THING for their people?
In the US, more people have been cut off from Healthcare in the last two years
Anything being done?
Nopes
The US has been flooded with more illegal migrants in the past four years than under any other presidency
Anything being done?
Nopes
The Politicians of these Countries are being elected to power on the basis of deluding their voters by mass media and social media every time and once elected, commit every act of atrocity against the people
The exact opposite is happening in these AUTOCRACIES
In China, the focus is Food Security, Energy Security, Technological Independence, removing poverty, increasing healthcare participants
In Russia, for the first time Putin is focused on ensuring his people have enough to eat, work and the ability to buy homes at lower prices
In Saudi Arabia, MBS has made life much easier for women, more education, cheaper prices and a return to free healthcare for its citizens
Not to mention moving away from religious dogma
Even in India
Our Government never talks of Food or Energy Security or Water Security or Agricultural Security or Healthcare or Education
It’s always :-
Fifth largest economy
Third Largest economy by 20XX
In China meanwhile it’s always :-
So much Poverty gone by 20XX
So much energy dependence removed by 20XX
Own Soybean Production increased
I believe the very system of DEMOCRACY is collapsing across the world
Every Democracy now reveals a fatal flaw of how much more dangerous a Democracy can become for its people when it’s leadership becomes poor like the case of most democracies today
Xi and Putin have nothing to do with it
They didn’t sponsor Maidan in 2014
They didn’t blow up Nordstream
They don’t Publish lies about other countries
All they have done is REACT to unfair decisions taken by democracies and in the process caused greater damage to the same democracies
My daughter was 2 years old when I considered returning to school for my masters. I called Millersville University and requested a catalog be mailed to me.
After I called, I had misgivings. Should I wait until Lauren was a little older? The easy way out is always so attractive, so tempting.
The catalog arrived while Lauren was napping. I made myself a fortifying cup of coffee, sat down at the kitchen table, and perused this ominous looking catalog for, by now, that’s how I came to view the situation. Having consumed my coffee, I decided waiting was the better decision.
Two days later, the mailman delivered another catalog. I placed that on my desk beside the first one. Things began to look a little sticky when day five produced yet another catalog. Was Someone trying to tell me something?
Instead of placing the catalog beside two of its fellow conspirators, I took this into the kitchen, made myself a cup of coffee, and read the requirements.
Dad’s graduation photo.
Having finished the catalog and my coffee, a memory arose. It was of my father. I remembered walking through the kitchen on my way to bed. He sat at the kitchen table with the light shining on his textbooks, pencil in hand, working the problems his professor at The University of Dayton had assigned.
Dad worked full time at Delco Products in Kettering then attended night school to finish the degree he’d started years before. His studies had been interrupted when Pearl Harbor was bombed. At 40, he returned to college to complete his degree.
If Dad could do this, so could I. I put my feeble excuses aside, and spent the next three years completing my MEd and reading specialist certification. It felt good and my parents were quietly proud of me.
This is a very old Welsh recipe. The word “Bara” is the Welsh word for bread and “brith” is the Welsh word for speckled.
bara brith
Ingredients
1 pound mixed dried fruit, chopped
1 1/4 cups freshly-brewed tea
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 3/4 cups self-rising flour
1/2 cup milk
1 egg, beaten to blend
3 tablespoons orange marmalade
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Instructions
Place fruit in large bowl. Pour tea over fruit.
Add brown sugar and mix well.
Cover and let stand at room temperature overnight.
Heat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.
Add flour, milk, egg, marmalade and cinnamon to soaked fruit mixture. Stir until combined.
Spoon dough into the prepared loaf pan.
Bake until bread is brown and crusty and wooden pick inserted near center comes out clean, about 2 hours.
Cool slightly. (Can be prepared up to 4 days ahead. Wrap tightly and store at room temperature.)
Makiwnyk (Poppyseed Loaf)
Here is the recipe for the makiwnyk, poppyseed loaf. This recipe was written down by me when I was about 15 years old as my mother was making it. The paper is old and falling apart, so bear with me. Don’t let this scare you from making it. I just found it and haven’t had a chance to re-do it.
2023 12 30 12 10
Ingredients
Loaves
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1/2 cup lukewarm water
1 envelope active dry yeast
2 cups milk, scalded and cooled until lukewarm in mixing bowl
3 cups flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
3 eggs
3 egg yolks
2 cups flour
6 to 6 1/2 cups flour, divided
Poppyseed or Nut Filling
1 pound poppy seeds or ground nuts (I think she used walnuts)
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) melted butter
1 cup hot milk
1 to 2 tablespoons grated lemon rind
Instructions
Loaves: Dissolve the 1 teaspoon granulated sugar in lukewarm water (100 degrees F). Sprinkle active dry yeast into water/sugar mixture and let stand for 10 minutes.
Stir briskly with a fork. Add softened yeast to lukewarm milk and stir. Beat in the 3 cups flour. Cover bowl and let sit in a warm place until light and full of bubbles, approximately 1 hour.
Stir in the 1 cup granulated sugar, salt, melted butter and lemon rind. Beat just until mixed.
In a small bowl, beat with a fork the eggs and egg yolks. Stir into the batter. Add 2 cups flour and beat vigorously. Add another 4 to 4 1/2 cups flour working it in with a rotating motion of your hand. Turn dough over on a lightly floured surface and knead 8 to 10 minutes.
Shape into a smooth ball and place in a greased bowl turning the dough once. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours, approximately.
Poppyseed or Nut Filling: Combine all filling ingredients in a mixing bowl and beat until totally incorporated, set aside.
Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Punch down dough and divide into 3 equal parts. Roll each into a 1/2-inch thick rectangle. Spread with poppyseed filling or nut filling and roll up each rectangle in a jellyroll fashion. Pinch seams to make edges secure and turn under loaf. Place on greased baking sheets and cover and let rise until doubled in size. Brush tops with butter and bake in oven for 1 hour.
Makes 3 loaves.
* I just go out to the supermarket and purchase the Solo poppyseed or nut paste and use that – it’s quicker.
I’ve had two similar circumstances. In one, they had fired me and later discovered the program I had written that tracked orders in the company required an extensive update. They wanted to bring me back at my old pay level to fix it. I counter offered with a contractor based fee. They laughed and declined. I found out later it cost them ten times my offer to get it updated. The contractor they hired wouldn’t work on the old hardware they had been too cheap to update, wasn’t familiar with the legacy format of the database file involved, would only work during business hours, stretching out the job over many days, etc. I had offered to have it done over a weekend for $5k. It took over a week and cost $47k. I was told they inquired into suing me for damages. Since they had not fired me for cause, and because I had made a reasonable offer, I was told they were advised not to pursue it.
in the second circumstance I had left the company voluntarily six months prior. My replacement had been given all the passwords with instructions to change them on my departure. Six months after my departure I received a phone call from my old bosses’ lawyer – on a holiday weekend, no less. They wanted to know the password for a critical piece of hardware and threatened me with a lawsuit if I did not provide it. I said I would not even talk to them without my old boss conferenced in. She was on the line in ten seconds, leading me to believe she had been listening in all along. I reminded her that I gave my replacement all the passwords, including the one requested, with instructions to change them. She said he abruptly left and they are locked out. They were trying to make it my problem. I expressed my sympathy, said there was nothing I could do, wished them well, and hung up.
In general, unless you did something nefarious, the location of their files is not your responsibility after they fired you.
I’d like to define “honeytrap” for others first before answering…
A honeytrap occurs when a person, political organization, etc. use sexual favors or romantic relationships to gather information. It’s also known as “sexpionage”. This was used quite ofted during the cold war.
In WWII it would be used more for spying on others rather than gathering information in a prison camp by using sexual favors. I really can’t think of anytime that prison camps did this, certainly not the Japanese who looked down upon those who surrendered.
Claire Phillip’s set up a famous honey trap. Claire was a U.S. citizen who escaped Manila when it it fell to the Japanese. She spent a number of months caring for other guerrilla figthers in the hills of Bataan. She was eventually convinced to go back to Manilla and spy on the Japanese. Phillips ran the Tsubaki Club which was a nightclub eventually most frequented by the Japanese soldiers (really the officers).
“Madame Tsubaki” would sing and socialize with Japanese businessman and officers along with girls she trained to flirt with them in order to get information. Her girls were able to gain information pertaining to troop units, troop movements, and important goings-on by flirting (and sometimes more outside the club in the nearby hotels). The next day, Phillips would gather the information gleened from that night by her and her girls and smuggle it by courier to the guerrillas.
She also helped smuggle food and notes into nearby prisoner of war camps. Her luck eventually ran out and she was captured by the Japanese police in 1944 after one of her couriers that had been captured (who had been brutally tortured and eventually killed) gave her up.
She was sent to one of the worst prisons on the island and was put in solitary confinement. The Japanese had plans to execute her, but instead commuted her sentence to hard labor. She was freed when her prison camp was liberated.
image 565
For her brave acts, she was awarded the Medal of Freedom in 1951 upon the recommendation of Douglass MacArthur.
For further reading, I’d recommend – MacArthur’s Spies: The Soldier, the Singer, and the Spymaster who Defied the Japanese in World War II by Eisner, Peter (2017).
I’d also look up the story of this woman:
image 564
Betty Pack was an American-born British spy nicknamed “Victoria” who worked for the famous MI6. She was the one who first discovered that the Poles had broken the German Enigma code.
I’d recommend The Last Goodnight by Howard Bloom (2016), to read more about her in detail.
I was a Critical Care Transport Paramedic for one of the largest prison systems.
I was picking up a 65+ year old “Lifer” who was suffering chest pains from our unit Infirmary, to transport him to the main prison hospital…
A young CO was putting the Old Guy (“OG”) in the required Full restraints while OG was laying on my ambulance cot, with a mile of wires, IV tubes, oxygen tube and sensor cables running everywhere….
Since OG had a high security rating, the rules required handcuffs with a “Lock Box”, belly chain, leg irons and a “trip chain”…
image 552
The kid was fumbling everything…
Finally the OG, told the CO… “Dammit Kid…!! I ain’t got enough heartbeats left to wait on your ass….! YA DO IT LIKE THIS….”
….and Old Guy proceeded to direct Young CO in how to properly restrain a High Security Prisoner, quoting the Procedure Manual chapter and verse.
And the OG did a darned fine job of it…
When the young CO finished he told his LT he was going to write the inmate up, the LT told him to STFU and learn…
We had an uneventful ride to the hospital, and OG survived that and several more cardiac events before he finished his sentence… so to speak…
I liked OG…
He was respectful with the Medical Staff and COs tho hard as nails and well respected by the other inmates…
I was working for an independent Mercedes repair shop in Richmond Virginia. A customer had moved to Richmond from West Africa and had his Mercedes shipped by boat to Newport News and then flat- bedded directly to our shop to get it checked out and get a state inspection. The boss told me to drive it to another shop a few blocks away that did engine cleaning. When I got there we popped the hood and the guy proceeds to turn an industrial-sized pressure washer onto the engine. Out pops the biggest rat I’ve ever seen, maybe the size of a small dog, and we watched it run across the road and behind the nearest building. If that’s the kind of rats they have in West Africa I’m definitely steering clear of that place.
A semi-friend in high school days had a lot of connections where we worked part time. As a result, he believed he could do (or not) anything. He had been right for a year running. If he wanted Friday night off for a date — granted — something none of the rest of us got. If he wanted to come in later on Saturday morning, granted.
He’d “volunteer” to straighten up shelves, etc. and in reality he’d goof off. Sometimes he’d hang out in the stock room, other times in the break room. Sometimes he’d leave the store for as long as 20 minutes. The manager, who “knew,” nevertheless never went looking. He also knew that if he caught the kid, then what? He couldn’t fire him (connections) and yet he’d now officially know he was goofing off.
What if one of the rest of the staff complained. Even worse, what if one of the staff filed a complaint with the Dept of Labor or something like that? So he maintained his “deniability” by never going to look.
Then one day, one bagger was at lunch and the second was on break. The store had been empty but all of a sudden, there was someone at the check out. The rules of the store were that that the cashier never bagged … that was the bagger’s job.
The manager knew Jon was somewhere in one of the aisles goofing off, so he paged him to the front. No response. Paged again, no response. Finally, Jon comes wandering up, the manager points to the checkout line and Jon erupts.
“Go do it yourself you Effing lazy <religious slur name>. I bet you think that just because I have pull downtown that I’m in your <religious slur> religion but I’m not. So if you want to bag that b&tch’s groceries, get up off your lazy <backside> and do it. I’m going out for a smoke …”.
The manager said (very quietly I was told), “No, you’re fired.”
Jon started to laugh and the manager once again said, “You’re fired. Get out of this store right now.”
Jon: “Yeah right you little piece of <religious slur> <word for crap>. You’ll be the one fired when this is over.”
The manager stood his ground and told the woman in the courtesy booth to call the local PD. To Jon: you’ve got until they get here to get out or you will be arrested and I will press charges. I assume that the store will also back up any charges the cashier and the customer might want to level at you.
Then he hears the siren … he sees the cop car coming toward the store. With that, he tore through the store and ran out the back emergency exit and to his car. Not long after, he’s on the phone to his grandfather, who was his connection downtown.
But the grandfather had already heard the story so when Jon went off again, Granddad let him rant and then said “as your manger said, you’re fired. Is that all you called me about?”
I heard the story from coworkers and from him and both sides agreed on all the essential details. This was very possibly the first time anyone had ever told him no and made it stick.
In 1976 I was in college, and one afternoon a girl was screaming on the balcony of my dorm. So I went out there, and saw a student lying on his back, very pale, barely conscious, with blood coming out his mouth. Another student was kneeling over him, and said “if he dies I’ll kill myself, but he shouldn’t have messed with me”. A rifle lay on the balcony between them.
They were both freshmen, and had been on campus for only two weeks. The victim apparently was a bit of an asshole who had pranked the perp the previous week, destroying some of his property. On this day, he had been at it again, locking a different student in a bathroom and walking away. That was his last prank.
It was a small town, which did not have “911” service yet. I think there was some confusion about who was calling the ambulance – most of us were teenagers at that point. We should have carried him into the parking lot and put him in a pickup; the hospital was only a half-mile away. Finally the ambulance arrived; I think I saw his hand move as they loaded him in, but he was dead upon arrival.
The perpetrator surrendered without resistance. Apparently he had a history of mental illness, so he was found insane and was transferred to a mental institution. The rifle did not belong to him.
We can’t control the past. Wasting time to worry about it is lost time.
Sadly, we don’t get what we give. Don’t expect people to always give back. Not everyone has as giving a heart as you.
Good things usually don’t come easily. And if you think about it, great accomplishments take time too. Don’t expect rewards instantly.
Not everyone will support your dream. Haters, doubters, and pessimists will sabotage every move you make. To overcome this, follow your gut and forget them.
You are responsible for the problems you encounter, regardless of who caused them. So instead of blaming others, find a way to get out of situation.
Our words have the power to hurt. Cruel remarks wound others for life. Use your words to inspire and to liberate instead.
Failure quickly gets to our hearts, but success goes to our heads. Our character is revealed at our highest and lows. Be humble at the top. Be faithful in the valleys.
Our assumptions about what happiness should be are what makes us unhappy. Let go of your expectations about what would make you happy.
We judge ourselves by our ideas and others by their actions. Be a person who others want to meet and be around.
We all will die. No one will live forever. Start living a purposeful life and try to mend broken relationships, because you never know when life will end.
Hating oneself starts with breaking one’s promises. Once done, it feels terrible. When it becomes a habit, you hate yourself more.
Sometimes we have to ditch toxic friends from our lives and surroundings.
My first jury trial my client was accused of knowingly applying for Oregon resident hunting licenses and tags without qualifying for residency. My client owned about 40 acres of land in Oregon and had a trailer home and a large shop on the property and had utility bills for that property. He had one pickup truck registered in Oregon and one in California, where he taught at a community college, but his witnesses testified he spent summer and sabbaticals and holidays in Oregon and did not own a residence or have a permanent address in California. He paid state income tax to California and not to Oregon and had a California license, and a resentful Oregon neighbor had turned him in to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW). ODFW regulations required proof of residence by any 3 of a long list of documents, including a utility bill, a Passport, and a Social Security Card.
At trial, the arresting state trooper took the stand and on cross examination I handed him the booklet of regulations, which was 20 or 30 pages of fine print and was, at the time, distributed to every place that sold licenses, and asked him to turn to the page that described the residency requirements where my client could have found the requirements when he purchased his licenses and tags. I expected the trooper to turn right to that page and I planned to establish that all my client had to do was show a utility bill with an Oregon address, his social security card and passport (which have no addresses) in order to establish Oregon residence to the satisfaction of the vender.
To my great amusement, the trooper could not find the page. He fumbled through the pamphlet, back and forth. I enjoyed that for a few minutes, and finally told him the page number. He went to that page and scanned it and said “no, it’s not there” and went back to flipping through the the booklet. I let him do that for a minute more and said “look at page _ at the last paragraph set out with darker highlighting” and he then found the part and I went on with my questioning. At the end of the trial in my closing argument I hammered on that: My client is supposed to be able to read these rules while standing in line for his license and he is supposed to understand how they apply and the trooper can’t even find the rules when I tell him what page to look on . . . “
The jury acquitted my client on all counts. I cannot say for sure, but I believe that cross examination was the best moment in the trial for me and my client. My client was found not to have “knowingly” violated the law. And my brilliant cross examination was not planned or even anticipated. I assumed the trooper would be familiar with the regulations and would turn right to the page. The witness did it to himself.
My father-in-law looked me in the eye and angrily laid a curse on me by saying: “You’re going to die a miserable old man all by yourself.” With that, he got out of his chair and stalked away.
The circumstances were I was divorcing his daughter. Understand that his daughter had had several affairs, had made my life hell for several years, and truly didn’t want me in her life. She only claimed she wanted to stay married to save face and for the Machiavellian goal of making me look like the “bad guy” because I was the one filing for the divorce.
The lead up to the above talk was my then father-in-law had called me up to come by and talk to me. I of course said yes. I had always had a good relationship with him.
I spent the first half hour listening to him about how the Christian thing to do was to not get divorced. I made sure to fully listen to him. I mirrored back to him what he was saying to make sure I understood. I didn’t interject with my counter thoughts.
When he had finished I only got about 30 seconds into what I had to say in response. He cut me off. Said I wasn’t listening to him (because I wasn’t agreeing with him) and then he laid the curse on me per the quote above.
That was the last time I talked with him some 20 years ago. As I write this I’m sitting here with my wonderful wife of 10 years enjoying a scenic overlook from the back deck of our house.
Hot Dog Sizzler, an Auto Oven Cooks Hot Dogs From the 1950s
1 1
Want a hot dog on the road? Just plug this heater into your car’s electrical system. This 12 volt electric cooker could cook two wieners at the same time in three to five minutes in your car!
2 1
It was called the Hot Dog Siezzler and was made by the Thomas Manufacturing Co., of Chicago sometime in the 1950s while drive-in’s were around. This was thought up has an alternative to what they saw has an expensive meal at a White Castle or McDonalds or even Carols. It only makes sense because after all who wouldn’t rather have a hot dog instead of a hamburger?
3 1
Priced at $3.95 in the 1950s. And it also comes in a 115-volt version for the home.
Keep in mind that this is my opinion so you may/may not agree with me.
Spanish Donkey
This was a torture method that was used during the Spanish Inquisition (period of forced conversions to Christianity, killings, prosecutions and torturing). It was mostly used on women (but it was common to use on men as well) when they were stripped naked, put on the Donkey, weights were added on their legs and the point of the Donkey was to pressure the woman’s genital area and if the weights were heavy enough, it would split the victim in half. Weights were added to prevent the victim from falling off the device and to increase the agony.
image 512
Judas Cradle
Similar to the Donkey, Judas Cradle was a torture method used to punish criminals mostly. It was a pyramid shaped seat on which the victim was put slowly to make them suffer more. The victim was tied with ropes above the Cradle and then slowly lowered to the top of the device. Men were impaled through their anus and women through the vagina. The device would leave victims in agony and if those that were torturing wanted to make the whole process worse than it already was, they would add weights to the victim’s legs. If the victim didn’t die from the pain and exhaustion (as the device was known as “the wake” as it prevented victims from falling asleep) they would die from infections as the Cradle wasn’t cleaned.
image 513
The Brazen Bull
This torture method first appeared in Ancient Greece. The victim was placed inside a bull and fire was set under the bull causing the metal to change it’s colour to yellow as it was heated. The victim was roasted to death in the bull while the bull itself was designed in such a way that the screams coming from the victim sounded like the bellowing of a bull.
image 512
Scaphism
This was a Persian torture method. The victim was placed in a boat and covered with one more and then forced to ingest large amounts of honey and milk. Diarrhea occured as a consequence and the smell would attract various insects to the victim. Additional amounts of honey were poured on the victim to attract more insects as he/she was left to float in a pond on the sun. The insects would burrow through the victim’s skin destroying everything on their path. It was a long-lasting torture method so the victim was in agony for days.
Back a few years ago, I had a class with a lot of kids who hated going to Phys. Ed. The teacher wouldn’t let them participate without sneakers on, so they would (accidentally on purpose) “forget” their sneakers on Gym Days. I hit up the stores and bought sneakers (on clearance) in a variety of sizes so that no one would miss their Phys. Ed. time again. One day, “Josie” wanted to wear the pink sneakers, but “Susie” was already wearing them. She cried for a minute, then got over it. That evening the principal came to me and said that “Josie’s” mother had called an insisted on a conference with both of us. When he suggested that she just talk with me first, she said that what I had done was so awful, she needed him to be there to back her up. He asked me what I had done to this child. I had forgotten the sneaker business (It was a tiny part of a very busy day) and I couldn’t think of a thing. She was a complaining mother, and I was pretty sure nothing big or important had happened. He didn’t believe me. He was sure it was something really awful. Well, the mother comes in the next day, and her huge complaint was that her daughter had wanted to use my pink sneakers the day before, and I hadn’t let her wear them. The principal gave me a look, and I gave him a look reminding him that I told it wasn’t anything big. I explained to the mother why “Josie” didn’t get to wear the pink sneakers. She was still angry and said I should have taken them off of “Susie’s” feet and let “Josie” wear them. Happily for me, the principal told the mother that if her daughter needed pink sneakers that much, she should buy them and send them to school with her. We had a good laugh after the mother left.
I hope you don’t mind, but I would like to tell you my story.
I was that 8 year old child once.
My father was an alcoholic, my mother severely depressed. I raised my sister and provided her with the emotional support when our parents were too immature and abusive to give that to us.
I would get beat up, thrown against the wall, kicked, punched repeatedly on the head by my father, his rage would shake my soul. My sister and I would drown ourselves in books, homework and play as quietly so we wouldn’t anger our father. Our mother was verbally abusive, she would break everything in our home.
My father would tell us to get lost, to get out of his way, to shut up, leave him alone, brain dead kids.
He hated us.
One day my sister and I went to the neighbors house and asked them if they had candy.
It was an elderly lady and her husband. They giggled and came out with candy for us and told us to have a good day.
A few days passed and we knocked to ask them again. This time they pulled out some chairs and sat down with us. We talked for a few hours. We told them about our hobbies, favorite books, favorite everything. They gave us candy and told us to go home and not be out so late.
The next day we visited the elderly couple and they played the piano for us. We were so amazed by their warm atmosphere, love and kindness.
Some days we would go visit and they would just sit on the front porch showing them our sweet rock or toy collections, our art and we would even sing classical songs with them.
With time they began to tell us they were busy, then they didn’t open the door anymore.
We wanted to do something nice for them and picked out flowers for them and left them at their doorstep.
I still look back and I’m thankful to have met such a sweet couple. I strive to be like them one day as an old lady with my husband.
You have no obligation, but for me those strangers meant something worth remembering in my rough childhood.
When I was in my 30s and moved into my first house (as a couple). I waited to re-paint, decorate and have locks changed and things fixed and restored, then I had a party/BBQ in my new house and invited some relatives. The party was on the patio with access to the guest bathroom and I placed sticky plastic runners on the new rugs. A couple of the relatives (the younger ones) brought some friends with them (rude to not clear it with me first) and a good thing that I have a tendency to cook way more food than I need (Nana taught me well). I was a little hyper aware of everyone’s comfort and whereabouts when I notice that two female friends of friends were missing. I knew that only one person at a time would use the bathroom so I went into the house. They were both trying the door to my bedroom (“Maybe it’s stuck”) which I had locked along with the two guest rooms and I went casually behind them and asked softly what they were doing.
They both whipped around startled. One of the women said “The door’s locked.” I actually did that because I didn’t want one of the kids to accidentally let my cats out. I didn’t say anything and they exchanged a look then asked why I had the door locked. I drew in a breath and asked them “Why do you need to go into my bedroom?”
“oh we just wanted to look at the house.”
“I think you’ve seen enough, now go outside or leave.”
They went outside…to complain. Why are there doors locked, why is there plastic runners all over the house, did you know there’s nothing in the medicine cabinet and the only thing in the vanity is an extra roll of paper (I did that on purpose).
I cleared my throat and said, “The why is because of people like you.” Their friends (Our relatives) just chuckled and kept their heads down.
Chase Explains Why Women SUCK At Picking Men And She Got UPSET
“I’m 70 y/o and this has been the case for many of the women I have known. Horrible in their choice of men. It’s on you girls, wise up.”
Sigh. Yes, completely unexpectedly. This past Friday night, my girl was actively dying from liver failure. She was within hours of death and I was staying with her to help comfort her. There were no vets to call to help ease her passing at that time of night, so I was doing my best to comfort her through it as best as I could. I was lying on the floor with her and softly petting her, telling her I was there, she would be OK, that we all loved her, she was the BEST friend I ever had, but that I knew she was very sick and when she was ready go it was OK to go, and see her mama who had passed several years ago. I was trying my best to stay calm (because me being upset always concerned her) but at one point I broke down and cried a little. My dying cat made a huge effort to stand up, rub along my side and then lay down facing me. She looked me in the eye, and put her paw on my hand and purred. This is what she did after I came home from the hospital with my baby years ago and was suffering from postpartum depression, and after I had had gallbladder surgery and was sitting in pain on the couch for days, after my mother in law passed away and any other time I was distraught in the twelve years she knew me. She was always wonderful, and even when she was dying herself she was still thinking of me. Good lord, I’m missing her!
Dong Jun 董军 was named as defense minister, taking the position formerly held by Li Shangfu.
For the first time, a Navy veteran was named to the senior defense minister position. This likely means that the Chinese government believes that, for the first time, its major challenges will come from the sea, which includes South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines. If conflict breaks out in any of these areas, the navy, air force and rocket forces will play a more important role than the army.
In terms of defense spending, this likely means a steady increase in budget for the navy, which is now building two more Chinese aircraft carriers.
If there is a major conflict with the US in the western Pacific, the navy, air force and rocket forces will form the tip of the Chinese spear.
This is what Xi is preparing China for, just in case.
I think by “train without wheels” you may be referring to it
In July 2021, the 600 kilometers per hour high-speed maglev transportation system developed by CRRC was mass-produced in Qingdao. This is the world’s first high-speed maglev transportation system with a design speed of 600 kilometers per hour.
In 2022, this maglev train will be exhibited at the German International Rail Transit Technology Exhibition.
In 2023, this maglev train will be displayed at the World Manufacturing Conference.
It is not a new thing, at least it has been around for 2 years.
It is a complete solution and requires a dedicated track to operate. This means that it is not a “train” that can run on ordinary rails.
It has no wheels and is suspended on the track by magnetic levitation. There is no resistance from the track. The propulsion power comes from each carriage. Technically, it’s flying in the air, just a few centimeters above the orbital surface.
image 52
The forward power of the maglev train comes from the conversion of the electromagnet polarity between the track and the carriage. S and N are alternately converted to push the train forward.
When it needs to reverse, the control system changes the conversion sequence of each magnet, and the vehicle can drive in reverse. Since there is no need for a gearbox and complex transmission mechanism, its reversing becomes very simple.
Why Men Are NO LONGER Approaching Women!
“I’m reminded of the BLIND guy that a chick said was staring at her in the gym. The guy’s defense was obviously “I’m blind, I can’t stare at anymore” the gym still kicked him out.”
A few times people have asked me very intimate questions about my sex life; I just looked at them and cussed them out.
A hairy but non-intimate question that has been asked of me a few times: Why won’t you have a Christmas tree? Why? Because I’m not Christian, I am Jewish, and although there are some Jews who do put up and decorate Christmas trees, I don’t.
I had a friend from high school who grew more heavily Christian, and she peppered me with questions about this. One time on the phone (perhaps the last time we spoke) she asked me why I wouldn’t consider putting up a tree for the holiday. I asked her if she would consider setting up a Hanukkah menorah with candles for the holiday. When she said no, I laughed drily.
I told her this was offensive to me and she couldn’t understand why. I think that people who are of the “dominant” religion sometimes forget that not everyone is of their belief. And yes, it is offensive to me to be pestered about this. Ask once, and if I say I don’t, accept that. Otherwise, you’re going to get a jawing from me.
Maturity does not come with is age it comes from experiences it’s damn true because you can find a kid in 30 year old person and a wise person in 12 year old kid .
Some people come in our lives just for some time and then they leave us as if they never met.
Money is really important in life and It can solve at least 99% problems of our life .
No one is permanent in your life, one day everyone is going to leave you and We all know this but it’s takes guts to accept this fact .
No one can love you more than your parents, maybe at one point of life you will think that someone loves you more than them but it will be just illusion for fraction of time, which will get over with time.
Looks matter, Good looking people do get some benefits over others but of course it’s what others can do but we should always love ourselves the way we are.
Don’t give too much importance to someone or don’t do too much care because one day they will get bored of this.
There is nothing like BFF (best friend forever) because one day that forever gets replaced by never.
There is some problem in everyone’s life, so don’t compare your life with anyone; No one is really happy all the time.
We all have someone who extremely love us but only some lucky people have someone in their life who can understand them too.
I was around 30 and went through a phase where my right foot was much heavier than my left foot. I got pulled over for doing something like 80-85 in a 60 in an area about an hour from where I lived. When I went to court, the conversation between me and the judge went something like this…
Judge: This is your 4th speeding violation within the last 12 months. Do you realize this carries up to a $10,000 fine and up to six months in jail?
Me (suddenly feeling very dizzy because I actually did not realize that): Yes sir.
Judge: I assume you paid a fine each time before this one.
Me: Yes sir
Judge: It seems that taking your money isn’t getting through to you. How do I get through to you?
Me (on the verge of a breakdown): I don’t know sir.
Judge: I’m sentencing you to 6 months in jail, suspended. I’m also sentencing you to a $10,000 fine, suspended. You’re going to come back here in 3 months and we’re going to look at your driving record. If there’s nothing on it, you’ll go home. If there’s anything on it, your sentence will be carried out. Then we’re going to do that again 3 months after that, again 3 months after that, and again 3 months after that. In other words, I’m going to inconvenience you to drive back here every 3 months over the next year so we can look at your driving record. Does that sound fair to you?
Me (barely able to speak due to a throat like the Mojave desert): Yes sir.
Judge: I thought you might think so. I’ll see you in 3 months.
I walked out of there not believing my good fortune. Instead of just throwing the book at me and moving on, the Judge took mercy on me and pretty much made me walk the line. I went back every 3 months and he congratulated me each time for not having any other traffic violations.
If we’re only talking about sheer intensity (and not effectiveness) then the Soviet bombardment signalling the start of their Berlin offensive at the end of World War 2 is the clear winner.
According to Cornelius Ryan’s book “The last battle”, Soviet guns were lined up for mile after mile and stepped back caliber by caliber. The mortars were in front. Behind them were tanks, their long main guns elevated. Next came self-propelled guns and, following these, batteries of light and heavy artillery. Along the rear were 400 Katyusha multiple-rocket launchers. In all, over 20,000 guns took part in this bombardment.
At exactly 3 AM on the 16th of April 1945, three green flares soared into the sky and the huge collection of guns roared into life. In merely 35 minutes, half a million shells of all types and calibers were let loose. Many soldiers on both sides were battle-hardened veterans of the Eastern front, yet even they didn’t expect the true intensity of this barrage.
The noise was terrible. Gunners had to keep their mouths open to equalize the pressure on their ears, otherwise their eardrums would rupture. One experienced Soviet battery commander even warned his crews to not only open their mouths but also scream at the top of their lungs. The crew did exactly that but blood still ran from their ears. The most fearsome sound of all came from the Katyushas. The rocket projectiles whooshed off the launchers in fiery batches and screeched through the night, making terrifying noise like “huge blocks of steel grinding together”.
Everyone on both the German and Soviet sides suffered from some degree of deafness and could not hear very well at least for a while. In Marshal Zhukov’s command bunker, only when the bombardment was over could the staff barely hear their telephones ringing. Even residents of the eastern districts of Berlin, some 55 kilometers away from the target area, could hear the bombardment like distant thunder.
Also according to Cornelius Ryan: The German countryside beyond the western Kustrin bridgehead seemed to disappear before a rolling wall of bursting shells. Whole villages disintegrated. Earth, concrete, steel, parts of trees spewed into the air and in the distance forests began to blaze. Years later German survivors would vividly recall the strange hot wind that suddenly sprang up and howled through the forests, bending saplings and whipping dust and debris into the air.
Antony Beevor’s book “The fall of Berlin” cited Gerd Wagner in the German 27th Parachute Regiment: “In a matter of a few seconds all my ten comrades were dead.” When Wagner recovered consciousness, he found himself lying wounded in a smoking shell crater. He was only just able to struggle back to the second line. Few escaped alive from the artillery barrage which smashed trenches and buried their occupants, both alive and dead. Bodies are still being discovered well over half a century later.
The massive barrage also produced strange concussion effects. Troops and equipment alike shook uncontrollably from the shock. In houses closer to the front, pictures fell off walls, windows and mirrors shattered. In Muncheberg, a cross tumbled from the church spire. In the police station at Mahlsdorf books fell off their shelves and telephones rang for no reason. Lights dimmed and flickered in many areas. In Dahlwitz-Hoppegarten an air raid siren suddenly went berserk and no one could switch it off. Along the edges of Weissensee and Lichtenberg a sudden wind caused curtains to whip and flap with ghostly abandon, and in Erkner some inhabitants of air raid shelters were jolted out of sleep, not by noise but by a sickening vibration of the earth.
The world had never seen such a massive artillery bombardment like that before, it has never seen anything like that since.
Brian KICKS OUT PSYCHO Obnoxious Feminist!
“I genuinely don’t think she’s trolling, I think she’s literally just crazy. She has no idea how crazy she really is.”
John W. Campbell got his engineering degree in 1930. In 1970, he wrote about what would happen if an SR-71 Blackbird was magically time-traveled to 1930.
It was clearly from the future. But how far in the future?
Electronics: not a single vacuum tube. Just little plastic cases with pins sticking out. They decide to sacrifice one to understand it. It appears as if the circuit diagrams are drawn on the chip. They can’t be sure, because much of the drawing is below the resolution the optical microscopes of the day allow. They do a spectroscopic analysis of the material. It is 100% pure silicon. Turns out the spectroscopes of 1930 cannot detect the parts-per-billion of the dopants that create the semiconductors.
Power: they’ve never seen a jet engine. There does not seem to be any way for the engine to operate. They try to run it. The fuel does not burn. Turns out the special fuel (if I recall, something called J6) can only be ignited by throwing some hypergolic igniter in on the ground. If it flamed out while running, it could not be restarted.
Radio: the circuitry is more magic drawings on silicon. They can’t figure out how any of it works. Turns out it runs at a higher frequency than anything they know how to detect.
Radar: They have no idea what that horn in the nose does. It seems to emit some kind of energy, because a tech got his hand in front of it an experienced some heating. So they tried using infrared detectors but saw nothing. Centimeter radar was beyond anything they knew about, and they had no way to detect frequencies that high, beyond anything they could even imagine.
Construction: it is made of pure titanium. More titanium than exists in the entire world! Extruded into thin sheets. And welded! Everyone they checked with said that it was impossible to weld titanium because it would essentially “catch fire” and it would start oxidizing and would all burn away.
So how far in the future did it come from? They got all kinds of people together, scientists , engineers, scientifiction authors. Where did this come from? Or, when did this come from? Consensus: maybe 400 years in the future.
No, it was 40 years.
So if we can’t reverse engineer something of human technology from 40 years in the future, do you think we have any chance whatsoever of reverse-engineering something from an alien planet?
When I became a programmer in 1963, if you added up all of the bits of memory in all the computers in the world, you would have at most a few megabits of memory. I am typing this on my iPhone, which has 128 gigabytes of memory, that is, one terabit of information. Plus a GPS, Internet access, three cameras, and a telephone that can allow me to talk to anyone who has a telephone anywhere in the world in seconds. That’s a bit longer than 40 years, but not that much longer. This thing I’m holding in my hand is at a minimum 100,000 times more powerful than the supercomputer of 1963, and could be construed as a million times more powerful along some measures. It has more RAM than our mainframe of 1983 had disk space to support 30 programmers. If I walk a block in any direction I will probably pass 20 phones equally powerful. And I live in a neighborhood of single-family homes
So we probably won’t be able to do anything with that alien spaceship. It might use quantum computers that compare to our quantum computers like my iPhone compares to an IBM 704 vacuum tube computer.
When I was working in the arctic we had a mass mutiny after the boss cut our paid hours from 12 to 8, while we were down for repairs. Which was about 5 days. Those extra hours were all over time, so it almost cut our pay in half. We had signed up for 12 hour days, and just because we couldn’t work more than 8 hour days, we didn’t see that as our problem.
Our boss refused to budge, and at least 5 people submitted resignations, and said that they wanted tickets home, because the company wasn’t meeting the terms of employment.
The next day, a new boss showed up and took over, and pay was reinstated retroactively. The people who had quit ,hadn’t flown out yet, and they all returned to work.
Its hard to find qualified help in the Arctic. Cutting pay for five days, would have meant that we were shut down for at least another ten days before they could have flown in new qualified people. They wouldn’t have flown in for an eight hour day.
The old boss was transferred somewhere else, where he could do less damage. He wasn’t fired.
Back in Fort Bragg I stopped to get gasoline while I was wearing my fatigues. That was during a time when gasoline was being withheld by the producers claiming a gasoline shortage. There was a long line leading to the cashier.
To make a long story shorter, four young men came into the store and one of them came to members in the line making demands of them. I thought it was a prank on friends of the young men until he came to me. He demanded a coke I had in my hand intending to purchase when I paid for my gasoline.
I offered to buy the gy a coke and told him to go to the cooler and bring it back. He said that he was perticulaary fond of the coke in my hand. I refused to give it to him. He told me “we’ll see you outside”.
They were gone when I left the store, so I pulled up to the pump as was pumping gas into my car, when their car screeched up to mine and all existed the car. The same guy walked up to me and demanded the coke. I did not know him or his buddies and I was alone. He shouted “give me my coke”. I hit him across the head and face with the coke which was in a bottle. The bottle broke ! The broken glass sliced his head and face from above his left temple down to his lower right jaw.
He fell bleeding profusely. His buddies asked if they could pick him up without me cutting them. I told them to get him.
Skipping a bunch of details, I ended upon in court before a magistrate to be charged for assault on a minor. The boy’s father was in the courtroom and drunk as a a skunk. When he saw me walk in in handcuffs, he shouted pretty loudly “There’s the Son of a Bitch who hurt my son”.
The Judge admonished him telling him that was drunk and that he would not tolerate causing and such in his courtroom.
He man looked up at me and loudly said “Tell that son of a bitch (the Judge) that I’m not drunk”.
It turned out that the four young men were terrorizing local stores and people doing this same stuff over and over. I was released based upon defending myself.
The kid and I later became decent friends with him crediting me with saving his life. He has a scar across his face until this day but he is a law abiding and friendly young man. He is not hostile toward me at all.
As a very poor college student, I used to go dumpster diving. I found several things (radios, alarm clocks, amplifiers, etc) that I fixed and sold. I found that I could make about $40 a week that way, with only a couple hours work. Minimum wage was about $3.25/hour so it was relatively lucrative. But there were two items that I kept for myself.
In 1985, I found an old computer in a dumpster, complete with 8″ hard drive. I took it home and took a look inside. Everything seemed okay, so I went to the library and started looking for information about it. It turned out to be an Altair 8800BT, one of the first commercially available microcomputers. I stuck it in my closet and ignored it for a couple of decades, just taking it with me every time I moved. A few years ago, I came across a listing for a similar computer on eBay, and was astonished to find that it was worth about $5000! I spent about $200 getting it working again, but it is so much fun to play with that I haven’t gotten around to selling it, and the value fluctuates wildly. There is an amazing amount of code and documentation available for it on the internet.
image 553image 554
A few months later, I found a Sylvania Superset in excellent condition. I took it home and plugged it in. The flyback transformer was blown. I spent $30 for a replacement, soldered it in, and the TV worked flawlessly until 1999, when my (now-ex) wife gave it to a friend.
image 555
The photos are not mine, but they are the exact same models.
The Saigon Execution photo, but not for the reason most people think.
image 518
“Two people died in that photograph. The recipient of the bullet and General Nguyen Ngoc Loan. The general killed the Viet Cong; I killed the general with my camera.” – Photographer Eddie Adams
This picture is both moving and tear jerking for me because I know the back story. Most people look at the picture and think the South Vietnamese general as some kind of monster. When the general lost a leg in combat and received medical treatment in the U.S., many were outraged. Then-Sen. Stephen M. Young (D-Ohio) called Loan a “brutal murderer” and said his treatment in the United States was “a disgraceful end to a … disgraceful episode.”
image 517
What most people don’t know is that the real monster was not the South Vietnamese general, but the Vietcong terrorist. Viet Cong officer Nguyen Van Lem was the leader of a hit team that infiltrated into Saigon to execute political opponents and members of the police force. Just that morning, he had murdered 34 people. 7 of the dead had been General Loan’s own men. 2 or 3 had been Americans. The rest were wives and children of South Vietnamese police officers. All had been bound at the wrist, forced to kneel near a pit, and executed. The prisoner and all of his hit squad were terrorists who dressed as civilians to attack civilians.
Loan, fresh from intense combat with Viet Cong, literally caught Van Lem red handed. The most recent victims were one of Loan’s men, the policeman’s wife, and his 6 children. The general had literally caught the terrorist standing over the bodies of his own God children.
image 516image 515
Combat was ongoing. Loan had to rush back into battle. He didn’t have time to read a Viet Cong terrorist his rights. He put a bullet in the brain of a terrorist who had killed dozens of women and children. But for decades, the picture was reprinted over and over, with no context. The ignorant believed General Loan to be a villain, rather than a hero taking a monster off the streets of Saigon.
image 514
Now the picture itself was not deceitful, nor was the photographer. But the picture was stripped of context and used to deceive the reader of American newspapers.
Late and absent both. Let’s call her Patricia. Patricia, our receptionist, was late or absent at least once a week, and she was always very apologetic and always promised it would never happen again. Eventually she was put on last chance, final written warning.
The owner and I discussed it and thought that maybe if Patricia felt that the company was willing to invest in her, she would feel more invested in the company. So we sent her to a class to improve her skills. She was very excited about the opportunity.
The day of the class was monstrous. A new client signed unexpectedly and we had to immediately come up with eight workers in the right specialty to send them, but to come up with travel arrangements and temporary living quarters in a city a thousand miles away for those eight workers. We got through it finally but I’d been covering not only my own job but Patricia’s as well and I was exhausted.
The following day Patricia came in and I asked her how the class went. She said, “I was a little late and they wouldn’t let me in.”
“So why weren’t you here? If you weren’t in class you should have come to work,” I told her.
“Well, I would have, but I thought you’d yell at me.”
I told her to sit down and I’d talk to her later. Before I said anything further I wanted to talk to the owner, who wasn’t in yet. I also called the company that provides the class in question, and they told me that while the attendance records weren’t in yet, Patricia would have had to be at least an hour and a half late before she would be denied access.
The owner and I agreed that where Patricia had already been on last chance warning for her attendance, this was the last straw. As I told her, “If you’d come in to work when they wouldn’t let you into class I would have yelled at you but you’d still have a job. As it is, you don’t.”
Old-fashioned sailboats were able to sail across the Atlantic by using the power of the wind and the skill of the sailors. They did not just sail back in the other direction if the wind changed, because they knew how to adjust their sails and navigate according to the prevailing wind patterns. Sailboats work by harnessing the force of the wind on their sails, which creates a lift that pushes the boat forward. The direction and speed of the boat depend on the angle and shape of the sails, the position of the rudder, and the resistance of the water and the keel.
image 563
By changing these factors, sailors can control the movement of the boat and steer it towards their destination. However, sail boats cannot sail directly into the wind, because the wind would push them back. Instead, they have to sail at an angle to the wind, called tacking, and zigzag their way forward. This way, they can sail in any direction, even against the wind, as long as they have enough space and time.
The Atlantic Ocean has very reliable wind patterns, called trade winds and westerlies, that sailors used to their advantage. The trade winds blow from east to west in the tropics, near the equator, and the westerlies blow from west to east in the temperate zones, near the poles. These winds are caused by the difference in temperature and pressure between the equator and the poles and the rotation of the Earth.
image 562
Sailors who wanted to cross the Atlantic from Europe to America would use the trade winds, and sail south until they reached the tropics, then sail west along the equator, and then sail north to reach the Caribbean or North America. Sailors who wanted to cross the Atlantic from America to Europe would use the westerlies, and sail north until they reached the temperate zone, then sail east along the higher latitudes, and then sail south to reach Europe. These routes are known as the Atlantic triangular trade because they formed a triangle on the map.
Sailing across the Atlantic was not an easy task, and it required a lot of skill, courage, and luck. Sailors had to deal with storms, waves, currents, pirates, diseases, and other dangers. Sometimes they had to navigate using the stars, the sun, the compass, and the log, and estimate their position and speed. They also had to cooperate with their crew and follow the orders of their captain. Sailing across the Atlantic was a great adventure, and a great achievement, for the old-fashioned sail boats and their sailors.
One famous example of someone who was extremely wealthy and lost it all due to a bad habit is Howard Hughes.
image 558
Howard Hughes was a prominent American business magnate, aviator, film producer, and philanthropist who was born on December 24, 1905, and passed away on April 5, 1976. He initially gained wealth through his inheritance of the Hughes Tool Company, a successful oil tool business. Hughes expanded his empire into various industries, including aviation, film, and real estate.
image 561
Here’s how he lost his wealth due to a combination of factors:
1.) Excessive Spending: Hughes had a penchant for extravagant spending, particularly on ambitious projects. He founded Hughes Aircraft Company and designed and built innovative aircraft like the H-4 Hercules, also known as the “Spruce Goose,” which was one of the largest planes ever constructed. These projects consumed vast amounts of his wealth.
2.) Film Ventures: Hughes ventured into the film industry, producing movies like “Hell’s Angels” and “The Outlaw.” His fixation on perfectionism and costly reshoots significantly inflated production budgets, leading to financial losses in the film sector.
image 560
3.) Reclusive Lifestyle: In the latter part of his life, Hughes became increasingly reclusive and struggled with severe obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). His reclusiveness made it challenging to manage his various business interests effectively, and he withdrew from public life, which hampered decision-making.
image 557
4.) Legal Battles: Hughes became embroiled in numerous legal disputes, including battles over his inheritance, control of his companies, and allegations of fraud. These legal battles drained his financial resources and added to his woes.
image 559
5.) Mismanagement: Hughes entrusted the management of his vast empire to a series of individuals, some of whom were not always acting in his best interests. This mismanagement further eroded his wealth.
image 556
By the time of his death in 1976, Howard Hughes had gone from being one of the wealthiest individuals in the world to a recluse with a much-diminished fortune. His life and financial decline are often cited as a cautionary tale of the perils of unchecked ambition, excessive spending, and reclusiveness.
A woman was at my local bar in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, drinking a beer. It was a quiet early evening, maybe a dozen people in the place including the bartender and bouncer. A guy carelessly bumps into her, spilling her beer on her. He doesn’t apologize. Irritated, she points out that he just spilled her beer. I don’t recall exactly what he said, but it was very much not what a gentleman who just spilled a woman’s beer should have been saying.
Two large, tattooed dudes with shaved heads come along and sit on either side of the guy and ask him if he’d still be talking like that if the woman wasn’t alone. Because she very definitely was not alone. She was there with these two guys who had been up picking some music on the jukebox when the incident happened. And all three of them were good friends with the bouncer and the bartender. So they wondered if maybe the guy would like to apologize to the woman, buy her another beer to replace the one he spilled, and be a lot more thoughtful about how he treats people in the future. Which he agreed to. They pointed out how fucked up it was that it wasn’t until they came along that he started behaving more like a gentleman, and that maybe he should rethink his behavior towards women.
The guy left soon after, having wisely left a generous tip in exchange for leaving with all his teeth still in his mouth.
I was working at Office Depot as a cashier. A lady had over $100 in merchandise. She had a coupon from Staples that was for $10 off of $50 and asked me if I would honor it. We did accept competitor’s coupons. I told her of course, not a problem. She produced it, and I was reading the fine print to make sure that it was valid. Some coupons will have exemptions, such as not being allowed to be used with HP ink. As I was trying to read the fine print, the lady told me that I said I would accept it. I agreed and asked her nicely to please be quiet so I could read the fine print. She was quiet for a few seconds and stated again that I promised that I would accept it no matter what. I told her that I didn’t promise, but please be quiet, I need to read in silence. She was quiet for a few seconds and brought up the fact I said I would honor it. I slammed my hands down on the checkout counter and told her if she would just shut up, and let me read it, we would both be happier. That shut her up long enough to see why she was trying to distract me. The coupon had expired two days prior. I looked at her and she blushed. I said, now I get why you were so insistent about my saying I would honor it. She started stammering out an apology. I told her not to worry, I would still honor it. I did because I figured, we were still making $90 from this sale, and most likely she would come back here to shop. I did ask her if she tried to use it at Staples and they wouldn’t honor it. Yes, they told me to try and see if Office Depot would accept it.
I expected to be fired for the way I talked to her and that I accepted an expired coupon from Staples.
Instead, she filled out a survey saying how wonderful I was and now she would only shop with us. She transferred her printing over to us, which generated over $1000 in sales monthly. The general manager asked why I honored it knowing it was expired. I told him because I said I would, but I did tell her that all the conditions had to be met first. Once I saw it was expired, I figured the $10.00 loss was nominal in making a customer happy.
My mother saved my life by cursing me out and making me go to school. It was the day after my 11th birthday. I had every intention to stay home and play the new Super Nintendo games I had received for my birthday. Usually, my mother wouldn’t have had any problem with this, but that day she was adamant that I was going to get up and go to school. We got into a terrible argument and both said very hurtful things to each other. I had no choice but to go.
As soon as I got to school I had this overwhelming feeling that I just wanted to go home and lay on my mother’s lap and cry. It wasn’t because of the argument but it was something else I just couldn’t put my finger on. The school day was finally over and I still couldn’t shake this feeling. My godbrother and downstairs neighbor wanted to come over and play the game and even though I still just wanted to get in the house and cry, I reluctantly agreed.
When we got to the door it was locked. No big deal. Looked under the mat and the key wasn’t there. Still not unusual. I climbed up the back patio and let myself in. I immediately went to the front door to let my company in. After I let them in I went to the kitchen to get a piece of cake and my downstairs neighbor went straight to the tv and cut it and the game on.
For some reason, my godbrother started to walk through the apartment. When he came back into the living room he told us that we needed to go outside. We begrudgingly went. Once outside he proceeded to say “I don’t know how to say this, but your mother is dead”. I darted back in and went straight to her bedroom. She was tied to the bed with the phone cord and her throat had been sliced open. There was blood everywhere.
I ran back outside and downstairs to call 911 as our phone wasn’t connected at the time. I didn’t really know what to say and I think the operator must have thought it was a prank because she hung up on me. So I called my grandma and told her. After that, I just sat on the bottom step until the police and paramedics started pulling up. My grandma arrived shortly after and it gets blurry from there.
It will be 26 years on September 26 that this happened. Still no arrests. I feel like everyone in town knows exactly who did it, the same people I’ve been saying for years, but no one is willing to say anything. Mind you her boyfriend was killed in the same way about a year before. This happened in Plymouth, North Carolina, and her name is Sonja Day. You can also look at details of her boyfriend’s murder on the North Carolina Innocence Commission website under the Spruill case. My cousin was wrongfully convicted of his murder and after all this time they are finally trying to do something about it. I’ve always been adamant that the same people are responsible for both murders.
Sorry for being so long-winded. Probably should have made this its own answer. So that’s how my mother saved my life. I would like to think that if I stayed home that day, I could have saved her somehow, but it likely wouldn’t have gone that way.
Edit: Wow! I never thought that this many people would read this. I would like to thank everyone for their comments and well wishes.There are a few things happening that may lead to an arrest. I feel like the end may be within reac. I’ll definitely let everyone know how it works out.
1-Everyone is on a different journey. You may just be starting yours while the other person might be at the end of his/hers.
2-Comparing yourself to others is a losing battle. In the game of life, you will never reach a point where you are better than others in every way.
3-What you are comparing against is inaccurate information. What people present to the outside world is usually an edited version of their reality.
4-Your dream is likely different from others. If you have a big dream, it will take a while before you achieve it.
5-Comparison saps you of your limited time, you’ll be better off paying more attention to your dream.
6-All you can do in life is be who you are. Some people will love you for you. Most will love you for what you can do for them, and some won’t like you at all.
I once left a backdoor on an Android app since I was working with a client that couldn’t be trusted whether they would pay me or not. Heard from another developer that they let him develop and ran away with the software and never paid him.
It was like this, whenever the app starts it proceeds as usual but on the background it sends a request to one of my servers, if the request reaches the server and the response is code 200, then its ok, am still waiting for the payment the app can proceed as usual, if 201 then I wasn’t paid, so crash the app, clean all preferences and change url that was saved in preferences makes the app completely unusable for good. If 203 then I have been paid in full, proceed never send any request to my server again.
And my guess was right,I made the app, haven’t send the code to the client yet (they didn’t need the code though, it was a full running app), they started using the app, told me some stuffs, I fixed them, everything is set, they love the app, it was even more than they expected, I even made them an admin dashboard with a bunch of analytics to monitor all their data for free as a way to make them like me to work with them in the future, in my price I even included free up to 3 months bugs fixing if any were to occur, they were so happy with the results.
Then they immediately disappeared, waited for their reply for two weeks, nothing, not even a reply to tell me to wait, its like they all died from a hurricane or something, they even changed the pass to their server so I couldn’t get in and kill it, that was proof enough that they clearly ran away with my software. So I sent the 201 status code from my server and the whole app froze, all clients they connected couldn’t use the app anymore, immediately the following day they tried to contact me, I tripled the price after seeing they wanted to scam me. They paid me in full the same day through western union, I sent a fully working app with no backdoor, and all the source code. And that was it, I’ll never work with these guys again.
I will put a backdoor if you are a bad client, if you are a good one or pay in advance I’m not putting any, or if we are in the same country because I know I could sue you. I hate backdoors anyway because they are too risky no matter how much I try to secure them, the fact that they exist is a problem.
My wife has a face painting and balloon business. Before the pandemic, she was booked over three hundred gigs every year at hourly rates that would make a lawyer happy.
Once April 2020 hit, her business dried up. No parties. No festivals. No grand openings. No fairs.
We shrugged our shoulders. Oh, well!
She refunded her pending contracts to keep good customer relations. I went to work as usual. We actually increased our savings since then. My job covers our needs.
We’re fine!
The reason is our modest house. We made do with a smaller home and aggressively paid the mortgage down when times were good. When rates dropped, we refinanced. Our mortgage payment is only 1/4 of my monthly net income.
This could have been a very stressful time financially. I’m very grateful that it hasn’t been at all. I wouldn’t trade that security for an extra room or a big garage.
Modest home all the way!
It’s a true story
Said by “Al Bundy” actor of Married with Children. But it is a true story.
Funny story. The Air Force never wanted the A-10 and never wanted to support the Army in ground attack roles. They only adopted the A-10 to save their budget from the Army demanding to develop and provide their own CAS solutions.
Fast is great for a lot of things but the A-10 is able to loiter and remain aloft at much lower speeds, allowing pilots to see what was developing on the ground.
Six A-10s can be produced for the cost of one F-35.
A-10s are 1/6th the costto fly each hour.
A-10’s are mission capable at nearly double the rate of the maintenance intensive F-35.
The F-35’s are rife with problems that are slowing production and have cause groundings.
F-35’s stealth is far less useful in low and slow engagements because it can be detected and killed by people with eyeballs and manpads. The A-10 suffers this problem too but it’s more durable and cheaper to replace.
Every F-35 lost to CAS missions will be detrimental to other sorties the plane might have flown.
I like the F-35 but it’s not really a good plane choice for getting down in the mud with the grunts.
image 519
If an F-35 was shot up like that’ I seriously doubt the pilot would have managed to fly it home.
EDIT:
Folks, I never mentioned Ukraine. I never suggested sending the A-10 into combat without other types of aircraft designed to make their use tolerably safe. I also never made the A-10 put to be some sort of superhero airframe, unable to be killed. I specifically answered a question about the A-10 vs F-35/F-22 in close support of troops.
During my son’s 12th grade year of school another student broke his leg during football.
At the hospital, after the X-ray the nurse came in to wrap my son’s leg. She grabs his leg and bends it to the side, and I hear this pop noise as my son screams out.
I yelled at the nurse and made her leave the room. At this point the head doctor and head nurse rushed into the room. I told them to get my son’s pain under control. They gave him a shot and after he relaxed I explained what the nurse had done. I told them that I should sue the hell out of the hospital for allowing a person man or woman to work with patients that clearly has no damn idea what the hell she is doing.
The doctor and nurse took the bitch into an empty room and she walked out of the room and walked out of the exit door. She looked at me with a hateful look and I called her a bitch, and the doctor witnessed it. He told me it will be dealt with.
Not sure if she was fired or just sent home on probation.
Barley with Mushrooms (Scotland)
mushroom barley 3f
Ingredients
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
2 medium onions, chopped
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
3 1/4 cups boiling water
1 cup barley
2 teaspoons instant chicken bouillon
1/2 teaspoon salt
Dash of pepper
Instructions
Cook and stir mushrooms and onions in butter 5 minutes; place in ungreased 1 1/2-quart casserole.
Stir in remaining ingredients.
Cover and bake at 375 degrees F, stirring once, until barley is tender, about 1 1/4 hours.
When I was in 3rd grade my parents got a collie for me. Lassie was big on TV and I wanted my own Lassie. We named her Lady. She was the perfect pet and protector, especially of me. We lived in Omaha in a split level house. The kitchen, a bedroom, and a combination laundry room/bomb shelter were on the back of the house, the lower level. My brother, sister, and I shared the bedroom.
My parents both worked so when we got home from school, we’d stay with the lady across the street, who also took care of my younger brother who was not school age yet. We would leave Lady in the neighbor’s back yard during the day.
One day I wanted something from my room so I took Lady with me to our house. I was part ways down the back stairs when I realized the back door was open and a man was standing in the kitchen. He had apparently just forced the door. He was holding a pry bar. I froze and he started towards me, not seeing Lady behind me on the stairs. She met him as he was coming up and tore into his arm holding the pry bar. He dragged her to the door and out and I called her back as he ran away. We never learned who it was, though my dad suspected one of the neighbors.
There were two other times Lady probably saved members of our family. She woke us up the night our house burned down and got us out within five minutes of the entire ceiling collapsing.
The other time was when we had moved to South Carolina. We lived on the last street at the edge of town. Behind us was a wide field, then some woods. A few miles past the woods was a prison work camp.
My dad was gone bowling and my mother, sister, brother, and I were watching TV. It was summer and the side porch wooden door was open. The screen door wasn’t latched. My mom’s car was parked right outside the door.
My mother saw a man come over the back fence and look in the car windows, probably for keys, then walk up onto the porch and look through the screen. She called out, “What do you want?”
He didn’t say anything, just walked into the living room. He saw a woman and three kids but he didn’t see Lady, who was lying by the TV. She saw him, though, and without a word from us she was across the room and tearing into him. He bolted out the door, and she was chewing away at his legs as he went over the fence. We ran outside and turned on the porch light. He was running across the back yard, and Lady backed up to get a running start and leaped the fence. She caught him again at the back fence and worked on his ass some more. When he got over the fence and disappeared into the night, my mom called her back.
The police came and said he was an escapee from the prison camp. They brought dogs and tracked him from our house and found him in the woods. I suspect he had a healthy fear of dogs by then.
He wanted the car keys and who knows, he might not have wanted any witnesses to call the police.
Lady passed away while I was overseas in the military. My mom told me my dad sat on the floor and held her for hours until she was gone. We all loved Lady as much as she loved us.
I’ll narrate two instances where I’ve witnessed a beautiful manifestation of “bro-code”.
Mine was a co-ed school. Our class strength was divided almost equally between girls and boys. One of the guys, Inzy, had a massive crush on a girl from another section. He was too shy to speak up however. He thought she was out of his league (whatever that means!).
Our class fellows immediately got down to image building. They casually started talking about Inzy with the girls of the other section. Not with his crush. They chose the other girls, carefully avoiding “the one”. The tales of his intelligence, humility and humour started being discussed amongst the other girls and this piqued the interest of his crush.
Some girls soon started interacting with Inzy with their casual helloes. And as expected, Miss. Crush bumped into him outside our Chemistry lab and asked him to clear some doubts. Inzy did not know what hit him! He did manage to sail through with his explanation.
Inzy found his girl, all thanks to his bros who worked behind the scenes and set the ball rolling for his love story. We girls also contributed our bit… by keeping quiet about the entire set up. Wasn’t easy!! :p
The second instance is a bit gory. There were a group of boys who used to hang out regularly at the corner of our street. They were college students who had known each other since their childhood. One of them was Omi bhaiya (elder brother). He was a gentle giant, forever helping others.
One day another gang of boys from some other neighbourhood came to our locality. That day our regular group of elder boys had not yet converged. The gang went up to a lone guy who coming back on his cycle and started fighting with him. He tried to escape but was surrounded. The gang was getting aggressive and soon withdrew hockey sticks and bats. The commotion drew the attention of Omi bhaiya who was casually walking towards his usual hangout. He ran towards where the whole scene was unfolding.
Just as the cyclist was about to be slashed with a blade, bhaiya caught the sharp weapon, with his bare hands! His hand was slashed across the palm. Seeing blood gushing out, the neighbouring gang guys ran away. Turns out that it was a fight over some insult.
When bhaiya was asked why didn’t he call for help and instead held the blade, thereby harming himself, his answer was simple. “The boy being attacked is my friend’s younger brother. He’s like my own. Couldn’t take a chance. Bros always look out for each other.How could I see him get hurt?”
Cesnica (Serbian Christmas Bread)
Cesnica Serbian Christmas Bread
Ingredients
7 3/4 cups flour
3 tablespoons yeast
1 cup shortening
2 teaspoons salt
Warm water
Instructions
Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
Combine flour, yeast, shortening and salt. Knead with enough warm water to moisten until dough separates from hands. Dough should be firm, not tacky.
Put dough on greased pan. Let rise for 10 minutes in warm area.
Perforate dough with fork. Insert clean coin (quarter or gold dollar) and spread dough flat like a pizza.
In one of my job interviews this year, I was asked, “How much do you think the chewing gum market is worth in the United States?”
If you haven’t encountered a question like that before, it might sound like a crazy thing for an interviewer to ask. For one thing, I knew absolutely nothing about the chewing gum industry. For another, if I ever actually needed that information, the smartest response would probably be to pull out my phone and Google it.
But the purpose of doing estimations like that isn’t to figure out the right answer – it’s to practice structuring your thinking in a logical way. You can learn the gist of how to do it in a minute, and you can use this kind of logic for the rest of your life.
Estimations like these are often referred to as Fermi problems, or back-of-the-envelope calculations. To solve one, you’re supposed to figure out a way to break the main question into a series of smaller components that can more comfortably estimate. Then, you put them back together to arrive at an approximation of the final answer. The trick is to ask small questions to reach a bigger solution.
For example, this was how I estimated the size of U.S. chewing gum market:
I knew that there are about 320 million people in the U.S.
I knew that the average lifespan in the U.S. is about 80 years. We’ll assume that age is evenly distributed among the population (not actually true, but close enough for our purposes.)
Teenagers and adults – say, between the ages of 10 and 50, so about half the population – are the demographics most likely to chew gum. Let’s guess that about 75% of them are gum-chewers.
Small children under the age of 10, and older adults over the age of 50, are the demographics least likely to chew gum. Let’s guess that 25% of them are gum-chewers.
If we do the math, that gives us a total of about 160 million gum-chewers in the U.S.
On average, each of those people probably chew at least 1 stick of gum every week.
Most of the packs of gum I’ve seen contain about 15 sticks of gum.
There are 52 weeks in a year. If we round up a little, that means the average gum-chewer buys about 4 packs of gum every year.
I’d guess that an average pack of gum costs about $5. That means that 4 packs would cost $20.
That gives us about $20 per person * 160 million people = $3.2 billion spent on gum every year.
I had no idea if that was right or not – for all I knew, some of my assumptions were completely ridiculous. But maybe some of my wrong assumptions canceled each other out. I Googled the question afterwards, and I found that the U.S. chewing gum market was worth $3.9 billion in 2015, which means I at least got to an accurate order of magnitude. And best of all, I got the job!
If you want to try doing one yourself, here are a couple of fun ones:
How many gas stations are there in your country?
How many hair are on your head?
How many airplanes are there in the world?
How many customers visit your favorite restaurant every year?
How many Quora answers have you read in your lifetime?
Right before I attempted suicide (and 2 months after my heart attack), I asked my “wife” to tell me that she loved me. She refused. We weren’t fighting or anything. She just refused. So I asked her to lie to me and say that she loved me. I was feeling low and my body was failing me. I’m a veteran who been through a lot. So she decided to make confessions. She said that it was NOT her responsibility to tell me that she loved me or that I was attractive. If I wanted to feel loved or attractive, go to therapy instead. She also revealed that she hated the educational gap between us and said that she despised living in my “shadow” and being known as my wife.
This absolutely BROKE me. The final straw was when I told her that she broke my heart and she just shrugged. I absolutely wasted 20 years of my life.
Originally Answered: what was the most interesting thing your teacher said?
Original question: What’s the best thing you’ve heard your teacher say?
The first day I walked into my 10th grade chemistry class, the lights were off. The teacher was waiting at the front of the room, holding a small candle in front of him. The candle’s tiny flame was the only source of light in the room.
The class murmured a bit, confused and excited. Once we’d all quieted down, the teacher said, “Tell me some of the observations you can make about this candle.”
We paused for a moment. That seemed a little too easy for chemistry class.
“But keep in mind,” the teacher added, “that observations are the things you observe empirically. Inferences are the things you conclude… and inferences can be wrong.”
We stared at him, wary now.
At last, someone piped up, “Um…The flame is yellow?”
“The flame gives off heat.”
“The wick is burning.”
“The wax is cylindrical!”
The teacher raised his eyebrows at that one. “Are you sure?”
We stared harder at the candle, not sure how to respond to that. It definitely looked cylindrical.
The teacher shrugged. Then he put the candle into his mouth and started chewing.
The class stared at him.
At this point I was wondering if I ought to call the emergency room or something, but the teacher just kept chewing as though nothing was wrong. Eventually, he swallowed, shrugged again, and said, “Actually tastes okay.”
As it turns out, the so-called “candle” wasn’t made out of wax at all. It was actually just a slice of banana, with an almond slice for the wick.
The student’s “wax” statement had actually been an inference.
After explaining this to us, the teacher turned on the lights and said, “If there’s one thing I want you to learn in this class, it’s the first rule of scientific thinking: Never assume that your mind can’t lie to you.”
And that’s the story of how my 10th-grade chemistry teacher swallowed a candle to teach us the first principle of scientific thinking. Here’s to you, Mr. Miller.
Test someone’s attentiveness. Alter a sentence slightly. If they’re attentive, their expression changes or they ask about the change.
Handshakes reveal personality; they can show anxiety even if you hide nerves.
Avoid being too available, especially to close ones, except for parents. Excess availability makes you seem less important; they might take you for granted.
Instead of dinner and a movie, watch the movie first, then dine. It gives you a dinner conversation starter.
Don’t react hastily. Don’t expect acknowledgment. Think before acting!
The thing that people remember the most about you is your personality, way of talking and attitude.
The Communist Party of China (CPC) originally did not have any party property and was a political party with 0 assets. The word “bankrupt” cannot be associated with CPC.
But the Kuomintang (KMT) in Taiwan owned party assets and was indeed bankrupt.
image 566
If you mean “the Chinese government / State Council (PRC)”, then I can tell you for sure that the Chinese government also has 0 assets, and they are only the managers of state-owned capital, not the owners.
If you mean “China’s financial sector”, then I can tell you with certainty that China’s savings rate is 45%, 10 times that of the US. China’s savings rate is even 11% higher than Japan’s, despite the fact that Japan is also an ardent thrifty nation. The main reason for this is:
Chinese people have a sense of worry and are always used to saving money to prevent and cope with emergencies and unforeseen events.
Chinese people generally have the habit of saving, no matter poor or rich, they all like to save their income in the bank to accumulate more money, instead of using credit cards to spend money in advance as westerners are keen to do. You can even ask the little black brothers in San Francisco why they like to rob the Chinese, because they know that the Chinese like to go to the bank and save their money, and they rarely spend tomorrow’s money today like the whites do.
The savings of 1.4 billion people is a huge amount of money, which is the “ballast” that keeps the ship stable, so the risk resistance of China’s financial industry is much higher than that of Wall Street’s financial industry.
In other words, even if the global finance collapses, China’s finance will not collapse.
Becket (1964) Richard Burton & Peter O’ Toole
Debauched King Henry II (Peter O’Toole) installs his longtime court facilitator Thomas Becket (Richard Burton) as the Archbishop of Canterbury, assuming that his old friend will be a compliant and loyal lackey in the King’s on-going battles with the church. But Becket unexpectedly finds his true calling on the ecclesiastical side, and aligns himself against the King’s selfish wishes, causing a rift and an eventual showdown not only between the two men, but also the institutions they represent. (IMDb)
The USA government that was designed back in 1776 can no longer function. It is not suitable for the new global order. The USA is at a strategic inflection point. Great discussion by Colonel Douglas Macgregor.
See below deep in the article.
…
There is a formula used by wives that wish to leave their husbands. It is a devastating reality to the husbands of the West. The “three step rocket“. It is a template that is followed over, and over, and over again. It is important for all married people to know about this reality.
See below.
…
Guys, back in the 1970’s. I would guess around 1972, my father came back from a work trip and gave me a present. It was a tiny book. The cover was plastic, and it was about 2 cm thick. It was about 4cm x 5cm or so. It was red. A little red book.
Because the cover was plastic, it was flexible and compact, and easy to slip into the pocket of my Levi jeans.
It was (the now infamous) “little red book”. And I loved it.
It was in English.
And it was page after page of sayings. All of which seemed to make a lot of sense to me, even though I was in my teens at the time.
I carried that book with me to college. To my various homes as I worked, and all the way up until I moved to China. I cannot say for certain that it influenced me to join the Chinese Communist Party, as I wouldn’t even begin to consider how to do so. But it absolutely DID influence me.
I could feel the “revolutionary spirit” of what was being birthed so far away at the other end of the world.
The Three Main Rules of Discipline are as follows:
(1) Obey orders in all your actions. (2) Do not take a single needle piece of thread from the masses. (3) Turn in everything captured.
The Eight Points for Attention are as follows:
(1) Speak politely. (2) Pay fairly for what you buy. (3) Return everything you borrow. (4) Pay for anything you damage. (5) Do not hit or swear at people. (6) Do not damage crops. (7) Do not take liberties with women. (8) Do not ill-treat captives.
“On the Reissue of the Three Main Rules of Discipline and the Eight Points for Attention – Instruction of the General Headquarters of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army” (October 10, 1947), Selected Military Writings, 2nd ed., p. 343.
How can you possibly not be impacted by such profound and intelligent direction?
Me and my friend were about 17 hanging out at the local McDonalds. Let me remind you my friend had the physique of a 25 year old because he constantly roofed with his dad. We heard a father screaming at his son if he didn’t finish eating his food he would pull his pants down right there and beat his bare ass. He would jump up and act like he was going to punch the child who appeared to be maybe 4 or 5. When he did this the child would jump and cower in his seat. Then the father would let out this horrendous laugh making fun of him. Me being a child from a physically abusive father knew exactly how this poor kid felt. My friend who had always protected me saw the look of horror on my face.
The next time he jumped up screaming he would beat his bare ass, my friend jumped up grabbed his arm and screamed “you will not be touching him as long as I’m sitting here!” The mans facial expression changed to sheer horror as he saw this kid twice his size threaten to put him in his place. He suddenly asked the boy if he was done. and scurried out of the restaurant. That day my friend grew about 10 feet tall in my eyes and saved that little boy from receiving a severe beating for such a small infraction.
I was truly desperate for work. My husband and I had returned from his Naval station in Italy to find that the military was being cut back so he was out. It was August, so I couldn’t find a teaching job anywhere and he was having trouble finding anything at all.
The local paper yielded only two jobs for which I was qualified. One was as a cashier at a supermarket for $1.95/hour (1972…what can I say?) and the other was as a paste-up artist at a newspaper for $1.90. I figured the newspaper job might be more upwardly mobile, so I applied.
The manager didn’t ask for an interview. He called to tell me that he appreciated my interest, but that I was over-qualified for the job so he wouldn’t hire me. He said he figured I’d quit if I find something better. I told him my story. He still hesitated, pointing again to my advanced degrees. I waited a beat then said, “Even college graduates have to eat.”
He hired me right then and I made sure he never regretted that decision.
Look at how serious they look and how old they are
image 316
Their Median age is 61.3 years
They are all extremely talented people with tremendous ability and have proven themselves over and over again
image 315image 314image 313image 312
These Generation of Chinese in the 1970s and 1980s could have easily recognized their ability and merit and voted them into power due to their sheer efficiency
image 311
Even the 1990s generation would have voted for them to a great extent, understanding the value of long term planning and hard work
image 310image 309
Todays generation?
Naah
They are all modern and highly opinionated by Social Media and the outside world
They have more money than any previous generation and have seen so much development that they are liberal by nature in their Outlook
Sure today they regard the Government and the Party as Grandfatherly figures who make the laws like they see their own grandfathers. As Strict people who will take care of you and who shouldn’t be questioned
However give them a choice and it’s likely they will fall for the same BS that others in democracies fall for including issues that are:-
LGBT related
Feminism related
Ageism related
Nationalism related (Vote for me and I will take Taiwan in a week type of Chinese versions of Modis)
Separatism related (Freedom for Uyghurs, Freedom for Hui, Freedom for Bouyan etc)
These are the Hu Jintao period Chinese
I wouldn’t trust them to vote for the best leaders over most populist or handsome or the best talkers or some other version of divisive propaganda
image 308image 307
The Next generation is fine
Xi Jingping has instilled a revival of the admiration for the One party meritocracy and these guys will vote always for the Party over any other
So maybe 10–15 years later, if free elections were held, the Party may win heavily as bulk of the 18–41 voters would be proud nationalists of the One party meritocracy
Today?
Bulk of the 18–41 voters would vote stupidly
So I hope not
India becoming China is admirable in its own way
China becoming India is a nightmare scenario
God help China having 100 parties and doing the idiocy Indian leaders do
US Army Colonel Douglas Macgregor Reveals TRUTH About China
This primarily shocked me because of where I live (Chicago) and my profession (teacher). I knew it was bad, but I didn’t know it was this bad:
Seventy-six percent of Chicago’s high school students, and forty-five percent of Chicago’s elementary school students, do not go to their assigned neighborhood public school.
That means that 3/4 of all high school kids, and almost half of all elementary school kids, have parents who took one look at their local public school and said, “no thanks.”
Every student in Chicago is assigned a neighborhood public school, simply based on where they live in the city. The students who don’t go to those schools go to private schools, magnet schools, charter schools, or selective-enrollment schools. Or they homeschool.
Magnet, charter, and selective-enrollment schools are public schools, too, but they require some effort on the parents’ and students’ part to get and stay in them. The selective-enrollment schools, in particular, require the most effort to get into.
All of those “public, but not neighborhood” schools were created due to parental demand or necessity. It was either create them, or watch as, year after year, even more of the city’s tax base (parents who give a damn) move to the suburbs.
This has been in the local news a lot the last week, and it even made an appearance in the national news, because the city government passed a resolution to prioritize those neighborhood public schools (which the parents reject) over the selective-enrollment schools.
The stated goal is, of course, “equity.” The idea is that, without the selective schools poaching all of the “good” students, those “good” students will go back to their neighborhood schools, and help them improve.
Except those students would not actually go to those neighborhood public schools, no matter what. Their parents would just pay for private schools, home school, or move to the suburbs. I’ve been teaching in Chicago long enough to know that most parents really don’t see the regular public school as a real option. Students here use the neighborhood public school names as the punchlines of jokes or as threats. As in, “You better be careful, or you’ll end up at [local public school].”
Also, the “good” students aren’t a tool for the city to use to improve “bad” schools. It’s not the job of the “A” students to diffuse the averages of the “F” students by enrolling in the same schools as them.
While the stated goal for this new push by the city government is “equity,” the real goal is, as with most things in government, money. The Chicago Teachers’ Union, which gets most of its money and influence via the neighborhood public schools, contributed over $2,000,000 to our current mayor’s election campaign. The quid-pro-quo is right out in the open for all to see, but the only people who bother to open their eyes to it are the people who didn’t support the mayor in the first place.
So the city government has a five-year plan to prioritize Chicago’s failing neighborhood public schools. I’m making a note to myself to check back in five years and see how it went. I predict that things will actually be worse, but they will change the metrics by which they define success, to make whatever happens fit that definition. Then they’ll say it’s not enough, and double-down on their bad policies.
All the while, private schools in the city will see an increase in enrollment, suburbs with good schools will see their property values go up even more, and home schooling will become even more popular.
Ever the cynic, and opportunist, I’ve actually been exploring ways to capitalize on this. A colleague and I have been toying with the idea of opening a tutoring center. The competition for spots at the good schools in Chicago is so tight that a lot of parents gladly pay thousands of dollars per year for their child to receive 1:1 or small-group tutoring in specific subjects, or generalized test-taking tutoring. Three of my colleagues in the last five years have left teaching to go into tutoring, and are making much more money that way.
This TikTokker Finally Realized Why Men Don’t Find Her Attractive
Let’s scroll through Instagram account of Avicii, the world famous musician.
December 26th, 2017
Caption: Where am I?
image 306
Amazing. He is living life to the fullest. Damn!!!.
December 29th, 2017
Caption:Friends of Mine
image 305
All these friends to watch his back and enjoy the ocean of life. I am jealous.
January 11th , 2018
Caption:Music is a big part of my life
image 304
A blazing career with all the talented people around and loving everyday what he does with passion. God I am envious.
January 15th, 2018
Caption :A cuddle a day keeps the instinct away. (The hunting instinct.) (Just kidding.)
image 303
Awwww….
January 19th, 2018
Caption: Fact of the day: More people die every year from taking selfies than from shark attacks. Stay safe out there ✌️❤
image 302
LOL!!!!
February 18th, 2018
Caption: So I invested in Sweden’s first cold brew coffee company. Pretty cool startup that’s innovating the Swedish way of coffee drinking. You should definitely check them out.
image 301
Damn. This guy means business.
March 27th, 2018
Caption: Studio Mode
image 300image 299
Workaholic and passionate. Damn I wish I could be like that.
April 5th , 2018
Caption: It’s always sunny in California
image 298
Woah!! Dude is rich. Dude is passionate. Has everything one can dream of.
April 20th, 2018
Caption:
image 25
So yeah.
That’s why I don’t use social media.
Edit: This answer is for people who don’t realize everyone is just a PR agent of themselves online. Everybody else sucks too. There is no reason for being miserable comparing your lives with social media. But I do believe social media should be used for generating content around your product or service like blogging, creating audio or visual content etc.
I would do just like I did for my daughter in Germany when she was going to a DOD (Department of Defense) school. She came home for a month and a half complaining about a boy bullying her on the playground. We called the school and told them almost every other day. They keep telling us the teachers are keeping him away from her. Well she kept coming home complaining. So I took it upon myself to really see what is going on. Sure enough he was harassing her. When she came home that day from school complaining about that boy. I set her down and told her that tomorrow is the time you have to do what Daddy has been teaching you how to defend yourself. Her response was, but I don’t want to get in trouble. I told her the only one that you will be in trouble with is me and how can you be in trouble if I am telling you to do it. Then I told her it is your choice if you want to end this or not. Either way I love you.
the next day around lunchtime I get a call from the school that she assaulted another student and I need to pick her up.
Well, well, well I took time off and drove miles and miles to get there. I told the officer who I was and that the principal is expecting me. She said yes Sir go on in. My daughter was standing in the corner of the office facing the wall waiting. I did not even acknowledge the principal and told my daughter to come sit in the chair in front of his desk. Then I ask the principal what is the problem ? His response was she assaulted another student. I told him that the next question I as you. I want you to think long and hard about your answer. Did she assault the student that has been assaulting her all these months! I then told him that he has 5min to respond and 4.5 of those minutes are gone! Go!!! He said Yes! Yes! Then I ask him so what are you going to do about it? He had the gall to tell me.that he was to suspending her for three days for putting her hands on another stoner. I leaned over his desks and told him that she it not going to miss another second of class. I told her to go to her class that she is supposed to be at this time and I will see you back home after school. Then to lighten her spirits I told her you are not beating me again tonight playing crash bandicoot!!! (Yes that was way back). After she left the office I locked the door to his office and turned around and told him that you made you decision, and now I have made my. I am going to take out the last two-to-three months my daughter, my wife and I have been stressing over and tag you are it!!!!
Sorry so long,but a true story.
When I went to jump over the desk. He jumped trough the window. The sad part was it was closed. 😂😂😂
Anyway, my Chain of Command knew all about the problem that my daughter was going through. I was a Platoon Sergeant at the time.
Now it gets good, my battalion commander was briefed on it. However he had to do something because because I threaten the principal and there was damage to government property, the window he jumped out of. So after the UCMJ (Uniform code of justice). My extra duty was to walk from the Commander’s Office down the street to my place of duty, which was only about 80 yards.
True story!! Need less to say my daughter did not have anymore trouble and got to get her education without any harassment from the students or the faculty.
I know this question was about a teacher slapping a student. If it was a teacher slapping my child I would have not gone to school. I would have followed that teacher after school and discussed it in another manner.
I got my first period when i was in 5th grade i was 10 years old. Worst part is i was in school, the last period was going on and I was sitting on the last bench in the corner row. i didn’t knew anything about it, and i was so clueless that wtf was happening with me. I told this to my bench mate and she said that she does not understand what I am saying. I ran to the teacher and told her everything, she said go to the office and ask the female staff to give me a sanitary pad.
I did that I went to the office and told the staff I want sanitary pads, she went inside the office. I was trembling with fear, but for a while I felt that everything would be alright.
The staff came out of the office and said that they are out of sanitary napkins, go buy them from the nearby shop.I was bleeding and literally begged her to come with me but she said she can’t leave the office and refused.
I was a kid and my body was not strong enough to bear the pain of periods. I was terrified, I couldn’t walk, I could feel the stains on my clothes. Still I walked to the nearest shop, and the shopkeeper was a male.
My eyes were downcast like I’m a terrorist, my voice was ashamed like I’ve committed a crime. And I asked him for a pad in a trembling voice, he took out a sanitary napkin’s packet and put 10 layers of news paper on it as if it were a bomb.
For me bravery is avoiding thousands of restriction and questions of the society and to say that yes I am a woman, yes I bleed and it is not my fault, it is not a crime.
I Saw the 11 Dimensions of the Universe in DETAIL! (Near Death Experience)
No, the Houthis are not a terrorist force indiscriminately targeting civilians, they are just an anti-American and anti-Israeli resistance force.
What the Houthis claimed was that they would attack boats “associated with Israel”. What are “associated with Israel”? Western bloc, of course.
image 4
70% of Europe’s oil shipments will pass through the Red Sea. Europe has already interrupted Russian oil and gas, and now oil and gas from the Middle East will be stopped by the Houthis. Things will get even harder for Europeans as winter approaches.
The purpose of their attacks on Western Group boats was to support the Palestinians. It is well known that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza. And the United States is stubbornly biased in favour of Israel.
The Arab countries and the Muslim world, while not supporting the Houthis, are not against them either, and some even secretly support them.
image 24
Chinese boats transporting oil do not pass through the Red Sea, only merchant ships pass through the Red Sea, and there are china railway express that can replace merchant ships.
image 296
I recall that the last time when Taiwanese Shipping Company large container ship blocked the Suez Canal, the china railway express became the main freight transport route to Europe.
Taiwanese Shipping Company leased the Japanese shipowner’s ship and hired Indian crew to drive the “Ever Given” large container ship through the Suez Canal. It would be surprising that there would be no accidents.
image 23
The Houthis will not attack Chinese boats, and China has no intention of joining the Western bloc, which is the unjust side.
The U.S. and Israel or Western Group should be reflecting on why they were attacked by the Houthis instead of looking to China as a lifeline to grab when they are drowning.
Korean Braised Short Ribs
Serve Korean Braised Short Ribs with cooked cellophane noodles, dipped into the cooking sauce.
Korean Braised Short Ribs
Ingredients
4 pounds beef short ribs, cut into pieces
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons ground sesame seed*
2 teaspoons chopped ginger root or 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon pepper
* Ground sesame seed is available in Oriental food specialty stores and some supermarkets. Whole sesame seed can be ground in the blender: 1 tablespoon whole sesame seed yields 2 tablespoons ground sesame seed.
Instructions
Trim fat from beef ribs; place beef in shallow non-reactive dish.
Mix remaining ingredients; pour over beef.
Cover and refrigerate, turning occasionally, 24 hours.
Drain beef, reserving marinade. Cook beef in 4-quart Dutch oven over medium heat until brown; drain.
Pour marinade over beef.
Cover and bake at 350 degrees F until tender, about 2 hours.
I was required to issue a monthly report of sales by geographic region, listing each project.
One was a project in China sold to New Sun (China) Energy. I dutifully indicated the sale was in Asia.
My boss protested. “No!” said he. “You need to report that in Europe.”
I blinked and said, “But it’s in China.”
“Yes,” said he. “China’s in Europe.”
“Um…no.. China’s in Asia.”
He slammed his hand on his desk and said, “China’s a state of Germany, now report it in Europe.”
Me: “Ok” while silently muttering dumbass.
We had another dispute over Egypt. Apparently Egypt is also in Europe.
I had a grand time explaining to our lead sales person (a Chinese lady citizen of China) and our production manager (a German citizen) that Germany had expanded its population by a billion with this master stroke of geopolitical theater. They both rolled their eyes.
Oh yes. “Give me your purse you b*tch!. I want £50 now!” screeched the entitled teenage daughter of one of the company partners. I was PA to both partners and had only been there for a couple of months.
Princess was used to dropping into Daddy darling’s office if she and her little friends were shopping in town and she needed more money.
This particular afternoon Daddy was away at a meeting and our accountant was on a half day (she held the petty cash and was used to dealing with the occasional demands of the Princess).
I explained that Daddy was out and the accountant wouldn’t be back until tomorrow so nobody could help with her (obviously desperate and life threatening) need for cash. She decided that I should meet her need by handing over my own money. She threw a tantrum when I refused, and immediately called Daddy’s mobile, interrupting his meeting and demanding that he tell me to give her the money. He told me to do so, and I refused.
I didn’t have £50 in my purse (or even £10) but if I did she wouldn’t have had a sniff of it. After she stormed out I wrote my resignation and called the other partner to explain why I quit.
Found out a while later that the partnership fell apart and nice partner sued Daddy darling for financial mismanagement and fraud. Princess wasn’t the only family member thinking the business was her own personal piggy bank.
Can China Save The American Dream ? US Army Colonel Douglas Macgregor Reveals
China is not a Muslim-phobic country. It’s all United States propaganda to destroy Muslim world.
image 295
China tells its Muslim citizens to live well and love their state and also their religion as Xi Jinping said.
If China got attacked, know that the aggressors will fail.
image 3
If the aggressors try to attack Uyghurs like they did in Middle-East, bombing their Mosques, etc. Know that the Uyghurs won’t be silenced defending their home and mosques.
image 294
–
image 293
The Muslims of China will stamp out the hypocrite country.
image 2
–
image 1
~ Sunni Muslim from Asia here, appreciating China.
I was once the daytime caregiver for a little boy with a massive brain injury. The damage was so extensive that a large part of his right brain had been surgically removed. He was paralyzed on his left side. He also probably suffered from Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, but the doctors were unsure. He hoarded food, because he had gone hungry many times in his earlier life. Altogether a really lousy start.
I was pushing little X in his stroller. He was about three years old at this point. We were walking toward the high school, and there was a group of girls on the sidewalk. Black clothes, black hair, smoking, swearing girls.
X was a bit unusual looking, due to his injuries. I was thinking that these girls were going to laugh at him, or tease him, or something. I was getting tense and defensive.
As X and I get close, he hollers out, “HI”, which was his only word at the time. I was not expecting the response he got from those girls.
They were totally sweet. They were all saying hi back and asking his name and saying how cute he was. One asked me about his injuries, and I gave her the short version. She started to cry, and then I did, too. It was hard for me to talk about his history. We ended up hugging each other.
I have always remembered that group of girls, and how completely wrong I was about them.
They remind me often not to judge people by their appearance.
Internet access is better than any other nation except maybe Singapore. The Public Wi Fi means you have free internet while travelling almost anywhere and uninterrupted
Sure many western sites are restricted as are many apps
You can use VPN but VPN is very unreliable unless it’s Nord VPN and that too for a proper router rather than for mobile phone
Yet with a proper VPN, you can access any and all apps and sites in China
IT IS NOT ILLEGAL UNLESS YOU MAKE COMMERCIAL USE OF VPN (Meaning downloading and selling pornography etc)
If you really want to go to western websites that are banned, you can visit a PUBLIC LIBRARY with your ID Card and access any website you want. There is NO RESTRICTION.
I accessed Quora openly in a Public Library whereas the VPN never gave me a connection beyond 6–7 minutes at a time
So yes, I would say if you really want to watch CNN and CBS and want to view the BBC Website and access Twitter all the time, then China is not for you
Otherwise if you simply want Gmail & your Online Banking & online calling & chatting – you have 1001 apps to ensure you are connected
Non Acceptance of International Driver Licenses
This is stupid again
China has NO ISSUES with a International Driver License provided there is INSURANCE available on that license
You want to lease a car in China with an International License, you either pay a fat deposit as incidental insurance premium so that if you bang the car, the rental company doesn’t shell out the cost
Otherwise you get a local license holder to co sign and you get your car in 3 minutes
Imagine you bump a car, park it and dash off to your country. That’s a huge loss to the rental company isn’t it.
You cough up the Incidental Insurance Premium Deposit which is FULLY REFUNDABLE on returning the car and they will accept your International Drivers License
This is nearly 3100 RMB so most International Drivers are cheapies who promptly blame the Chinese for not recognizing International Driving Licenses
Lodging restricted to certain hotels
Again a Stupid way to put it
Hotels in China connected to the Real Time Security Network accept foreigners all the time
That’s 100% of all hotels in Big Cities and 90% of Hotels in smaller towns
They scan your passport and in ten seconds, the data comes up from your immigration and that’s it.
Tomorrow if you disappear, no issues, the hotel informs the MSB who will promptly print out your passport and deliver a copy to your consulate
Sadly smaller hotels DON’T have this ready connection to the digital security system
They need to scan your passport, print that out, take the print out and deliver it to the local police outpost who will then deliver them to the main outpost
It will take 1 year to hunt for such a print out tomorrow if there is a problem
It’s too much effort so such hotels don’t accept foreigners UNLESS A CHINESE BOOKS THEIR ROOM with his Identity Card
Mostly such tourists have a Chinese Agent who will give his ID or his company’s ID and book the rooms
image 292
Our Vicky Bhaiya has no issues because his wives ID is sufficient
This isn’t only China
Even in France and Europe, many small provincial hotels don’t accept foreigners because of the same reason
They need you to get a clearance from a local gendarme who sees your passport and okays you
Hell in Scotland an Indian friend of mine couldn’t get a hotel until 12 Noon because of such a problem when a Local Britisher could get a room at 5:30 AM
Same for booking a car
Outside the West, an International Driving License doesn’t get you a car without a hefty deposit
All that China says is asks for the deposit towards Incidental Insurance
The Censorship?
Yes that’s unique to China among the big countries
Like I said if you want to access BBC and Twitter all the time, China is not for you
Maybe not into a completely different person, but it definitely will change you, and how you view life. Before I enlisted, I was an annoying 17–18 year old boy who played video-games all day, mouthed off to teachers, and had terrible acne. When I finished boot camp and AIT, I respected authority figures, I had better self-esteem, and I wasn’t as much of a smart-aleck anymore. I actually did stuff with my life.
I was still loud and sometimes annoying, at least when there were no senior NCOs or officers around, and I still made dumb jokes and toed the line around my family. I was the same kid as before, just disciplined and happier. More confident in myself, because I knew I could do stuff no one else in my family or my graduating class, except my father, could.
Then, I was deployed 3 times between 2004–2010, and actually saw, and participated in, combat and firefights. I saw the bloody, seedy side of things. It wasn’t like a movie or a video-game anymore, I didn’t tell jokes anymore, I was quieter and more serious. I didn’t tolerate people goofing off or making idiotic decisions around me anymore. Making the wrong decision, or playing games, on the battlefield could mean death.
Of course, I wasn’t firing my SAW at the Taliban and ISI 24/7. There was a lot of sitting around and waiting, marching, digging holes, and sitting in a hot, tiny truck for days, squeezed against another hairy, sweaty dude. That’s the part movies don’t show. It’s not action all the time, there’s a lot of stuff that goes into it that civilians and celebrities never think about when they hear the word “war.” And when there is action, you don’t have drawn-out speeches about family and honour, or whatever. You don’t goof off and walk up-right, unless you want a bullet between the eyes.
When I came back, I could not understand the struggles and pain of my family and friends that didn’t serve. Unless it’s an unexpected divorce or a death of somebody close to you, there’s no reason to grovel and whine about how hard and unfair life is, and how miserable you are. I’ve seen guys say they’re in “so much pain that no one understands” after a girl they knew for less than a year broke up with them. Especially these young Gen-Z kids and teenagers. All this “I could defeat anyone in a fight, I bench more than you” attitude is arrogant and laughable. You wouldn’t last a week doing the stuff we did, so stop acting like you’re so tough when you’re only 16 and cry in your room at night over a girl.
These (at least the males) youngsters also brag about Navy SEALS being better than anything and everything on earth, and use our military as a tool to justify their biases. You’re embarrassing us, and if any military veteran met you, they’d laugh.
image 291
Accurate depiction of what modern warfare is like: lots of sitting around and waiting, or guarding stuff.
In general, combat did change me a lot, and my outlook on life, and perspective on common civilian “struggles” and issues. It also gives shell-shock/combat fatigue/PTSD and nightmares to those who served, which changes them as a person. I personally suffer from some of these things. It does suck a lot, and played a part in changing me as well, there is simply no way to explain to a civilian what combat is like, what war-trauma is like, the things you saw and how horrific it was, how impossible it is to cope with things like that. In the moment, you never think about what you’re doing or seeing, you’re disconnected from reality, and in your mind you dehumanize the enemy. It is just “eliminating a threat” or carrying out orders, not opening fire on the 10-year-old coming at you with an RPG.
Later though, your mind thinks about what you did and what you saw over and over again, tries to rationalize it, process it, cope with it, and finds that a lot of the time, it can’t. It’s easier to push these things away and pretend it never happened, pretend you never saw that teenager choking on his own blood and gasping for breath in the sand after you shot him, or never saw your friend get blown to bits. I can’t say I regret doing these things, as they were threats to the livelihood of myself and my friends. I can say, however, that it’s inescapable to feel human empathy and sadness over what you done, even while knowing there was nothing else you can do, even while knowing that they wanted to kill you.
It’s just a natural human feeling, but you learn to suffocate it and push it down. I’ve had some idiots call me a terrorist and a war-criminal, for shooting enemy child soldiers, and the like. These people aren’t worth arguing with, they will never understand that morality doesn’t matter when it’s you vs them, and they’re literally a threat to your existence, no matter how young they are. They think in black and white, never understanding how complicated this is, and how necessary it is to defend yourself, even if it’s a child soldier.
Cop Warns How Women Manipulate Divorce Law
This is a pretty important video. The “three step rocket”.
“It’s really more of an in-person kind of explanation,” he demured, then suggested a dinner date.
I hesitated. Normally I don’t meet my online dates until significantly more text and phone contact. Partly for safety reasons, partly because I don’t want to waste my time on guys I know will not work out. But mostly because I have been on A LOT of bad dates.
He said he was living in his friend’s spare room because he’d hit a few “speed bumps,” in life. I totally got that. I’m the queen of speed bumps myself. I let myself dare to hope maybe— just maybe— I had found a kindred spirit. I agreed to the date. And just like that, there I was, listening to him tell his story from across the candlelit table.
”About a year ago, I went out with some friends after work,” he began, and I smiled and nodded to let him know he had my attention. “I met a girl at a bar and we really hit it off. We ended up going home together. Next day, there’s a cop on my doorstep. And yada, yada, yada… long story short, she didn’t LOOK sixteen.”
I stiffened. Did she look 30? Because you’re 44, dude.
“So,” he continued, “I have a felony on my record. I was put on probation, and my job fired me. And then, just to kick me when I’m down” —and this is my favorite part— “my wife left me.”
?!??!!
“Bummer,” I said, because what else is there to say?
“So I was out of work, and my mom and I couldn’t live off her social security check alone, so she started driving for Uber…
The current supreme leader of Vietnam, Nguyễn Phú Trọng, is a very typical pro-China faction.
This means that Vietnamese diplomacy should be like bamboo, whose branches and leaves may sway in the wind, but whose poles are very tough.
Vietnam may pander to the U.S. in some cases, but the bamboo’s backbone is straight. After all, they fought the Yanks, and US pressure doesn’t always bring Vietnam to its knees.
image 22
diplomacy
According to VnEconomy, in 2022, nearly 70 foreign affairs activities will be carried out by agencies under the Party, State, Government and National Assembly of Vietnam. According to statistics, by the beginning of 2023, Vietnam has established diplomatic relations with 190/192 countries; economic, trade and investment relations with 224 partners, and cooperation with more than 500 international organisations. The country is also a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation Forum (APEC), the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Trade Agreement, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and 15 other free trade agreements.
Vietnam-China relations
From 30 October to 1 November 2022, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Nguyễn Phú Trọng paid an official visit to China after General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and President Xi Jinping assumed the office of the third President. He is the first senior leader to visit China after Xi assumed his third term as President. It was also Nguyễn Phú Trọng’s first visit to China after the 13th Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam. Both sides later deemed the visit a success. The Vietnamese side called China “a good neighbour, a good friend, a good comrade, a good partner, a good partner in the same boat, a good partner in solidarity and a good partner for the happiness of the people”. According to Reuters, the meeting between the two leaders was overly intimate, with no masks, They handshakes or hugs, against the backdrop of China’s strict embargo policy that it still maintains because of COVID-19.
image 290
Vietnam-United States relations
At the end of August 2021, the Vice President of the United States of America, Kamala Harris, paid a visit to Viet Nam from 24 to 26 August 2021. During Ms Harris’ visit, the US side also confirmed a land lease agreement worth US$1.2 billion for the construction of the US Embassy building in Vietnam. Before leaving Vietnam, the US Vice President said the visit “marks the beginning of a new chapter in Vietnam-US relations”. After the visit, the Vietnamese media also carried a message inviting Joe Biden to visit Vietnam by the General Secretary and President of Vietnam.
On November 12, 2022, at the 40th and 11th ASEAN Summits, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pạm Minh Chính met directly with US President Biden. During the meeting, Mr. Pạm Minh Chính continued to “convey” the remarks of the General Secretary and President of Vietnam inviting the President of the United States to visit Vietnam. However, VOA caused a wave of controversy when it released a video in which Mr. Pạm Minh Chính chatted with subordinate leaders before meeting with the United States and “make it clear, to be fair, what are you afraid of?” The video was originally posted on May 14 but was not edited and was deleted on May 23. However, the video was later released by Voice of America but with the offensive phrase hidden. The reason why VOA deleted the video was that Khanh Nguyen, an official at the Vietnamese Embassy in the United States, asked VOA to delete the video. The email said the video “violates the principles of respect for privacy and journalistic professionalism and ethics.” Furthermore, VOA’s reporting has been misused and distorted for political purposes. The deletion was later protested by VOA’s Vietnamese service because it believed press freedom was being hindered. RFA, considered VOA’s “sister”, also released the video but did not receive any deletion email.
On the evening of March 29, 2023, General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng had a phone call with US President Biden at request. During the phone call, the leaders of the two countries both emphasized that 2023 will be the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Vietnam-US comprehensive partnership. When Mr. Biden spoke by phone with a foreign leader who was not a head of state or prime minister, the calls were rare, Reuters reported. The United States is currently also Vietnam’s largest export market in 2022. Soon after, from April 14 to April 16 of the same year, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced a high-level visit to Vietnam. He visited Vietnam and met with Foreign Minister Bùi Thanh Sơn, Prime Minister Pạm Minh Chính, President Võ Văn Thưởng, and General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng. A contentious issue also arose during a meeting between Mr Phạm Minh Chính and Anthony Blinken, with only the Vietnamese flag in the background, not the American flag. According to Radio Free Asia, most of this information comes from Chinese media. The agency analyzed that because this was a meeting of different levels, there was only the Vietnamese flag in the background. According to BBC News, when US President Joe Biden may visit Hanoi in May or Vietnam’s General Secretary visits the United States in July, diplomatic issues between the two countries are likely to continue to heat up. The media also said in its analysis that the statement that Vietnam now “stands shoulder to shoulder with the United States at a time when we need each other’s support most” is often used only to refer to the country’s allies, but Mr. Blinken used it to refer to Vietnam.
image 289image 288
And the Philippines is a blade of grass that falls when the wind blows. The Philippines was once a colony of the United States, and the colonial mentality of the Filipinos is deeply rooted. As long as the United States exerts a little pressure, Marcos Jr. will give in.
I got a notification from the Amazon app that my packages were here. They were my sons birthday presents. I didn’t go outside immediately though as I was changing my twins diapers.
When I was finished I went out to get them. Some woman was out there picking up my boxes. I asked very loudly what she thought she was doing.
She tried to spin some story about how my packages were damaged and had been recalled and that they would be replaced in a few days,
I called her story bullshit and to get off my property or I would call the cops. I wasn’t quiet about it. She started to leave WITH my packages.
Before I could yell again or call the cops my neighbors Rottweiler mix was in front of us growling loudly with my neighbor limping fast towards us. He’s an older guy and an absolute sweetheart. He told her to drop the boxes or his dog would attack. She dropped them and ran to her car and drove away. I got her license plate number and reported her to the cops.
I hugged my neighbor and thanked him for saving my sons birthday. I also baked him cookies and brought him a slice of my sons cake the next day.
Ok, this one has irked me for some time. I went to see a blood doctor. Had a bit too low iron in my blood. Called, confirmed my insurance co-pay, went to my appointment, paid my co-pay and left.
A few weeks later I get a bill for $250 bill for the visit. I call to remind them that I paid my co-pay (which was a hell of a lot less then $250). They acknowledge that, but “remind me” that this isn’t a co-pay, it’s a “facility charge.” I say I have no idea what they’re talking about. I never agreed to a “facilities charge.”
Well their office is in a hospital building so I should understand there will be a hospital “facilities charge.” I inform them that, I didn’t go to the hospital, I went to their office which happens to rent space from the hospital. They argue that it was in some paper package they gave me when I came for my appointment. I disagree refusing to pay, they insist I have to. I disagree after some argument end the call. They try to collect a few more times ending similarly. Eventually they get the point and realized their threats were falling on deaf ears.
They call me back a few days later, apologize for the confusion and agree to a one time reduction of the “facilities charge” to $75. I inform them I came to them for a doctor’s appointment, not to pay their rent and refuse. Another argument ends in me ending the call. More threats and calls ensue.
Finally I get a call from them stating that, “for this one instance” my “facility charge” is going to be waived but I’m going to be responsible for the full facilities charge for all future appointments. I assure them I understand, and make sure they understand that based on this fiasco there will be no future visits. The doctor that sent me to them also took them off his referral list.
After my husband passed away I drove his old Jeep Cherokee for a while, but it was starting to show its age and I could see some big repair bills coming up that I did not want to deal with. I started to look at new cars, and was impressed with the Subaru Outback. Then Subaru started a big promotion with discounts and 1.9% financing, so I drove the old Jeep to my local dealer. Talked to a salesman who qualified me (I had a good job in Information Technology, so the payments would not be a problem). I found one that I liked and we started to work out a deal. After some negotiating, I was summoned to speak with the Finance Manager – some dude in probably his mid-20s who informed me that, due to some late payments the previous year, there was no way I would qualify for their 1.9% financing, but he could offer me a loan at around 8%. I was startled, as my credit had been excellent for years, so I asked for clarification. Yes, there were a couple of late payments on a couple of credit cards that corresponded to the last few months of my husband’s life when I was… distracted much of the time, to say the least. Taking care of him was my priority, and sometimes other things, like writing checks to pay a bill got overlooked temporarily. Then the finance dude started lecturing me on the importance of being responsible and taking care of what is important (paying bills, of course), and how clearly my credit report was showing that I didn’t take the important stuff seriously. I looked him in the eye as I stood up to leave and said that maybe when he got a little more life experience he might understand what it is like to watch someone you love, with whom you were planning to spend the rest of your life, to watch that person waste away, in pain and terrible suffering, then we could talk about responsibility. During those months, my single highest priority was taking care of him. Yes, a few bills got paid late, but I know that I had my priorities correct. So don’t condescend, and do NOT lecture me on personal responsibility, frat boy.
I am writing anonymously because I hate pity and I have friends on quora that know me.
I was an orphan. I don’t remember ever enjoying my childhood except sometimes playing Cricket with other boys of my age in my village. I came from a small village just outside of Lahore, Pakistan. I was told that my parents had an accident when I was 4 Years old. My childhood memory starts from my uncle’s home. I can’t remember my parents.
When I was 7 years old, my uncle had enough of me and sent me to Lahore to work. He dropped me off to his friend who owned a teashop in a busy market. I didn’t want to work, I wanted to play and study. I loved to go to school which now I couldn’t. I was hired for 4,000 Rupees which was alot of money for me but I came to know that I will get only 1,000 Pakistani rupees for my work and rest will be paid to my uncle.
After one year of working there, I used to deliver tea to a complete surrounding area of the teashop. I was responsible for the collection of money, delivery of tea and retrieval of tea cups. One day, the teashop owner asked me to make a special delivery at a compound nearby. When I took the tea to the compound, there were men sitting around in a round table in an open area. I delivered the tea to a person named Aqil, which the teashop owener Mr. Bilal told me. When I delivered the tea, and asked for the money and said that “Please kindly give me the money because I have alot of other deliveries to make” I don’t know what happend but this Aqil guy flipped and threw two cup of teas on me which was extremely hot and I started crying because of pain and then he said to me “Do you know who I am” “Now you will remember me always, scum”.
I left from the compound scratching my neck from burns. Now, when I remember back nobody stopped me and asked me what was wrong. It was approximately 3 minute walk back to the tea shop. The market was full of customers and a child is crying and walking and nobody stopped him or asked him what happend.
Then when I reached the shop, Mr. Bilal asked me what happend and I told him everything. Then he accused me why I asked them for money. Then I replied, you told me to ask for these things. Then he said forget about it, you don’t ask those guys for money. Here keep this 50 rupees and buy toothpaste for yourself to put on the burnt area. Also Mr. Bilal was a bad guy who used to beat me and slap me around just because I was late or because somebody didn’t pay me.
From that day, I knew life was not fair. When I was 12 years old I ran away from the Teashop and started living on the streets. I knew from my time in the shop to keep distance from people who are living on the street. I used to eat from a shrine known as Data Darbar in Lahore.
Then I knew I wanted to get a job so I can become something like the people that are sitting in an AC car. I knew I had to get an education but how. I didn’t knew anything about studies. So I decided to join a canteen shop in a school. There was one school which was very famous, I went to the canteen shop of that school and begged the guy in there to hire me because I wanted to study. I don’t know why but he did hire me and used to pay me 3,000 Rupees per month.
There was a female teacher in this school who was very nice. One day she approached me as I was working in the canteen and asked me about studies. I don’t know what prompted her to ask me this but she did. I told her that I wanted to study but I don’t have any money. She just said that don’t worry about it.
The next week I was enrolled in the same school I was working at.
Now I am 37 Years old. I’m married and have my own software house and a small general store which I acheived with my sheer determination and hardwork and some help from extremely generous people.
I have three Boys and 2 Girls. My wife often asks me regarding the burnt marks on my neck and chest and I always reply it’s a burnt tattoo.
I am happy. I got lucky. Not many people get lucky. Child labor is one of the worst things that can happen to a child. It’s my secret and now nobody can call me lowlife scum. Nobody can use me as their punching bag. Life is beautiful now, but I know from experience how ugly it can be.
It happened in Dachau, when a dozen SS were executed by US army personnel who were appalled by the sight.
Remember that the Allies despised the S.S. for a variety of reasons: the Canadians despised them for the Normandy massacre, the Americans despised them for the Malmedy massacre, the British despised them for Wormhoudt, and the French despised them for the anti-bandit operations carried out by the 2nd Das Reich SS division in occupied France (for example, Oradour sur Glane).
Another minor episode occurred in Bavaria, when Twelve members of the 33rd SS division were executed near a forest by Spaniards of the Nueve; their bodies were never brought to France and were left to decompose.
image 276
Leclerc witnessed the fall of France and the devastation of French towns firsthand, and like many other Frenchmen, he lamented the loss of Ouradour sur Glane while actively seeking the annihilation of the Third Reich. During the liberation of Lorraine, his battalion was forced to untie from a community, and the mayor was later killed by the Germans once the village was retaken.
His division’s health service was retroceded in order to assist the released inmates from Dachau, and he witnessed the awful misery of the prisoners’ conditions in those sites; many of his fellow people were imprisoned in horrible conditions. He even got into a violent confrontation with a priest who was trying to keep an eye on what was going on.
So, sure, the execution of S.S was the culmination of months of frustration by Allies soldiers, which amounted to war crimes.
“Why should we hire you?” Luigi the arrogant recruiter asked.
“I have with me a written proposal of how I will positively impact your organization during my first 90 days in this position. We can go over it together if interested,” Mario said as he showed a sneak peek of his document.
“Sure, let’s take a look at it,” Luigi’s eyes shone with amazement while thinking, “Ohh wow! This guy has a plan? I’m curious as to what he is proposing.”
“Mr Luigi, has anyone ever brought you a plan before you hire them?” Mario asked, taking control of the conversation.
“I must admit, this is pretty uncommon,” Luigi said.
“Mr Luigi, I’ve done my homework. This is how I do things. You should hire me because I’m self-sufficient, I don’t need you to be all over me to give you results. I’m always ahead of the crowd.”
He paused to look Luigi in the eye.
“You should hire me because I don’t need to be micromanaged. You will never have to be chasing me or telling me what to do. You should hire me because I’m here to make you money. Mr Luigi, I’m an asset to this business, I’m a producer — not a taker.”
“Let’s see the plan,” Luigi insisted.
Mario got the document out and placed it on the table. Still holding it, he paused and said, “Well, Mr Luigi, I still don’t know if this is the right job for me. Can I ask you a few questions?”
Luigi arrogantly laid back on his chair and said, “Ok, shoot.”
Mario started asking questions, “What are the company values? Do you really live by them? Who will I work with? Can I talk to these people before I get started?”
“Interesting questions, Mario,” Luigi said.
“Mr Luigi, the reason I ask these questions is because I’m more worried about WHO I work with than my paycheck.”
“Why is that?”
“It’s important who I surround myself with. I like to work with smart people. I don’t like to be limited by what I can accomplish. I want to push my professional growth. A big paycheck is NOT worth being surrounded by idiots.”
image 277
To answer your question, what are the best answers for “Why should I hire you?”
It really doesn’t matter the accuracy of a 90-day plan document. It doesn’t matter if it works or not. It will definitely make you stand out by showing you invested time thinking and understanding the job description and the company’s needs. (Most people only care about what they’re going to get paid.)
Show self-confidence. Show you care about yourself and that you have high standards for the quality of the people, the challenge and the job. Make the future employer feel they need to deserve you. (Most people will be almost begging for the job; that’s not very attractive for a recruiter.)
During a 10-hour flight, she was heading from Seoul, Korea, to San Francisco, USA. This mother distributed more than 200 passengers on the plane a plastic bag for each one. The bag contains candy, chewing gum and earplugs as a kind of advance apology for using them in the event that her 4-month-old baby screamed during the flight.
image 279
The bag also contained a message containing (hello, I am Jan Woo. I am 4 months old and today I’m traveling America with my mom and grandmother for my aunt’s outfit. I’m a little nervous and scared. This is my first flight in my life. It’s normal for me to cry or cause some disturbance. I’ll try to stay calm, but I can’t promise you. Please use it if my voice gets too loud.. Enjoy your trip. Thank you)
I was 12-years-old. I had a paper route and my mom wanted to go out for a beer with her best friend.
Let’s get a couple of things straight before I continue. This was the 1970s and no, she’s not an alcoholic. Going out with the girls for a beer was pretty common in the 70s. It wasn’t quite “Mad Men”, but not far off.
The thing is, my parents were terrible with money. We were poor(ish). We frequently had to move because the landlord raised the rent. All of our furniture was used (if the couch cushions wore out, we flipped the cushions over). You get the idea.
There used to be a company called “Grenada” that would rent appliances to the poor.
My parents rented a colour television for something like 25 bucks a month when a new colour tv would cost $500.
Rather than do without a tv for a couple of years and then simply buy a new set, they went with the “just put it on credit” style of living.
My mom was in debt her entire life.
I said, “I’m not going to live like that.” After graduating from college, I lived at home for 3 years (paying $200 a month out of my $700 bi-weekly paycheques/$1400 a month). I saved $32000 in those 3 years and bought a small freehold condo (freehold means no condo fees. You have to mow your own lawn and shovel your own driveway).
I was 24 years old at the time. I was mortgage-free when I was 37, which was great because I was laid off SEVEN times in my career.
I worked 2 part-time jobs along with my full-time job.
I’ve never been in debt in my life. If I couldn’t pay cash (car loans and mortgage aside), I didn’t buy it.
I’ve only ever bought a new car twice in my life. I drove that first car for a decade. My car now is 12 years old. I hope to drive it for another 8 years. I’ll buy myself a new car before I retire and you can bury me in it.
I was immediately attracted to this question. My 79-year-old father is German and was a young boy during WW2.
I asked him to write something to respond to this question, and he provided this excerpt from his memoirs. (I’ve changed the names of my uncles.)
tl;dr: During the war, bad. After the war, worse.
“In the spring of 1942, as the RAF bombing raids started, our family was evacuated by the German authorities from Krefeld to the Black Forest in southern Germany. The operation was called MUKI (for Mutter und Kinder).
By train my mother and we 3 children arrived in Schönmünzach in the Black Forest. We were ordered into a requisitioned hotel. The money the government paid the hotel must have been pretty low, judging by the unfriendly service we received.
After a few weeks, we were moved another 15 miles deeper into the forest to the little village of Obertal into the Hotel Sonne and a little later to Hotel Günther. There we had a single room with toilet and washroom down the hall. The hotel was run by two sisters and a brother, who also was a blacksmith. Two of their nieces, Lilo and Inge, were the food servers. The food was without much variation: potatoes, carrots, mushrooms that we helped collect in the woods, and blue trout. I hated the trout because of their bulging eye balls and disliked the mushrooms, they were so slippery.
It must have been in the summer of 1942 when we kids played in the garden of the hotel. There was an umbrella stand with a heavy concrete base. In passing, I pulled the stand askew and let it snap back. Unfortunately, my brother Hans was close behind me and the pipe of the stand hit him in the face. He was bloody all over, but this guy is hard to kill, he healed soon enough, but today still has a scar under the left side of his nose.
In the fall of 1942, Hans and I started elementary school in Obertal, Walter, our younger brother, followed 2 years later. We were so proud of our satchels, packed with a slate board with attached sponge, and our freshly sharpened slate styluses.
One winter evening my mother left us alone in the room and locked the door (this was before the invention of baby-sitting). We were up to some mischief: I collected pine needles from the Christmas tree and stuffed them into an electric outlet. All of a sudden there was a big flash and the light went out. I had managed to put the entire hotel into darkness.
Shortly thereafter, in early 1943 we were moved to a farmhouse near the edge of the village. The farmer by the name of Haist and his wife were not happy at all to see the unwanted guests they were forced to take in. They had two children, Alma, who was about 4 years older than I, and her younger brother Egon. We were placed in the upstairs of the small house and had one bedroom, a living room and a small kitchen with a single spigot for cold water. The toilet was half a flight down and consisted of a board with a lid-covered round cut-out hole and a cesspool below, no running water. The bedroom had no heat but was placed above the stable where a pig and a cow were supposed to warm the room from below. It was not quite sufficient, and during the coldest part of the winter we had to hack the ice off the jug and wash basin that served as our bathroom.
One day my mother had to run some errands. She again locked us up in the living room and we thought of some new mischief. We found matches and tried to burn off the fringes of the curtains by the front windows. To our disappointment the fringes didn’t burn very well and only generated smoke. So we gave up on the idea, extinguished the smoldering fringes and looked for some other entertainment. I suppose my mother was upset when she came home, but I don’t recall any punishment.
Food in those days was strictly rationed and we had to use food stamps for every purchase. My mother managed to get beef bones once a week. First she made a soup from it, then burned the bones on the charcoal in the stove. She recovered the ashes and we had to eat them as our calcium supplement. It tasted almost as bad as the weekly cod liver oil that we had to swallow. (Cod liver oil is rich in vitamins and chemicals, such as iodine. The lack of iodine was causing a high occurrence of goiters among the locals.) One day the local grocery store, the Konsum, had a big surprise: they sold strawberry jam without food stamps. Everybody rushed to the store and bought as much as the store keeper would hand out. The jam was delicious, sweet and crispy. A bit later we found out that the crispiness was dozens of wasps that got processed with the strawberries.
In the spring of 1943 I got scarlet fever and an infection of the middle ear. I was quarantined in our bedroom while Hans and Walter were moved to stay in the bedroom with Egon. When I got worse I was sent by ambulance to the hospital in Freudenstadt, some 10 miles away. I must have been pretty sick because I had to stay at the hospital for more than a month. Later I was told that both of my ear drums had ruptured. When I finally was discharged the nurse confiscated my only toy, some kind of a construction set with interlocking wooden chips, because it was “contaminated”. Really they did disinfect it and let other kids play with it. I was very unhappy about the loss.
In the summer, war came to Krefeld. On 6/21/43 the Royal Air Force (RAF) launched a heavy air raid on Krefeld where we had lived. Our house took a full hit and was totally destroyed. We would not have survived had we not been evacuated before.
Once a week we were ordered by the school to collect potato beetles in the fields around town. The beetles were threatening to kill the potato crop and rumors were that the Americans dropped the beetles on Germany, an early application of biological war fare. We had to pick the beetles off the leaves which was ok; they looked pretty in their yellow and black stripes. What I didn’t like was crushing the larvae and the eggs between my thumb and index finger and, most of all, I didn’t like the young Hitler-youth supervisor who hit us with a switch in the back of our knees when we didn’t work fast enough. However, when we were doing well we received small propaganda stickers with a printed “Kohlenklau”, the energy thief with a sack of coal over his shoulder, and “Pst, Feind hört mit” the sticker to remind you that enemy spies where everywhere.
During the summer vacation of 1943 we helped our farmer to collect ferns in the woods that he used as bedding for the cow. The fern was spread in the courtyard to dry and piled up overnight. I still remember that one night the three of us kids were allowed to dig some cave into the huge pile and sleep in it. The fragrance of the dried fern was wonderful. We also helped to make hay, a very labor intensive process. In the morning the farmer went out to his large meadow behind the house and cut the grass by hand with a scythe. Every half-hour or so he paused, pulled out a whetstone from his hip pocket, and sharpened the scythe. Frau Haist, Alma, Hans and I used rakes to spread out the grass to dry. In the early afternoon, the grass had to be turned and in the evening it had to be collected into piles. This was repeated for several days until the hay was ready to be collected into a big net which the farmer then carried on his back into the hay loft above the stable. Every evening the farmer sharpened his scythe by straddling a stone bench that had a small anvil at the end, and hammering the edge of the blade razor thin. He then finished the sharpening with a whetstone.
To obtain firewood the forester assigned and marked one tree for each family and sent a notice where to find the tree. Our tree was up the mountain some 10 miles away near a logging road. The farmer, my dad, who was on furlough, Hans, Walter and I set off at 5 in the morning. After some searching we found the tree. Dad and the farmer cut it down, chopped off the branches and sawed it into 3 ft. sections. The 3 kids had to drag the pieces up the hill to the logging road and pile it up for pick-up by the forestry people. Hans didn’t like touching the slippery, mossy branches and decided to go home. He snuck away, took the cart with all our food and beverage and rolled down the road all the way home. You can imagine how furious we were, no food or drink and another 6 hours of work and a 3-hour hike back home. At home Hans got a severe thrashing, the only one my father ever administered to him. As a further penalty Hans had to do overtime in chopping wood after the man with the mobile band saw came by and cut the sections down to firewood length.
In the fall the farmer called in the local butcher to slaughter the pig. From our bedroom we could hear the poor beast squeal. When we went downstairs, the pig was already in a tub of hot water where it was being scrubbed clean and its bristles were scraped off. We kids had the job to wash out the intestines in the fountain in the courtyard and get them ready for sausage-making by turning them inside out. When the whole pig was processed we all sat down to a “Schlachtfest” (butcher’s party). The farmer’s wife dished out “Metzelsuppe”, the broth of the sausage cooker, and freshly baked bread, followed by various cuts of meat and sausages with potatoes and sauerkraut. It was truly a feast because we could eat without needing our ration stamps.
In 1944 we moved from the farm in Obertal to Baiersbronn into one side of a duplex that the town had built for bombed out refugees like us.
The house was very small, the living room was 7 by 12 feet, the eat-in kitchen was 8 by 14 feet, and there was a single bedroom upstairs, about 10 by 12 feet. Hans and I slept in a regular bed, Walter slept in the big bed with my mother and later, after my dad got back from the POW camp, he had a crib in an alcove. Later that year, Frau Ilse Mueller – who lived in the other half of the duplex – let us use her upstairs bedroom and the 3 of us kids had a bit more room.
The house had no road connection and no water. We had to haul the water by bucket from a neighbor some 300 yards down a path to the road. For three more months we kept hauling. When the town finally installed a single tap in the kitchen, it was truly a high point in our lives.
The toilet was a hole in a wooden bench, again with a cesspool underneath. It smelled terribly, especially during the hot summer days. Worst was the maggots that kept creeping up from down below. We didn’t have any toilet paper; none could be bought in the empty stores. So my mother sacrificed the love letters my father had written to her from the war, for us youngsters they were fascinating and so romantic.
Meanwhile, our neighbor, Herr Lampert, decided we needed a road, so he organized the neighborhood and we built a dirt road, about 200 feet long, to connect to the main road. We logged tons of stone from the nearby Sankenbach creek and set them by hand into a foot-deep road base. The bed was consolidated with rams made out of tree stumps. On top we put gravel and sand, and our foot path turned into a respectable piece of road.
In early 1945, the front was drawing nearer and bombs started falling nearby. One bomb hit Café Mueller and killed their only daughter. My mother barely escaped a machine gun salvo from a low-flying French fighter plane. She feared for our lives and we all went back to the more remote village of Obertal. There we shacked up with our friends, the Siehr family, into a 3 room+kitchen apartment. They had 3 boys, our best friends, and a younger daughter. Their father was a chemist who had volunteered to join the army in 1939 and was killed in action during the first few weeks of the war. Frau Siehr became a war widow at age 28 with four children, then 4, 3, 2 and 1 years of age. There was one bedroom for the children with triple bunk-beds for the boys, and the three of us doubled up with the boys head to toe. The girl had a small bed in the same bedroom.
Then, one day in April of 1945, the French army moved into the village. The German army had retreated to guard the next bigger town of Freudenstadt. Hans and I, at age 8, had to join the “Volkssturm” (People’s Army), the last resources of the army, consisting of men over 70 and kids of 8 to 15 (everybody between 15 and 70 had been drafted earlier). We had been trained, using wooden mockups, to shoot RPGs at the incoming tanks. But the German army retreated and had taken all the real weapons with them and, luckily, we didn’t have to make that “last stand against the enemy”. The village surrendered to the French without a shot being fired.
Then the French started to search each house for soldiers and also for quarters for their officers. They came to the upstairs apartment and knocked (!) at the door of the children’s room. My mother had posted all 7 children by the door; when the soldiers opened, they exclaimed “Mon Dieu” (dear Lord) and shut the door. We kids then moved swiftly through a connecting door to the living room where Frau Siehr posted us near the door. The soldiers knocked again at the next door and saw another mother with 7 more children. With a baffled “beaucoupd’enfants” (lots of children) they gave up on their search for accommodations in the house.
After the armistice was declared there was great joy all around. Our family went back to Baiersbronn to our “Behelfsheim” (emergency shelter) as it was officially called. There we found a big mess. French soldiers had celebrated the end of fighting with a big party and had turned the place upside down. Also, they ate all our food and we had nothing left to eat. One of the French soldiers, he called himself Bari Mulut, an Algerian, came by a few days later and asked my mother to hide him; he was a deserter and just wanted to go home. We hid him in the attic and played ignorant when the French MPs came by and searched the house. They overlooked the trap door in the ceiling, leading to the attic.
At that time, food rationing was not working anymore; the whole civilian service structure had collapsed. We went around to several farms and tried to get enough food but the farmers were reluctant to accept the worthless “Reichsmark” currency. My mother taught us some French and we went begging at the hotels the French had requisitioned. “Avez-vous des conserves pour nous?” we asked again and again. We also eagerly picked up cigarette butts, rolled them into new cigarettes of ever increasing nicotine content, and traded them against food at a farmer’s. One day we were very lucky, a French officer gave us eleven 32 oz. cans of meat and vegetables, it was a memorable day. Other days we were not so lucky and the entire food for the four of us consisted of a single sugar beet that the farmers usually feed to their pigs.
There were no toys around so we made some ourselves. We carved little boats from thick pine bark and let them float on the puddles in the ditch behind the house. We made whistles from willow branches, stilts from square-cut slats, catapults from beer-bottle tops and slingshots from inner tubes, discarded by the French soldiers.
The French commanded every inhabitant of the town to watch a film about the Holocaust at the movies. Everybody was horrified and some people said this was all propaganda. Apparently, they had lost their clear thinking after years of Nazi propaganda.
During the summer of 1945 stores had nothing to sell. To survive, my mother, Hans and I went on “Hamster Reise” (shopping trip), where we scratched up some tradable goods, among them mother’s pretty lingerie that dad had sent her from Paris, loaded them on a hand-wagon and walked first from Baiersbronn to Obertal, staying at Siehr’s for a short night. The next morning at 3 am we moved on across the “Ruhestein”, the watershed between the rain-drenched (130 in/yr) eastern part of the Black Forrest were we lived, and the fertile Rhein valley. We walked 22 km (14 miles) to Kappelrodeck, Hans and I barefoot because we had no shoes, to a farm where we traded our goods. We got some 140 pounds of potatoes, fruit and vegetables. By then it was almost noon and we started our trek back. While progress in the valley was fairly good, things got really slow climbing up some 10 miles to the “Ruhestein”. Luckily, that day there was a farmer who put a pair of oxen to work, trailing a bunch of ropes for us and other “Hamsterers” to hang onto, helping them to move their handwagons up the steepest part of the climb. Down the other side it was easier, 5 miles back to Obertal and then another 5 miles to Baiersbronn. We got back home just before curfew at midnight, an exhausting 21 hour, 33 mile barefoot trek. The trip added several new layers to the callused soles of Hans’s and my feet.
The next day we had to start preserving our food. All fruit was sliced and air-dried. For that we took the doors off the hinges and covered them with the fruit slices to dry outside on the grassy patch in front of the house. After the drying, the unpainted doors had a negative leopard pattern with light spots where the fruit slices had been and sun tan around them. Carrots, potatoes and beets were stored in a sand bed in the basement. Cabbage was shredded, salted and fermented into sauerkraut in a big ceramic jar, eggs were stored in silicone gel in another earthen jar, and bread was air-dried. We had no refrigerator, and only glass jars with lids, but without rubber gaskets which then rendered them useless (all rubber had been reserved for tire production for the army).
We did the trip twice more during that summer. On one of the trips we found another friendly farmer who too was trailing half a dozen ropes behind his tractor for people to hang on and get pulled up the mountain for a few miles. His tractor had a “Holzvergaser” (wood chip gasifier) that generated carbon monoxide by partially combusting wood chips in a man-size vessel mounted on the side of the vehicle. The monoxide was then burned to carbon dioxide in the engine, generating just enough power to pull the whole convoy up the hill.
My dad had a tough summer as well. During the last days of fighting in April of 1945 he was with a few other soldiers on the south-shore of the Danube River in Ulm. The Americans were on the north shore. My father was happy to see them, so he stood up and waved to them across the river. Next thing, the Americans trained their mortars on him and he jumped back into the trenches, barely surviving the attack. A short time later his unit was overrun and he ended in a POW camp in St. Avold in Lorraine, France. The Americans were mean to the officers, ignorant about the difference between the regular army and the SS-stormtroopers. My dad was regular army, but the Americans gave all of them their Holocaust special. They fed them 4 course dinners where, e.g., the fish course was a single sardine that had to be divided between 8 people. They made them sleep under the clear sky, no tents or other shelter. Luckily, it was a dry and warm summer, so they survived. My father weighed 210 pounds going into camp and 98 pounds when he was discharged 7 months later.
Things got better when my father came back from the POW camp in November of 1945. As a former officer, dad had to register and report every Saturday to the police station in Baiersbronn. Hans and I were with him one day when Hans saw a sign on the way out where the new administration was looking for “Applicants with business education”. Dad applied and just a few weeks later got a job with the “Preiskontrollbehoerde” (price control agency) in the newly established regional administration. He got a 98cc motorbike as the official vehicle. His job was to visit shops and businesses and control that they adhered to the fixed prices set by the authorities. But his main concern was how to feed the family. So, he always brought a brown bag with him when he checked the local butcher or baker. He told them “I am not corruptible, but I have to feed my family with 3 small children”. Depending on the “crimes” he discovered, the bag got filled, more or less, with food. Once he brought back 4 pounds of lard, an exceptionally good day. At home, we cut it all up into little cubes and rendered it on the stove. The greaves tasted delicious with some salt, and the grease was a welcome change from frying potatoes without any fat. We didn’t mind that the grease was more like wax and stuck to the roof of our mouths.
Here ends the WW2 story and what it was like for me to grow up during that time in Germany.”
I’m a service dog handler so I’ve seen quite a few.
This Time I’m in the bathroom with my dog. We’re at the mall and I really have to pee and my dog has just alerted me I’m about to pass out. I really want to use the bathroom before I pass out so I don’t pee myself.
I walk into the bathroom and I see this mother changing her kid.
I think “oh god. The kids gonna notice and get upset she can’t pet Callie.@ I was so worried because I really needed to use the bathroom and I was already dizzy and had blurry vision.
To my surprise (and relief) this little angel is smiling and giggling at her mom as she gets her diaper changed and she’s too busy to notice Callie.
So I get out of the stall and the mother looks up at me.
She didn’t see Callie who was sitting behind a pillar between me and the woman as I washed my hands. This woman starts interrogating me while her angel is saying “mommy can you hurry so I can help you pick out shoes?” This kid is a perfect angel.
The woman ignores her kid and starts yelling at me. “You are so disrespectful you shouldn’t be using the handicap stall! What if somebody in a wheelchair comes in needing it? Or somebody else with a disability?!!”
I can tell this kid wants to leave (her belated butt must be freezing by this point) so I calmly reply “Ma’am not all disabilities are visible, and I am in fact disabled”
This woman glares at me and says “Oh yeah? And what the hell is wrong with you?”
I step aside and call Callie to my side. I then inform her “While I am not comfortable sharing that information with you, I am willing to tell you that I used this stall so my service dog would have room and would not be inched away from me as I use the bathroom.”
This woman is dumbfounded for a moment then turns around to resume changing this poor kids diaper. I was so thankful.
Then, to my horror this woman does the closest thing she can do to turn this child to a monster. In a high pitched voice she says “Look at the doggy! Look at the doggy!”
I’m terrified this child will go crazy until she pets my dog (keep in mind I’m still very dizzy and about to pass out. Preferably in a chair)
Instead, this angel says “Mommy can I please pet the doggy?”
This is the part that horrifies me. She then gets in this kids face and screams “NO. THAT DOG IS WORKING YOU CANT PET IT”
She had very politely asked, and I may have said yes. (It would be good practice for Callie) but I was dizzy and this mom just told her no.
Now, this child was an angel by my standards and I’m guessing those of most people reading this, but she was not a perfectly behaved robot. Her mom had obviously scared her so she started wailing and sobbing because the woman she trusts most had just screamed at her in a demonic tone.
This woman then turns to me and says “You know. This is all your fault. We were fine before you showed up. No I have to deal with her.”
This kid was an adorable child who was one of the best behaved toddlers I had ever seen. (I am a babysitter) I could not believe her mother would do that. She wouldn’t have noticed and she was so polite.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we have a problem with our wings,” announced the pilot.
True story. This happened to me last week.
The plane was making its final approach to Houston Intercontinental Airport. Suddenly there were three consecutive “ding-dong” sounds in the main cabin.
I saw both air hostesses run from the back of the plane to the front and grab the phone. They talked for a few seconds to the pilot, then the pilot came on with an announcement.
“We have broken off our approach. We have a problem with our wings. The leading edge slats won’t come down. We have declared an emergency and we will be landing shortly,” he said.
“Fire trucks will be waiting for us on the runway. It’s probably going to be a hard landing because we can’t slow the plane down as we normally would. We’ll see you on the ground.”
That was it.
Immediately the air hostesses started preparing everyone for the emergency. Uncertainty filled the cabin. Everyone of us felt vulnerable and scared.
I reflected on how fragile we are. There we were, trapped inside a metal tube flying at a high speed, … nothing to be done, simply pray and trust that everything would be okay.
The wind shook the plane from one side to the other. I could sense how the pilot was trying to find the optimal speed to land, not too fast, yet enough to fight the winds.
I could finally see the runway through my window. We all braced for the impact and as soon as we touched the ground, the pilot hit hard on the brakes.
The captain did an amazing job. We cheered and clapped for his fantastic landing.
Fire trucks followed us to the gate.
image 278
It was not fun. That leading edge slat on the front of the wing is responsible for the addition of a few more grey hairs to my head.
My first — and hopefully my last — emergency landing!
Fun outing in college, canoeing down the American River. Only… unbeknownst to us (and I suppose the trip organizers), unseasonably hard rainfall has made the river fast and dangerous in certain spots. Being completely inexperienced, my canoe-mate and I had no clue that going widely around the sharp bend would put us into the deepest, fastest-moving water, which coincidentally had just undercut a very large tree, which was now toppled into the water. So we get sucked into the fast-moving water under the tree and capsized. We surface. I come up with my torso against the tree, which is several feet in diameter. Some idiots immediately behind us apparently decide that they will “rescue” us (canoe-mate was a few feet down, straddling the tree by this time). They capsize. Their canoe catches the current side-on and lands against me. Both of my arms are over the top of the tree, keeping me above the surface.
I now have a sideways canoe with its flat hull pressing my torso into a giant tree, with the force of a raging river behind it. I feel it crushing me, and think I’m going to die.
And then, I didn’t. Apparently the angle was slightly off, and the canoe slid off and landed on my friend, a few feet downstream. Her leg was trapped and it took a whole lot of people a whole lot of time to move the canoe against the current enough so she could scrape her leg out. She ended up with severe bruising and was on crutches for awhile, due to the pressure. Yeah, I would have died, with puny ribs and lungs fighting the current instead of solid bone.
Chinese Black Pepper Steak
Chinese Black Pepper Steak 5
Ingredients
750g eye fillet (in one piece)
2 onions, sliced
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons dry sherry
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon dark soya sauce
2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns, crushed
Instructions
Partially freeze steak. Cut into thin slices.
Combine steak, onions, sesame oil, sherry, sugar, ginger and soya sauce in bowl. Cover, marinate several hours or refrigerate overnight.
Stir peppercorns through steak mixture. Stir-fry steak and onions in a wok over high heat until steak is cooked to your liking.
I’m astounded that Japan could be confused about the reason dead fish are washing ashore in the hundreds and more. They just released the most toxic water to date into the ocean. Gee, I’m sure that has nothing to do with it. Just a funny coincidence.
Would you drink water from Chernobyl? Would you drink water from Fukushima? So why would you eat fish that live in an an environment of toxic nuclear water? Why would you be surprised that the fish are dying in such water and washing ashore?
Literally everyone with common sense could’ve and did predict this. It’s basic cause and effect. No, I’m not surprised.
Years ago I had a blind date. We had talked on the phone and the guy asked if he could take me to lunch. Not MEET me for lunch, but take me. He was inviting me so I assumed he would pay.
We met at a casual inexpensive chain restaurant. I had something modestly priced – it was probably around $7 (like I said, years ago). When the bill came, he told me what my share was – he actually said, “You had the french dip plus an iced tea, so your total is…..” I was pretty surprised but I figured that the cost of my lunch was worth finding out what a cheapo he was so I wouldn’t waste any more time dating him. But here’s the kicker – he had a Buy One Get One Free coupon! So his meal was free and I paid for mine! That was enough for me. He walked me to my car and asked if he could see me again. I said, “No” and he looked surprised and asked why. I said that anyone as cheap as he was shouldn’t date. Thank goodness he never called again.
EDIT*** For those who comment why it should be presumed that a man always pays for the first date – I do not presume that! Whoever invites another on a date (not a casual “meet up”) should pay. This man invited me. He said he wanted to “take me to lunch.” That is an invitation for a date and it was logical of me to assume he would pay. I have invited men on dates and I have paid for both of us. This is not a feminist issue – this is an issue of manners. And this guy had none.
Music CDs – it was announced recently that a couple of big box stores are dropping them from their shelves.
The word “TWICE”. No, really! Just start listening out for it and you’ll notice that almost every TV advert that should be using the word will say “TWO TIMES” instead…and it’s spreading, I hear this ugly replacement for a perfectly good word in news stories too. Why? It’s a total mystery! (Of course “THRICE” already went the way of the Dodo…so…)
Stick-shift cars. Most new cars no longer come with the option to drive stick. (Boooo!!!!!)
The grammatical rule that disallows “split infinitives” (Like “To boldly go where no man has gone before!”…which should strictly be -> which should be strictly “To go boldly…”)
In the USA – extending tape measures with inches on one edge of the tape and centimeters on the other. I broke mine a few months ago and neither of the local DIY stores have anything other than “Easy Read” tape measures with only inches. I had to hunt around online to find one that I could still order.
Cash. Already, several countries are considering completely abolishing cash…and a while back, I needed cash for something (I forget what) – and realized that I’ve had no cash in my wallet for more than two years!
Philips screw heads. (The ones like a ‘+’ sign) The replacement is the six-sided “torx” head screws (like a ‘*’ sign) – and in some cases the Allen head – which is a regular hexagon. With the improvement in design of electric screwdrivers, the old philips screws (which are DESIGNED to strip under high torque to protect the tool from damage) are overdue for replacement.
We could go on forever…
Point is that with all of the new things in the world – some old things have to “go away” to make room…either intellectually or physically.
Sometimes it’s sad…sometimes, it’s good…mostly it’s just “Meh”.
When I was in college I went to bed hungry many, many nights. I used to steal cheese from Administration wine and cheese parties so I could eat that night. My food budget was 5 dollars a week. Then one day I learned about food stamps. In those days, food stamps really were stamps — they resembled currency but could only be used for food. I think I was eligible for 90 dollars a month in food stamps in 1981. That increased my food budget to about 22 dollars a week.
It absolutely changed my life. Suddenly, I could keep peanut butter in my house, and bread and cereal, things I could eat every day. And if I had the right coupons, I could buy tuna fish and mayonnaise as a luxury. I can still remember my hands shaking with joy as I made a tuna fish sandwich. I was a six foot tall 19 year old man with a 28 inch waist.
Pride made me unable to let people know how bad things were or how hungry I was. Money from my work-study job was used to pay rent and utilities. I balanced my check book to the penny because every penny counted. But when I did go to the DeMoulas in Fitchburg near the college (and I always walked), I always felt ashamed when it came time to pay. And don’t think I didn’t get many dirty looks and the occasional snarky comment from others in the line.
I vowed one day to make up for taking those food stamps and never criticize people who used them. Hunger is real and hunger changes your life, what you can do, how you view your work, your study, your play, your pride, your sense of worth – everything you are, because what you eat today walks and talks tomorrow. Yes, I felt real shame using food stamps. I never took charity before, I was a white man in America and taught that men don’t take charity — you work for what you get. But they saved my life and I am grateful today for the generosity of the taxpayer of yesterday who saved my life and ability to graduate with high honors from college and become a productive member of society.
Many moons ago, I found myself in perplexing life circumstances.
While I had a decent paying corporate IT job, my divorce of several years back had finally to ground my finances down to the point of near crisis.
Despite appearances of success, my disposable income after supporting two households was drifting into the negative.
In addition to faithfully paying child support for my two children, I also took them every weekend as they were the joyous bright light of my then stressful life.
While not extravagant per se, I made sure they had fun doing normal things kids do, as their mom tended to be frugal in this regard. No blaming, per se…
Backstory set, my current financial crisis was that the annual car insurance bill was due, and I basically didn’t have it. Ironically, a recent necessary car repair depleted my reserve at a bad time. Big sigh.
After spending days trying to sort this, no solution was apparent, and the strain of the bills due date was a preoccupation.
The next morning as I leave for work, the neighbor who lives across our sloping alley was standing behind my car looking at its bumper. His own over-the-top customized pickup is at an odd angle behind my car.
He apologetically explains that his big truck slipped out of gear, rolling over and hitting the back of my car. Hard enough that his trucks bumper was broken in the middle and partially dangled on one side. My heart sank, guessing at my poor cars condition.
Upon inspection, my early 80’s Volvo GL (very thick body metal) had a minor rumple in its rear corner. The trunk still worked, taillight undamaged, and bumper still fine as the lifted truck hit above it. Quite a comical mismatch of damage.
He gave me his insurance info and I went to work, grateful in part for light damage, but annoyed and worried. What was this going to cost?
I called his insurance agent who arranged to have an adjuster come my works parking lot, who I met about an hour later. He asked a few questions as he circled the car, tapping away on some hand-held machine that looked part printer (not a usual thing at the time).
Before I could finish explaining the alley incident, his machine starts spitting out some paper.., a check! He handed it to me with a smile saying There you go!
Sure I about to be low-balled for my repair, I quickly looked the amount. Easily quadruple what my car insurance bill that needed to be paid this week! Huzzah?
I look at the adjuster guy, clearly showing surprise in my expression. He says The damage is cosmetic and everything stiil works. If I were you, I’d just leave it and keep the money. Have a great day! We shake hands and off he goes.
And that’s just what I did, after paying my car insurance with the windfall from the other insurance company. A curious little shell game between these entities.
Indeed, Huzzah!
Billy Joel – We Didn’t Start The Fire (Historically Accurate Almanac) COMPLETE
Sailing into the wind is a sailing expression that refers to a sailboat’s ability to move forward despite being headed into (or very nearly into) the wind. A sailboat cannot make headway by sailing directly into the wind; the point of the sail into the wind is called “close hauled”.
image 287
Sailing into the wind is possible when the sail is angled in a slightly more forward direction than the sail force. In this aspect, the boat will move forward because the keel (centerline) of the boat acts to the water as the sail acts to the wind. The force of the sail is balanced by the force of the keel. This keeps the boat from moving in the direction of the sail force. Although total sail force is to the side when sailing into the wind, a proper angle of attack moves the boat forward
Old ships, such as sailing ships and square-rigged ships, had different sailing and fighting qualities than modern sailboats. They had to rely on their sails, rigging, hull shape, and crew skills to maneuver and perform in various wind and sea conditions. They also had to deal with challenges such as enemy fire, storms, pirates, and navigation. Old ships used various tactics and techniques to sail into the wind, such as:
Tacking: This is a basic sailing maneuver that involves changing the direction of the ship by turning its bow through the wind. This allows the ship to zigzag its way upwind by alternating between port and starboard tacks. Tacking requires coordination between the helmsman and the crew, who have to adjust the sails and rigging accordingly. Tacking also exposes the ship to enemy fire from both sides, so it was often avoided in combat situations.
image 286
Wearing: This is another sailing maneuver that involves changing the direction of the ship by turning its stern through the wind. This allows the ship to reverse its course without losing much speed or momentum. Wearing is easier and faster than tacking, but it also requires more space and exposes the ship’s vulnerable stern to enemy fire. Wearing was often used as an escape or evasion tactic when facing superior forces.
Beating: This is a sailing technique that involves sailing as close to the wind as possible without losing speed or stalling. Beating requires trimming the sails tightly and steering carefully to maintain an optimal angle of attack. Beating allows the ship to gain ground upwind by minimizing its leeway (sideways drift). The beating was often used as a pursuit or attack tactic when chasing or engaging enemy ships.
Pinching: This is a sailing technique that involves sailing closer to the wind than is optimal (i.e., with a too-small angle to the wind). Pinching reduces the speed and efficiency of the ship, but it also reduces its leeway and allows it to point higher upwind. Pinching was often used as a desperate or risky tactic when trying to gain an advantage or avoid a disadvantage in a tight situation.
The time when I was 16 years old and had a fake driver’s license to get into clubs. (This is a very long time ago when the licenses were paper).
A few weeks before, a clever bouncer realised my ID was fake. I won’t go into the details. He took it from me and advised that if I wanted it back I needed to go to the police.
I freaked out, went straight home (parents) and hoped I’d never have to think about it again.
There’s a knock at our front door. It’s the police (I can see them coming up from my bedroom window). I couldn’t understand what was happening.
My Dad answered the front door. I heard mumbling for a few minutes. I heard the front door close, and Dad coming up the stairs.
Dad called for my Mum. “Heidi, your Uncle’s stolen car has been found and it’s registered to here. I’ve informed the police that he’s living here at the moment (truth) and that he’ll sort it out tomorrow with them”.
Footnote: I heard all this from my bedroom as I was promising God that I will never, ever, ever have another fake driver’s license!
What you’re not being told about Apple Daily and Jimmy Lai
When Indonesia got loan from IMF in 1997, the Indonesian government was forced to terminate this project as one of requirements in order to get the loan from IMF.
image 285
The planes in the picture were N250s. The first ever plane produced by Indonesian airplane manufacturer, PT IPTN. It was in the 1997 N250 first prototype made its roll out. The plane successfully took off and conducted flight test. Unfortunately, Indonesia fell into a severe monetary crisis in 1997 and had to go to IMF to get the loan. The IMF told President Suharto to cancel the N250 project and it was mandatory before getting the loan. Suharto had no option at the time but approved it. Since then N250 project was cancelled. IMF also told Indonesia to stop funding IPTN totally but Indonesian government didn’t fully comply what IMF wanted. The funding to IPTN was only greatly reduced and its business cores were diversified in order to survive with minimum budget support from the government, now IPTN changes its name into PT Dirgantara Indonesia.
Many said and believed, IMF intentionally terminated the N250 project was to accommodate the requests from some foreign airplane manufacturers which didn’t want Indonesia to produce its own planes because they wanted Indonesia to keep buying from them.
I won’t say getting load from China will not be followed by terms and conditions but I just wanted to show you how IMF put pressures on countries that borrow money from them.
I parked in a hospital parking lot, and when I came back to my vehicle, there was this young couple, early twenties having a heated discussion. She wanted him to call a taxi, and drive to a mall and buy a battery. He wanted to call a locksmith. The battery in their key fob was dead, and they couldn’t get the door open. They were getting quite mad at each other, thinking that the others solution was going to cost more and take longer.
I asked them if I could be of assistance, and they both wanted me to explain to the other why their idea sucked.
The guy suggested that maybe I could take the battery out of my fob, and put it in theirs just long enough, for them to open the doors.
I asked to see their key fob, and he handed it to me, thinking I was going to do his suggestion.
I walked to their car, put the key in the lock, and opened the door.
They both were stunned. Saying OMG, how did you do that?
They had never seen a car door opened with a key. I felt really old, and just a little smug.
Def Leppard • Hysteria || Jennifer Connelly • Career Opportunities
This is great.
Curried Beef
2023 12 21 06 07
Ingredients
14 ounces (400g) lean boneless beef
2 teaspoons rice wine
3 cups (750ml) vegetable oil for deep-frying; uses about 2 1/2 oz (75cml)
2 ounces (60ml) clear stock
2 tablespoons curry oil
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon ginger, chopped
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon cornstarch (corn flour) dissolved in 1 teaspoon water
1/4 teaspoon onion, chopped
1/4 teaspoon hot red chile pepper, chopped
Instructions
Cut beef into 1-inch square chunks.
Heat the oil in a wok over low heat to very hot, 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Deep-fry the beef until it is cooked through. Remove beef, drain, and set aside.
Pour the oil out of the wok, leaving a thin film on the bottom. Reheat until a haze appears on the oil surface. Add the curry oil, ginger, garlic, onion, chili pepper, rice wine, stock, salt, MSG (optional) and sugar.
Stir the cornstarch to blend and add. Add the beef, stir-fry for 2 minutes, or until the sauce is thickened.
Here is Claudia Schiffer in her earlier days. If you are a heterosexual male (my perspective on this subject), this picture make your genes scream “I wanna mix with those genes!”
It’s not an intellectual response. It’s not a moral judgement. It is a primal response. You couldn’t stop it if you tried. In this picture, she is the epitome of beauty. This yells “fertile”, and “your (our) kids will be successful at reproducing, too”.
Remember, the future belongs to the people who show up. Reproducing successfully greatly increases your odds of having children that reproduce successfully.
image 283
Brigitte Macron (wife of French President Emmanuel Macron) is not exactly an ugly woman, but I guarantee this picture doesn’t spur the same response as the one above.
In this picture, she is at, or close to menopause. That’s enough to shut down, or at least greatly mute the involuntary male response.
But looks don’t matter
Looks open up the door. They don’t keep you in the room.
The visceral response to those looks may last 6 months, or two years. But humans become acculturated to their normal surroundings. And even if your wife/girlfriend looks like this (Linda Evangelista in her prime):
image 282
There comes a point where you are inured to it. You care more about whether she picks her nose and leaves the snot on the bedsheet (or whatever annoying behavior she has).
And then there’s that standard male desire for variety. Arnold Schwarzenegger was married to Maria Shriver
image 281
Beautiful, smart, connected. She had it all. That should be enough, right?
Nope. He had an affair – and a child – with his nanny
image 280
I can’t tell you what was going on in the Schwarzenegger-Shriver marriage, but it’s rather obvious that Maria’s looks didn’t mean a whole lot at that point in time.
So let me repeat the point:
Looks matter – they get you in the door. But they don’t keep you in the room.
Are you beautiful? Lucky you. You have a greater selection of mates to start with. But after you choose one, you need to figure out a relationship, and that’s hard. Really hard. Work on that. The looks will stop mattering, even before they fade.
The Average Chinese don’t understand GDP growth or PMI or Productivity or other Indicators
To them the only source of their worry is the REAL ESTATE MARKET
They have no inflation whatsoever
They have no unemployment problems
Their businesses have plenty of credit available these days
The Chinese who have invested a large chunk of their money into real estate now see the downturn in these markets and feel poor
The Chinese Economists know this and allow this to happen knowing the alternative is to keep fueling real estate speculation and spectacularly crash a decade later
Yet the Chinese people are stoic and practical people
In the end they will shrug, accept that their investments in real estate are going nowhere and offload them or stick with minimal growth
It’s a harsh pill to swallow but one necessary for the long term
China thus is doing pretty well relative to the rest of the world from the eyes of the average mainlander
In fact, except for the real estate slump, he would rank his life as very good
2023 was a good year for China
First the lockdowns ended and that was a huge relief
Second the country is chugging back to life. The demand is back to 2019 standards and slowly rising again.
I personally feel Chinas growth in 2023 could have been as much as 6% but the Chinese are keeping a lot of their success on the books so that they can boost their 2024 growth rate instead
Rather than a 6% growth in 2023 and 4.1% in 2024, better for a 5.1% growth in 2023 and a 4.8% growth in 2024
This way China exceeds it’s target for both years
So there is no need to distract anyone
The Average Mainlander doesn’t need distraction
He has relatives who inform him of their lives in other countries and he knows not one of them is better off than him.
Today I walked my son to his kindergarten class. It was cold and we were huddled together like sardines as we stood outside the door waiting for the bell to ring.
I saw you with your little boy just a few feet from us, and I looked down when I realized you were looking at us. I hoped you didn’t know who we were. I hoped you didn’t know my son was “that kid.” The one who’s not transitioning well in this school year.
I know what the kids say about my son. They go home and tell their parents my kid is bad. Sometimes he pushes and hits. Sometimes he is defiant and refuses to sit down, be quiet, or stay in line.
image 297
I know because the kids tell him what they think of him on the playground. “Mark said I’m bad today.” Or “Aiden’s dad said I can’t play with him anymore.” And my heart hurts, because I know he’s struggling in school. And we are working every angle… in school with a specialist, at home, and through classes, books and resources.
Today, you looked at me, then at my son. “You must be K,” you said to my son. And I looked up and smiled sheepishly. It was an apologetic smile. Almost a “I’m sorry you know his name” smile, because that means you’ve heard the stories.
I said to you, “Yes, this is him.”
I whispered when my son stepped away that we are aware he’s causing some trouble and we are working on it. That we take his behavior very seriously.
And then you did something I never expected. I don’t know if I was waiting for you to tell me what you heard K did to your son, or just tell me off. But instead you told me about your older son who struggled with similar problems at this age. You told me that now he’s in high school and he’s a straight A student.
Instead of tearing me down, you lifted me up. You gave me hope. And you handed me an olive branch so I know that I do have an ally during school drop off. An ally I never expected.
You didn’t have to make that connection. You could have ignored us or pretended not to know us. Or yes — you could have told me what you think of my son (you would not be the first). But you didn’t. You showed me grace and kindness and you uplifted me more than I could possibly describe in words.
I told you I would love to learn more about steps you took with your older son. I would love suggestions and guidance and that I would call you. And you know what? I will call you. Even if no suggestions or guidance is ever exchanged. I will call you because you are a friend I want to have. You are a good person.
I will do something I normally despise: answer on behalf of someone else. This is just too good to not mention.
The words were: We are going to lie down for a nap. We are feeling tired and cranky.
It was just that: My wife, our toddler and I were going to take a nap on a weekend afternoon, because we were just not quite feeling ourselves. Before lying down, my wife called a doctor’s office to make an overdue appointment. All she got was a lady from the answering service – or possibly an Angel. We were not able to ascertain which, as we never met her in person.
The lady told my wife that the office was not open, and when it would reopen. My wife replied that she was going to try again later, as we were going to lie down for a nap because we were feeling tired and cranky. This had nothing to do with what she had called about – just making conversation. Still, only going by that, the lady deduced that we were dying of carbon monoxide poisoning. She told us to leave the house NOW, and called 911 for us.
Turns out the chimney had collapsed, and flooded the house with carbon monoxide. The levels were deadly – had we gone to sleep, we would not have woken up. The nice lady saved our lives, just based on my wife mentioning conversationally that we were going to take a nap. If that is not impressive, I don’t know what is.
Thanks, nice answering service lady, wherever you are.
MAJOR CORRECTION: My wife has read this answer, and she remembers telling the answering service lady that she was feeling woozy. That would have been a major hint – but I still find it more than impressive that she was able to save our lives just based on a brief phone call which was on its face about something else entirely.
When i was 12 there were a few kids at school who bullied me for whatever reason. It wasn’t bad physical bullying just name calling mainly. On weekend i was in our town centre calling my mother from a payphone. These 3 boys walked past and started banging on the phonebox shouting some names and proceeded to walk off.
Now for some reason, i this time i reacted. The only thing i had to hand was a full can of coke. I shook it up and opened it up just a tiny bit and threw it towards the boys intending to cover them in Coke. I threw it when they must have been 20-30 metres away and as the can approached them i shouted one of the boys names. “Paul!” (I’ll not use his real name) he turned round and the can hit the side of his forehead and he just dropped to the floor.
I ran. Oh, i did, i ran! Finally stopping at another phone box to call my mother and tell her exactly what happened. She was surprisingly ok about it despite me saying ‘Paul’ must have been really hurt. She just told me to get my butt home ASAP.
I didn’t hear anything about it until after the weekend and ‘Paul’ came in to school with a massive lump on his head coming out in a huge bruise. He’d spent the rest of Saturday in hospital.
Fortunately, i didn’t get into any trouble at all. I had only intended to cover them in Coke and could never have imagined hitting him square on his forehead at such a distance.
As kids are we all became friends in later years with even ‘Paul’ painfully accepting it was a one in a million shot.
Someone I know was diagnosed with cancer and given only 3–6 months to live.
It was a devastating diagnosis to her and her family. She was an amazing person, who’d lived a good, healthy life, and was only in her late-50’s.
But, as we know, cancer is a merciless disease.
She ended up getting on a strong treatment plan that allowed her to live almost 2 years.
The first 12–16 months of those 2 years, she more or less had a great quality of life and was able to travel, spend time with loved ones, her husband, kids, grandkids, making the very most of that time.
In the remaining 8–12 months of her life, things began to descend.
The cancer began to change her body, breaking her down. Her mind began to change and, consequently, her behavior did too. The medicine she was taking was no longer thwarting the onslaught of the disease.
In the end, in the final weeks of her life, it wasn’t pretty.
She eventually fell into a coma that doctors advised she would not wake up from.
In her final days and hours, her body seemed in great pain.
I won’t burden you with the details, but know this – her family had to see her in a state that would traumatize most of us had it been our own mother.
I’m not presuming the following statement would have been her choice; it is my, perhaps controversial, opinion:
People who know their life will end in an excruciating way should have the option, with the assistance of medical professional, to end their own life in a more peaceful manner.
It is far more humane than letting them be ravaged until the bitter end.
1. Just because you’re offended doesn’t mean you’re right. 2. You can’t be healthy and obese. 3. Everyone wants to GET old, nobody wants to BE old. 4. Most anger comes from feeling powerless. 5. The people you look up to are just as nervous as you are. 6. As people age, they get fewer chances to mess up. 7. All systems are essentially a minority ruling over the majority. 8. If you look in the mirror and find a dirty face, it might also be that the mirror is dirty. 9. HR is not there to protect you, it is in place to protect the employer. 10. Relationships are a one way street, whether you are the one in love or the one loved. 11. Some people will not like you no matter what you do. 12. In fact, some people are not qualify to have kids or even pets. 13. Upvotes on Quora are free. 14. Small achievements may come from hard work, but big ones require luck. 15. We are all biased, especially those who think they are not.
I was working in the seafood department of a major grocery store chain. We had on ad pink salmon for .88 a pound. My first customer of the day wanted me to scale it, fillet it, and pack it into 4-ounce portions. I refused! She immediately went and told the store manager about my refusal. I was willing to walk out if he insisted that I do it because, I was working solo and the cost of the fish was so low and the cost of the packaging was a lot, let alone the time it would take if I had to do them. He came back, we went into the back to discuss my refusal. I told him my reasoning. He told me that he would help me with it.
We returned to the seafood department, and he told her that he would be happy to cut it the way she asked. She was over the moon and handed him two packages of the fish. He gave me a disgusted look. He told me you refused to do the two fish, unbelievable, I am disappointed in your lack of customer service. I smiled. Then the same customer pushed into the seafood department the two carts filled to the top with the fish. She had over 200 packages wanting them all scaled, fillet it, and pack it into 4-ounce portions. I silently told him so! He refused to do it for her and told me that under no circumstance would we do anything to the fish but sell them in the bags. I agreed but did tell him that I was disappointed in his lack of customer service! He sent me home for the day! Being a union department, I was paid for the day since he didn’t follow protocol about sending me home. The meat department had to cover my shift; boy they were pissed at me!
I once stopped a very hot looking “model” (I use the term loosely) for speeding at nearly twice the speed limit. Mind you, I am not a ticket writer and can count on one hand the number of citations I’d written in the last decade. Truth be told, at my rank, I don’t even carry a ticket book. When I informed her why I had stopped her, she proceeded to hand me her business card with her cell phone number on it and leaned forward making sure I could see her quite ample bosom. Up to that point, I had no intention of citing her, and was just going to warn her to keep her speed down. However, once she suggestively tried to flash some skin, I called for a radio car to bring me a citation book so I could write her up.
“You’re going to write me a ticket? Nothing we can do to work this out?”
“Ma’am, I had no intention of writing you a ticket when I stopped you, but at this point, if I don’t, you’re going to go around telling everyone that all you had to do was bat your eyes and flash your breasts to get out of a ticket… Press hard on the pen, there’s three copies.”
The Airforce UFO Cover Up That Drove a Man INSANE | They’re LYING to US
Butler, Pennsylvania is a small city that was a one half hour drive from where I spent my High School years. This is a typical Western Pennsylvania city; steel, and blue collar work.
Downtown, in the city, was a restaurant. It was established in the 1920’s or 30’s and pretty much stayed with the same decor throughout the century. It was Art Deco “diner” style with stainless steel fixings and decor. With a big picture of the family founder over the door.
It was called “The Hot Dog Shop“.
2023 12 20 11 06
And it served typical diner food, and was a great place for my family to go to as a young boy in my pre-teens and my teenager years.
I would often get such things as grilled cheese sandwiches, with sides of gravy laden french fries, and bowls of soup. So very delicious. Not to mention the mandatory cup of coffee.
Taken in the old days
About ten years ago, give or take, it burned down. What a great loss!
But….
They had insurance, and the rebuilt the restaurant and as far as I can tell, it is still operating today. Oh sure, the great thing is that the have not changed the menu. They have not changed the decor. In fact they kept everything else the same EXCEPT for the removal of the cigarette vending machines, the ash trays and the free packs of matches.
Worth a visit
If you ever get a chance to go… please go there and enjoy a “blue plate special”. Good times! Good times!
My 8th grade English teacher, Mr. Bishop, was one of my favorite teachers. He taught my sister four years before me, and the year he taught me, my sister was a new mother. He asked me about her and her new child frequently, like he really remembered her and cared about her. It was nice.
But I also remember a few times when he fell over in his chair during class. The kids all laughed at him, and he laughed right along with them as he got himself back up.
Sometimes, he’d seem to talk really slow or just “zone out” for a few seconds while teaching. We just got used to it.
One day, he didn’t come to school. We found out later that, while on his way to school that morning, he’d lost control of his motorcycle and crashed through a sign next to the road. He was fine… just shaken up a little, and his motorcycle was broken.
A few years later, when I was no longer his student, I heard through the grapevine that he had to quit teaching because he kept having “episodes” where he lost control of his body.
He had multiple sclerosis.
All of the incidents the year that he taught me were just manifestations of the disease. He either didn’t know it, or didn’t tell us. Probably he just didn’t tell us… it was none of our business.
That was 25 years ago now. He’d probably be in his 70s by this point. I’ve tried Googling him, but I can’t find anything. But that includes an obituary, so that’s a good sign, I guess.
Edit: I just Googled his name again, and found his obituary. He died in Jan. 2022.
If I have read this correctly, your dedicated employee is dying because of illness, and you want to get rid of her because she is sluggish aka tired.
Take a good long look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself that if you were in her position, would you want the same thing to happen to you?
This job is probably what is keeping her going through this tragic period of time in her life, and you want to take that away from her? Are you serious? What kind of a person are you? She has bills to pay, food to buy for herself and possibly her family, and a FUNERAL to plan for HERSELF! Show some compassion and understanding. Is this the reputation that you want to have? If you fire her, trust me, what you have done and why you have done it, will be spread to everyone, especially your contacts and/or clients (customers). Legally, she can sue you for firing her under the Equal Employment Opportunity Law.
Have a heart of flesh and not one of cold corporate stone. What you do, will come back on you, either for the good or for the bad. Choose wisely.
Another tale from the shire horse farm which I used to work at. A group of French students came to the farm, along with a couple of teachers. The students were teenagers and right from the start they were causing trouble. The first thing was being kicked out of the gift shop for being caught trying to steal.
Then they came to the animal section where I worked. At first, they seemed to be behaving themselves, but after they left the farm animal section, a member of the public came up to me and informed me that one of the French teenagers had stolen a duck. Yes, a live duck. I immediately went to one of the teachers who were supposed to be supervising the students and asked them to unlock the coach, which is where the person had told me they’d seen the duck.
The teacher did so. The duck had been shut on the seating area, and was flapping around, terrified, and pooing everywhere. I managed to catch the duck and put it in a sack to calm it so I could get it back to the pond. The teacher then had the audacity to ask if someone could clean up the coach, to which I replied that since it was her students who had stolen the duck, then they could clean the coach. Then I left with the traumatised duck, who amazingly survived.
The French students were consequently kicked out of the shire horse farm and I for one hope that they enjoyed the trip back in their feather and duck poo encrusted coach.
One time my Dad and I drove about an hour to fly my radio-controlled helicopter. But that’s not the big thing.
This was way back in the early 80s, at the latest. Way before stabilization systems, autopilots, etc. I was about 13 years old, had gotten a paper route (yes, kids actually delivered papers to your door) and saved every cent to buy an RC helicopter. After several unsuccessful flight attempts at home (hovering is freaking *hard*), he suggested we go to a flying club where there was a guy who could teach me. Off we go!
We arrive, helicopter, fuel, cooler full of sandwiches and soda, ready to start my training! But… nobody’s there? Apparently, the flying club was off that weekend- we got our dates mixed up. Bollocks.
No matter- the field is open, we figure we’d just try more “self-paced instruction”. Fire up the heli, a few really bad hover attempts when all of a sudden:
I’m barely maintaining a hover when all of a sudden the heli peels off into this incredibly cinematic sweep- dips forward, tail sweeps around, engine throttles up- it was beautiful! My Dad was shouting “Oh yeah, that’s it!!”- but I was shouting “It’s not me! The radio is jammed!”
The heli, on its own, takes off on a circuit about 1 ft off the deck, and circles around- coming right back down the flight line. By now my Dad knows this craft is out of my control, and if he doesn’t catch it it’s probably gone forever- and he knows how hard I worked to buy it.
He jumps in front of it.
This is not a little drone- this is an aluminum-frame gas-powered 3ft rotor diameter with ash blades behemoth screaming down the runway at us. If it hit something on the ground and jumped up- it could have killed him.
It smashes into his shins, rotor blades splintering. The engine, no longer under load, starts to whine like a banshee- we pinch off the fuel tube and kill the engine. We collect the debris, and start home. Dad actually packed a couple of cold soda cans into his socks to keep the swelling down.
When we got home, I asked him why he would do such a foolish thing as blocking the heli with his body. He said “You worked so hard to buy this, and build it, and fly it- I couldn’t bear to see it take off and fly away on a full tank of gas and be lost forever. Let’s just fix this up.” BTW- he had bruises and blood pooling in his legs and feet for months after this.
That was almost 50 years ago. I could never bring myself to rebuild that heli, though we continued with a bunch of other projects that were somewhat less lethal.
We were being taught loops in C++. As a test, the teacher gave us the following question :-
Print the following pattern.
image 21
Everyone of us started writing the code, trying everything (since at that time it was a high level problem for us). One of my friends had no clue whatsoever about the problem, but he wanted to score well in the test.
You know what he did?
He wrote the following code
#include<iostream.h>
void show();
int main();
{
char ch=’A’;
int i,n;
/* Here he wrote certain code just to
show that some thing was being done*/
show(); //called this function
//secretly
for(i=0;i<7;i++)
{
for(int j=0;j<12;j++)
{
/*wrote some more useless code
which had no
effect on output*/
}
}
return 0;
}
/*after leaving about 100 blank lines so
that you dont have to scroll the
function to show you*/
void show()
{
cout<< ” ABCDEFGFEDCBA\n”;
cout<< ” ABCDEF FEDCBA\n”;
cout<< ” ABCDE EDCBA\n”;
cout<< ” ABCD DCBA\n”;
cout<< ” ABC CBA\n”;
cout<< ” AB BA\n”;
cout<< ” A A\n”;
}
When the teacher came to check his code, he glanced at the code and asked him to run it.
HERE IS THE OUTPUT:
image 20
Teacher saw this correct output and awarded him full marks. Teacher no longer cared if the code was correct or not since it was producing the desired result.
I was like, “wow man at least you thought of such an idea!”
Edit 1:
Just showedthis answer to my friend who is being referred here. He was amazed I remembered it to such precision.
As an experienced professional actor, whose children have acted in screen productions they were too young to view, I will attempt an answer.
The short answer is that the film is compartmentalised and the child actor will only experience a small subset of the film. They will only be told about what is appropriate for them to know.
The “makers” of the film communicate with the child in the first instance through the child’s agent and thence to the legal guardian (parent or otherwise). If they feel the role and the production are suitable they will agree to be available and audition. Then, if cast, it is up to the director to communicate with the child actor.
Under no circumstances will they be allowed to see the full script or be on set at all times in an “R-rated film”. They will not be invited to the full cast read through nor to extensive rehearsals. Film making is compartmentalised. Every single shot need not be in the same place or shot on the same day as the next shot. Things are not shot in order.
The production company is responsible for the wellbeing of the child actor and will allow the legal guardian to be on set when the child actor is called. They will also supply a chaperone and brief all the crew and cast about what is appropriate. For example I once played a character who murdered his family. I was never allowed to be seen by the child actors – no wardrobe, makeup, rehearsal calls were scheduled on the same day. In the shoots there were no shots framed to include both the murderer and the victim.
In another production, involving an infant, no crew or cast were allowed to make loud noises or wear perfume on set.
There are laws to protect minors on set in most jurisdictions. If they are obeyed the experience can be safe and rewarding for the child and one day, if they are old enough and choose to see the whole film, hopefully they will be able to be proud of their work.
I tried to buy my family’s next home many years ago and my wife and I were blown away by the massive cubbyhouse in the back yard. Our kids were young and they would love it. We had other reasons to love the house too, one being that our good friends lived in the same street. Needless to say we were looking forward to buying this, our new home, and started the price negotiations.
A deal was struck and we signed a contract we were happy with. Part of the contract was to ensure that massive cubbyhouse was legal and had all the right government approvals. It did not and so our lawyer informed their lawyer of the problem. Instead of further negotiations and a price reduction or trying to gain the required approvals, the vendors thought it appropriate to cut it down and burn it!
Unbeknownst to me, this house was for sale due to the divorce of the previous owners and the husband thought it would annoy his ex wife to destroy the cubbyhouse. The problem was we had a signed contract for the purchase of the house including the cubbyhouse. They would have to make good and we were assured they would.
As is often the case the purchaser of the house we were selling needed another day or two to finalise their finances and asked for an extension to the settlement date which was agreed upon by us and the owners of the house we were buying. However on the new day settlement was to occur, the lawyer for our new house changed position and said that we had to give up on our demands for compensation over the cubbyhouse. We refused.
They then would not proceed with the sale and gave us the option to sue them later. To my lawyer’s amazement I cancelled the sale and walked away. I have no regrets either and I and my family found an even better house, we loved, shortly after. We loved our new neighbours too and enjoyed the next 13 years in that home.
China don’t give a shit. It is none of China’s business is the U.S. wants to choose a proverbial liar or a corrupt politician that is for the American’s to decide. China prefer to mind its own business. China’s government is answerable to its citizens. It wants to do everything to make China prosperous. And peaceful.
It is always ever ready for US miscalculations but it is the U.S. business if the U.S. wants to throw monies into bottomless money pit like Gaza or Ukraine or flex it’s muscles aimlessly bankrupting itself in the process. That is your choice. We the world knows better.
A man like Trump cannot even be a lowly official in most nation. We don’t vote a sexiest, racist, xenophobic, baboon into power. At best he stays running a small con till he is caught! Please vote him in for all we care!
Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (4/8) Movie CLIP – Kirk Beats Khan (1982) HD
I’d been in my new corporate job two weeks. I’d been given an office on day one and by the end of week two had made it my own.
Family pictures, work calendar with my appointments and in particular my desk blotter. My desk blotter was a massive work tool and an important record of my days and weeks. After two weeks my office no longer looked like the office I was given two weeks earlier.
Monday morning I arrive at work and to my surprise a very confused man I had not met before was sitting in my office, behind my desk. I was just about to have a chat to him when my secretary grabbed me and told me the news.
The man sitting at my desk used to have my office. He had been fired during his leave but his boss apparently hadn’t told him yet. To make matters worse his boss wasn’t at work yet either. Awkward.
So I did the right thing. I waited in the boardroom until his boss showed up and did the deed. I had no time for his boss, he was a lazy, disorganised non performer who didn’t last much longer than the guy who just got fired.
I found the whole episode to be cruel. I don’t know how much earlier than me he got to work that day but he would have known instantly he no longer had a job when he entered his old office and saw it had been taken over. That just isn’t right and I felt extremely sorry for him.
We’re a mailhouse: we take people’s mail, co-mingle it, sort it, and get a better rate from the Post Office. As we’ve grown, we’ve added inserting/fulfillment, and eventually, printing as well. Like a print shop, but built in reverse.
I was hired to be the print department, which I did for seven years before I became the IT manager.
As print designer, programmer, and general operator, I often had to talk with clients—sending proofs, getting information, etc., and I developed a good rapport with many, if not all, of them, sometimes better than the salesperson they were assigned to.
If there was something wrong with an order, I was often the first person they’d contact.
So it was with a large client of the banking world. They were a high maintenance/high-return client, so I always gave them my best customer service. This day, they called to find out about envelopes, which is not my department, but I knew whom to talk with and I told them I’d look into it.
I ran around the shop and got the info, and reported back: they were out of envelopes.
Oops.
I had neglected to loop the salesperson in on the request (they don’t have any production knowledge, usually, so never was an issue in the past), but our salesperson, for some reason I’m still not clear on, had lied to the client and told them we had envelopes in stock.
No envelopes meant that their time-sensitive prints weren’t going on time. So when I said, “Yeah, there’s no envelopes in stock”, you’d better believe that our client went into panic mode.
And of course, they called the salesperson back, who, not knowing that I had told them the truth, proceeded to lie…again. The client was displeased, told them what I’d told them, and demanded an explanation. There was much back-pedaling and BSing from the salesperson along the lines of “Oh, they’ll be delivered today, Toby just didn’t know…” blah blah.
My manager, the general manager, the sales manager, all called me in. “Why are you talking with clients at all?” They asked, incensed. I could tell that they were this close to just firing me on the spot. “Because I have daily conversations with them about their jobs?” I offered. “Not anymore. ALL communication goes through the salesperson.” “Ooookay, but, just to make sure I understand this correctly, it was the salesperson that lied to the customer, right?” “That doesn’t matter! You could have cost us this account!” Veins were popping on at least two foreheads. “No, I’m pretty sure that does matter. If we’d been honest with them, there wouldn’t be a problem.” And that was the third forehead. They talked among themselves for a moment and said, “Just…just no more talking with clients.” “Your call.”
The next day, one of the client’s vice-presidents flew in from across the country for a surprise inspection. There were no envelopes. Because I was just a print jockey, I didn’t have to be in that room when those four people got chewed out. But I did hear (from the client) that they were glad at least one person in the company was honest, or they’d have had a huge legal fight (that they would lose) on their hands.
Yeah, we lost the account. And, yeah, relations with that salesperson and I were chilly from then on (months later, she left the company). But what hurt even more was that all those customers who were used to my excellent customer service were now getting the run around from their clueless salespeople. Several of them complained and accounts were shuffled around*, but eventually the people in charge figured out that the problem started when they took me out of the loop.
“Toby, it’s okay if you talk to clients again.” “Oh, good.” “Just…check with the salespeople before you report on production, will you?” “You mean, in case we need to lie to them?” *Uncomfortable fidgeting* “In case we need to apologize.” “Okay. Because I’m not going to lie to our clients.” “That will be all.”
I’m happy to report that in the dozen or so years since, our sales team has become far more adept at apologizing and rectifying situations, and our production team has learned how to order before we run out of stock. My work here is done.
*Yes, a few clients did even suggest that they’d rather have me as their salesperson, but that idea was rejected by everyone—I don’t do sales, for reasons obvious from this answer.
Ask a teenager who is into classic rock to name the biggest performers of the Nineteen-Seventies. They’ll tell you names like Queen, David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyd. Ask them “What about the Bay City Rollers?,” and they’ll answer: “Who?”
In the Nineteen-Seventies, if you liked popular music, you couldn’t escape the Bay City Rollers. From 1974 to 1977, they dominated the music scene, selling an alleged 120 million records. Yet you hear little about them today. It’s as if they’ve been erased from the collective memory.
Rollermania replicated the Beatlemania of the Nineteen-Sixties. Many however, felt the Rollers’ success was undeserved. As with all bands popular with young teenage females though, their success waned as their fans got older.
image 269
If you were female and under 14 in 1977, the Bay City Rollers were your world. No-one else wanted anything to do with them.
Time has not been kind to the Bay City Rollers. Unlike their predecessors, the Monkees, and their successors ABBA, the Bay City Rollers have not been declared pop geniuses. Classic rock fans have by and large spurned them. They are largely remembered today as an embarrassment. If they are ever mentioned at all in a documentary, it’s usually for laughs.
The Bay City Rollers’ record contract with Arista expired in 1981. Although this was the official end of the band, after 1981 versions of the Rollers continued to record and tour.
Eventually, nostalgia rescued the Bay City Rollers from obscurity. They appeared at the Punk and Disorderly 2010 festival, on the same bill with legends Stiff Little Fingers, Cockney Rejects, and Anti-Nowhere League. The ‘dag’ movement in Australia, which brought back faded performers and trends from the Nineteen-Seventies and Nineteen-Eighties, encouraged some to go to thrift shops in search of Bay City Rollers vinyl and memorabilia.
The Bay City Rollers saw little of the estimated £5 billion generated by their record sales and merchandising. Reportedly the nostalgia circuit enabled the Bay City Rollers to live the comfortable lives that their negligent and criminal management denied them, before death eventually claimed the main members.
I remember thirty years ago the Bay City Rollers undertook a low-key tour of Australia. This caused some excitement among the late-twenties females at work. One woman, who only listened to alternative rock, was quite excited that the Bay City Rollers were coming back!
image 268
You either hated them or loved them … the Bay City Rollers at the height of Rollermania. At least the Ramones admitted they liked them.
Trim fat from beef steak; cut beef into 3/4-inch cubes. Toss beef, 1 tablespoon oil, the cornstarch, salt and white pepper in glass or plastic bowl. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes.
Cut chiles into thin slices (remove seeds and membrane if desired).
Cut onions diagonally into 1-inch pieces.
Cut bell pepper into 3/4 inch squares.
Heat 12-inch skillet or wok until very hot. Add 2 tablespoons oil; rotate skillet to coat bottom. Add beef; stir-fry 2 minutes or until beef is brown. Remove beef from skillet.
Heat skillet until very hot. Add 2 tablespoons oil; rotate skillet to coat bottom. Add chiles, garlic, ginger root, bean sauce and bamboo shoots; stir-fry 1 minute.
Add beef, bell pepper and sugar; stir-fry 1 minute.
About twenty years ago, these Nations had little voice
They had to DO AS TOLD by the United States and it’s allies
If they showed the slightest independence, they would be faced with a four step method by the US
Make up accusations on Human Rights violations which would be the first step. Saddam got this in 1989 after the Iran Iraq war (Until which time he was useful to the West so they didn’t see any human right violations)
Impose Trade restrictions on such countries using shipping insurance and freight as a weapon and throttling their revenues which would be in Dollars. Saddam got this in 1994/95, ironically almost 4 1/2 years after he invaded Kuwait. Step Two
Impose Unilateral Sanctions and freeze their money and prevent them from being able to buy basic food and water at times not to mention medicines, hospital supplies etc. This is the FINAL WARNING. At this stage the Nation needs to depose it’s present leader and the new leader has to kowtow to the West.Step Three
Cause a color revolution or invade making some trumped up excuse.Step Four
Today these Nations have a very strong BACK UP SYSTEM
image 258
If the US goes too far, these Nations have CHINA & RUSSIA to fall back on
China takes care of the commerce and trade. The RMB ensures that these Nations can keep buying anything they want as long as they have Oil and Gas to sell China rendering most sanctions as impotent
Drilling machines, Machinery, Food, Paper Clips – You name it and China will deliver
Plus China’s enormous clout at the UN and it’s lobbying powers beat the US today. China carries 78 guaranteed votes at the UN Assembly against 54 Guaranteed Votes of the US
Russia takes care of the Grain and of the Military aspect
If the US try any tricks like they did in 2003, they could find themselves in a conflict with Russia being involved
Best example is Syria where Assad is very much in charge despite all the attempts by the US to depose him under Obama & Trump (?)
So the Arab Nations have a voice today
They can protest and they can demand things and the US can’t repeat it’s four step formula because that could send them fully to Russia and China like it happened with IRAN
That’s all the Arab Nations are looking for with China
They still want to be loyal to the US and it’s allies but if the US goes TOO FAR then they won’t buckle that easily and they have a back up with Russia and China
The US better not make the same mistake they did with Iran or Russia this time
My brother. He was working graveyard shift at the time and had to commute quite a distance on the freeway for work. Of course, night time is when they do a lot of roadwork in this region to minimize impacts during rush hour. My brother is a burly sized guy. At the time he drove a little Hyundai hatchback. (Important to know for later). Anyway, one night, while commuting to work, the freeway is shut down to 1 lane of traffic for roadwork. Every one is backed up, traffic is virtually at a stops as everyone merges from 4 lanes to 1. Some person is a big old jacked up pickup truck gets behind my brother and starts riding his tail. Obviously, since this is a traffic jam, my brother can’t go anywhere. After a little while of riding my brothers butt, this person decides to turn on their high beam and start getting aggressive. Backing off, then running up to my brothers bumper and slamming on the brakes at the last possible second. At this point, traffic is down to one lane, so my brother stops in the middle of the traffic and proceeds to unfold himself from the car. Walks back to the truck and starts slamming his hand on the hood and screaming at the person. “it’s one f**king lane! I can’t go anywhere, I can’t go any faster! I can’t pull over and you can’t f**king pass me! If you want a fight climb out right now! Otherwise, Back the F**K off!”
Big truck never opened his doors. My brother waited a moment, went back to his car and proceeded on his way. Big truck turned off their headlights and maintained a respectful distance for the rest of the way through the roadwork.
I operated coin-operated amusements from about 1989 to about 2010. Foosball tables, Air Hockey, Video Games, Countertop Games, Pinball Machines, Pool Tables, Dart Boards, etc. I also retailed various Home Model games and parts, mostly Foosball.
I quickly realized, or maybe not so quickly, that when Laptops connected to WiFi had more attractive games on them than my coin-ops, and eventually even Cell Phones had more interesting games, that my business was doomed. During that same time many of my locations, mostly taverns and bars, and a few Game Rooms as well, were going out of business.
I had the policy, unlike most of my competitors, to own my own business without having an awful silent partner of a huge bank-loan. If I could expand using the funds from my business, I did, otherwise I remained small.
When the contraction began, as I lost a location, or one became unprofitable, I would just sell off the equipment and cash out. That went on for several years. But I kept my business open for my customers. The last 2–3 years I worked but had negative income. In other words, I was paying for the privilege of being able to work.
One year, I think it was either my last or second to last, I worked all year and found that I lost $6,000 doing so. More frustrating than that, I had $8,000 in licensing and taxation expenses. In other words, $8000 of my $6000 loss went to licensing and taxing authorities. After being in business for about 2 decades, you learn to hate taxation and licensing. That is when I closed shop. I just couldn’t see giving them ALL the money I earned and paying them an additional $2,000 out of my savings. Technically, I still have a non-operating business, that I don’t work at anymore.
Anyway, the end result was I quit working because it was more profitable to not work.
My beautiful wife was a size five 10 years ago when she got pregnant with our first son. Here’s a picture of her right before she got pregnant.
image 257
Her pregnancy was difficult. She gained a lot of weight and her legs and feet got so swollen that the last couple of months were almost unbearable for her. She couldn’t walk very far without pain.
One time as we were walking out of a restaurant when my wife was 8 months pregnant, a woman stopped in her tracks and said “Oh my God”… looking at my wife’s stomach.
She was in labor for 36 hours and finally the doctor said “That baby is not coming out.” C-section it was. We found out why he wasn’t coming out. The doctor pulled him out and said “That is a BIG baby!” He was 12 pounds 2 ounces.
Two years later we had our second and final son. He was 11 pounds.
The two pregnancies and two C-sections left my wife with a hernia in her stomach and muscles that just never healed back normally. Despite her going to the gym 4–5 times a week and eating right, her belly has never been the same.
At least 10 times in the years since, people have asked my wife how far along she is. People, please stop doing this to women. Don’t ever, ever, ever ask someone if they are pregnant. My wife has been brought to tears over this stupid question many times.
Here’s my beautiful family now.
image 256
Update:
Wow, so many wonderful comments from all kinds of people. Thanks so much. It’s truly heartwarming to hear so many of you comment on how beautiful my wife is. She truly is a beautiful person inside and out.
Many have commented about how my wife could have corrective surgery. This is something we have researched and considered for several years. We are hoping that in the next few years we’ll be able to save enough money. It’s a very expensive surgery that we currently can’t afford, but it’s important for me that we get there and we get it done.
I’m one of 5 kids. My parents always wanted a big family — in fact, they’d planned on 6 kids, but my mom’s health wouldn’t stand for it. Money was always tight, of course. My dad made a good salary but it still didn’t stretch that far among seven people, and my mom stayed home to take care of us. Both my parents believed it was very important for her to do that, and tbh any money she brought home would have been totally eaten up by childcare, anyway.
There was a time or two that I wished there weren’t so many of us, so there would be more money and attention for me. But which of my siblings would I wish out of existence? I could never imagine my life without any one of them. They’ve been my lifelong built-in friends. And sometimes enemies, LOL — we used to fight like cats and dogs! But as adults we are all very close, even those of us who are far apart in age. In a lot of ways I feel sorry for people who didn’t grow up with a lot of siblings like I did.
It probably makes all the difference that we didn’t just happen, our parents specifically wanted a lot of children to love. They always knew and respected our different personalities and needs. They sacrificed to make sure we were taken care of. They enjoyed our company—our mom was sad when we went back to school after summer break because she missed us! They never played favorites or acted like we owed them for existing.
And yes, the older siblings did take care of the younger, to an extent. Our oldest sister was Second Mommy in a lot of ways. I remember changing my two youngest siblings’ diapers. That’s how it works in a big family, you help take care of each other. But we helped, we weren’t fully responsible for our siblings. We just did our part. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to learn early in life that you’re not the center of the universe! You’re part of a family, and that means you’re there for them and they’re there for you.
Personally, I wouldn’t trade my family or the way I grew up for anything!
When a GI failed to listen to my history. Failed to look at records, radiology and pathology reports from my past. I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis while active duty over two decades prior, my diagnoses was switched by his nurse practitioner to Crohn’s when I was hospitalized.
He decided I simply had Irritable bowel syndrome and told me it was in my head. At an office visit when asked what my pain was, I reported it as a 5 (I had an obstruction) only for the nurse to LAUGH. I stood up and excused myself asking for someone else to check me in since she thought pain was funny. The office manager came in to apologize but looked at my husband the entire time. When he noticed he said: “You need to be apologizing to my wife, not me”.
I ended up receiving a certified letter that I needed to find a new GI (I already had), so I asked to speak with the medical director and was kicked out of the patient portal. This same GI dismissed me when complaining of my guts being on fire (I had pancreatitis). I ended up walking around with a dead gallbladder and ended up in the ICU for 5 days.
I just returned from the ER after messaging with my primary for a month trying to get a GI referral for my now second stone stuck in my common bile duct. She kept telling me to go. I kept saying what for? They won’t treat the pain I’m in nor will they listen. She assured me I’d be admitted for pain control.
I wasn’t.
The ER provider did not listen when I told him my history of translucent stones being missed and that they’ll see it on an ultrasound. What was ordered? A CT. Of course nothing was seen but my liver enzymes are high, potassium low and positive lactic acid…I stood pacing the 5 hours we were there hoping to be heard.
I wasn’t.
Getting taken seriously post Covid is extremely difficult. There are so many jaded medical professionals that assume anyone complaining of pain is just there for narcotics… a year of trying to get help and countless episodes of Pancreatitis with no pain control is barbaric and my blood pressure certainly shows it. I cannot eat without feeling like a bomb has gone off inside me. NSAIDS have already caused gastritis and duodenitis so those are off the table.
I already exceed the recommended dose of Tylenol due to no other option. Yay for my liver!!
My children have been told that if I go septic or get peritonitis and the worst happens to sue. I’ve left a paper trail for them to follow. It’s so amazing being a middle aged female. I can’t possibly know what’s wrong due to experiencing it in the past. Nope. I’m just some needy woman who doesn’t get attention at home. I just can’t with the assenine thought process
It was during the summer, my maternal uncle and his friend visited our home. As usual, my mother cooked lunch for everyone and everyone were engaged in a conversation.
I was bored and wanted to peek into my Facebook account. I made a quick move and sat in front of my desktop and was chatting with my virtual friends.
After few minutes, I noticed a firm hand resting on my shoulders. I turned back to see and to my shock it was my uncle’s friend. I got uncomfortable and I thought probably he is just patting me.
After a while, his hands traveled downwards towards my breasts and he tried to hold them . THAT was a sickening feeling! And, I was so petrified that I couldn’t move and froze in fear.
I gathered courage to just run away from the room and went out to the living room. I saw my mom and looked at her face but I fumbled. And, I couldn’t speak up anything regarding the event that occurred with me few minutes ago.
I locked myself up and cried that night. The next day, my mother could sense something wrong with my behavior. And, asked me “Beta, what happened?” ..
I broke down and with tears in my eyes , I went on with everything I had in my heart.
She was shocked and furious. And what she did made me relieved and happy!
The next day, my uncle and his friend were leaving for their hometown.
My mother went to the railway station, got Kurkure and Lays chips ( as that man got these things for me) and in front of …all the passengers she threw those packets on his face and slapped him and thrashed him with her chappals.
She returned home, and said me ” Promise me , you will speak up if anything will bother you and at least would share with me if anyone tries to touch you without your consent” .
I’m still stuck to the horror of that event and it’s very hard to move on. I try to keep a safe hand distance from men and in a crowded place where I am surrounded by men I still feel restless. I just want to run and run and hide myself some where.
I live a normal life but some where within me, these fear have created a little home for themselves.
Technically, *I* didn’t witness it – my cousin’s camera witnessed it. But it was the bullet itself as it came out of the barrel of my .357 magnum.
To impart just how rare of a thing this is, normally a photographer has to use a reeally, reeeally advanced (and extremely expensive) camera with an insanely high continuous shutter-speed, AND stage the timing of the shot (by that I mean both the camera-shot and the gun-shot), as well. And even THEN, sometimes they have trouble.
My cousin did not have that kind of camera. He had a Nikon. Something like a D500 or a D600. It’s a nice camera for a hobbyist, but it’s not evenremotely designed to capture something like a bullet moving at 1,500 feet per second. As is evidenced by the fact that the bullet in the picture appears as just one really long rod-like streak, rather than the size and shape of a normal bullet. THAT PROVES JUST HOW SLOWLY THE APERTURE CLOSED, in comparison to the speed of the bullet.
image 264
A person could easily spend their entire lives trying to get a picture of a bullet at that shutter speed, and never capture it even once.
And, mind you, my cousin wasn’t attempting to take a picture of the bullet itself, he was intending to take a picture of me just shooting the gun. So he was just manually clicking the camera button with his finger, not caring that much about the timing.
This was back in the early 1970s. I bought 1969 Chevy Beaumont from a friend, I gave him motorcycle, that I had paid $500 for two years before, and was worth maybe $350, plus I think $200 cash.
I was managing a service station at the time, so I had access to all the tools and parts.
I had inspected the car before and I knew what it needed.
The water pump was leaking like a sieve, so I took it off, and at the time, you just used a cheap $3 kit to repair it, and replace. The fuel filter was plugged, it was just a piece of cardboard probably cost me 50 cents. The oil was so thick I drained a couple of quarts out, put two more quarts in, ran it for ten minutes, so that the black sludge would actually drain. Then changed the oil and filter. $7
There is a doughnut gasket between the exhaust manifold and the exhaust pipe. It was completely gone, no sign that it ever existed. It had been spewing out hot exhaust gas, and had burnt three spark plug wires to a crisp, so they weren’t firing.
At the time you could just buy bulk spark plug wire, cut what you need and put new caps on each end.
The donut gasket was $2, the sparkplug wire and caps was another $3.
The car was all done. I had put a sign up out front of the service station, offering to sell the car for $1200.
While I was still replacing the donut gasket, I was offered cash, no questions for the car.
They waited impatiently while I changed the donut gasket, gave me $1200 and drove off.
It had taken me about $30 and an most of an afternoon of my day off, to fix it.
This was a long time ago, but to put it in perspective, I could buy more than 400 cases of beer for $1200.
So, in the good old days, when you could actually work on cars yourself, I had a lot of mechanics specials.
When I was subbing, I asked a question about atoms with the same number of protons and different numbers of neutrons.
Such atoms are called “Isotopes”.
Someone in class apparently knew that answer. But then people started playing a fun game of telephone, and the answer got … blurred.
In the end, several people wrote “Ice Tubes”.
Sad. But I couldn’t help but chuckle.
Runner up?
When I was in 7th grade, my science teacher approached me with a proposition:
“David, if you can get a 0% on the next science test, I’ll give you 100%.”
“Um, Mr. Morris, why would you do that?”
“Because I think people are cheating off of you. I know you know this stuff, and if you get every single question wrong, I’ll know that you knew all of the answers and were able to pick the wrong one. Plus, it’ll catch the cheaters.”
“Sure thing, Mr. Morris.”
I liked Mr. Morris. He was nerdy.
And so, on the test, I did my level worst. Answered every single question wrong on the Scantron (multiple choice) test.
Right out of high school I was working for a big box retailer. I had only been working there a couple of weeks when I saw this happen.
I was working as a cashier and this little old lady (around 80 y/o) came up with her items – and she had quite a few of them. She was walking with a walker and moved pretty slowly.
We had just opened the doors for the day, so it was around 7am and there were only two of us, so pretty barebones staff. The rest of the staff would be in about an hour later – and this lady had been waiting at the door when we got there.
Just as she finished putting her items on the counter, this guy in a business suit comes up to the counter and asks me if I could ring him up really quickly – he was in a real rush.
I told him that was up to the lady who had just finished unloading her cart.
She said no – she was late for an appointment herself and he would have to wait.
He cut her off and INSTRUCTED me to ring him up right then. I said no. He then told me to get another cashier up front, right this damn minute. I told him the only other person working the store at the moment was the receiving guy and he was unloading the truck – and couldn’t use the registers anyways as he didn’t have the codes to the registers. I was the only cashier and would be until 8am.
He got really irate – I’m going to call the manager, etc. etc. etc. He was kept raising his voice until he was almost screaming. Other customers started to gather to watch.
When he finally got to the question of Don’t you know who I am? The little old lady yelled back at him – Yeah, you’re an asshole so shut the F up before I ram this walker where the sun don’t shine. She also said some other very choice words to him, but it’s inappropriate to post here.
He was just shocked by this little lady. He was so embarrassed, that he left his stuff in the basket, dropped it on the floor and left.
Turns out, this little old lady was in the Marine Corps Women’s Reserve during World War II. As the women’s division equivalent of a drill sergeant. She had been married to a USMC drill sergeant and her two kids became USMC drill sergeants.
I grew up in New Hampshire where we had well water (without fluoride) and my parents never took me to a dentist. Consequently, by the time I got to college, my teeth were a mess.
I took a part-time job just so I could try to afford the dental work I knew I needed.
When I opened my mouth, the dentist looked inside and made a “Tsk! Tsk!” sound.
“Someone needs to start brushing their teeth and lay off the sugar,” he said in front of his hygienist. They shared a look of disapproval.
The truth was that as a college athlete on a partial academic scholarship, I ate healthfully and did brush after meals.
I found myself shaking with anger and shame which the dentist interpreted as fear.
“There’s no beating around the bush. You’re going to need a lot of work to save these teeth and it’s going to be expensive,” he advised.
I got out of the chair, didn’t commit to a second appointment, and the next day, went to another dentist who immediately sensed that the situation was more complicated than a snap judgment. He asked questions and when I mentioned growing up in New England, he said, “I thought so. I used to practice in Vermont and half of my patients were people who didn’t have access to fluoridated water. But don’t worry. I can see that you’ve developed good habits and together we can get you caught up.”
He quoted me prices that were half what the first dentist charged. He put me on a no interest payment plan where, for the next three years, I visited the office sometimes twice a week.
The process was all-consuming and expensive despite the plan and reasonable prices. There were times when I chose between meals and paying for dental work. I don’t recommend root canals on an empty stomach. But while I was never able to afford orthodontics, to this day, I never lost a tooth.
Just to give you an ideal on how strong the US industries was in world war two.
The Free French air force (1940–1943) was a sad display of brave but poorly equipped pilots, most of the experienced officers and pilots where parts of the royal air force (some 262 men in 1940 -which is far from nothing!) the free fernch air force was a mickmack of stolen plane from vichy air base, obsolete planes, some hurricane (at beset!) etc.
After the success of operation torch (november 1942) the American agreed to modernize the entire french army, navy, land forces and air forces included. The rearmement for the French air force was nickname Plan 7.
From scratch… the Americans totally rebuilded the entire french air force with some 33 fighter groups (bombers, fighters, reconnaissance)…while also rebuilding the French army with 3 armored division, several tank regiments (destroyed, medium and light), several paratrooper unit…. and modernizing the 140 vessels of the French navy!
the Fench air force went from this:
image 263
to this… in a matter of one single year:
image 262
-The French air force would be an important component for the Allies, fighting in the Mediteranean, eastern front, England, Normandy, France, Italy, Sicily just to name a few.
Basically the US industries were literally spewing thousands enough materials to rearm a nation air force for 3 decades!
We got back to the hotel we are living in pretty late after the hour-long round trip drive to boy scouts and basketball practice.
We put the kids to bed as quickly as possible and some teenagers were loud in the hallway for awhile.
I was frustrated, but wanted to wait to talk to them at the right time so I could tell them about our situation to see if they could show compassion rather than become angry at the lady next door.
I didn’t see them the next morning at breakfast.
(But that night ) I noticed that they were Future Farmers of America kids from Kansas.
They had their doors cracked, so I decided to talk to them.
I let them know about our house being destroyed by water.
I told them that we wanted them to have their fun and we would appreciate their respect to let our kids get good rest.
The young man who answered the door told me that he was very sorry about what we are going through.
Before I went to bed, I noticed a note that someone had slipped under our door.
image 261
I opened the note to find money.
(The note said:
We are more than sorry for,waking you and your family up the past few nights.
We hope everything goes well with you house.)
In a world where some people sit behind screens and become angry on social media, this young man restored my faith that the next generation can make eye contact and show compassion to the person right in front of him.
There were two other guys that I could see in their hotel room.
If anyone sees this post and knows who I’m talking about, please tag these guys so I can say thank you and God bless.
They set an excellent example for my children and their parents should be more than proud.
When I was a teenager I went with my cousin and friend to an ice cream shop located in a strip mall. The parking lot was very full. There was a pristine looking truck parked in the intersecting point of four parking spaces. Literally one vehicle taking up a portion of four spots. The parking stalls weren’t too small for a truck like his either. Frustrated with this person’s sense of entitlement, I grabbed a sheet of paper from my school binder and wrote “I am so sorry about the damages. I will be in touch to discuss payment.” I left no contact information. I put it on his windshield.
20 minutes later we watched from the inside of the ice cream shop as the man looked at the note. He looked angry. Then, in the pouring rain, he spent several minutes walking around his vehicle, closely inspecting it for signs of damage. He got more than a little wet. We could see the moment when it clicked for him. He cracked a smile and looked like he laughed before climbing in his truck and driving away.
Let me kind of start from the inside out. I live in Seattle (well, about 5 miles from the city of Seattle anyways, so whatever.)
Assuming 60k means $4,000/month take home, give or take, let’s look at some houses you could save up to consider.
In Seattle, with a 20% down payment, here’s a $2,500 mortgage payment.
image 275
If that looks like a small 1br house, that’s because it is. That’s what a $600,000 budget gets you in Seattle, relatively close to downtown.
Go 30 miles south to a city called Puyallup, and you get this:
image 274
Well, this is actually about $60,000 cheaper than the one above. Pretty profound difference right?
Go about 2 hours east and you’ll find homes about $100,000 cheaper than the Seattle house that look like this:
image 273
Okay, so now we’re closer to a $2,000 monthly mortgage, and I gotta say, that’s a whole lot of house. It has what, 3–4 car garages, wrap around 2nd level deck with a view, plenty of land… Not bad for the half million range.
Still though, Washington is pretty expensive even in the “cheaper” areas.
Let’s head back to my dad’s home state of Ohio.
image 272
Wait, is that a castle!? Yeah, that’s a f*ing castle. Not bad for that half million range, right? Except it’s not. It’s $280,000. With a way smaller down payment, you get your own castle for $1,200/month.
It comes with f*ing gargoyles!
image 271
The US is a pretty big country…
That’s really the trouble here. I mean, if you’re a full-time work from home employee, there are places in the country that are actually great to live in, good medical, good schools, etc., where 60k is a great income. In others, it’s low income.
I showed houses, of course, but even food, electric, water, fuel, home/car repair rates, taxes, etc. can fluctuate wildly from place to place. If you’re restricted to a location, look at it, and if not, go look at what’s out there and what you like. It’s a big and beautiful place with something for everyone.
I once argued with a graduate student over the weight of a Taco Bell burrito. She was hungry and so I suggested some half-pound burrito (I don’t remember what it was called). At which point the conversation went something like this:
“I can’t eat a half-pound burrito, that’s way too much food!”
“Actually, it’s only 8 ounces.”
“No, but it’s a burrito, so it’s heavier than that!”
“Um, no, it doesn’t actually matter what it is. A pound is 16 ounces, so a half pound is 8 ounces. A half pound of one thing weighs the same as a half pound of something else.”
“No, it’s more than that because beans are heavier.”
“Um, so you would argue that a half pound of bricks is heavier than a half pound of feathers?”
“Yeah, obviously bricks are heavier than feathers!”
“Even if they are both the same 8 ounces??”
“Well, yeah, because bricks weigh more than feathers!”
This went on for maybe a couple minutes while we were sitting in the drive-thru waiting to order. Honestly we had to finally agree to disagree before I went crazy. At which point I learned that a formal education doesn’t always mean a whole lot…
Allowing GHQ (General Headquarters) France to disregard hard intelligence.
British Military Intelligence was grouped per Command (GHQ Home, GHQ Ireland, GHQ France, etc.). This means nobody had the overall picture.
On top of that, most intelligence went through the Foreign Office and that intelligence, often on economic and and social matters in Germany was disregarded by GHQ France.
Brigadier John Charteris, in charge of Intelligence GHQ France was of the opinion that the hard intelligence was too pessimistic.
He believed, and convinced General Haig and his staff, that Germany was near to defeat as early as 1915 and pushed, together with General Haig for continuous offensives starting in 1916.
The estimates regarding available ammunition, air power, German troops movements, German troop morale, German civilian morale, etc. were all wrong.
The British kept on pushing for major offensives that resulted in massive casualties without ever having a real chance of breaking the stalemate until the Hundred Day Offensive in 1918.
In London, it was well known Intelligence GHQ France was a sick joke, yet nobody dared to upset the existing structure in which each Army Command could make its own decisions based on the intelligence they decided to trust.
Charteris wrote that “trusting the pessimistic intelligence provided by the Foreign Office would result in the staff at GHQ France losing hope and would lower staff morale.”
Charteris believed keeping the staff happy was essential to achieve victory.
Joseph E. Johnston — the one who acted like he knew it was over.
The Confederacy didn’t have a general staff. Jefferson Davis thought he was a military genius and dealt directly with the commanders of the CSA field armies.
The top men, Robert E. Lee in particular, all held on to the bitter end. They might not have been confident of success, but they didn’t communicate any such doubts and fought until hope was gone.
On the final flight west from Petersburg, Lee received a note from U.S. Grant asking Lee to consider an end to hostilities. Lee showed the note to James Longstreet and asked his opinion. Longstreet read the note and handed it back. “Not yet,” he said. They kept fighting until the road south was blocked at Appomattox Court House.
Joseph E. Johnston might have been the one who acted the most like a man who knew more bloodshed was pointless. A brave man who had survived several wounds, he was always judicious about giving battle. He made one serious attempt to stop Sherman, and when that failed, fell back and told Lee he could do no more than “annoy” the Yankees. When word came that Lee had surrendered, he asked Sherman for terms even though the two armies were not even in contact. He had to go quite a ways to meet Sherman and surrender.
Approximately four months after I got married to my wife, my business partner defrauded me and put me into over 35,000 dollars worth of debt. My businesses began to crumble despite my frantic efforts to salvage the situation. Soon thereafter, my finances nosedived into a freefall.
By this time I had already already come to certain terms about my wife. One of them was that she was in it (our marriage) for the money. Since I couldn’t stand the thought of a divorce or a broken home I did my best to conceal my financial troubles from her in the hope that I was going to find a way to get back on my feet again.
Well she did eventually find out when I started having problems with releasing funds to pay the bills and run our home. Soon thereafter she started her series of packing out of our home on the slightest imagined irritation or offence.
Each time she would pack out I would go right after her, pleading with every single one of her relatives. I did get her to come back a good number of times but I guess this really annoyed her and her mom in particular who was really the brain urging her to abandon ship and go look for greener pastures.
One day she calls me up on the phone and tells me “hey look, each time I try to leave you, you’re always going around my relatives and getting them to put pressure on me to come back right? Well, one of these days I’m going to come back and unalive you and then you won’t get me to come back anymore, will you?”
I never went after her again.
I had to keep alive to take care of the two toddlers she left behind.
‘I Remember the Secret Service Being Tougher’ Scene | Red
I was one year into practice. A 14 year old girl was transferred to my hospital. She had been in a motor vehicle accident and been to two hospitals before mine. Her parents had been told she was permanently paralyzed waist down, twice. I was the orthopedic surgeon on call and had spinal privileges and the ability and privileges to implant hardware. So I was the surgeon they called.
I arrived and did a thorough spinal trauma exam. Yes she was paralyzed. The confounding factor was that one test (her anal wink) where I poke the anus with a needle and see if it contracts was still working. That told me she was not completely paralyzed or in spinal shock as the nerve that controls this is the last one out of the spinal cord.
I told her parents that I needed to operate immediately. I discussed with her parents she might be the same, slightly better or significantly better. I made no promises.
I decompressed her spinal cord, implanted hardware and fused several levels. As I wrote my post operative orders in the recovery room after 4 hours of surgery I saw her thrashing her legs about. I tested her motor strength and it seemed normal. I went out to talk to her parents to tell them that she was better but I couldn’t predict how much better. She might have sensation deficits or coordination deficits and we would see but that it was a very good sign that she was moving her legs.
Amber made a full recovery after being declared fully paralyzed by 2 hospitals and at least one neurosurgeon. She walked out of the hospital in a brace and 6 months later was released from my care to full activities. I am sorry, Amber, if your back hurts later in life. I did my best.
I received Christmas cards and gifts for 15 years from her family.
Her case was actually part of my oral board exam. It was quite funny to hear questions from these examiners who didn’t even do spine surgery as to why I chose to do surgery and how I chose the operation and what levels to fuse.
The moral of the story here is that a physician who learns a thorough spinal examination found a patient that did not have a complete spinal injury and fixed it. Being a physician is being a master of your profession, not just reading reports and listening to others.
I had a best friend in high school. We remained close friends until we went off to the same college. Her financial aid hadn’t come in so I loaned her some money that I had been saving for a trip which she knew was very important to me. I found out through another friend that she had received her financial aid, and she had not offered to return my money, putting my trip in jeopardy. She had also made new friends at college and I felt ejected by her. I got angry, got the money back off her and stopped speaking to her. The following semester I went to London for a semester, which extended into years, which became permanent. About five years after I left she sent me a letter saying she would be in London and wanted to meet up. The letter included her phone number where she was staying (way before mobile phones). I thought about ringing her. But never did. Thirty + years later, I had grown up and regretted my behaviour. I searched for her on social media but no luck. Eventually she contacted me through my father (no idea how she got his address). I responded this time and despite being on different continents, we are now long-distance friends. It was hard but I apologised for how I had behaved back then. I had taken the word of someone else instead of speaking to her directly and I did the very childish thing of not speaking to her. She might have had good reason for hanging onto my money, which I didn’t give her the chance to explain. And, she had every right to make new friends at college. I could have been part of her new social circle, I chose to tantrum instead.
So, I am admitting all this as a message to anyone younger than me who indulges in this sort of behaviour. It is childish. Don’t do it. You owe it to yourself and your friend to sit down together and have an adult conversation about whatever is troubling you. It cost me one of the most important friendships of my life. Don’t make the same mistake.
My mom (egg donor) left my siblings and I to be with friends from her church 2 years after we got home from being in Foster Care for 12 years. She took our foodstamps with her and spent them on other families, while we starved trying to find her. The family she ran off to be with told her she wasn’t allowed to talk to her children- she obeyed.
I went to her church one Sunday at 14 to speak to her. The pastor and whole congregation was telling me ‘a 14 year old anorexic girl’ that I need to get a job and take care of myself while my mom took care of them. This was 2010, so you know I legally couldn’t work yet.
I couldn’t call, text, meet, or have any contact with my mom. She allowed it, so obviously she was happy she didn’t have to.
So, 3 years ago my egg donor calls me and asks me for some money. She “needs a car”, but doesn’t have any money. I still don’t have my first car and it’s 2023, now.
After explaining I don’t have money to give, I boldly asked her “Why would I help you if you abandoned me as a child? I needed you and you weren’t there”.
She offended me by saying with a chuckle “I had you kids so that when you got older and I need help, you kids will help me with money or a place to live”. I simply responded “That’s not how that works, if you wanted me to take care of you now, you should have taken care of me years ago. 1 timothy 5:8”. For a woman who claims she lives for the bible, she had to ask me what that meant.. it simply means anyone who abandons their kids or family is worse than a nonbeliever.
A better question is how could the United States expand sanctions on China’s chip industry without repercussions that hurt the U.S. more than China? And the Answer is it can’t. It simply can’t!
Chips are nothing unless it is used as a component of a product for example a smartphone or a computer. And China as a market dwarfs the U.S. by several folds. Today there are a billion Chinese consumer of high technologies compared to say 250 million in the U.S.! That is 4 folds higher! China’s consumer market alone is 30–35% if the entire world! Can the U.S. not be hurt if these consumers are forced into buying a different chips?
But worst is that from the 2/3 of the rest of the world market, most of their products are either assembled or made in China! That constitute another 30–40% of the world’s market! So the U.S. by sanctioning China U.S. sanctioning the U.S. chip makers of some 60–70% of the market. Or it has direct influence or possibly sell to only 30–40% of the world’s market.
But that is just the first nightmare for the U.S. Next, China will make equivalent products within 3 year’s maximum and then. Even this 30–40% rest of the world market will choose a Chinese make that is cheaper, faster and better than the U.S. products. Your entire chip industry will thoroughly collapse and U.S. government will be faced with high unemployment and bankruptcy!
So if I were you, I will vote in a smarter U.S. government!
Just around halfway, you will run into the infamous Darien Gap:
image 19
And there, the jungle is Master. There are no roads and those who try, fail miserably:
image 260
If a 4×4 cannot make it, a van even less…
You’d have to take a boat from Panama City to Colombia and that will be very expensive.
It’s better to sell your van in Panama, fly to Bogotá and buy another van there.
However, I would not do that trip on a van. It has to be a good 4×4. You need to do some research because not all car manufacturers sell in all countries; if you need a spare part and it is not sold where/when you need it, it may mean you’re stuck for a long time and there’s no guarantee that you will ever receive the part.
By the way, do you speak at least Spanish? In the countryside, people will not speak English at all.
I first met my wife when I was about 24 and very soon after had ideas that this was the woman I wanted to grow old with. I knew fairly quickly that she was divorced, but she always kept her private life private (I found out why later and agree with her totally) so it was some time later that I found she had 3 young daughters.
Being young, stupid and typically male, I didn’t want a ready made family, I wanted one all of my own, so I put the idea to one side. We stayed friends, but as we lived over 30 miles apart, we only saw each other occasionally. Years passed and the friendship continued to grow. In the meantime, she remarried and had 2 more daughters, then got divorced again.
Move on 24 years, I’m still single (came close a couple of times) but couldn’t find the perfect lady for me, but by now the older 3 are in their 20’s and the younger 2 are in their mid to late teens. Finally my stupidity left me and we finally got together.
15 years later, we’re married, still together and happy, even though she’s now bedridden. In case you’re wondering, the daughters have all “adopted” me, as have the grandchildren!
The long and the short is; don’t let hubris stop you from doing the right thing. We could have been looking at 40 years of happy marriage if I hadn’t been an idiot.
When I was in High School, there was a tall, thin Chinese boy in my swim class. He was very quiet and always had his nose in a book. I knew him because I was the one tasked with “helping“ the non swimmers.
One day, after class, we were outside waiting for the bell to ring so we could leave the Gym Area and head to our next class. He was off to the side leaning up against the wall while reading his book. A trio of boys (troublemakers/bullies) started grabbing for his book. So he asked them politely to leave him alone, so they just turned it up and managed to take his book. In a flash, he snatched the book back (that was the first clue).
Again, they tried to grab it, but he pulled it up out of their reach and asked them one more time to just leave him alone. But this time, the biggest jerk smacked/punched him in the face instead. Two of my friends and I immediately stepped forward to step in, but before we could take another step, this tall, gangly quiet kid had kicked the jerk on the side of the head and dropped him. EVERYONE who was there stood there in shock, not sure we had just seen what we’d seen, and the other two jerks immediately stopped and stepped back. The jerk who’d been kicked just sat there on the floor rubbing the side of his head while the kid just opened his book and started reading again.
To my knowledge, NO ONE ever messed with him again. That was one of the most impressive things I’ve ever seen and I’ve seen and been in a lot of fights/scuffles.
20 plus years ago I was ordered to lie to my buyer or lose my job. I was ordered by my boss despite my protests.
The company I worked for had just won a major contract to sell light globes through one of the largest hardware chains in Australia – Mitre 10.
However we were very much behind schedule having had a number of delays already. Many times I had been in to my buyer to let him know of our latest delay and his patience was wearing thin and my boss knew it.
She asked me to lie and blame the latest delay on an earthquake in Japan (our globes were coming from India) or any other lie I could come up with as long as it wasn’t the company’s fault, as in it had to be a force majeure.
I made an appointment with my buyer and sat across from him and literally told him this:
“Peter, as you know, our globes are coming from India. The ship left on time and the order was 100% filled and packed in a shipping container. Unfortunately inside the same container was a cage containing a couple of Bengal Tigers. They escaped their cage and have unfortunately ripped or damaged all of the light globe packaging.
But we could fix that by having new packaging made and printed here in Australia except that, also in the same container was an Indian elephant. This elephant also escaped its cage and has trampled all the globes. Not one globe was left intact. The entire shipment was destroyed.”
“She’s told you to lie to me didn’t she?” he said after listening to me spin this ridiculous lie. He knew full well what was going on.
We got on very well, he knew me and what I stood for. We stayed in contact for many years after we both left our respective positions. He knew the position my boss had forced me into. After asking me for a new eta he told me to leave.
He wasn’t happy.
But I did what I was ordered to do and did it in a way that kept my reputation intact.
This was part of an old trick that the magician/illusionist Kreskin used to do back in the 1970s. You’re leaving out two very important parts of the trick:
He would say that the two digits couldn’t be the same
He would also say “So 17 is OK, but 11 isn’t.”
It sounds like there’s 50 numbers, but if you look at the options, they’re quite limited: 13, 15, 17, 19, 31, 35, 37, and 39. It’s really only eight. When he says “17 is OK but 11 isn’t”, most people won’t choose 17 since it was used in the example so you’re down to seven choices.
When he tested his trick, he found that overwhelmingly most people choose 35 or 37. When used this trick in public, he would write down both “35” and “37” but would cross out 35 and say something like “I sensed you were thinking of another number but changed your mind”. He would then proclaim that you were thinking of 37. This way, even if you said “35”, it would be there on the paper and as an onlooker you’d still be amazed.
He speculated that by using “17” and “11” in his spoken example, it tended to cause people to go the other direction and choose numbers in the 30s.
Our home, but my brother’s son. We had our aunt over, an old, strict, stuck-up childless lady. She was always proud of how polite and good-mannered she is, and despite not knowing a damn thing about kids, she was always ready to educate them, expecting all kids to behave like miniature grown-ups respecting the rules of etiquette at all times.
Well, it was a big family lunch on the terrace, kids running around, so she was a fish out of the water – there were too many kids to educate, she lost count. When I arrived, I was immediately greeted by my 4-year-old nephew, whom I kissed, cuddled and then I ceremoniously placed my bag in front of him.
We had a game: each time we met I had something in my bag for him. He could dive in and find it. This was our thing. Sometimes it was a dessert that he could eat while we talked. Sometimes a toy, or some other small surprise. This time it was a small dog figurine that resembled their own dog whom he loved so much.
While he was snorkelling in my bag, I turned to greet some relatives. Then I heard my Aunt Etiquette, shouting in a sharp head voice at my nephew. “What are you doing? Who do you think you are, young man?”
We all froze, including my poor baby nephew. I had to explain my fuming aunt that I had allowed him to search my bag, and that was our little thing, but she was not the person who could understand things like this. There were rules that we clearly disrespected.
My brother had to tell her that in his house, it’s also a rule to keep it quiet and not to shout with any of the kids. That shut her up, but just because she was hurt over her educational methods being disregarded.
My nephew still goes in my bag, and there is still something in there for him every time. He has never done the same with anyone’s bags or stuff. He knows the drill. He knows it’s just with me. My poor auntie will never get that kids are not stupid – they are kids.
A rich friend of mine one day had an emergency and needed to borrow money from me.
I was on campus so I went to the ATM and withdrew what he wanted to borrow, but in true ADHD style, forgot to take my card back.
After I left, a few minutes later, I noticed a Northern European girl (college student, probably Nordic from the accent) running in my direction and panting.
She was looking at me so I stopped to see what was going on. Then I saw my bank card in her hands!
Amazing because there was a lot of money in that card and a nefarious person would have withdrawn all the money and absconded with it.
I was so amazed by her integrity and kindness that I did not even know how to react. I had gone a long distance and at the time, there was nobody around the ATM kiosk; so I didn’t know how she realized the card was mine.
I think she may have seen me from a distance as I emerged and when she arrived at the ATM, I had spent the same time going away from it. Then, in order to not lose me, she ran all the way back to bring it to me, in consideration of no return whatsoever—just because it was the right thing to do.
How probable a similar event could be?
I insisted on asking for her details so I could at least thank her properly—perhaps by buying her a gift or inviting her to lunch—but she wouldn’t hear of it.
When I asked for her phone number she smiled and replied that it was not necessary to repay her in any way and left despite my persuasion to stay for a while so I could get to know her (you see, such a kind person would have made an excellent wife—additionally she was beautiful and I was single [and young, maybe four or five years older than her]; alas, she left too quickly and I didn’t find it polite to insist further).
Aliens (1986) – They Can Bill Me Scene – Enhanced 4K UHD HDR Custom”
This is two days ago at a very busy shopping centre with just over a week to go before Christmas day and this “person” decided it is OK to park across two spots.
It was so busy and so difficult to get a park I had to do a lap of the carpark before I got lucky and found someone who was about to leave and so I was able to grab their spot.
I was furious when I saw this car and so were a bunch of other people standing around complaining. What I and the others didn’t know was that this person, who parked across two spots, was a psychic. I never met them, never saw them either but they had to be able to see into the future.
Their future told them they would have 4 flat tyres when they came out from shopping and so to make it easier for them to change all 4 wheels they gave themselves extra room around their vehicle. That surely was their reason!
It would have been impossible to do if they parked in only one spot like normal humans do.
In Elementary School near Dallas, TX in the 70’s there was a bully named Paul. He stole from the cafeteria cash register, disrupted class, ruled over the entire school due to his size and generally pushed his way throughout class. Then a new kid came to our class. His name was Todd and by appearance was a total nerd. Tall, skinny, braces and into comics and science fiction.
Then in band Todd revealed that he played saxophone. None of us were bold or cool enough to even try that instrument, we were scared and just went along being content with the common brass instruments provided by the school. He brought his own horn and was much more advanced as well.
Then he met Paul. Paul tried to impress onto him that he was the big man in the school and literally pushed him around. Todd did not even hesitate to talk things over, he just punched Paul hard right in the face. We were amazed, we never thought it possible that a bully could be bested.
Later during outdoor recess Paul tried to re-establish his dominance to the rest of the kids. Without talking, planning or organizing dozens of the kids picked up rocks, sticks and other weapons and chased him off the lot. One that has stuck with me was a kid who took off his belt attached a stick at the buckle and swung it very effectively.
Paul never came back to school. Todd fell into his role as a nerd, never tried to become king.
Quick Orange Beef
Orange Beef
Ingredients
1 pound flank, sirloin or rib-eye steak
1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest, plus a little juice
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 pound sugar snap peas or snow peas
Instructions
If time allows, freeze the steak for up to 60 minutes to make it easier to slice. Slice the beef as thinly as you can across the grain. If you’re cutting it so thinly that some of the meat shreds, that’s good.
Combine beef with orange zest, soy sauce, garlic, salt, pepper and red pepper.
Heat a wide, heavy skillet or wok over high heat for a minute. Add vegetable oil and heat another minute. Add garlic and when it turns light brown (a few seconds) add the beef. Stir the beef 2 minutes. Add peas and stir 2 minutes more, or until the beef has lost its red color.
Squeeze half an orange over skillet ingredients and stir to combine. Serve over rice.
Serves 4 to 6.
If you have leftovers: Chill rice and beef separately. When ready to cook, heat 1 or 2 tablespoons vegetable oil over high heat in a wok or skillet. Add leftover rice and stir, breaking it up with a spoon or fork. When it’s broken up, add leftover beef and stir to heat through. Add soy sauce or toasted sesame oil, as desired.
so let me preface my answer; I no longer speak to my cousin but I didn’t speak to him much before the incident either.
My grandmother passed away the day my oldest son left for his spring break trip as a sophomore in High school, he was playing varsity baseball and invited on their tournament trip to another state to play.
I made arrangements to go on the trip to see my son play. This was an honor for him and one that he had worked so hard for. I got the call that my grandmother had passed away and I contemplated if I was still going to go on the trip or stay behind and attend the funeral. My grandmother had not been well for several years and honestly did not even recognize me or my children for the past two years due to her illness. I choose to continue on the trip with my youngest to see my oldest play ball. My parents were okay with my decision and actually helped me make the decision.
The evening after the funeral I received a nasty text message from my cousin stating how dare I miss the funeral. He understood that I was attending a baseball tournament but he came home from vacation for the funeral and he expected me to miss the baseball trip as well. It didn’t matter to him that I had visited her several times in the year leading up to her death even though she didn’t know me and he didn’t even know what nursing home she was in.
The fact that he inserted his beliefs in my life; and didn’t take into consideration the hard decision I had made was appauling to me. I wasn’t at peace with my decision but made the best one for my family at the time the decision needed to be made. I had said my good-byes to my grandmother heartfelt the last time she remembered me.
It has been 10-years since her passing and I still refuse to talk to that cousin when we are together at holiday functions. I will walk away if he comes over to sit at the same table I am at. He has never met my grandchildren on purpose as I don’t want to subject my grandchildren to his negativity.
Oh, I have one. I was with my son at a Boy Scout jamboree back in the early 90’s in our state. The arranged for the state fish and game to come and train search and rescue. I had trained in search and rescue in the military and for Appalachion Mountain Club. I walked over to the game warden and volunteered to help, that I had a lot of experience in this sort of thing. He told me he had it, he was trained too and this was his job. The warden lined up like 300 kids and sent them into the woods to search for a injured hiker (two of the scout masters acting as injured hikers). The kids started walking across the field. Then went down an incline records the woods. As they started down the incline they started to run and then a battle cry like something out of bravehart came out of the crowd. By the time they hit the tree line into the woods they were on a dead high speed run. It was at this point I walked over to the warden, looked at the woods and asked him if he ever done this before? He said no, first time. I then asked, oh, by the way, how many kids went into the woods? First rule, know how many volunteers you send in so you know if you have accounted for everyone. He looked at me puzzled and said, I thought you guys knew that! I then asked, how far did you tell them to go into the woods before turning back? He said he didn’t. He then called for backup! The local volunteer fire department arrived and he sent them into the woods. I walked over and asked, oh, how many fireman did you send into the woods? He facepalmed and walked away. Three hours later, we accounted for every scout. Five were retrieved two miles away when they walked out the back side of the woods. It took another hour to find all the fireman. I walked over to the warden and said, I think that went well, don’t you? He walked away without answering.
Yep , me . Two days after removing me from a job and my crew of 30 Americans to be replaced by a Latino crew I got a phone call .
Boss .” Hi”
Me”What’s up “
Boss “The engineer just told us they will withhold the final 10% if we can’t supply the electrical testing results that I know you did but that no one else ever does and he is persisting that he needs them . They are pissed .”
Me”Oh that sucks “
Now this was a 10 million dollar project . 10% of 10% would have been a good start . But :
Boss “Are they on the site somewhere , I know you were really organized so I’m hoping you can tell me where they are .”
Me”I have them in that log book I bought , ya know the log book you laughed at me for for using , ya know , the one where I kept records of what everyone did , deliveries , the weather and those test results “
Boss “Oh that is excellent can I swing by and pick it up “
Me “Well you could , but I’m looking out my window and the garbage truck is going up my road right now .”
Boss “You don’t have it”
Me”Nope”
Boss “ Oh you are supposed to keep them “
Me”I know , but as of the other day I don’t work for you any more and it was my book and I was done with it .Now ain’t that a bitch “
See, about a lifetime ago, I worked in addictions. And I had this client. Beth. She was a young gay woman. Somewhere between 19 and 21. Totally butch and cute as a fucking button.
image 259
Sort of like this.
Long story short, she asked me to pick her up at a different place, one I happened to know was a trap house. When I pulled up at 8:30 in the morning, there were cops at the house next door, looking for a kid with a warrant.
Beth sees my car pull up, but hadn’t seen the police. She walked out of the front door and head down, beelined for me.
It took the cops less than five seconds to intervene.
Me: Fuck.
I roll down my passenger side window to eavesdrop. I can’t hear exactly what they’re saying, but I can tell by everyone’s body language they’re giving her a hard time.
Me: Double fuck.
I grab the badge that says I’m a county employee and I walk over to the encounter. The cops look at me. I smile, show them my ID, and stick out my hand.
Me: Good morning officers. I assume everything’s alright here.
Officer 1 (nodding to my client): You know this young man? Is his name John?
Me (chuckling): Well, I definitely know this young WOMAN. Her name is Beth. And we have an appointment at her PO’s office in 45 minutes.
Officer 2 (doing a double take): Young woman!?
Beth: Yes. I was trying to tell you.
Officer 1 (pulling out papers and quickly changing the subject): Do either of you know this man? John Doe?
Me: Haven’t seen him.
Beth shook her head no.
Officer 2: We’ve got a bench warrant on him, so if you see him around, we’d appreciate if you call the station.
Me: Will do. Well, we better get going. They’ve got the highway backed up again with construction and we don’t want to be late to see the PO. You gentlemen have a nice day. And thank you for your service!
When we got to my car, Beth freaked the hell out: Holy shit, Molly. I thought I was going down! They wouldn’t let me get a word in to tell them I wasn’t who they were looking for! And they totally thought I was that dude!
Me: Breathe, girl. It’s alright.
We drove around the block, headed to the probation office.
Me: Now you want to tell me why you’re living at the dope dealer’s house?
Beth was always amazed that I knew what was going on. Like it being a trap house. Like knowing who her dealer was. Like when I told her she needed to get tested for Hep C and she said she didn’t. Then I had to tell her that I knew someone who fucked her girl who was sharing needles. And rumor had it, the girlfriend was positive and was hiding it.
Sigh.
I was pretty damn good at that job.
Except Beth ended up going back to the needle. Then back to jail. I hope she’s somewhere today, clean and sober.
Or at least off the dope.
Dogmen, Hybrids, The Beast of Bray Road | True Stories of Werewolves
I loved the good ol’ army surplus stores, and as a boy, I would go over to them with a fist full of changes and some bills and pick up a odd surplus item or two to dink around with.
I had a Vietnam war era canteen… aluminum, not plastic, and it leaked. But I would wear it with my web cargo belt as I rode in my hikes thought the nearby forests. I also had a mess tin, with massive silverware, fit for a giant, but I really never did anything with it.
army and navy store
When I was 13 years old, I had a surplus German world war II pith helmet from the Africa Corps that I wore all the time, and I would wear it as I spent my summers golfing and then swimming. My friends all got ones as well, but theirs hardly lasted past a week. It would get wet… one excuse or the other …and be ruined. But unlike them… I treasured mine.
Army supply
My brother had a cameo dentist smock that was really cool, and for a spell I lusted over it. It looked really cool. Don’t quite know how he ran into it, but the Army and navy store was constantly getting new and one-off items throughout the Summer months.
One week before I left for China, I went into the “old” store and I hardly recognized it. Mostly empty with a warehouse “feeling” to it. Many cheap goods, and not much to interest me. I bought a black backpack and it was the only thing that survived my trip to China. The rest of my belongings were lost in transit.
I suggest that if you have an opportunity, take your early teenagers to a local Army and Navy store and let them explore. Who knows what they will find.
I bought a house and was moving out of the previous home, in which I had a 6-car garage full of toys, along with many items stored outside. That month, I sold six Harleys, brought home three more, and sold them. Now that I would have half the storage space, I sold several other items, such as boats, offroad vehicles, and toy haulers.
When each of these items was sold, I would rubber-band the cash in $10k bundles, and anything less would be placed on the top shelf until it could be bundled with other funds. I’d frequently toss the bundles into the safe for the time being. At some point, when I did the math in my head, I felt I was missing a $10,000 USD bundle.
I had too much on my plate with the move to be concerned about whether or not I had lost money. But I’d catch myself doing the math in my head while driving or having a meal, and it wasn’t adding up, so I’d somehow lost a bundle.
The safe was left at the house due to its size and weight. I had to come back for it after enlisting some assistance in moving it. I had already emptied out its contents while rearranging a few of the internal shelves.
Once I realized I was going to be transporting the safe on its back instead of upright like before, I decided to remove all the interior shelving this time, as it would have come apart while being transported on its back. That’s when I found the missing $10,000. bundle.
It’s a good thing I hadn’t sold the safe with the cash inside.
I used to work for a large rehab company. I was a licensed occupational therapist. One year, we had a new girl start there, who was from Europe. She was also also a licensed therapist, but had two years of additional training. She was also on a work visa. At first she was friendly and agreeable, but soon began to show her true colors. She started making snide comments about people behind their backs, and then proceeded to say them to their faces. She told me that where she came from, I wouldn’t be considered a real therapist, because I had only studied for two years.
We had a few Rehab assistants that she proceeded to lord over, because she had a college degree and they did not. But they worked hard and did their jobs. One day she sat with us at lunch; myself, and two rehab assistants. She proceeded to make rude comments about certain ethnic groups in the company, claiming that they had chips on their shoulders. I told her that her remarks could be construed as racism, and that she had better knock it off. She scoffed, and went on making rude comments. When she left the room with a big smirk on her face, one of the aides told me that she had been making unflattering comments behind my back, too. I decided that she needed to be taught a lesson. I contacted our clinical director and reported her behavior, especially the racist comments.
An hour later, she came walking down the hall, smirk replaced by copious tears. She had been warned that if she continued with her behavior, she would be shipped right back to Europe.
I was an assistant manager for a large auto parts company. Our district manager (DM) was a real POS. I avoided him as much as possible. One day he came to our store, very pissy, and the manager was trying hard to appease him. After the DM left, I looked at the manager and told him he just brown nosed to his ankles. He didn’t say anything, just gave me a funny look. Two days later, after his “weekend”, he handed in his notice. He looked so relieved and happy those last two weeks! He was dating another manager, so we all heard when his dad, a real sweetheart who used to come in frequently, passed away. Other than his girlfriend, I was the only person from the company that attended the funeral. He told me then that my comment was a major wake-up call and that he realized he was no longer willing to work in that environment. His new job made him much happier.
I grew up in a semi-rural area, the child of homesteaders. We had food. Food was never good or bad, it was on the table, and you ate until you were full.
We ate very well, but worked for that food.
My mother had a huge chicken coop, so lots of eggs and chicken.
We planted and harvested about 2 acres of fruits and vegetables of all kinds that could grow in our area. My father had a greenhouse about the size of a single car garage, so we were able to extend a growing season.
Summer weekends were spent in the bush, picking all sorts of wild berries.
We made our own jams, jellies, cordials, chutneys, different kinds of pickles, canned fruits and berries. We processed veggies for use during the winter. This involved sterilizing jars, picking and cleaning foods, slicing, dicing, blanching food, boiling sealing jars, bagging and freezing.
My father bought the rest of the food we couldn’t grow or source naturally.
Sundays, we always had a huge roast, all kinds of roasted root veggies, and devil’s food cake with 7 minute frosting. Most often, dessicated coconut was also put in the frosting. This is exactly what it looked like
image 98
During the week, a normal meal was soup, meat and 2 veg, salad, some kind of pickle, and dessert. Dessert was usually fruit, either fresh or home canned in heavy syrup, and ice cream.
When I was young, our home had a wood stove – so fire wood had to be chopped. We didn’t have running water, so water had to be carried by bucket. We had a coal furnace, so coal had to be shoveled in, several times a day, outside of the summer months.
Because we didn’t have running water, we used an outhouse, which was in the far corner of the property. Even going to the toilet, you walked half a block each way.
When I started kindergarten, the school was almost 2 km away from my home (just over a mile). The only time you were allowed to stay at school for lunch is if the temperature was colder than a high of 0F (-18c). So most days, I walked about 8km, just to go to school and back (x2).
The girls all played jump rope at recess. Do children still do that?
We very rarely ate outside our home, except as guests at other people’s homes. When we would go on camping vacations, our first meal out, and last meal coming home would be KFC – the real stuff they used to make with the cream gravy. So if that is the fast food we had, we had it twice a year.
We used to get a bottle of soda when we went to Grandma’s house. That was about every second week. But we used sugar like crazy. Tea and coffee always had at least 2 tsp of sugar in it. Canned fruit was all in heavy syrup. When the large bottles of cola began to be sold, they were terrifically expensive. The 2 quart bottle was over $4. Considering the first apartment I ever rented a couple of years later was $125/month – you can see what a luxury item Coca Cola was.
Basically, I would say we ate very well. There were plenty of treats, but we were always walking/running and working in the yard. Even the simple things took a lot of work. There was no turning on the tap, that water had to be hauled into the house.
So what I would say is this. Previously, there was little junk food. My mother even made home made marshmallow. Food was processed at home or in restaurants (eg. no pre-formed patties) There was no plastic sort of food, such as Cool Whip (introduced in 1966) People didn’t eat away from home very much. People had to work much harder for food. People worked and walked much more in their lives. The food of the past is very different than the food of today.
I am a 100% disabled USAF Veteran, and I carry a concealed handgun legally. I have had all the background checks that the FBI and Federal Government require and although not of sound body, am of sound mind (my ex-wife may disagree!). I was legally carrying when I stopped in San Antonio to get some fuel. I was in my pickup truck which is wheelchair equipped and it was on the back of the truck and I have Texas Disabled Veteran plates on my truck.
I used my credit card to get the fuel and this was about Christmas time. I am a Christian and love that part of the year. As I was finishing up I was approached by a young man in his late teens and early 20’s who had been watching me since I arrived. I am Italian, and he isn’t (you will figure out his heritage in a moment). He asked how my “Christmas was going?” I replied, “It’s a great time of the year!”. He stated “I’m having a horrible Christmas; I don’t have any money and my kids and wife will get nothing from me this year – can you help? I replied that I carried no cash and he had seen me “use my credit card at the pump!”
He then became directly confrontational and pointed his finger in my face and stated “Then you can take your honky ass into the ATM, use that card and get me some cash!” I backed off 2 steps and stated “I don’t know you and I am not in the habit of giving anything to people I don’t know”. His response was to pull back his jacket and show me a large hunting knife handle that was stuck in his pant and state “What if I show you this knife?!”?
My response was to draw my weapon and point it at his chest and state “What if I show you this gun?” He backed off quickly realizing the crippled Veteran was not as easy a target as he thought!
I was unaware but that store clerk was listening in on the speakers that are at the pump and had summoned the police. They arrived as I was pointing the weapon at the suspect. As soon as they arrived I reholstered and the store clerk told them what she had observed, and I verified the situation.
The Officer asked “Why didn’t you shoot him? He has been a problem for months around here!” My response was “he backed off and I think he would have bolted had you not arrived”. He was taken into custody for attempted armed robbery and I testified at his trial about 11 months later. He was given 7 years in the Texas Department of Corrections. Turns out he never had a wife or children.
What was I given? My life. It could have gone very wrong was I not armed. It could have ended in the worst way.
Guns aren’t meant to fight fair. They are meant to win. They are meant to give people control over what happens to them and to protect themselves, the public, and even you from serious bodily harm or death.
It’s not cowardice – it’s prudence.
I am here today because of that weapon which I still carry faithfully – always knowing it’s there but also always hoping I never have to use it.
“Can I trust you?” she asked me quietly as we walked in the school grounds.
She didn’t even wait for me to reply.
“My father was diagnosed with cancer. Two years ago. Of the prostate. He was under treatment since then, but these days, he’s been getting worse. And we don’t even have that much money, we’re a simple family.”
Sarah was the ‘weird girl’ in the class. Or that’s how the others saw her.
She was always energetic. So much that you’d think she was high on caffeine every day. She had a prominent personality, something so sun-bright that you couldn’t help but notice. And being talkative and making loud, obnoxiously lame jokes were a fundamental part of her.
Sarah was just so fullof life. The fullest you can be. The fullest I’ve ever seen someone.
I think that’s what began, slowly but surely, irritating others in a way.
She would laugh at her own awkward jokes and people would roll their eyes. She’s so random and so extra, they’d say.
She became the class clown.
One day, during the sports class, the conversation written above took place.
And I couldn’t help but silently wonder: how/why was she so buoyant and full of life all the time?
A second later, the tone of her voice shifted.
“You wanna know why I’m so cheerful all the time?”
It’s like she read my mind, I swear. I looked her in the eye, then quickly looked away.
But what she said left me open-mouthed because it was completely different than what I expected.
“You know, I believe that you have to create what you want for yourself. As I see it, everyone has to create their own happiness. There is no other way out. I have so many things to be sad about. But that is exactly what I won’t be. I just work like that,” she shrugged.
And suddenly, just like that, I saw her in a whole new light. And I’m not even exaggerating. It was literally like depicted in the movies.
In fact, I felt guilty, on behalf of my class, that we’d been so utterly stupid.
Not to be dramatic or anything, but Sarah taught me things that I have not learned from anyone else.
I’m not gonna lie and say that since that moment, I’ve been the happiest person alive. I haven’t. It’s a slow process. But I see myself getting there very soon.
Sarah reminded me that one has to create their own happiness. You can’t rely on life or its circumstances to do that for you. She was a living example of the quote: “When life knocks you down, smile and stand up taller than ever before.”
First EU told China they were not buying enough EU Products and importing enough EU products and the Trade deficit was widening quite a bit between the two nations
China replied that most of the EU Imports they formerly imported, they now had excellent quality import substitution within China like Industrial Chemicals or Industrial Technology Machines or ICE Cars
China also said the EU had restricted things they were most keen to import like EUV equipment or Deep UV Lamps or High Grade Etching Equipment
So China said “We have an open market. Bring your products and COMPETE. We have no tariffs here on your products”
The EU want China to keep buying ICE Cars and Industrial Technology at 3 times the price just to ensure a better balance of Trade
China said “How is that Capitalism? Free market?”
EU couldn’t respond
China did point out that Chinese imports of Advanced Lenses and Pharmaceuticals from the EU had risen by 41% across 4 years
The EU claimed China was violating and helping Russia bypass their sanctions. In fact I believe this was their main purpose in visiting China. They accused China of selling to Russia all the Industrial Spares and Manufacturing Parts plus enough goods to keep their purchasing intact
The Chinese replied they were not at war with Russia and EU sanctions were not sacrosanct to other nations. China brought out Lithuania and Australia and asked the EU if the EU recognized Chinese Sanctions on either nation and honored them
China asked if tomorrow China sanctions Taiwan, would EU agree to follow the same and not help Taiwan bypass sanctions
image 96
Ursula mumbled something about democracy and China told her to “Get Laid”
The EU finally accused China of protectionism and subsidy of NEVs that allowed NEVs to be sold cheaper in Europe
China categorically rejected this as wholly untrue and explained how EV subsidy was aimed to help CHINESE CITIZENS buy EVs and spearhead EV transition fully by 2030. They explained how the subsidy was at the tax level and the manufacturing subsidy provided to BYD was used only for their sale price to Chinese Citizens
The EU of course knew this very well
They have advisors who told them the same story
China then pointed out the EU subsidies to their mobile providers of almost € 63 Billion to help them buy the more expensive Nokia equipment for their 5G instead of Huawei
image 95
Again Ursula mumbled something about Democracy and China told her again to “Please get Laid” emphasizing on the “Please”
Simply speaking China is bewildered at all these leaders repeatedly coming to China and demanding things that are entirely against free market and capitalism
They offer investments but into the most mundane things like mass manufacturing and medium grade manufacturing that China isn’t interested in anymore. China has much more money than all of EU combined and can easily bankroll their manufacturing
They want TECH INVESTMENTS, the ability to identify good tech and invest in the same
EU doesn’t want this at all because of US orders
EU wants the World to remain in 2010 but the world is in 2023
**Wanted to add, I only just realized I misread the title as WERE banned, not are. My apologies!**
I was banned from my local Walmart because I miss scanned an item. I went to self checkout one day because I had 4 items and wanted to teach my sons how to scan items. To make the story easier to understand, I had a tshirt, set of bras, shorts and some socks. While scanning, we had accidently double scanned the bras rather than scan the shorts, honest mistake. We finish up and as we are heading out, loss protection stops me and says “My name is XXX I’m with loss prevention please come with us” I was genuinely confused, my son got scared because of how aggressive they were but we complied. While in the security room they proceeded to rummage thru my bags and asked to search my purse. Again, I complied, but they never explained why I was pulled in. They searched cameras for probabaly 20 minutes. At one point, I hear one of the workers call across the radio “We need security detail for an escort.” I started getting REALLY scared and demanded an answer. Finally, they explain I miss scanned an item, because of this I am being escorted out of the building and will not be allowed back on property, should I step foot on property I will be arrested. I was baffled! They didn’t even give me a chance to fix my honest mistake! Needless to say, again I complied, but I put in a call the corporate after leaving, they reached out to me and lifted the banned immediately, apologized, and fired the entire loss prevention team. It wasn’t the first time they had abused power!
This guy was new and he was hired by someone else and put on my team. He messed up because he said he got his degree the same time I did. At the same school. In the same program.
I always research my team beforehand. But, this time it was pretty short.
He failed out his third year and didn’t come back to school. At least not mine.
I figured maybe he fibbed and graduated later. I checked with my school. No record of graduation.
He walked up to my team after he got to work. Asked him to follow me and we went to HR.
We sat down and I asked him about his degree. He repeated his resume exactly.
I stood up, said thank you and good luck. We’ll be going in another direction. And HR did their thing.
We don’t ask about degrees, but we do check your resume for lies. And, we don’t care if you have a degree. Just don’t lie about it.
That means that you are probably going to lie about your work. And, that is pretty toxic.
Committing a felony. I didn’t set out to break the law, I was a law abiding citizen for 59 years.
I was suffering from a deep depression and began self-medicating with Methamphetamine. The depression and drugs led me to some questionable online activities which, to me, seemed harmless. Without my realizing it though, I had crossed into the dark web.
My first inkling that I was in trouble was when 7 sheriffs came to my house with a search warrant. 6 months after that I was arrested on 23 felony charges.
Over the next 6 months my lawyer negotiated that down to 5 charges in exchange for me pleading guilty which I eventually did – I did not have the money to pay for a trial defense, and even if I did, a loss would have meant that I would die in prison – I was 60 years old.
I was extremely fortunate, mostly, I think because I was a first time offender, with a lifetime of abiding the law. I was sentenced to 5 years probation and 3 years prison suspended – no jail time unless I screwed up.
I lost a very successful career and income as a software engineer – no one would hire me with a record. My wife died of a stroke, partly due to the stress of the legal proceedings. Her family completely disowned me (my own family was gone) so I was completely alone in my grief.
I was forced to retire at 62 and live on social security (my first wife got my retirement in the divorce) and I have almost no friends.
Because of one mistake fueled by depression and drugs, my life was destroyed. I have to submit to monthly drug tests and meetings with my probation officer (a significant expense on social security as I have no car and he is 30 miles away), and in constant fear of having my probation revoked for breaking a probation rule (anyone who’s ever been on probation will understand what I mean).
If I could go back to mid 2018 and seek professional help for the depression, I would do it in a heartbeat. If I had sought treatment then I wouldn’t be where I am now.
EDIT:
I have received a lot of comments with people complaining that I’m not taking responsibility for my actions – this is completely wrong.
I take full responsibility for what happened to me. I made the decision to self medicate with meth rather than seek mainstream treatment. It was my decision to engage in the actions which led to my crime. Nobody made me do it but me.
I was arrested on evidence I cannot deny and sentenced fairly according to the law. I was a law abiding citizen for 59 years and believe strongly in the rule of law and the need to uphold it. I have absolutely no complaint about how I was treated as the result of my actions. The legal system and all of its agents acted exactly as I expected in doing their part to enforce the law and maintain societal controls.
That said, I have no doubt, with God as my witness, that I would have NEVER broken the law had my faculties not been impaired by drugs – in a sober state I would not have engaged in the actions that led to my crime. My values and critical thinking were subverted by the drugs – there is plenty of medical and psychiatric evidence of this. That is not an excuse, it is a simple fact.
I wished the interviewer luck in finding a candidate with the credentials they were looking for, when it became known that I didn’t have the right credential to teach what they wanted me to teach.
They waited until the interview to tell me that they were specifically looking for a teacher with a Reading Specialist endorsement, which I didn’t have. They could have checked my resume before they called me in for the interview to see I didn’t have that, but whatever. My lack of the proper endorsement brought the interview to a quick close, and I wished them well in their search for someone with that particular endorsement. I knew they’d have a hard time finding someone with that who was willing to work at a private school. Public schools, which pay better than private schools around here, are quick to grab the Reading Specialists.
About three weeks later, I’d completely forgotten about that interview, and they called me in for a second interview. I checked their school calendar. They were two weeks away from opening day. I knew they were desperate. I was desperate to find a position too, so it all worked out. I went in for the second interview, and they offered me the position, even though I didn’t have the specific endorsement they wanted. Private schools are flexible when it comes to those things anyway.
They remembered me from the first interview because I was nice to them. I ended up working there for two years. It was my first real teaching position, and I loved it. I got the experience and connections I needed to make finding new teaching positions in later years so much easier. The first position is always the hardest to get.
Were you here? I am here and I was here on Sunday election day.
Yeah and? You hear 10,000 police deployed across the city! OMG.
What I saw? I went cycling early in the morning. I passed the election polling station, a small queue and a load of villagers.
The two police officers? They were stood about 10 metres away outside to one side.
That’s not an unusual sight. You see police standing around busy bus depots and MTR stations. The only ‘heavy’ presence was a couple months ago where desk job police were walking around. I scooted in between them and NOTHING happened.
We Have a Problem – The Actual WAR INVASION of the USA **IS** Planned and now, We have a date range . . .
America, we have a problem. While it has long been rumored that foreign countries are planning to invade the continental USA, we’ve never seen evidence of any such actual planning; until now. . .
For years we’ve all heard rumors of Chinese troops being massed in south-central Mexico, but never any proof to bolster such claims.
Two years or so ago, we all found out that Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada signed a Treaty with China allowing the deployment of People’s Liberation Army troops in Canada, and the Treaty prohibits local Canada governments from having __any__ say where those troops are, or what they do while in Canada. That Treaty has been verified and __is__ real.
So if one believes the rumor about China troops in south-central Mexico, and we already have confirmation they’re entering Canada, that would mean invasion of the continental USA would be possible from both the north and the south.
Then, too, for years, we’ve all heard rumors that Venezuela would send troops to Cuba, to join with Cuban troops to invade Florida from Cuba — but ZERO evidence of any such planning has ever been offered or produced by anyone.
NOW, THOUGH, we have something very real, from deep inside Russian Intelligence.
Below from inside the Russian FSB, we now have concrete proof an actual INVASION of the United States of America is, in fact, being planned, and the date range for that invasion has already been decided. It appears we have less than one year.
The evidence, obtained from inside Department “C” of the Central Security Service of the FSB of Russia, appears below, and is for SUBSCRIBERS TO THIS WEBSITE, ONLY.
Back around 1990, I was about 23, two babys and wife at home, and got laid off at the light bulb factory in Plymouth Florida. So I went to work selling veggies at the flea market and working on VW’s while looking for a job. I had been rebulding Bug motors for some time and it had become quite a routine. Well I had this old bus, it was a 1962, 23 window Kombi wagon. Pulled the motor, did the thing right, line bored, new cylinders, pistons, all the bearings, oil pump, Bosch 009 distibutor, new carb, everything top-knotch. The owner wanted it right, so he spared no expense and I was happy to oblige. The afternoon arrived and i finally had the motor back together and up in the bus. It was bolted in and I was hooking up the wires and needed a new connector to hookup the new distributor and when i went into my shop to find one, i noticed this little silver thing laying on the bench. Picked it up and eyed it carefully. It was half of a cam bearing. Yup, I had left out half of a cam bearing shell. Had to pull the motor back out, break it all the way back down, and sure enough, there was one shell missing. Put it in and back together it went. Ran like a top for years! Thankfully, I didn’t try to fire it up!
Campfire Dutch Oven Chili with Cornbread
campfire dutch oven chili cornbread
Yield: 10 servings
Ingredients
Chili
3 pounds ground beef (90% lean)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 jalapeño pepper, ribs and seeds removed, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes & green chilies, undrained
Heat briquettes up in a chimney, then make a layer of hot briquettes on the ground, a fire ring, or other metal structure.
Place the Dutch oven on the briquettes and allow Dutch oven to get hot.
Add oil to the Dutch oven and sauté onion, bell pepper, and jalapeño pepper stirring occasionally until tender, approximately 4 to 7 minutes. Add garlic and cook for an additional 1 minute.
Add ground beef to Dutch oven and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, breaking beef into small crumbles and stirring occasionally until browned. If Dutch oven starts to cool off, add more hot briquettes on the bottom.
Add chili powder, paprika, cumin, oregano, black pepper and salt; cook for 1 minute.
Add tomato sauce, diced tomatoes & green chiles and beer; bring to a boil. Cook for 30 minutes.
Prepare cornbread mix based on box instructions and pour over chili, spreading into an even layer.
Heat approximately 20 additional briquettes. Cover Dutch oven with lid and place hot briquettes evenly on the top of the closed lid.
Cook for about 10 minutes, checking halfway through. Check to see if cornbread is done by sticking a wooden pick into cornbread. If the wooden pick comes out clean, it is done.
I worked as PC tech early in my career for a man that was a total control freak. Very military. One of his expectations was that everyone was sitting at their desk exactly at 8am. No excuses. Well, I was transferred under his department after my previous manager retired. I had been working without complaint for over a year.
If I knew I had a busy day I would come in early to get things done without interruption. I had been late a few times during the previous month as I was a new Father. But, as I said, I came in early, and stayed late so my work was never affected.
I also was a contractor, not an employee. And my contract wasn’t a 8 to 5 time clock, but a work level, number of tickets thing.
Anyway, this particular morning I came in about 30mins early to finish up a repair from the day before. No sooner than I had walked into my office the Plant Manager walked in. He was having a problem. So, off I go.
Well, it was about 45 minutes later when I walk back in to get a replacement hard drive. There stands my Boss. He starts in on me about me not being at my desk. Yelling at me like I’m a dog. I just stand there. Finally, he says I’m fired. I’m to pack my “stuff” and leave. Which I do. As I’m about to leave I tell him, Oh by the way, the Plant Manager (his Boss) was waiting on me. His face dropped.
I walked out.
About an hour after I got home I get a call from my company. The Plant Manager called them. He told them he wanted me to come back. I declined. He then called me. He paid me directly to come fix his computer. And my Boss got fired.
This kid was the other way around. He was considered as a brilliant geek, and I believe he suffered a lot from the constant bullying by the other kids. He scored very well in Olympiads, and also scored high marks on subjects such as Math, Physics and Chemistry.
In his spare time, he read Math books, studied Bridge and entered in semi-professional competitive Bridge games — I guess that was one of the reasons why he was seen as a geek.
Several teachers were convinced that Terry would ace university and become a brilliant scientific researcher, but reality turned out to be very different. He first tried engineering studies but failed miserably, and then spent some time in the professional Bridge circuit, but he never reached the level he thought he would.
Some years later, I was a surveillant at a Linear Algebra exam for freshman Informatics students (I was a postdoctoral researcher at the time), and there he was, trying once again to obtain a degree. And he flunked again. Not much later he left academics, and I kind of lost track of his life.
At reunions, those that do not show up are the people that died young, those that hate their past more than anything else, and those that failed in life. The future definitely turned out differently than Terry had hoped.
But luckily, we did not know this when we were seventeen.
My MIL was absolutely the best. Once we had settled on the number of guests we could afford to invite, she offered to contribute toward the wedding so that more guests from their circle of family and friends could be invited. Because I wasn’t sure if we could afford an open bar, she offered to cover it and did so. She organized the rehearsal dinner and did an absolutely splendid job. The day after the wedding, she put together a breakfast for some of our out-of-town guests at her home. On the wedding day, she stayed low profile so that my mother could join me in getting ready with my bridesmaids (and this I regret, not asking her to join us, but I was young and naiive at the time and it didn’t occur to me). On the day of the wedding, she took care of little things that others didn’t, like collecting the bridal gown after I’d changed into my travel clothes. When we traveled to another city, she asked a family member who was visiting her for the wedding to let us use their apartment so we didn’t have to pay for a hotel. She’s the best MIL one could hope for!
I was down the pub one summers day pre-Covid with a good mate of mine called Dan. Dan’s originally from Texas, ex-US Army 1st Sgt, and now living in the UK with his lovely wife. He’s been here long enough to have a good grasp of the British sense of humour.
We’re having a drink and chatting when my phone goes off, a number I don’t recognise and I answer, putting it on speakerphone. A thickly-accented Indian voice (who claims to be called ‘Hank’) on the other end tells me that he is the FBI, that i’ve got multiple warrants out for my arrest etc, but that if I pay them I won’t have to be arrested-bear in mind i’m in the UK and the FBI has no jurisdiction over here. Having sunk a few pints by then, i’m in the mood for a wind-up. I ask for details of these warrants, tell him that they’ll never catch me, then I ask him if he knows Special Agent Aaron Hotchner (Thomas Gibson’s character in ‘Criminal Minds’). He replies that Agent Hotchner is on holiday at the moment. I tell him that I know this as he’s sitting right beside me, and he’d like a word with him. I hand the phone to Dan and sit back to enjoy the show. Dan goes all in, quoting legal codes, threatening traces, freezing of their assets, criminal charges, the works! Needless to say the call ended not long after
China has a really sweet deal with Russia right now. I can not think of a single reason to change it (from China’s perspective.)
China is desperately short of fossil fuels and Russia is a huge exporter of fossil fuels. They are even willing to build multiple pipelines to get natural gas to China.
Everything Russia sells to China goes at a 40–50% discount because of China’s manipulation of its two-currency system.
Everything Russia buys from China comes with a 40–50% markup. Same reasons. Some things that are sanctioned go for as much as 4,000 times their original cost.
China is selling Russia billions a year in heavily marked up “dual use” goods such as military grade tires, military vehicles, body armor, night vision devices, helicopter engines, field medical kits, and even entire field hospitals. They also sell them considerable sanctioned goods, especially electronics, that Russia cannot make for itself.
They are compatible authoritarian governments.
China and Russia make an impenetrable voting bloc at the UN. Together, they can block any international initiative against either of them.
Supertramp – Take The Long Way Home (BEST QUALITY SOUND)
I once had a client who was, literally, the strongest man I’d ever seen. Harry was well-built and about 6′ 4″. Even though he was large to begin with, his sheer strength to size ratio was off the charts.
One day we were driving in the car together and a guy in a Mercedes cut Harry off in traffic. Harry expressed his displeasure at this move by honking his horn. “Mercedes guy” proceeded to flip Harry off and then he pulled over – I guess he was looking for a fight.
Harry pulled in behind him. He got out, then Harry got out. The other guy was about 6′ tall and slightly pudgy, but not small by any means. However, once Mercedes guy saw Harry, he hurriedly returned to his car. BUT, he forgot one very important thing. His sunroof was open.
Harry, usually a fairly reasonable guy, was beyond pissed off. He went up to the guy’s car, PULLED him out THROUGH THE SUNROOF, put him on the street, turned him upside-down and STUFFED him back in his car, once again THROUGH THE SUNROOF.
Then Harry calmly strolled back to the car, got in, and we drove off. I glanced in the side view mirror and could see Mercedes guy’s feet sticking up through the roof kicking around a bit. Too funny!
I’ve never seen anything like it before or since. Harry passed away a few years later, but I’ll never forget him or what he did that day. It was an awesome sight!
Running late
The other morning as I was running late for an appointment I drove past a park and from a distance, I saw this young girl sitting on the bench and it looked like she was crying… I continued to drive and I thought to myself “what if that was me or even worse.. my daughter”.
So, I turned around and pulled into a parking spot, opened my car door and walked over to her and set down beside her.
She was crying so hard that she didn’t know I was there until I tapped her on the shoulder and asked: “Are you okay?” She looked up at me and said “No” “He cheated on me” “I don’t want to even live anymore” I knew at this point, I needed to take as much time as I could to talk to this young girl.
image 97
We sat there on that bench and talked the entire afternoon about relationships, life, and future goals and when the time came we finally said our goodbyes so I walked back to my car and as I started to back out, I looked back at her and she was walking towards me with her head down.
When she came up to the window, she confessed to me that she thought about taking her own life and because of me stopping and talking to her she decided that wasn’t in her best interest anymore.
Needless to say, I might have missed an appointment but I also might have saved a life.
Sweet, sweet summer child. Let me share with you a day in the life of a young Japanese Salaryman, if you’ll indulge me.
Clearly, you have never heard of the dreaded company 飲み会。
Ah, that magical moment when your boss tells the faculty, “Today was a good day, let’s go out drinking!”
“What’s that you say? You have plans? No, no, clearly you are mistaken. Because WE, the employees of the company have decided to go drinking. We have all made this decision, subconsciously, the very instant, I, the boss, mentioned it. 空気を読んで！ Are we not the pinnacle of unity and harmony?”
And now, you’re off to a wonderful night of drinking with your coworkers. Who must drink with the boss, as long as he wants to drink.
“What’s that you say? You don’t like drinking？ NONSENSE. You merely have not found the appropriate drink, which, I, the boss, know is just right for you. Have another cup with me!”
“Another!”
“Another!”
“Eh? Eh? You don’t feel so good. Fie, I say! You just need another drink. Perhaps a different sake.”
That’s going to go on for a bit, until you, the newbie, and your coworker, who has learned how to hold his liquor better, are on a street corner outside a hotel in Tokyo, the coworker kindly holding your head as you throw up everything you have ever eaten. They are kind and will give you water afterwards, as you swear you will never drink again.
I worked at a company where they were getting rid of a bunch of flat panel displays. They were old and had a funky plug on them, but worked perfectly fine. I asked the powers that be if we could take them home, since they were just going to trash them anyway. I was told that if you can bag them up, you can walk right past security in the lobby and you’ll be fine. You can’t just carry them out the door, though.
It turned out that one of my coworkers had a girlfriend who worked in a place that sewed custom bags for various industries. I gave him dimensions and 3 days later, we had bags we could use. Between the 6 techs I worked with, We walked out with about a dozen displays. We benefitted, the displays didn’t end up in a landfill, and a new line of bags was developed at my buddy’s gf’s company. It was a win-win-win.
At some point early in my marriage, we had a relatively large 6 bedroom house on a golf course subdivision with a pool and clubhouse. I had bought the nicest Lexus sedan I could afford, and a large SUV for my wife. We had two young kids. And we were miserable.
It wasn’t just about the money. These things were expensive for sure, and definitely weighed down our budget, but we could afford it.
The problem was time. I was busy with my business, working almost 7 days a week. My wife was taking care of the babies AND helping with the business. We almost never took vacations. A rare weekend off was like a vacation.
I’d be reading or playing with the kids and the phone would ring. The laughter turned off like a switch while I go to another room to talk. It’s like the world paused while the family waited to hear if I had to leave or not. Sorry, gotta run! I’d leave before even hearing if the kids said “bye daddy.”
I’m sure you’ve seen the Disney movie, Aladdin. I was the Genie. Giver of gifts. Solver of problems. All powerful being. But no more than a slave. The business owns you. Clients own you. The mortgage owns you. Just like the Genie, I longed for freedom.
One day, my wife and I looked at each other and asked “what are we doing?”
I started interviewing for jobs and got hired relatively quickly. Within a few months, we closed the business, sold our house, and moved. It was like Aladdin setting the Genie free.
It turned out that I work half the time, making pretty much the same as before.. I still drive the same car, which is now 15 yrs old. We live in a house half the size of what we had. I see my kids more than most dads I know. I am an equal participant in their homeschooling. We go on vacations multiple times a year.
Life isn’t perfect, but definitely there is more happiness now.
Addendum: Thanks for reading and the upvotes!
I’d like to add that it’s definitely possible to have a business or earn a lot and have a big house, nice cars, etc. AND afford family time. It’s not mutually exclusive at all. I know a lot of people who have it all. If you can find that lifestyle, go for it. I just didn’t have it in me, but that’s OK.
I applaud those who answer these types of questions honestly. After all, I believe that the younger ones who ask these questions want honest answers as to what they have in store. What they don’t want is old people trying to prove they’re doing great and that they’ve still got it, without offering any balancing disclosures.
I get irritated with people who answer these questions with only a list of all the great things they’re still able to do. They sky-dive, hike, kayak blah blah blah. They so desperately seem to want to come across like they’re still twenty. THEY ARE NOT. And the men nearly always have to show off about how they’re still sexually active (failing to mention they need boatloads of viagra to do it.) And no offence, but NOBODY wants to picture old people still at it.
Now some of these people are flat-out lying, and some are being honest. But, my irritation isn’t because some are truthfully still active and fit; it’s because, whilst crowing about their experience of older age, they’re leaving out the shitty parts of ageing.
It’s perfectly okay to admit that despite still being fit enough to kayak, and despite being generally content and more enlightened, you’re also struggling with physical issues, fears, societal prejudices, or sadness.
You’re struggling with friends who have cancer or have already passed.
You’re struggling with your own mortality.
You’re struggling with the knowledge that you’ll soon enough be of no real use to your children anymore.
You’re struggling with the saggy stranger you see in the mirror.
You’re becoming more invisible to the public at large.
You’re struggling with lessons learned too late in life.
You’re struggling with questions like ‘What the fuck was all that about?’
You’re struggling with dodgy knees, age spots and overall deterioration.
You’re struggling with energy levels and motivation (not all the time, but certainly some of the time.)
At times, you’re struggling with boredom; not every old person is sky-diving 24/7.
Your memory is not what it used to be.
Weight (for many) cannot be managed, no matter what.
The absolute worst part is losing friends and relatives along the way. Your social circle becomes smaller and smaller.
Then you have widows and widowers who have to grapple with a whole new way of life at their age after having relied on another person for decades.
It unnerves me that so many people are so hell-bent on proving something rather than sharing the reality, inevitability, vulnerability and, even the beauty, of life’s cycle. That you know your time is gradually coming to a form of decline and close, despite the fact that you might still be able to kayak.
There’s just something very self-congratulatory about those proclamations. Something which I imagine makes certain other older people feel like they’re failing or not doing enough, and that also sets young people up for thinking that ageing is one big picnic.
It’s okay to still be enjoying your life at whatever age without portraying ageing as a hunky dory affair. It isn’t. On some fronts, it’s way, way better, but on other fronts, it positively stinks. (Just as I imagine most teens would describe their teenage years.)
It was in the military boot camp. Finnish military is based on conscription; it is colloquially called as “penis tax”. It means if you are a boy, you have to serve in the military on pain of imprisonment. Girls may volunteer, and I volunteered.
Draft dodging is made almost impossible in Finland, which means the military gets almost the whole cohort to service (except those who are exempted for health reasons or who chose civilian service instead). It is a genuine cross-section of the whole society – which mean that the military does not get only the best of the boys to rank and file, but also the worst.
It means you have to serve with people you would attempt to avoid at any price in civilian life; bullies, thieves, blue falcons, pranksters, antisocial cases, substance abusers, weakly talented etc. And then there are always those, who have an intention to make other people’s time miserable.
We girls slept in a separate dorm, but practised with boys. And unfortunately there was such Arschloch in our company. He especially picked on us girls (as we all were volunteer), and especially me.
In the end his picking, teasing, harassing and pushing my button went far enough. My service motivation was already on the rock bottom, and to say, he had harassed me to corner.
I didn’t care anymore if I lived or died. I just wanted it to end.
Puukko, the Finnish knife, is the only civilian item along the eyeglasses which can be carried while in uniform. It doubles as a sidearm and Every Finn has one, and getting one’s first puukko is a kind of coming to age ceremony for boys and girls. So I drew mine. He drew his.
We were now staring each other, with drawn knives, ready to strike and fight to death. I was ready to kill. I did not care anymore. He stared me with expressionless gaze. It was as if his eyes had been bottomless wells. I could sense no emotion.
Then the drill corporals came. They separated us, and I got yelled upon and roasted for good.
Yet military is a strange place. It works on its own rules. In civilian life, this would have been either an illegal threatening or an attempted manslaughter, and prison would have ensued. But nothing ensued; we were told to get shut up and not to say a word on what had happened. The noncoms did not want any troubles and fuss. It was as if they wanted to sweep everything under the carpet. This is understandable as the materiél is heterogeneous: internal squabbles and quarreling happens almost daily. Everyone was aware I had been pushed and picked on, and they realized it was a primitive reaction.
Strangely, I was left alone after that. Nobody picked on me anymore. But it was the absolute nadir of my military time.
Not only they are offered food, but also Polish families accept them in our homes (in fact I did too), and get everything free until they find a job or decide to leave. In fact, just today NGO’s helping Ukrainians stopped taking gifts. Their warehouses are full, there is more help than people that need it for now. (PS – Poles reading this – seriously, look at the FB groups what is needed, because there is more stuff that they need, and there are some things we lack. For example pampers’s and other baby and toddler stuff, as well as school utensils. But not everywhere, not in every city, watch your own, don’t just throw in gifts, volunteers are already overwhelmed with that kindness, nobody expected it will be so much)
Four main reasons: 1. For several hundred years we were one country:
image 94
(that red part) We accept our families and relatives, that is normal. We see them as our kin.
2. Belarus president Lukashenko admitted that he deliberately flew Middle Eastern and African immigrants to our border in order to wage hybrid war against us, and use them as weapons. And Belarus is now a combatant country against Ukraine side by side with Russia. We don’t negotiate with terrorists like this man, neither we bow to such threats. So against as he called it “war” declared, we stood an army on the border. Pretty normal thing to do with somebody threatening you with war, isn’t it?
3. We strongly believe that a war refugee should stay in the first safe country. For Ukraine we are the first safe country.
4. In our culture, it is expected for men to fight the war, or rebuild their country. Not to flee. And from Ukraine, we receive women and children. Not 80% males in military age. Those, in Ukraine, stay and fight. They are not let our by Ukrainian forces anyway.
No matter if someone finds those reasons valid or not, those are them.
As someone who hails from a culture where people typically their outdoor shoes before entering a home/temple/office/etc., I can only share my experience from that end of the spectrum.
The answer is simple and practical – we don’t want to track in dirt, mud, and the one billion other stuff that you can’t really see with the naked eye into our homes/temples/offices/etc.
For myself, I’m closer to the extreme end of the spectrum.
When I come home, not only do I remove my outdoor shoes and slip into my “indoor slippers” before stepping into my home, but I then go and change into my “indoor clothes” as well, before doing anything else.
Seeing people immediately plop onto their beds, still in their “outdoor clothes”, after arriving home makes me uncomfortable.
I also have an area in my apartment for setting aside “stuff I take outdoors but bring home”. Like the bag I bring to work, and all the coats, clothes, I wear to work – they all get neatly placed in this area before I go change into my “indoor clothes”.
And this is not just at home.
Although not all work places have an “outdoor shoes off” policy, the game studio I work at does.
And it is strictly enforced – if you have a “brain fart moment” and forget to take off your outdoor shoes before stepping into the studio proper, you’ll have quite a few people springing out of nowhere, breathing heavily down your neck, who will smile and politely point out that you’ve violated the rules of the inner sanctum and would you please go and take your outside shoes off and use the mop to wipe that part of the floor that you’ve stepped on with your outside shoes.
There’s even been talk of implementing a demerit point system to cut down on colleagues who have these “brain fart moments” – although I think it’s unlikely, as I’ve seen it happen only twice so far this year, and usually both times the guilty party was deep in thought about something work related (which makes the transgression somewhat forgivable…) .
It applies to everyone.
Doesn’t matter whether you’re the Director himself, a Lead, a Junior, an Intern, an External Freelancer, a Client, or the Cleaning Lady – everyone takes off their shoes before stepping into the studio proper.
That’s why we have a “take your outdoor shoes off here” entrance area right after you enter the main door.
You immediately take off your outdoor shoes and put it into one of the four tall shoe cupboards located to the side of the main door.
image 93
We also have a couple of these “shoe benches” in this entrance area. These are for people who need something to sit on while taking off / putting on their socks and shoes.
These “shoe benches” are also where we place our “inside slippers”.
It’s convenient – once we take off our “outside shoes” on one of these “shoe benches”, we can immediately reach for and slip into our “inside slippers” before then placing our “outside shoes” into the shoe cupboard.
image 92
We also have a few areas around the studio where there’s a low floor table with floor cushions to sit on.
These areas are used for group discussions, brainstorming sessions, tea-drinking sessions, I-just-need-to-take-a-short-break sessions, I-just-need-a-20-minute-nap sessions, etc
My favorite one is the one where it’s practically an indoor garden and we’ve outfitted the place to make it look like you’re inside a gazebo, with tea cups and tea pots on a side table.
Knowing that no one has tracked in dirt, mud, and the one billion other stuff that you can’t really see with the naked eye into the studio allows me to sit in these areas and enjoy my morning/afternoon tea with peace of mind.
Might not qualify as the weirdest flex but certainly one of the most bad ass.
Kerry Packer was Australia’s richest man worth around 8 billion some 20 years ago. His gambling feats were legendary. He would often go to casinos and win or lose 10 million plus in one sitting. One time he won $26 million playing 6 hands of blackjack at $200,000 each. That’s $1.2 million per hand.
On top of that, whilst some of these may not be 100% accurate (Urban legends can get twisted over time) they all have some element of truth.
He’s been known to tip croupiers and waitresses 100s of 1000s of dollars and paying off their mortgages. Once he accidentally tipped a waitresses tray and apologised and arranged to pay her $100,000+ mortgage. Another time a dealer was offered an $80,000 tip by Packer but respectfully declined, informing him dealers are not allowed to accept gratuities. Packer called over the Pit Boss and demanded the dealer be sacked on the spot. The Pit Boss fired her. Packer then pushed forward the $80,000 worth of chips before demanding the Pit Boss re-hire her.
But then came the Texan oil tycoon coin flip…
Packer was playing every box at a blackjack table and not allowing anyone else to play or back bet at the table. This was a common practice by Packer and indeed a lot of big gamblers. But one time there was a braggart Texan oil baron throwing his weight around, complaining and telling all and sundry he was a big deal. He’s rich, he doesn’t have to wait for a table and who was this buffoon hogging it…Packer doesn’t walk around telling everyone how good he is and he doesn’t like people who do…
So Packer swivels around in his seat only for the Texan to double down, pointing his finger at the face of Packer and yelling some choice words finishing with, “I’m worth $100 million!” Packer slowly leans back in his chair, pulls a coin out of his pocket, stares at the Texan and calmly says, “So you want to gamble hey? I’ll flip you for it.” He was serious.
As the Texan quietly slunk away into the shadows, Kerry turned back to the table and continued like nothing had happened.
Bad ass…
Cabbage Patch Stew
84774cfdd5416aacc5f661f3dbf51227
Ingredients
1 pound ground meat – beef, turkey, venison
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped cabbage
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 (16 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans
1 cup water
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 to 2 teaspoons chili powder
Bisquick dumplings
Instructions
Cook and stir ground meat in Dutch oven until browned. Drain.
Add onions, cabbage and celery. Cook, stirring, until vegetables are light brown.
Stir in tomatoes, and kidney beans (with liquid), water, salt, pepper and chili powder. Heat to boiling, then reduce heat and simmer until cabbage is tender.
Meanwhile, prepare Bisquick dumplings. Drop by spoonsful into boiling stew. Cook uncovered for 10 minutes.
I picked up the phone (old school landline back in the day) and heard an angry voice say, “Where’s my money?” Since hanging up would only have convinced the caller that I was indeed the object of his rage, I stayed on the line and had what was for me an amusing conversation.
“You have the wrong number,” I said.
“What are you trying to pull?” he said. “You owe me $600.”
Further questioning revealed my interrogator was a drug dealer, had fronted an acquaintance a considerable amount of money, and was trying to collect with the (incorrect) phone number he’d been given. He just wouldn’t take no for an answer. “I know where you live,” he threatened. “I’ll come over there and kill you “
“Do it,” I said. “Since I’m not who you think I am, it’s no skin off my teeth.”
The conversation went on, I was unfailingly polite the whole time, I eventually excused myself and hung up, and he called back and tried again. Finally I said, “Look, man, your friend cheated you. I hope you find him, but I’m not your man.”
“Yeah, thanks anyway,” he said in a dejected voice and hung up.
I’m gonna have to say Charlie Sheen takes this award.
He was making tens of millions of dollars each year with his Sitcom, Two & Half men.
In the acting world, sitcoms are the best gigs.
The acting demands are super easy. The scripts are cookie cutter. After a few laps around the track, you learn to crank these episodes out one after another.
You come in, you shoot, boom you are done. They shoot entire seasons over a few weeks sometimes.
But he started in with the cocaine and we all know what happened next:
image 90
And what stinks (for Charlie) is that, around this time, he had gone through a divorce and judges issued alimony/child-support payments based on his current income.
He was paying his ex-wife Brooke Mueller $55,000 a month in child support AND his ex-wife Denise Richards $50,000 a month.
His income instantly ceased when he was on TV, going on these crazy tirades that were funny in the moment but catastrophic to his career.
What producers wants to work with a liability like that? Who wants to be publicly targeted by one of your own actors?
Combine his alimony/child-support payments, his drug habit, and preference for high end prostitutes.
And you have a dead career, HIV and a quickly depleting bank account.
I remember when I had one ten year old in my class, and we were oil and water to each other. One day I chastised her for swearing in class and she told me that she was going to get me back and I’d be sorry (presumably for scolding somebody as important as she was). The next day, my colleague, a teacher who was senior to me, came to me to tell me the student had complained I’d hit her. When I told him that it was a complete fabrication on her part, he told me, and I quote, “Well, she wouldn’t lie.”
I told him that I was offended, since the clear inference was that he believed I was lying. And I resented the implication that I was a liar who would abuse a child.
I was very relieved when she moved to his class the next year and decided she didn’t like him anymore than she had liked me and began to spread stories about him. When he complained about her in the staff room, I looked him in the eye and said, “Well, she wouldn’t lie.”
In Boston in the early 1700s Cotton Mather introduced variolation for the treatment and prevention of Smallpox. In those days, Boston was a town (it didn’t become a city until 1822) of about 4000 people. Every year AT LEAST 30 percent of the population came down with Smallpox, a virulent disease which disfigured the survivors, turned their teeth black, and caused them enormous pain. In a town with only 4000 people where everyone literally depended on everyone else, having 1200 people laid up meant that at least another 1000 had to be caring for them – or digging graves.
And then came the miracle of variolation. For the first time the possibility of ending this horrible scourge was REAL. It was no longer necessary to organize long and tedious and useless prayer vigils. There was science and medicine that had a REAL IMPACT and saved many people from the hideousness or scars and rotten teeth or worse, death.
Do you think the citizens were excited about this? NO THEY WERE NOT. They tried to kill Mather; they tried to burn down his house. They tried to kidnap his children because they were innoculated and therefore “impure”. You see, catching a horrible disease and becoming scarred and even dying at the age of six month was GOD’S WILL. If GOD wants you to get sick, who are YOU to interfere with his plan? Those people were the worst kinds of hypocrites. They wanted to do whatever they wanted if they weren’t caught or “seen by God” (such as the city Father offering to commute Mary Dyer’s death sentence if she slept with him. She didn’t and she swung.) but other than that they have to “virtue signal” that God was in charge and therefore YOUR CHILD had to suffer and die from Smallpox (especially if mine did last year).
The people in Texas are largely brainwashed by religious morons who fly big jets paid for by the suckers who are willing to fight to let any number of women and children die in childbirth or otherwise because a Rolex-wearing priest told them it was GOD’S WILL and we are not to interfere with it (while those same pastors get plastic surgery and drive Bentleys)
Eventually, the people of Boston woke up to the benefits of variolation and inoculation and many of the people throwing bricks through the windows of Mather’s house during the day suddenly showed up at midnight with their children and begged for the scratch that would change their lives for the better, the same way that Republicans fly to Massachusetts from Texas when they need an abortion or real medical treatment but put their boot on the neck of the poor and force them to die or give birth to a rapist’s child. Ken Paxton is absolutely no different from the Magistrate who tried to extort sex from Mary Dyer – then hanged her when she refused.
China has set up special financial facilities for Iranian accounts that are immune to us Treasury sanctions, because the entire payment mechanism is independent of the US dollar.
In other words, the US cannot threaten hegemonic destruction, unless they are willing to attack key nodes in the Chinese financial system.
Besides, the US is ALREADY sanctioning both Iran and China. Iran’s sanctions approach that of an embargo while China has been busy fending off America’s “maximum pressure” strategy that includes illegal tariffs, the closure of a consulate, a genocide determination, the removal of Hong Kong’s special status, the economic slaughter of Huawei and other Chinese companies, and many, many more direct and indirect acts of malice.
China must have thought since we’re already under maximum pressure, what China does or doesn’t do no longer matters because America can always pin something on us.
With or without Iran, America will bring it on and up the pressure game.
What we don’t know is when the Chinese will start baring teeth and attack instead of parry.
My younger self is a guy who never took anything seriously in life, who never studied in the least, who was happy with a pass mark in most exams and was happy go lucky
I would pick the books, visit a friend named Sairam who was what you would call a Nerd on the LAST DAY and study from the beginning and get a 45–50 mark score without understanding too much
My 21–22 year old self went to a Grindlays bank interview, couldn’t answer a SINGLE QUESTION put to me on world affairs or anything else
I was literally like Santhanam in Vaalu
Total Humiliation
image 89
My rebirth was after this interview
My second innings began after this
Reading books in English, Dickens, Forsyth, Le Carre
Membership of British Council and reading books on History and Geography
Learning Economics in evening classes while working in the morning
It was a wake up call
Without that interview, I would have ended up definitely in a place where I simply wouldn’t even know what Quora is
The British government may want to attract Hong Kongers for financial reasons. The British public may be less welcoming.
I think a large percentage of immigrants are experiencing dissonance between what they expected and what they are experiencing. Many are unemployed or underemployed because of language and education/skill incompatibilities. There will be culture shock, feelings of alienation, depression, family problems, financial issues, etc.
Whether they want to (or can) come back to Hong Kong is debatable. Some sources say many do not plan to, despite the problems they are having. If they left because of anti-China/anti-government sentiments, then they cannot reconcile themselves to return. If they were involved in the 2019 riots, they may fear arrest (or “persecution” from their point of view). But more likely, if they sold their property in Hong Kong, they cannot afford to start over.
The immigrants are only in UK on a five-year visa, after which they can apply for settlement and citizenship. I suspect that a lot of them will find that citizenship is not forthcoming. What happens then? Do their visas get renewed or do they have to leave? If they have to leave, where can they go?
My husband saw a woman at the dry cleaners who was acting very badly. Rude, entitled, aggressive – nearly spitting her words – the customers behind her were visibly uncomfortable, eyes lowered, feet shifting. It was one of those cases where you cringe inwardly for the employee being berated unfairly. Even if she was having a very bad day, this was – in my husband’s words – “…way over the top.”
She then made the great mistake of believing that she had supporters among fellow customers. In a plea for crowd support, randomly turning toward my husband, she said: “You agree with what I’m saying, don’t you?” Sadly for her, my husband had witnessed the conversation from start to finish.
“No, ma’am. I heard it all, and, I don’t agree with what you’ve said or how badly you’ve acted. First, you treated this store employee with blatant disrespect while he is trying to assist you. Second, you’ve inconvenienced other customers waiting for your tantrum to subside. Third, I am a small business owner, and if you acted like this in my business you would be asked to leave. You need to get ahold of yourself, and you owe this man (the store employee) an apology.” The woman then spun on her heel and walked out – and my husband was met with applause from other customers and a look of sheer relief from the store employee.
I honestly cannot stand it when I see a store employee being verbally abused. Cheers to my spouse for being a stand-up guy!
I have a relative who has never been outside her comfort zone. She’s in her 70’s and lived with her parents until they died, and then continued living in the same house she inherited. She never leaves her home village, and doesn’t have a passport or a Driving License. She’s never left the UK. I doubt if she’s ever left England. She’s never had a romantic relationship and obviously never been married.
She’s remarkably unambitious and satisfied. She is very sweet and quite eccentric, and lives surrounded by toy owls and cats. She complains about her health issues, but she’s quite positive generally. She used to do the hairdressing at a local old peoples home, but lives off the state pension now. She’s poor but perfectly happy.
I’d say that living a happy life is for her a good thing that has come out of staying in her comfort zone. We aren’t all the same.
When I lived in Tangxia; Danguan there was this twice-a-year event that is worthy of reporting. You see, I lived in a little city part of a bigger city next to Shenzhen. It is a small manufacturing city located North of Shenzhen in the Pearl River Delta. And being a manufacturing city, dating back many centuries, there were a lot of old buildings and old roads, and old sewer lines.
Well, twice a year, the local government would “fog” the underground sewers. This was a release of insecticide in a mist fog that would be sprayed by huge trucks all over town. The idea was to kill off the insects and rodents, and the city had been doing this for centuries.
But…
Let me tell you all that when that happened, a virtual carpet of huge (mouse-sized) cockroaches swarmed out of the sewers and carpeted everything. Some flew, many just climbed all over, including on shoes and trousers and woman’s legs. It was darn crazy!
If you saw it, you would not believe it. Not a scrap of concrete could be seen; three layer deep of swarming cockroaches everywhere. Wholly shit!
Last time it happened, my wife was so freaked out that I had to carry her two blocks back to our apartment. She was hysterical and had goosebumps all over her arms and legs. Jeeze! So imagine the scene, they were crawling, racking, flying, swarming, on everything. On our feet, the trees, the sidewalks, the store windows, the cars. They were buzzing, hopping and leaping, and my wife was in goosebumps and hysterical.
An experience that I do not want to relive ever again. Let me tell you what!
I was about 13 and was asked by a family friend to help her step daughter out by babysitting her 3 kids while she worked at a pizza parlor in town. It would be from the time I got out of school till 10pm, but Summer vacation would start in a couple weeks so I figured I could manage it.
I agreed to try it and see how it went. The day I was to start, I rode my bike to the house. I could smell some horrible smell from the yard. Went to the door and it was wide open. I yelled “hello??” and 3 of the cutest kids I’d ever seen came running! They were full of questions. I asked where their Mom was and the eldest said she was already at work. I was surprised, but I figured something had changed with our plans and she had to go in early.
I walked into the living room and the air was thick with stench. It was a combination of animal waste, rotten garbage and food. The living room had a couch, a chair and was literally 3 feet deep in clothes, garbage bags and dirty diapers. I was a kid and wasnt sure where to start, but i found a roll of garbage bags and we began. I say we because those babies were such a help!
The oldest was Michael and he proudly told me he was 5 and would be staring Kindergarten the following year. He was short and stocky with a mop of curly blonde hair. What I first noticed was his serious expression. He had an excellent vocabulary and was a chatter box. Next was a little girl named Jessica. She was 3 and absolutely beautiful. She was quiet but didnt miss anything. She was petite and had hair to her waist that was full of tangles. The baby girl was Grace and she was 2. She was very frail looking, although she turned out to be anything but frail. She was in just a diaper which was soaked, so I asked Michael to show me where the diapers were. We all headed into the girls room. It was filthy. I find a clean washcloth and get Grace cleaned up. She smiled the whole time. They were all hungry, so we head to the kitchen. I found a can of soup and some stale crackers, which they devoured. While they ate, i started on the kitchen. The sinks and counters were i overflowing with dishes. I turn the faucet handle and no hot water! So i start heating water after digging to uncover the stove. Theyve devoured the soup and want more. There was nothing more, so i grab my backpack and find a yougurt to split, some cookies and an apple which was all split between the 3 of them. I noticed there was no bickering. These 3 were accustomed to looking out for each other.
We started with the garbage and those kids really worked hard…..even the baby! We started by getting the garbage bagged up, and I started laundry. We worked for hours, and those kids didnt want to stop! They wanted a clean house. We got the living room mucked out, we found clean sheets and got beds made. The kitchen had a good start. I went in and cleaned the bathroom while they found jammies. I looked up from scrubbing and those faces were beaming. Got Grace in the tub and started detangling Jess’s hair. I know it had to hurt……but she never made a peep. Grace was clean and ready to get out. Water change and Jessicas turn. When she was clean, we changed water and gave Michael his privacy. I took the girls and checked the magical backpack. I found some nice lotion and they smelled lovely! They both had beautiful hair and kept touching it. Michael gets out and wants some lotion too. We decided to move Michaels bed in with his sisters (his “bedroom” was tiny, i think it was a.closet) We found some books and read. They were all asleep in minutes. As I detangled myself feom the sleeping babies, Michael asked if I was going to come back. I gave him a hug and said Id see him tomorrow. He grinned and it made my day. I waited for Mom to get home. It was almost 11 PM by the time she got home and I could tell she had been drinking. She introduced herself and looked around the room. She was shocked. She asked who had cleaned and i told her we all did. I see a car pulling up and its my Dad coming to see why Im so late. She says she had a meeting and was kept late. He ssaid”Look, we need her done at 10. Not 1001! If you cant be home at 10, she cant do this “ He loaded my bike up. He asked how it went. I didn’t want to tell him how dirty it was because I was afraid he would say I couldnt go back, and I had promised Michael.
And so it went. Every day, the kids and I would clean up a bit more. The cleaner the house got, the more time we had to walk to the park or go to the community pool. We had a great time and those 3 kids were all amazing.
I babysat the kids all that summer and into the start of school. It was just too much and I had to quit after Christmas vacation. I still watched them occasionally and we always had so much fun. This was in the early 70s. I still see the 3 kids who are adults now with families of their own. Michael went on to become an executive chef and works at a very trendy restaurant in the San Francisco area. He has a couple of kiddos and a lovely wife. Jess is an RN and works in the Lake Tahoe area. Shes a single mom of 2 boys and Grace is still local and keeps me in the loop with updates. She married a local guy and they have a daughter. She teaches at the local elementary school.
Its weird because it was such a short period of time, but it left us all with a bonding of the heart. Their Mom passed away last year and I went to her services and got to see all the kids (lol at KIDS!!) They introduced me as the best babysitter ever.
Filthiest house produced some wonderful humans. I was happy to be a small part of that. Sorry this was so long. Was a lovely trip down memory lane. Thanks for reading.
When my husband caught me cheating on him. There are no excuses, it was an incredibly stupid, selfish, and insane thing to do to someone who didn’t deserve it. The person I cheated on my husband with wasn’t worth it, that’s for sure.
After telling most of my friends and family what I did, my husband packed his bags and left. I spent a week on my couch contemplating suicide and hitting absolute rock bottom. My friends all took his side, understandably. Almost everyone I loved turned away. I fell physically sick with some sort of insane flue—the worst I’ve ever had in my life, probably from the stress.
I could’ve turned to the guy and tried to start fresh. New life, new boyfriend, new friends… Get that divorce and start over. Instead, I realized that what I had was worth fighting for, even if it took years to get it back. I ended the affair with that guy.
I wrote to each friend and family member who knew about this that I was going to do whatever it took to build my life back. I wrote to my husband. I begged him to come back. By some miracle… he did. We went to counselling, I went to therapy. I opened my life to my husband: no more privacy. He had access to everything, which I was completely fine with.
It took a long time, but eventually my friends came back. My husband’s trust slowly began to rebuild. Years and years later, our marriage is strong-full of incredible love, respect, and trust. I look back at what I did in complete disgust. I live everyday with that heartbreak, wishing I’d never put such an amazing person through that. Although that time was dark, it was the push I needed to wake up and stop living like a selfish idiot.
I wouldn’t trade the life I have now for the world. It took incredible pain and humiliation to get here, but it’s what led to my amazing life now. For those going through a dark time, take it day by day… one step at a time. I never thought I’d ever get here, but with hard work and patience, it will get better.
Not sure of the exact date, but it would have been mid to late ’80s in Bristol city centre.
Late one evening I was in a crew of 6 in a transit van when we saw a knackered looking Fiat 127 (they were never brilliant when new, let alone one that was 15 years old!). Half of the lights were out, smoke from the exhaust (and lots of noise).
Pulled the car over, and found it contained 2 adults and 3 children (all under 6 or 7 at a guess). Occupants were of obvious Asian descent (not unusual for that area of Bristol), so I started to ask the usual questions whilst a colleague looked over the car (which was found to have 3 bald tyres, no window wipers and a lot of rusty holes in the bodywork).
The driver and adult passenger were almost in tears, and trying to speak in English, which wasn’t that great. I established that they were Mauritian, and had only arrived in the UK that day. Once I spoke to them in French they looked relieved (my French isn’t brilliant, but was better than their English). He produced a Mauritian Driving Licence, and when asked for insurance and registration for the car (which they had purchased upon arrival at the airport), they produced a hand-written receipt showing that they had paid £1000.00 cash for the car! (it was worth about 20 quid scrap value, and certainly shouldn’t have been on a road). Even worse, he proudly produced another hand-written “Insurance Certificate” for which he had paid the car seller another £300.
They had come here to attend a family funeral, and had been royally ripped off by some scumbag near Heathrow as they needed to get down to Bristol as soon as possible.
Obviously, we couldn’t let them continue driving as it was unlikely to get them very far anyway, and was a liability to everyone else on the road.
I had no intention of getting my pen anywhere near to an official ‘ticket’, and explained the game to my Sergeant – who fully agreed with me.
All the time, the family were getting more and more upset as they started to realise the situation they were in and the trouble they thought they were in.
We took them back to our station (and a colleague drove their car), fed and watered them, spoke to relatives by telephone, and sorted out as much as we could at that time.
They were taken to a hotel for the night and agreed to surrender the car for destruction.
As the story spread throughout the night (between other colleagues, paramedics, fire-fighters, hospital staff and taxi drivers…. that was the way things were in the City at that time) offers of help came in.
By the time we went off duty at 0700 hours, the hotel bill had been waived, a taxi was ready to take them down to Exeter (their intended destination), and a collection had raised just under a grand in cash. Toys had been donated for the children, and small ‘gifts’ for the adults.
By the time they arrived in Exeter, the local police had found and purchased a small run-around car which wasn’t great, but had a few months of MOT and tax left on it, and was roadworthy… enough for their use whilst they were in the country.
We got a lovely letter from them once they were back in Mauritius, thanking us for the help we gave (and arranged) – but we only did what we could to help someone who needed it, and had been badly treated by opportunistic scum.
Edit:-
Thanks for the gramatical corrections – I try my best, but often fail!
I’ve never had a higher-rated answer on Quora, or received so many comments – Thank you, everybody.
It is not often that I bother to answer many questions, being a ‘reserved’ British ex-cop many situations just don’t seem worthy of reply, or have already got a few good answers.
I fully appreciate that probably 95% of the questions (and thus, answers) are posted from the USA, and whilst i find them interesting to read, are often so alien to a British way of thinking that I see no advantage in adding to them.
Anyone who reads my other (very few!) answers on Quora will see that I have some views and oppinions on some things – mainly to counter the critics and troll posters when it gets a bit ‘personal’, or to defend those who I feel need it.
I have no desire to be a “super user” on here, despair at many of the “questions” asked, but still feel that (every so often) even the British have something useful to add to this world.
I have to tell this story. I started writing song when l was about 15 years old. One of my biggest influences was Harry Chapin. I live in Los Angeles, and Harry played at the Greek Theatre every year. I went to see him four or five years in a row after getting my drivers license.
Harry played about 300 concerts a year. He gave about half the money he made to world hunger. After the concert, he sat and sold and signed T shirts for the cause and would stay until every person who wanted to buy a T-shirt was able to . His Security guys, always moved people quickly through, because they knew Harry would talk to everyone. After the first concert l stood in line to get a signed T-shirt, and when it was my turn l told him l was a songwriter. He smiled and said, “ Really ? I wish you the best of luck”. The following year l went to where he was signing T shirts, and to my surprise , he saw me and asked, “ How’s the songwriting going?” While he was signing T-shirts, I stood to the side and talked to him about songwriting. His security tried to make me leave, but he said, “. Leave the kid alone. He’s not hurting anyone.”
l did this every year, and the last time l saw him, l was 20 years old and had got my first job playing songs at a Shaky’s Pizza place. I told Harry that and that l played Taxi, but that there was a part l couldn’t figure out. He turned to one of his security guys, and said, “ Go get me one of the guitars out of the truck “. Pretty much all the people who were buying T shirts were done . The security guy said, “ Harry! It’s midnight man. We got to get out of here!” Harry said, “ Just do it.”
The irritated security guy did it and Harry showed me how to play the part. One thing l forgot to mention, was that l had brought me mom with me to see him. She was so happy for me and told that story to people that story unt the day she died. Harry Chapin was a very special man.
Galatoire’s Trout Meuniere Amandine
2023 12 04 17 16
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
4 (6 to 8 ounce) trout fillets
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Oil
1 cup butter
1 cup sliced almonds
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 tablespoon chopped parsley
Instructions
Sprinkle fillets with salt and pepper, dip into milk and roll in flour.
Fry in 3/4 inch of hot oil in a shallow skillet until golden on both sides.
Remove and keep warm.
In a separate pan, melt and whip butter until brown and frothy.
Add sliced almonds and lemon juice.
Place each fillet on a heated plate and pour sauce over it.
China has a system of Governance that is radically different to that in Western Countries
Thus it is imperative, if the West has to keep it’s “We are the guardians of democracy” model, they have to portray China as evil and the system as collapsing
Otherwise won’t the people ask how if the Chinese system is so bad, is the nation prospering so much?
My granddaughter and I were at a Denny’s. We ordered and ate lunch. The waitress came back and picked up the bill that she had left on the table. So we finished and waited for her to bring it back finally called to her as she went past.
We ask for the bill to be brought back and she said no it was paid for.
An elderly man sitting at the counter had paid for our lunch. When I asked her why she said he is a regular customer and told me that he always smiles at people and you and your little granddaughter were the only ones that ever smiled back at him.
My wife had a 6 month affair, when I found out I left her.
A number of people assumed I was the one who cheated on her. That bothered me. I corrected them.
Worse were all the people who assumed I must have done something wrong to deserve it and that I was still the bad guy. People told me I must have not paid enough attention to her, I must have some how drove her to it, etc. Some people refuse to believe that I somehow didn’t do something wrong to cause her to cheat.
All I can say is this – I loved her and treated her like a queen. When I’ve asked her why she did it, the response from her has always been that I was a terrific husband, that she loved me, and that she regrets it. The guy was nearly 20 years younger than her (he in his early 20s, she nearly 40), he was attractive and charming and started flirting with her and she found him irresistible.
So, that’s a double standard that I’ve lived through and find unfair; if I had cheated I would’ve been labelled a creep/jerk, when she has an affair I’m still somehow a jerks who is to blame??!
Back in 1997 in Canmore, Alberta, Sir Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin were in town filming The Edge. Mr. Baldwin decided one evening he wanted to eat at our local Chinese eatery.
I was an Eco-Tourism operator and frequented the establishment quite often. They had an orange chicken that I went bonkers for.
It was peak dining hour and the place was experiencing a 45-minute waiting period to get a table.
In strolls, cocky Baldwin and he demands a seat “NOW!”
The owner was this 5 ft tall fiesty Chinese woman and when she told Mr. Baldwin that he’d have to wait about 45 minutes he pulled the old, Do you know who I am?”
Man, if you could have seen this lady go into action it was an Academy Award for putting an arrogant prick into his place.
She yelled at him with her Mandarin accent, “I don’t care who you are, you get out of my restaurant and don’t come back!”
image 19
The rumours of his arrogance have always swirled in the tabloids and I got a front-row seat to see it in action.
And the winner is for putting the Douche BgAlec Baldwin in his place… The Owner of the Famous Chinese Restaurant, in Canmore Alberta.
I need do this anonymously, because it’s a sensitive subject.
I’m a father of two wonderful children, and my oldest, my son, has special needs. Due to his premature birth (roughly 30 weeks), he developed a condition called Periventricular Leukomalacia, or PVL for short.
PVL is essentially an under development, often by necrosis, of white brain matter near the ventricles of the brain. Read up on it a bit on wikipedia for more info if you interested: Periventricular leukomalacia – Wikipedia
We discovered this was case shortly after his first birthday, when doctors started noticing some developmental delays and some muscle stiffness on his left side. Some evaluations and scans, and it was confirmed what he has, and that it also the cause of his cerebal palsy. It was quite a shock.
Anyways, we start doing therapies and early intervention and it’s such a wonder watching him overcome it all in small steps, in his own way. You feel blessed at times to see his hard work pay off, to truly value life and love and family.
So what do I want to get off my chest?
It’s all bullshit. You know those parents who “wouldn’t have their child any other way because it taught us so much about ourselves and….” well fuck that.
I absolutely hate it. Hate. With a capital H.
I have other parents talk to me and they word things like “well, he’ll get past all this and so forth…”. Ummmm, no dumbass. His condition is chronic – forever. We can adapt to it, and work really hard and he’ll cope and be better off for it.
But while Johnny Awesome-Dad and Super Son are learning how to play catch, I’m helping my son learn how to alternate feet when climbing stairs, how to be aware of his raised arm at the elbow and to lower and swing while he walks, while that guy got to teach his son how to swing for the fences.
His mannerisms are collectively a huge brain capillary-exploding annoyance. From the non-sensical sounds that he repeats 100 times to the way he is so damn slow at e v e r y t h i n g.
Yeh, I hate being a special needs parent. On top of being one, I also have to be his political advocate, constantly representing other parents to our federal and state politicians to ensure kids like him get proper educations.
I really really hate all of it. I only love him – I just wish I could heal him. That’s probably the worst. Of all the things I can do and fix, I can’t make him better.
Fuck me.
(January 9th, 2019)
Edit: Wow, a lot of upvotes. Most I have ever received by far, my next closest has about 115.
Ok, to a few comments: Thank you for the kind words from most people, the support, sympathy, and empathy. I truly did not write this to receive that as I quite literally was getting something off my chest.
To those who think less of my answer, even angry at me for being so: Your opinion is valued and appreciated. My response to it though is simply a shrug and a “It is what it is.” I know my son didn’t choose to be this way, but understand I am not choosing to feel this way either.
I wish I was a better person in this regard but I’m not. However remember this: I don’t let him see it. Fuck, I don’t even mention it anymore to family because they’ll either blanket me with guilt statements and be angry at me (Fuck You btw) or keep telling me lies like “It’ll all be fine” (no it won’t) or “He’ll be fine” (no, you obviously don’t understand it at all).
How do I cope?
Weed. Makes me feel better.
Heavy bag – I punch the crap outta it. Actually split the first one and I’m on my second. Looking to buy a speed bag.
Bottle it up and get back to my life.
And lastly yes I have considered leaving because he deserves a better Dad. The problem with that is it would take a lot of time for my wife to find another person who wants to take this on. Secondly my other child would suffer the loss of Dad when they did nothing, or have anything, wrong. It wouldn’t be fair and life is unfair enough as it is – I don’t want to add to it.
Don’t be indecisive. Ain’t nobody gonna follow someone who can’t make up their damn mind.
Don’t be a two-faced snake. People can smell that crap from a mile away.
Don’t be a damn pushover. You gotta have a backbone if you want to make it in this world.
Don’t be lazy. If you’re the one in charge, you gotta put in the work.
Don’t be a know-it-all. You ain’t that smart, trust me.
Don’t be too proud to ask for help. We all need it sometimes.
Level 5 – Impossible
House of Blues Bayou Voodoo Smothered Chicken
2023 12 03 15 32
Yield: 4 servings; 1 pound Roux
Ingredients
Brown Roux
10 ounces all-purpose flour
1 cup vegetable oil
Chicken
1 pound butter, melted
2 pounds chopped onion
1 pound chopped celery
1 pound chopped red bell pepper
1 pound chopped green bell pepper
1 pound sliced mushrooms
2 ounces minced garlic
2 1/2 ounces all-purpose flour
4 cups red wine (chef suggests Burgundy wine)
2 quarts dark beer
2 quarts water
2 tablespoons beef base
4 tablespoons chicken base
1 tablespoon liquid smoke
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons Tabasco sauce
1 cup Louisiana Seasoning
Instructions
Brown Roux
Place oil in a heavy stock pot and heat until it smokes. Slowly whisk in flour, 2 cups at a time, mixing well. Cook in oven at 350 degrees F for about 2 hours, stirring every 15 minutes. Roux is done when chocolate brown color is achieved. Allow to cool.
Chicken
In a large skillet or sauté pan, add butter.
Put onion, celery, red bell pepper, green bell pepper and mushrooms into the pan and sauté.
Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute.
Add flour and stir; cook for 1 minute.
Add red wine and reduce until thick.
Add dark beer, water, beef base, chicken base and bring to a boil.
Add liquid smoke, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce and Louisiana seasoning.
Whip some roux into the sauce. Bring to a boil then remove from heat.
Put some pre-made rice on a plate, put cooked chicken breast on top of rice and ladle voodoo sauce over the chicken and rice.
Ages ago in the late ’70s I worked in an engineering department for a huge manufacturing company – one of the big three in Detroit. A co-worker had about 30 years with the company and a ton of vacation time. He and his wife had a daughter late in life. She was about 8 at the time and daddy took vacation days every Friday and Monday during her summer vacation.
Big boss comes in one Thursday afternoon looking for the doting dad. We say he’s off until Tuesday, and reminded him of daddy’s schedule.
Keep in mind that all vacation had to be submitted and approved, by boss man, in January.
But in this moment he can’t have what he wants when he wants it.
Boss man hits the ceiling. We can’t have that. Everyone has to take vacation in full week increments.
The guy had a pretty specialized skill set, and no one else was really up to speed in his area of expertise. We could fill in in a pinch. Daddy could complete final draft when he got back on Tuesday.
the following summer, I had transferred to another department, but that department struggled when dad took his six-plus weeks of vacation consecutively!
it was a whole lot easier to cover his job for four days than six weeks.
It resulting in us trying for 6 months after ending the affair. To her cheating on me with another man to eventually leave me at the end of the 6 months. Tit for tat I guess. Lots of shame and heartbreak on my end but those are the consequences. Mostly life lessons though. Divorce was the anwser and we will both be happier in the long run.
Many years ago a young woman called me up one evening to ask some questions about insurance regarding the car accident that had happened between her car and mine that afternoon. Slight problem, I hadn’t been in a car accident. She had my name and license plate from the police report so I went out and checked the number of the license plate on the back of my car, and it wasn’t the same number. After a little more discussion I got my auto registration and that did match the number on the report – the license plates on the front and back of my car weren’t the same! After thinking about it I realized what must have happened: I had returned from a business trip a couple days earlier and while my car was parked at the airport parking garage someone had swapped the license plate on the back of my car with a different one and then put my license plate on the car that got in an accident (it was almost the same make and model as my car – they must have been casing the airport). Not surprisingly this turned into quite a mess to untangle, requiring multiple calls to insurance as well as a visit by the police officer to verify my car had not in fact been in an accident. The weird part that still bothers me to this day – the woman driving the car who’d gotten in an accident had the same last name as me. My last name isn’t an unusual one, but it’s not extremely common either. She told the police she was my niece (not likely – I’m white and she was black). How did that happen?
Have you noticed big brands dropping A, B & O from their signs and logos?
image 10
Most people who noticed the same, thought that it could be some malfunction but the real reason for the missing A, B, and O’s is something more serious and amazing.
image 9
NHS Blood and Transplant organization, along with PR agency Engine Group has launched the ‘Missing Type’ campaign. It has undertaken this campaign to make people aware the benefits of blood donation and its importance of saving lives.
image 8
Big brands and companies likeTesco, Mirror, McDonalds, Starbucks and Hardrock Cafe have agreed to be the part of the campaign to make people aware of blood donation.
As a part of this campaign, NHS has asked big brands to omit the letters that signify blood types from their logos and signs viz, blood types A, B, and O.
I watched a 90 lb female put a 235 lb guy in the hospital. This was a fight between 2 neighbors in my neighborhood. This guy harassed her for weeks then for some reason he decided to walk up to her front porch and knock on her door. I was sitting on my front porch when it happened. I was thinking this is not going to be good, and had my cell phone within reach.
She open her door and in a clear loud voice, she requested he get off her property. He said, what are you going to do about it. She said, I’ll call the police. He laughed at her and reached for the screen door. Before I could move she kicked him in the head twice, swept his legs out from under him, and he was down and bleeding.
I started to call the police, but again before I could dial the number a patrol car pulled up and the officer put the guy in handcuffs. I just sat there, drank my coffee and waited for him to come over and ask what I saw. I told him and signed the bottom of the form.
As he walked away he said you know the woman? I replied yes, she’s a former Marine. He chuckled and said. I guess the guy didn’t know that, and I laughed.
When I had an Amish girl come live in with me during the week to help take care of my three-year-old daughter and my brand new twin boys.My husband was in Vietnam.
The first night that I went out to play cards with friends I came home at 10:00 p.m. everybody was sitting in the dark. It was pitch Black and it had not occurred to me that she would not be allowed to turn on the lights or use the electric stove to heat formula.
From them and I would make sure everything was turned on before I left. I only played cards twice a month but they were never left in the dark again. I would heat formula and put it in the thermos bottle but I also showed her how to fill up pan with hot water from the tap to sit the bottles in.
EDIT due to the amount of people that think it was horrible to leave my newborn twins and 3-year-old daughter with a stranger I need to explain the Amish girl lived with me. I would take her home on Saturday morning and go pick her up on Monday morning. I even knew her family. She had helped raise 9 younger brothers and sisters.
When I was in high school I would get terrible menstrual cramps. I would leave school and go to the cab stand down the block. The dispatcher was a man that I’ll call Joe. He was blind.
I would walk in on a wooden floor and Joe would say hi Linda you need to go home? I would take a taxi and come in after school the next day to pay for it. This was in a small town about 15,000.
I grew up, graduated high school, moved away, got married and got pregnant. My husband was going to Vietnam and I went back home to stay with my parents. This was about 6 years after I had left home.
I stopped at a bakery before I went to my parents house. I took one step on a cement floor and a man standing at the counter buying some donuts said “Hey Linda when did you get home?”
I never understood how Joe recognized my one step on the cement floor and I was very pregnant. You would think the sound would be different but he recognized that one step immediately.
A guy I went on a first date with (set up by a friend) told me how his ex wife was having a breakdown and had messaged him that day, to say that she couldn’t cope and was going to call social services and have their two children placed in care. Shocked, I looked at him and said “Couldn’t you take them for a couple of weeks and give her a break?” I kid you not, his genuine, honest response was “Not a chance, I have them every other weekend, that’s enough for me!”. I don’t think I hid my horror very well. Ugly, ugly man. My own son was 3 years old and the time, and if he wouldn’t step up for his own kids, he was going nowhere near mine!
It takes about 66 days for an average individual to make something a daily habit.
Eye pupil dilates to 45% when an individual looks at somebody they love.
Food prepared by someone else tastes much better than your own preparation, even when you use the same recipe.
Hearing a single negative thing could damage at least five positive memories.
Studies have shown that consuming food without preservatives will increase I.Q by up to 14%.
Men aren’t more entertaining than women: they only make more jokes, they don’t care whether others like their humor or not.
Shy people tell others very little about themselves, but they do it in quite a manner that makes other individuals believe they know them better than they actually think they do.
People in blue rooms are also much more productive.
Being alone is harder for your health than you really believe.
Any relationship born between 16 and 28 years of age is more likely to be robust and long-lasting.
If we have a plan B, our plan A is less likely to succeed.
Being happy around people makes you happier.
Convincing yourself that you slept well tricks your brain into believing you did.
The sort of music you listen to influences the way you view the world.
A hug longer than twenty seconds will produce hormones into your body that makes you trust the individual who is hugging yo
Not so much amazing, as being extremely useful to me. I was on a European Standards Committee for several years. Members came from many European countries and it was customary to conduct all meetings in English.
Often the French and German delegates would speak to each other in the meeting in French or German to try and exclude the UK delegate from what they were plotting. This was on the basis that they assumed that the British could not speak other languages. It was advantageous to me for them not to know that I understood at least the gist of what they were saying.
However, when meeting in Dusseldorf the German delegated took us all out for dinner after the meeting. This was in a very German restaurant and the waitress approached me asking, in German, what I would like to eat. Not thinking, I blew my cover by replying in German.
The German delegate’s jaw dropped and said “you speak German!”. Trying to save myself I admitted that I could speak enough basic german to get by, but I couldn’t resist adding “ but my understanding is better”.
The Swedish delegate sitting next to me actually laughed and gave me a pat on the back.
A 26 yrs old with a decent job(in Indian Silicon Valley), beautiful girlfriend, about to be promoted, in short, enjoying my life.
But now,
A road accident(to save a little girl), which confined me to home for 4–5 months, had a kneefracture, operated, implanted with a metal plate inside(permanently).
Promotion aborted(as i m on Medical Leave for quite a longer period).
Cheated by my girlfriend when we were planning to get married, our parents accepted us.
My situation after surgery,
image 18
I was full of life. Travelling, working out in gym used to make me feel energized, lively, confident. But my eyes in the above picture are full of unnecessary thoughts, wandering with all the lively moments I had before.
Permanent Implant,
image 17
I was planning to call my parents to bangalore so that i can arrange some vacation for them and let them know about me and my girlfriend. But this was not the way i wanted them to come.
Even after accepted by my parents, she cheated on me. This was the time when i needed her the most. I know that,
“We should Forgive people in our life, even those who are not sorry for their actions. Holding on to anger only hurts us, not them.”
Also after one-by-one misfortunes, my self-confidence is f**ked like a Gangbang. So i’m not in a place to keep grudges with her and trying to move on, to forgive her and forget her.
Now they want me to settle downin an arranged marriage with a girl of their choice. And neither I am in position to ask for getting married with a girl of my choice nor in a position of getting married with any girl due to hindrances in my promotion, beautifully f**ked self-confidence.
I’m just trying to recover as soon as possible from the physical and emotional injury so that i can go back to my self made track of life.
Go ask Russians, nearly all western countries did the same as you mentioned to Russia, including the so called “nuclear option”: kicked Russia out of SWIFT, did Russian economy collapse?
Oh, maybe you don’t know the real world, just living in the “information cocoons”, you’re fed with selected information, which made you believe China is easy to win, like our beloved president 45 said, trade war is easy to win.
This is his easy to win:
image 2
Now, it is America who’s relying on China, not China relying on America. Say you to buy a Toyota and wait for over a month, sometimes you need to pay extra money, and its price is rising year after year, while in China, Toyota is to buy at will and drive away upon you paid, and its price is lower and lower. For example, RAV 4 in America starts from $29K, while in China, it starts from RMB 175,800, which is about $24.5K.
The problem is not China, it hides in America, destory China can’t solve your own problem.
The big heads are more informed and clever than you average Americans do. They know they can’t win, sanctions, trade wars, are just to slow down China’s pace, not to stop it.
Years ago, I was involved with a lawsuit against a tech company. Kind of “class action,” which meant a lot of people were there.
I noticed two levels of dress: casual and super-expensive suits.
As the process unfolded, I realized that those two levels of dress represented three levels of wealth.
The expensive suits were all worn by guys (and, yes, sorry, this was long ago, and everyone was a guy) who had high-paying jobs. Most would regard them as well off. They drove new, leased BMWs, etc. They were supercilious toward everyone because THEY were the only ones wearing expensive suits, shoes, and Rolexes.
The casual dressers represented two economic levels:
Those who could not afford expensive suits or Rolexes.
Those who had so much money they didn’t need to impress anyone.
At one point during the proceeding, I ended up in a room with four suits while I was dressed in jeans and wore a lightweight “Members Only” jacket. (You can tell this was long ago, right? Remember when those were cool?)
At first, they spoke only among themselves, treating the “obviously” poor guy like I couldn’t possibly matter. I let them go for a few minutes and then interrupted them for an important message on life. I told them how their expensive suits put them at a disadvantage because the only thing obvious in the room was that none of them were in the top tier financially.
They included me from then on.
To answer the question: The truly rich wear whatever they want. Only those who are still struggling to become truly rich are slaves to the “badges of honor” that they THINK demonstrate they are rich.
I was at a Home Depot and saw this lady trying to lift a 90lb bag of cement from a flat cart into the trunk of her car. I said let me help you with that and grabbed the bag and put it in her trunk. She said I don’t need your damn help. I said sorry and grabbed the bag and put it back on the cart. As I was pulling out of the parking lot I saw that she had dropped the bag and it broke open all over the parking lot. I honked and waved.
During the Vietnam war President Lyndon Johnson and Robert McNamara came up with “Project 100,000,” and the idea was to kill two birds with one stone by drafting men who were developmentally disabled or just too stupide to be left into the army. It was to provide more men for the war effort and give the less fortunate a chance at being productive members of society.
image 4
There’s typically an IQ minimum of 80 points to serve in the US military, but the rule was loosened, and they started allowing in men with mental disabilities. These men became known a “McNamara’s Morons” and died at 5 times the rate of other Americans in the war.
You had men turning up to basic training that couldn’t even tie their own shoes and couldn’t even understand the basics like dressing the bed. Some of these soldiers didn’t even understand why they were utterly exhausted at the end of a run when they were full of energy at the start of the run.
image 12
When in combat training, none of the men could pass their physical training because they couldn’t grasp the idea of throwing a heavy training grenade in a high arc to reach the target that was 90 feet away.
A lot of the men were protected from battle and kept safe by sergeants who took pity on them, but a lot were sent into dangerous battles on the front line. Not only were some of these men a danger to themselves they also put their fellow soldiers in harms way by not being able to grasp the seriousness of what they were involved in.
image 3
For example, in one platoon a dozen men were injured when a live grenade was tossed at them by another soldier as a prank. The soldier in question didn’t have the brain function to understand how dangerous a grenade was.
The word McNamara Moron’s was a derogatory term used by many of the sergeants to describe many of the men that fell under their care. Although the experiment was a disaster, not all of the men drafted under this new legislation failed to learn and grasp the fundamentals of combat. Many went on to have distinguished careers, and many were awarded the “Medal of Honour.”
image 11
The story of Forrest Gump was inspired by McNamara’s soldiers and the bravery some of these men showed when faced with impossible odds.
A quiet little boy was putting up with the abuse of a foot taller, loud mouthed girl. The girl was berating him for being a Nerd.
The teacher heard what the girl was saying to the boy, and admonished her, “Karen! You should be nice to Billy! He is a straight A student, and someday he just might be your Boss.”
Billy looked at the teacher and quipped, “But I don’t want to be a Pimp!”
When I had just turned 18, my mother came into my room with a birthday balloon. It was one of the nice fancy balloons. She was really happy to give it to me.
But I, being the selfish spoiled teenager reacted in anger.
“What! Is this it? I don’t get a cake or presents?!?!”
I will never forget the look of hurt and pain on my mother’s face. She turned around with tears in her eyes and quietly took the balloon from my room.
I knew instantly that I hurt her. I tried to run after her and apologize but the damage was already done.
I know she forgave me right away and gave me the balloon. But, you see, we were a low income family and balloons were rarely given. It was a gift I should have been proud of, but I turned it into something painful.
I learned a valuable lesson that day. You can’t take back words spoken in anger.
I will be 40 this year and my mother has been gone for 16 years and I can still see that look on her face as clear as if it had been yesterday.
I miss her.
I just do
Make America Go Away
The United States is like an abusive, narcissistic uncle that just knows that you will always need him; he is the indispensable uncle that just requires that you accept his authority by saying “uncle” otherwise he will sadly have to increase the level of abuse until you either “get the message” or die from the abuse. The vast majority of the world’s population understands this, whether it be the Latin Americans cheated out of democracy again and again, the Africans who had their post-independence dreams destroyed, the Middle Eastern modernizing and secular states that were eradicated, the Vietnamese that died in their millions to rid themselves of US occupation, the people of Gaza being murdered by US bombs and shells, or the Chinese, Russians and Iranians who face the wrath of the US for not understanding their place. The last thing they want is for the US to be “great” again, and they certainly do not see it as indispensable or a shining city on a hill, as the US political elite claim again and again in the form of religious-style mantras.
US politicians, policy makers and even international relations scholars accept this abusive, narcissistic narrative as they waffle on about a “Liberal International Order” where the US acts as the mafia-boss who makes the rules while not being subject to them, and bloviate about the decrepit “shining city” that must deliver its “gift” of liberal democratic capitalism to the world’s unwashed. Just as they did to the Amerindians in their three century war of extermination, ethnic cleansing and land theft, as they established the “new Jerusalem” of ethnic supremacy; personified by the racist bigot President Wilson who spun a good yarn about “freedom” while bringing the very opposite to not only many foreigners but also the US population. It was he who placed the velvet glove of sweet words about “Western culture” over the hard, racist fist.
So yes, the vast majority of humanity just want the US to go away and leave them to manage their own affairs. The problem with abusive narcissists is that they can turn into “family destroyers”, wiping out the rest of the family because they just know that the family (i.e. humanity) cannot survive without them. If they are to go away, then so must humanity. When those wanting a faster rate of change complain about the careful and patient diplomacy and actions of Russia, Iran and China, they must remember the dangerous lunatic that those nations are dealing with; one that can make humanity disappear with it if it so decides, in a global murder suicide. Anyone looking at the current psychopathic thrashings of the Israeli state must hold no flights of fancy about a US where a quarter of the population still believe in a heretical bible Armageddon fantasy, and its elite are wedded to their global dominance. Such lunatics have to be carefully managed and slowly subdued in order to reduce the possibilities of self-destructive and psychopathic rage-induced paroxysms.
Please Make America Go Away, as peacefully as possible.
The CORE FANTASY that drives women to ORGASM and WHY
I needed a “C” to pass my college communications course.
If I didn’t get a “C,” I would fail to meet my college major requirements setting me back an entire semester.
Here’s the problem: The semester was over, and I had a D+.
My only hope was to email the teacher asking for a bump in my grade.
I wrote an email to her explaining how my past school performance warranted a higher grade and that not passing me would only hurt an ambitious student.
When I hit send, I realized I made a HUGE mistake.
I addressed her using another teacher’s name.
I tried to calm down, but then I remembered we’d spent half the semester covering email etiquette.
Shoot!
What did I do?
Two days later, she emails back.
First, she addresses the glaring mistake then says she bumped my grade up to a “C” to never have me as a student again.
I went out for drinks that night.
This is by far the best mistake I’ve ever made.
US is Militarizing Itself to Death, While China Emphasizes Cooperation.
When I was in high school our physics teacher gave us a challenge that involved making a paper air plane of any shape. The only objective was to get it to fly as far as possible. I had some paper air plane making skills so I made the best plane I could and it flew pretty far.
image 6
One guy made the greatest, yet simplest paper airplane of all time. He stood there at the starting line with a regular piece of paper. Some classmates scratched their head while silently chuckling to themselves. Moments later he took the flat piece of paper, crumpled it up, and threw it down the hall way.
He beat the class with ease.
image 5
Some of the students got mad and said that he cheated.
The physics teacher said, “How so? I said it could be any shape. A paper ball is indeed a shape.”
He won the contest with flying colors.
“Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see.”
When I graduated from nursing school 10 years ago, I was flush with cash for the first time in my life. Within the span of a month, I went from having an after tax income of $600/month to an after-tax income of $1200 every 2 weeks.
I felt rich. I was 21 years old. I didn’t want to just save. I would invest.
I read a couple of books, opened a brokerage account, and proceeded to buy and sell stocks and call options. I made a lot of money quickly.
I concluded that I was going to be a stock market genius.
So, when I started losing money, I of course knew that it was a temporary setback. So I played, er, invested some more, and some more, and some more.
After a while, I had to admit to myself that I had a problem. I stopped after a couple of years. I had maybe lost $30K by then.
I repeated the same experiment at the tail end of med school. I decided to borrow an extra $20K and invest. This time, I was going to be disciplined. I was going to focus on buying call options on companies that were going to spin-off part of their assets into standalone companies. The idea was that the market was mispricing the combined companies and that the sum of the parts would be greater than the whole, after a spinoff. It was not an entirely crazy idea. I’d made money that way before.
Anyway, my roommate started making a ton of money in penny stocks of companies involved in the marijuana business. I was jealous of how quickly he was making money. I joined in. I lost another $10–15K. I pulled out. He continued playing. He made money for a while. Eventually, he lost more than he had made.
I wouldn’t be surprised if I’d lost about $50K in the stock market over the past decade. That has been my worst financial decision. I see it as tuition money that I paid in order to learn that I am emphatically not a stock market genius.
I’m a physician. My mistakes are going to be relatively costless to me. Please don’t try this at home.
The U.S. has 2 choices. And Americans need to wake up to this reality to face the new world. China will always be independent from the U.S. in technology. In many cases it will from now onwards be ahead and with far better technologicallyDon’t than the US and the west. It is happy to share its benefits but it will never allow the U.S. and the West to ever threatened them again. Ever. Never Ever.
Don’t blame China. China were happy to play second fiddle till the despicable US foolishly thought that it can easily contain and control China in Chip technology for a generation. It took less than 3 years for China to catch up. It won’t look back. Now all the trillion of dollars shit it cost to do this shit will ll be wasted. If the U.S. never learnt then they can always lose more trillions. China don’t mind.
What does it mean for the U.S. government? It needs to know that the US has 2 choices. Either it work and I am cooperate with China and profit from China’s humongous market and manufacturing prowess or it loses it all including the access to the global south market representing som 120–150 nations around the world. The U.S. needs to make this decision. Americans need to learn humility and accept that it no longer can dictate to the world.
China will design its own chips, it will manufacture its own chips and it will sell to whoever wants to buy it and use it. It will do so at a faster rate and take less time, and make it a a lower cost and make it cheaper than the US and the west. That is what China always do and and the Chip Ban, the GPS threat and the ISS ban will simply motivate China to dominate all technology. Thanks USA
What do you like to ban, sanction, blockade from now onwards? I think China should stop the U.S. from using paper to clean their backside since China invented paper. Let the use their hands.
I worked at Apple in the 80’s and think the movie grossly underplays how much of an asshole he was.
I’ve worked with many billionaires in my career, and Jobs was the biggest asshole I ever met.
He would destroy people just for the fun of it. He would make it personal.
There were a few who managed to survive and even thrive, like Andy Hertzfeld.
Even on the original Mac team, there was a small number that Steve treated with respect, and the rest he treated like shit. It’s one reason the Mac team fell apart after the Mac shipped. Steve glorified about 10 of them; they were on the cover of Business Week IIRC. The rest he made clear were shit. They had worked their asses off and built a magical product, but Steve didn’t recognize them. So the glorified rock stars got big heads, and the others were deeply slighted. So the team fell apart.
It’s also true that at NeXT and then his return to Apple, Steve grew up and learned to treat people better. Steve v2 wasn’t exactly Mother Theresa, but he learned a lot of lessons and was much improved.
Yes, I still shiver 10 years later. My husband and I were thinking of buying a lot in a new intentional community in Belize (think semi-rainforest, not beach). We stayed at the guest house for several days to tour and explore the area. Activities included canoeing on the beautiful river, hiking, learning about the local culture, etc… Now, recall there’s a river, hence big rocky, sandy, soil-y hills that sloped down to it. Also, no paved roads yet. One day we decided to do a driving tour in our all-wheel drive rental (as opposed to a 4WD we had reserved). You can guess where this is going. We came to the top of a steep incline, and to continue, there was no choice but to proceed down the other side. Approximately 10 feet to our right was a cliff that dropped steeply into a gorge and the river. (I was driving because my husband isn’t crazy about manual transmissions.) Then, the brakes failed. As we gained speed, rocks began to bump us closer to the edge. Honestly, we were thinking that was it- the end of the road for us. But in a moment of something- not brilliance for sure- maybe instinct, I threw the car into first gear. It slowed, then came to rest about 4 feet from the edge. Finally I screamed, just to release the tension. Somehow I didn’t leave a puddle in my seat.
If that wasn’t enough, seconds after we got out of the car, we heard the screams of several women who were crashing through the dense forest to our left. When the three women reached us, they were completely out of breath but managed to yell, “Wild pigs! Wild pigs!”. Just as all of us squeezed into the car for (protection, not escape!), we heard the pigs retreating and running back where they came from.
“Snake” or sometimes “snakes”, Snakeye bombs. Mk-80 Series bombs of various weights fitted with a high-drag devise to provide rapid deceleration upon release.
image 4
The special fins were held tight to the bomb casing until release, at which time they popped open to insure maximum horizontal separation between bomb and aircraft at detonation. Without the high-drag unit added, bombs could strike the ground and detonate under the aircraft. In some cases the explosion would bring down the delivering aircraft. At one time, this was called a “Low Blow”. Snakeyes were generally dropped at low to very low altitudes to enhance accuracy. Mk-80 series bombs without the decelerating tail unit were generally described as “Slicks”.
When I was 15 years old I made a decision that to this day still baffles me. I spent the weekend with my good buddy putting a hot motor into his car. We finished the work on Sunday afternoon and my friend told me he would come by my house and get me later so we could go celebrate the car and new motor.
When he got to my parents house that evening I walked out to the driveway and made that fateful decision by telling my buddy that I had “homework” to do and wouldn’t be going with him.
Later that night my friend and two others hit a tree going about a hundred miles an hour. It killed my friend and the other guy in the front seat and put the backseat passenger in the hospital for a month.
To this day I have no idea why I didn’t go with them. I really didn’t have any homework. It just came into my head that day and I said it and that was it.
I would have been the guy in the front passenger seat that night.
When I had a daycare I had a four year old who went through a terrible phase of pulling hair. He didn’t just yank; he’d get his fingers tangled in there and twist and pull with his entire body. It was extremely painful. He once got hold of my hair and pulled some out.
I tried everything to stop him. I watched him like a hawk. I stopped him when he got that look and lunged for someone’s hair. His mom acknowledged the problem she was having with him at home with his two older sisters. She tried everything; we both did, but nothing stopped him.
One day he got hold of this cute little two year old’s hair. She was screaming in pain as I tried to detach his fingers. And I finally had had it. I grabbed his hair and pulled just as hard as I could.
He let go immediately and started crying. And he never pulled hair again.
His mom thought he had finally grown out of his phase. I never told her what I did. I didn’t abuse the kids I watched; never spanked them or yelled at them. I still feel guilty for what I did. He probably would have stopped on his own.
My sister. It was the day of my mother’s funeral after a very fast illness and sudden, unexpected death. My husband had run an errand for Dad. He was gone about an hour. During that hour, one sister (older, middle one of three) cornered me as I sat at the dining table. She spent most of that time telling me what a horrible person I was, listing every perceived mistake I had ever made in my life, all the times I had disrespected her, etc. When my husband came home he found me sobbing, curled into a fetal ball behind the guest bed.
That afternoon and for the rest of that weekend I would not be in the same room with her. I spent my time composing a long email listing every claim she had thrown at me and why each was wrong (or blown out of proportion). It was all I could emotionally manage.
She never even acknowledged the email, let alone apologize for being such a bully. I waited two weeks and sent another email, asking if she got the first one. She acknowledged that she did. That’s all. Just a “yes I got it.”
I have not spoken to her since. And because my other older (oldest) sister just stood there, I have barely spoken to her. Their emails are automatically filtered to trash. They don’t even know my phone number in Spain, where I now live. I no longer have any sibling photos on the “photo wall” in the hallway. I consider myself an only child. I will not return to the US for either of their funerals when the time comes. They are not welcome to visit me in Spain and I don’t even want them notified when I die.
My daughter is a single mom, and once a week I help her out. I pick up her kids, aged 8 and 7, from school and watch them until their mother comes home around 8 PM.
The older one is a lot like me. Introverted, shy, a bookworm who goes through a couple of books a week. I never have a bit of problem with him. We understand each other. We’ll watch TV or play a game of chess together.
The younger one is the social butterfly of the family. She goes outside and plays with the other kids in her neighborhood.
She’s also stubborn to a fault. Just like her mother at that age.
And one evening about a week ago she started getting defiant. Refused to do anything I asked. I was losing patience.
Just then her mother came home and things escalated. I watched the two most stubborn human beings I’d ever met lock horns for about half an hour. I’d seen this behavior before — we got it from her mother, my daughter, when she was that age.
“Dad, I am so sorry for all the trouble I put you and mom through when I was her age,” she told me.
I laughed. “It’s OK. You grew up to be a pretty good kid and I’m sure she will too.”
But she was right. Everything she had put us through when she was young and stubborn was now coming back on her.
Thanks for the a2a. I have Chinese friends living all over the world. Some of them without fail ask me nearly every day if I have eaten yet. I have never thought it was anything other than kindness.
You see, I am from the Deep South in America. We Southern women show love and hospitality through our cooking. When I visit family, we’re having a meal and I have brought a dish. Or if they visit me, I’m feeding them and they probably brought something. I know my mother loves me because every time I visit, she makes tea exactly the way I like it. My brother knows I care because I make his favorite foods or desserts. My father is proud when I compliment his ability to grill a steak, and my sister requests my old-fashioned strawberry cake for her birthday. My daughter, she wants to make birthday cakes for everyone—whether it’s their birthday or not!
Food is a language, and that language expresses love, hospitality, kindness, care, and friendship. I believe Chinese people (as well as other cultures) understand this. I have always taken my Chinese friends encouragement to eat dinner or breakfast as a sign of their care for me, and I express the same care toward them. If they ever came to visit me, I wouldn’t let them leave my home without feeding them first. They don’t have to be fluent in English and I do not have to speak perfect Mandarin when it comes to sharing a meal together.
Americans foolishly screamed and shout that they are the leader of the free world without ever questioning if it is even remotely true or not! Please don’t be angry or upset if I help you guys since I understand you can pretend to be free or even dare says you are ordained by god to spread democracy and freedom but you Americans are one of the least free country on earth.
Let me help you good American. So first I like to explain how unfree you guys are.
35% of you cannot get health care when you fall sick! The most basic of freedom is the freedom to see a doctor and get cure when you fall sick. At least 100 million Americans don’t have this basic of basics of freedom.
Next 1 million Americans are homeless and don’t have another basic of basics of freedom. The freedom to have a roof over their head.! They have to live in makeshift tents on the streets.
20% of Americans don’t have 500 dollars to their name and don’t know where their next meal is coming from! Surely everyone must have the freedom to have a hot meal to stay alive!
USA with about 4% of world population has 25% of the worlds prisoners population! Think about this my American friends, prisoners are certainly. Not free. Many of them coloured people thrown into jail for the slightest reason. How on earth can you keep a straight face to say U.S. is the leader of the free world. No one know!
In many cities in the U.S. one cannot go to certain parts of the inner city like the Queens in New York. As crimes are rampant. So normal innocent and good Americans like you have to avoid that part of America! Surely freedom means you can go to anywhere or any part of America.
Kids and parents suffers the mental turmoils daily for just going to school. Many got shot to death in schools, public places, cinemas and even in Capitol Hill! Is that freedom? Even your kids are not free to go to school without a random mass shooter lurking with military grade weapons to murder them! Is this freedom?
If you are not fortunate to have a white skin you could be necked to death in the bright daylight of even driving a good car may be be shot to death just for suspected of stealing the car! Everyday you live in fear of a white policeman! Is that freedom to live? Freedom to avoid death at the racist inclination of the white racist? Surely not.
Freedom means you can choose who you really want to be your leader. Only 30% choose Biden. Or 35% choose Trump! Why are they your president? Your system allowed 0.8% of the richest and most influential people to choose your candidates! Surely this is not political freedom. This is far from democracy. How on earth can you call yourself the “beacon of democracy” who in a sane mind can claim that?
Oh today you country stop the Americans from having access to best 5G technology, Smartphone, best EV’s, drones and others for some geopolitical nonsense! Is this freedom? Freedom to be deprived? Let me help you understand. You are deprived from buying a 10 thousand bucks EV that need to be charged once a week but you are not allowed to! You cannot buy your Tesla like for half the price! Just to support your too big to fail auto industry paying 100 million bonus doing shit for good Americans!
But to me EVs and Drones are just the top of the iceberg of your draconian and suicide policies that takes away the freedom of Americans like you. Think about Jullien Assange, Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden! Freedom? American is anything but free.
I wasn’t fired, I just quit a job with a window replacement contractor after finding full time premanant employment. I called to inform the man and give him two weeks notice. He cussed at me and slammed the phone down. I called him right back and asked him to send me payment for the previous weeks work and he ratteled on about how I installed those last windows wrong and that he would not be paying me what was owed and told me never to call again followed by a loud “click”. So, I tallied all my hours plus all the OT I’d worked but was never paid more than a flat hourly rate. I took this document to the owners of the business he had contracted with, explained the situation and said “I just want to give you the opportunity to resolve this before I take the matter to the labor department” (they had a local office). The owner said “Thank you” and said they’d take care of it. The man was in a back office supposedly waiting for a meet so I said “Great! We will just need to come to agreement on what he owes me” The man said “Nothing to worry about there, whatever you say”. I asked when I might expect payment from him and the man said, if this amount on your records is good, I’ll cut you a check right now and we’ll just deduct the funds from his contract payment. I never saw the man again but he was a hot head all the same and I could feel the burn of his rage as I drove away.
As for my ability to install windows… The man had previously took me aside, giving me a raise because, as he said “You’re the only one I have who can read a tape measure”.
About 5 or 6 months ago, my girlfriend and I threw a little get together at our place for friends from work. I cooked dinner for everyone, and we just sort of made it buffet style. The whole affair was great fun and will make for great memories. After everyone had left Emily and I decided that we’d at least get the major stuff picked up, (the dishes and glasses into the dishwasher and the leftovers put into the fridge). While Em was finishing up in the kitchen I began moving things around in the front room, and there I found a pair of thong panties next to the couch. I picked them up and walk into the kitchen with them hanging on my finger. Em stood there looking at them and doing her best not to laugh. Because they were pink, I knew it wasn’t something that fell from the laundry basket by mistake. Neither of us likes pink.
To this day nobody has come forward to ask about them.
Best video Ever
Men, Listen up. It doesn’t matter (to anyone) if you win or lose. What matters is how you take it.
Yes. It’s 1986, I’m 9 years old and I come downstairs to get ready for school. My dad is reading the paper and he says, “Hey Corey, what do you know about comets?”
I immediately spout off everything a space-addicted 9 year old kid can/should know about comets. My dad beams at me and tells me bedtime will be postponed.
Night falls and my dad comes home early. We get into his Ford Escort and drive to K-Bee toys where he buys me a pair of GI Joe binoculars just as it is closing.
I can still remember what they looked like in the packaging.
We drive to a subdivision that is under construction and park on a mound of dirt that is now someone’s home.
We both lay on the hood of that car and look at the stars. We talk about space. We talk about life. He tells me that the next time this comet passes by Earth he will be long gone, but he hopes I will watch it and remember what it is like to be a child staring at the night sky with his dad.
We never saw Halley’s comet that night. Our binoculars were too cheap, the light pollution was too strong, the comet was too far away. To be honest, I think I prefer it that way.
Because what I want to remember about that day has nothing at all to do with a comet.
There’s a great many things I wanted for my life. Some of them have come to pass, others never will. But above all I hope that, one day, I will sit on a mound of dirt as an old man. I will sit with the great love of my life and our children and our children’s children.
And we, all of us, will look at the stars. And maybe we’ll see a comet and maybe we won’t.
But we’ll look regardless and we will think of the ones we have loved.
Your U.S. workers demand 5 times Chinese workers income, and 10 times more benefits and are willing to world half as hard and are 75% as smart or well trained and your CEO expects and demand 100 times more income!
As such if you produce here Apple 15 must be marketed and sold USD5000 instead of less than USD1500! Ask your local customers, friends and colleagues will they buy Apple 15 or save USD4000 and buy a Chinese phone this is faster, better and cheaper.
You decide. Tim Cook knows the answer! China knows Tim Cook knows the Answer and the 7.999 billion people except you and your 6 racist friends need to ask!
I had a coworker who disliked me the moment she saw me. Idk why, but it seems to occur to me a lot, “hate at 1st sight”, lol! I am a very friendly person who has found that if I treat an unfriendly coworker respectfully and don’t react to their nastiness, they will eventually grow to like me.
Well, after nearly 2 years of her passive-aggressive behavior and snide remarks, I finally grew weary of her abuse. FYI she was almost my doppelgänger in every way. Nearly identical facial features, hair color, style, figure and dress size Misses 0. Acquaintances usually couldn’t tell us apart.
So, one day she came to work wearing a very cute summer dress. I complimented her on it.
She smirked and said, “Thank you! I’d tell you where I bought it, but there are no extra large sizes left.”
About a decade ago, I got an Interview for a network administrator position. The phone interview went really well. I had a panel interview with an HR rep, some VP, and the manager I would have reported to. It goes great, and I get a conditional offer later that same day. They even offered me more than I asked for, though I suspect the recruiting agency may have padded my range to get a bigger commission (and I loved them for it). I sign the background check paperwork.
Two days later, I get a call from the recruiter saying that the offer was rescinded and that the recruiting agency can’t work with me any more. Ok, that’s really weird. My credit score is shot due to having been unemployed for a bit with bills piling up, but that’s not usually the kind of thing that gets a recruiting agency to drop you. I ask for details, but the recruiter will only say that I will receive communication by mail.
A couple weeks later, after I had finally accepted a lower-paying offer elsewhere, a letter comes in the mail with a copy of my background check. I read over it and see convictions for armed robbery, attempted murder, aggravated assault, and a bunch of other stuff I don’t remember … except remembering I’ve never been arrested or charged for anything like that, let alone convicted. Well, I look at the paperwork l, and what do you know. The first and last name are correct, but the middle name and date of birth are wrong. It’s almost as if they Googled my first and last name and just read the results of whoever popped up first.
I kind of wish they had done a bit more reading, because it would have been hard for him to attend interviews seeing as he was literally in prison while I was in their office.
I did point out the error to the recruiting agency … and never heard back.
Originally Answered: What is the best case of “you just picked a fight with the wrong person” that you’ve witnessed?
A woman called my newsroom crying. Nobody wanted to deal with her. So they sent her to me. She was crying and hard to understand, but the basic story went this way…
She had bought a used car. She needed it badly to get to the THREE jobs she held to support her children by herself. No husband. Less than two weeks after buying the car, it broke down. She called the dealer who had told her it had a 30-day warranty.
He told her he couldn’t help. But, she told him, you said it had a 30 day warranty. His response — too bad. When she complained, he told her — “lady, you’re dealing with the big boys now.”
She was crying as she told me this. I was — to put it mildly — angry. My response to her — let me call you back.
I called him. I explained the problem and when I did not get what I considered a good response, I “explained” things to him:
He needed to respond appropriately to her and solve the problem.
If he did not respond appropriately, I would have my entire investigative news team look into his operation.
He did not like that.
Cautionary note here: My response – YOU picked the wrong person to fight with, and no, NOW, you’re playing with the Big Boys, expletives to follow…
He took back her car. Gave her a slightly newer model without any problems. She called crying and thanked me. I may have cried a bit too.
PS – I didn’t do the story about him. I wonder if I should have?
Operation Bodenplatte, also known as the “New Year’s Offensive” or “Unternehmen Bodenplatte”, was a large-scale aerial offensive launched by the German Luftwaffe against Allied airfields in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg on 1 January 1945, during the Battle of the Bulge. The operation was intended to cripple Allied airpower and support the German ground forces in the Ardennes region.
Despite achieving some initial surprise and causing some damage to Allied aircraft, Operation Bodenplatte was ultimately a failure. The Luftwaffe suffered heavy losses, losing over 250 aircraft compared to Allied losses of around 130. The operation also failed to achieve its main objective of crippling Allied airpower, as the Allies were able to quickly recover from the attacks.
image 7
There were several reasons for the failure of Operation Bodenplatte:
Poor planning and coordination: The operation was poorly planned and coordinated, with many of the Luftwaffe units involved not receiving their orders until the day of the attack. This led to confusion and delays, and the attacks were not as coordinated as they could have been.
Allied air superiority: The Allies had achieved air superiority over the skies of Western Europe by the end of 1944, and the Luftwaffe was no match for the combined strength of the Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Forces.
Adverse weather conditions: The weather on the day of the attack was poor, with low clouds and fog, which made it difficult for the Luftwaffe bombers to find their targets and for the Luftwaffe fighters to intercept Allied aircraft.
Allied intelligence: The Allies had broken the German codes and were aware of the planned attack. This allowed them to take evasive action and scramble their fighters to intercept the Luftwaffe bombers.
As a result of its failure, Operation Bodenplatte marked the beginning of the end of the Luftwaffe as an effective fighting force. The operation resulted in the loss of irreplaceable experienced pilots and aircraft, and the Luftwaffe was never able to regain its strength.
A top bunk is not “disrespectful”…. It is its own special fucking misery in a world of miseries…
Having to sleep in the top rack forces the occupant into constantly climbing over and disturbing the occupant of the lower bunk, denies the top bunk the use of “Privacy Curtains”, is fully exposed to the ventilation system which will always be too hot or too cold, is fully exposed to the lights, which can often be on 24 hours a day, prevents easy access to possessions stored under the bottom bunk, it forces the top bunk occupant into waking up the lower bunk every time he has to use the toilet or sink, and cuts down on the number of places the top bunk occupant can sit, since sitting on someones bunk without their permission is an act of disrespect…
I have seen more SERIOUS fights between cellies over “bunk territory” than any other issue… I’m talking about fights when one or both combattants require hospitalisation and a trip to The Hole…
My wife and I were out to eat with some friends. We were having a good time and enjoying ourselves when all of a sudden this horrific smell wafted towards us. The unmistakable smell of baby shit.
Eww, but whatever. Babies shit. It happens.
However, what happened next left us speechless and without appetite. The man with the baby was at a large round table with several other people. When they smelled it too, there was the standard, “Ooops, someone made a poopy” comments towards the baby.
The man picked the baby up, pushed some plates and glasses out of the way, and proceeded to open the offending diaper right there in the middle of the dining room. The smell was bad to begin with, but once he opened that thing up, it was nauseatingly bad. We had just received our meals, but there was no way we were eating anymore.
People around the restaurant were staring at the table, but no one at that table seemed to think anything of it. They were going about their conversations as though there wasn’t a shit-covered child on the table. One of the tables next to us went up to the bar to complain; the bartender said “That’s Jane’s family, she’s the manager. I’ll go get her.”
Jane came out of the back with an irritated look on her face. When the customer complained, she loudly said, “Oh, it’s not that bad. He’ll be done in a minute.” and walked over to the infant and made baby noises at it while the dad finished changing the diaper.
We and a few other tables all got up and headed for the door. “Hey, you didn’t pay!” was shouted after us. One of our companions turned and said to the manager, “You call the cops, I’ll call the health department. I’m sure they’d love to hear about this.” and we left.
I used to really like that restaurant, now I can’t even drive past it without gagging a little.
Seriously, how can people be so fucking disgusting?
Originally Answered: Have you ever stood up to a bully at the workplace and they back off?
Yes indeed. Two years ago, we had a hurricane. I had no food, no lights , no power. The next morning, I still went to work.
My manager raised his voice and was abusive. He wanted to push his work on to me, but I had no power, and didn’t see the email the night before. I spoke up to him and said he was totally unrealistic. He was stunned, like no one had ever spoken back to him.
The manager told the director, and the director texted me two hours later, getting harsh, saying “I know you have power supply issues, but the three of us need to meet“.
Ten minutes later, I sent a letter to HR complaining of harassment and abusive speech. I copied the email to an executive three levels above my director. The executive texted me back and said to keep him informed.
HR saw the executive’s email response, and the HR director called me within 40 mins of getting the email. I told her I wanted a management change. She switched me to a new set of directors an hour later. The new directors are professional and wonderful to work for.
The main point: Bully bosses don’t back down right away on their own. You must save yourself by contacting a boss two levels above your boss. Two levels, not one level. Use email letters to complain. Letters put everyone on notice, and they’re like a hand grenade.
When I was about 17 years old, my dad walked in on me and my then-boyfriend having sex.
The house I lived in at the time was located directly across from my high school. I was enrolled in a lot of sports, as was my boyfriend. Our practices often didn’t start until a half an hour or so after school ended, so most days we had a little bit of time to, um, kill. This particular day, I thought my dad would be at work. We raced to my house, went to my bedroom, and went at it. A few minutes later, without warning, my dad did the thing he always did – knock, then immediately open the door. Seriously? What was the point of knocking? I’ll never understand.
So there I was. His precious baby, naked with a boy. I did the only thing I could think of, which was to do a little *roll* off the bed, and then a second *roll* to hide myself underneath my bed. Leaving my bare-bummed boyfriend to the nightmare above me.
The only words my dad said was, “get dressed.”
I did not go to practice that day. Instead, I had to have dinner with my dad, alone. I couldn’t even look him in the eye. I was mortified.
We tried to have small talk???? “How was your day?” “Fine, yours?”
Two guys, college-age were yapping and I heard them say, it would be nice if the old f***er would let us go before him.
I looked up ahead of me in line and there were two young women, and then a man and wife and I didn’t see the advantage of them wanting to let these guys go before them, and they didn’t look all that old, then I realized that they were talking about me.
So I reached in my basket and took a shirt I was buying and pulled the tag off it, so when it was my turn and I didn’t let the sh**heads but in line, I left the shirt for last after taking my time unloading all the merchandise and striking up a nice conversation with the checker that always stalls a little and then she got to the shirt.
By this time the guys were really pissed. She said sir, your shirt doesn’t have a tag, let me call someone and get a price for you. I looked back with a grin. and said, you just got old f**kered.
I got married in 2008, my sister in 2009. My wedding was lovely and small but I felt like it meant a lot. My sister got married a year later. My Aunts bestowed upon her a family necklace (something borrowed and old) that was blue, and a simple flower bracelet for her something new.
They had done none of that for me.
I cried for 3 days. Like my marriage didn’t matter at all.
I was nearly killed in a multi-vehicular accident when I was 25. The first police officer on the scene pronounced me dead, but, luckily for me, there was a nurse on hand to confirm that, while I was gravely injured and in shock (which means that you don’t have a pulse in your arms and legs because your blood pressure is so low), I was actually alive.
By the time the ambulance got there, I was conscious and screaming from the pain of my injuries. I had broken both my legs, my pelvis and three vertebrae (they were not displaced), but the source of my agony was a dislocated knee joint. My knee-cap was 6 to 8 inches north of where it should be and my upper and lower leg bones over-lapped by 3 or 4 inches.
It hurt. A LOT.
So, they cut me out of my car and got me into the ambulance and rushed me to the hospital. I was in bad enough shape that they called ahead so an Orthopedist was waiting for me. Unfortunately for me, he was a newly minted doctor fresh out of his residency.
When he came into the exam room he:
did not ask my name
did not introduce himself
did not examine me
did not look at my chart
did not attempt to take the pulse in the ankle of the mangled leg
What he DID do was say, “Oh, that leg has to come off.” Those were literally the first words out of his mouth.
Now, my sister is a nurse and my mother wanted me to be a doctor, so I knew that he should have at least looked at my chart and attempted an exam. I was so angry at his utter lack of bedside manner that my immediate response was, “If I lose my leg, you’ll lose your license.”
Honestly, I don’t know who was more surprised, him or me. Admittedly I was having a REALLY bad day, but normally I would never say anything like that to anyone.
Now, what I didn’t know at the time was that in 95% of the cases where a person has a dislocated knee joint the way I did, the femoral artery that supplies blood to the lower leg is crushed beyond repair. But I was extraordinarily flexible, and luckily, my femoral artery was NOT damaged.
So after a short but pointed argument and a bit of malpractice (on the doctor’s part), my injury was reduced and I got to keep my leg below the knee. It has taken a lot of surgery to fix the damage and more than a decade of physical therapy to relearn how to walk but I can walk and 99% of people won’t notice my limp.
So that is how a split-second decision changed my life. If I had let the doctor amputate, no one would have known that my artery hadn’t been crushed and I’d have a prosthesis and be buying my shoes one at a time. I thank goodness every day that I said what I did to that insufferable jerk.
Women and their tests…
Heaven on Seven Chicken Voodoo Rigatoni
spicy rigatoni 3
Yield: 8 to 10 servings
Ingredients
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 tablespoons plus 1/4 teaspoon Angel Dust Cajun Seasoning
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup diced yellow onion
1/2 cup diced red onion
1/3 cup thinly sliced green onion, white and green parts
2 tablespoons Roasted Garlic Puree
1/3 cup diced celery
1/2 cup seeded, diced green bell pepper
1/2 cup seeded, diced red bell pepper
1/2 cup seeded, yellow bell pepper
1/3 cup seeded, diced poblano chile
1/4 cup seeded, diced cubanella pepper
1/4 cup seeded, diced banana pepper
1 tablespoon seeded, minced Fresno chile
1 1/2 teaspoons seeded, minced habanero chile
1 teaspoon seeded, minced jalapeno
1/2 teaspoon minced serrano chile
1/2 teaspoon seeded, minced fingerhot chile
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon Hungarian paprika
1/4 teaspoon Spanish paprika
1/4 teaspoon chile powder
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 cup peeled and diced ripe banana
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 cup water
3/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk
3/4 cup pineapple juice
1/2 cup mango juice
1/2 cup papaya juice
1/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1 tablespoon Key lime or regular lime juice
1 tablespoon Hot as a Mutha hot pepper sauce or habanero sauce
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into pieces
2 pounds dried rigatoni pasta, cooked according to package directions
Instructions
Season the chicken with 2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning.
In a 5 quart Dutch oven, preferably enameled cast iron, heat the oil over high heat. When oil is hot but not smoking add the chicken and brown for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
Stir in the yellow, red and green onions and the garlic puree cook for 2 minutes.
Add the celery, peppers, and chiles cook until vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes.
Add honey, sugars, paprikas, chile powder, allspice, coriander, turmeric, salt, black and white peppers, red pepper flakes, remaining 1/4 teaspoon Cajun seasoning, and stir for 2 to 3 minutes to coat meat and vegetables with the seasonings.
Mix in the banana, tomato sauce, water, coconut milk, juices and hot pepper sauce. Bring to a boil reduce the heat to medium low and simmer uncovered for 1 hour.
When ready to serve, stir in the butter until well blended and toss with rigatoni in a large bowl.
Attribution
Posted by Recipethyme at Recipe Goldmine 8/18/2001 5:26 pm.
Source: Chef Jimmy Bannos – Heaven on Seven Restaurant, Chicago
While we usually call it the “sixth sense”, the military term for this phenomenon is “premonition and intuition”.
Soldiers who fought for a long time on the battlefield have often developed sharper senses. Their bodies and minds are adapting to a survival situation:
After you have been away from any artificial light sources for a while, your night vision will improve. Being constantly exposed to enemy fire, your ability to see and recognize objects at a long distance increases.
You will be able to fine tune your hearing so that you’ll will be more perceptible to all “man made” sounds, for example tank engines or sounds of movement in the underbrush.
There are even soldiers who are capable to smell human feces from long distances away.
And some soldiers go even further: they develop an elevated state of mind, where their subconsciousness is able to connect the tiniest sensory inputs with the soldier’s vast experience. This way, soldiers can “foresee” future events on the battlefield, can “sniff out” ambushes and “know” where the enemy has put the mines.
This is not a new phenomenon, though there are many accounts from WWII and the Vietnam war where soldiers acquired extraordinary perception skills. Unfortunately, the military often dismissed them as “spooky stories”.
I was able to acquire a limited set of “extrasensory perception” skills myself. Interestingly, while I was fighting in the Bosnian war, I wasn’t really able to develop above average senses. As the war went on, I became better in anticipating enemy positions, or mined areas, but this was purely because of my ever growing experience and improved knowledge of our enemy’s tactics. When you’ve seen the enemy attacking a couple of times, always in the same way, it’s really not too difficult to figure out what their next steps will be.
During the war in Kosovo, however, I went one step further. I think this has a lot to do with the fact that we were nonstop in combat. There were no clear front lines (like in Bosnia) and everyday was a fight for survival that demanded from us to be 100% alert and sharp.
I remember one particular day: it was the third day of a massive enemy attack and I was manning a position together with a comrade. We were expecting that the enemy’s main assault would happen just in front of our position. We were in a small house and the moment I entered the building I felt that something was wrong. I couldn’t put my finger on it, though, but an inner voice told me: “this place is no good!”
We waited, but nothing happened. The fighting had started on our right flank, but in front of us, everything was still calm. All of a sudden, I told my buddy: “Let’s go somewhere else!” He trusted my word and didn’t argue with me and so we moved to another house that was a couple of hundred meters up the road.
On our way, we passed two of our comrades who were waiting in another position. I took a short look at their spot and told them to move fifty meters up the road to another place. I didn’t know why I said it, but they obeyed my order and moved immediately.
My new position was in a big three story house, only hundred meters to their right side, and so I was able to keep an eye on them. After an hour, the enemy attacked us with tanks. I shot twice with an RPG, but the enemy was still advancing. Our house had a very safe place in the basement and more and more soldiers came from other places to find refuge there.
image 15
Our last position, the “big house”, seen from enemy side. Picture taken after the war.
Outside the house, bullets and shells were flying from every direction. Suddenly my alarms went off again. I stood up and said: “Let’s go! Now or never!” and we all exited through a small window at the back of the house.
When I got outside the house, the air was red from the dust of the houses’ red bricks. Trees were hit by artillery shells and one fell just one meter in front of my feet. I waved and screamed at the two comrades that I had left nearby and told them to join us. Somehow we all made it to a safe place.
What I found out later was that an artillery shell had hit the exact place where I had my first position, just minutes after we decided to leave the place. The shell went straight through the roof and would have killed us immediately.
The two soldiers that I had asked to change their position came to thank me. They told me that only one minute after they were in their new position, an artillery shell had hit the old one.
And the last man who had left the big house from the small window told us that the moment he was leaving the building, a tank round had hit the room in the basement where we had stayed the whole time.
Of course we had a lot of luck that day, but there was more to it. After having spent a long time in combat, I was able to trust my instincts, my gut feeling, although it didn’t make any logical sense. From a military point of view, the positions that we had been using that day were carefully chosen and the best possible choices. Still, some inner voice told me to abandon them.
There were more occasions where my extrasensory perception skills (or those of my comrades) were either saving our lives or made us better soldiers. Especially during night combat, we often “knew” where each of our soldiers was positioned and what they were doing, without being able to see them. We were able to move without wasting time figuring out where everyone was left and we could shoot without hitting one of our own people. This made us better and more lethal soldiers.
Yield: about 8 to 10 gallons of gumbo. Can cut recipe in half to reduce.
Ingredients
2 cups vegetable oil
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups diced onions
2 cups diced celery
2 cups diced bell pepper
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 cups chopped green onions
3 gallons water
1 pound fresh or frozen okra
1 (28 ounce) can Ro*Tel diced tomatoes or 2 (10 ounce) cans
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon black pepper
2 ounces crab boil
8 dashes Tabasco sauce
8 dashes Louisiana hot sauce
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 ounce Paul Prudhomme’s Seafood Magic seasonings
1 ounce Cajun seasoning
1 ounce dried basil
1 ounce dried thyme
3 pounds peeled and deveined shrimp (70 to 90 count)
1 pound claw crab meat
2 whole crabs, cleaned and halved
1 pint fresh oysters
1 ounce file or to taste
Instructions
First, you make a roux. In a large, heavy stock pot on medium heat, add 2 cups vegetable oil and bring to temperature.
Add flour gradually. It will sizzle when it is at the right temperature. Using a whisk, stir roux constantly. Stir until it reaches a peanut butter color. When it reaches the desired color, add the onions, celery, bell pepper, garlic and 1 cup of green onions (in that order) until all ingredients are cooked down or caramelized.
Add water, okra, Ro*Tel tomatoes, seasonings and bring to boil. After it reaches boiling, reduce heat to low and let simmer for at least an hour.
Add seafood and continue to cook on medium heat for about 15 to 20 minutes.
Taste for seasoning and texture.
Add file to thicken.
Stir in the remaining green onions and simmer for a few more minutes.
It was older than I was. The biggest issue was, the floor pans were pretty rusted out (and the Flintstones jokes that came with it). I could see the road flow by if I looked down under my feet and pedals. Water would splashed up when it rained.
So I try to fix it. Some rolled stainless steel wouldn’t stay down right. Riveting just made more holes. And I gave it a break. Later that afternoon, I noticed my mom’s cookie sheet. It was almost the exact right size! And it wouldn’t roll up. A few clips with tin snips, and some epoxy, I had the floor of my car (on my side) waterproof!
Later that week, my mom wanted to make cookies. I, of course, had no idea where her cookie sheet was.
I think the worst part was me “helping” her look for 5 or 8 minutes.
A few summers ago, and 20 or so years later, I finally came clean about it. Time heals all wounds, and she wasn’t too upset.
I was quite a lonely boy, and longed for a relationship. On holiday, I met a girl who seemed interested in me, and we had fun: we walked, climbed, sailed together and did a lot of talking. At the end of the holiday, we exchanged addresses and corresponded for a year or so. I kept ALL her letters.
One day, she wrote to tell me about her new boyfriend. He was wonderful (apparently.) Being rather immature, I felt betrayed. I had no reason to feel this way, we were only friends and I should have felt glad for her, but hey. Teenage angst.
I took all her letters, threw them into my metal litter bin, and set fire to them.
IN MY BEDROOM.
I had the window open, and there was no-one else in the house, so that was cool. I remember the IMMENSE satisfaction watching those letters burn.
When the bin cooled, I decided to bury the ashes, and with them my heart. I lifted the bin – and there was a perfect bottom-of-the-bin shaped hole in the polyester carpet.
My father was fairly physical in terms of punishment, so my heart did not just sink: it scuttled itself. I knew that Armageddon would ensue were this to be discovered.
In panic, I looked around and realised that my room was a perfect oblong. The bin-shaped burn was in the left corner, my bed in the opposing right corner.
I have (up to this day!) never worked so hard or fast in my life. I removed the furniture from my room, managed to lift the carpet, desperately salvaging the carpet tacks, turned the carpet around, nailed it back down and replaced the furniture, with the bed covering the offending burn.
My parents wondered why I suddenly announced my decision to assist with the housework by taking responsibility for all upstairs vacuuming and cleaning. They were surprised but pleased: I was desperate to keep my crime concealed.
I am now 59. My father has passed away, but my mother still lives in the family home. And the burn is still under my old bed. 45 years later, my crime remains hidden.
1. Pretty people are automatically more acceptable by people. Average looking people have to do something above average to get accepted and ugly people have to do something extraordinary!
image 24
It is because the human mind appreciates physical beauty and repels ugliness because of immaturity of mind. But in the end what matters is inner beauty or ugliness and that wiseness comes with experience and time.
2. Leaving your girlfriend/boyfriend seems much tougher than leaving your friends.
image 23
It is because romantic relations induces strong pheromones secretions in your body that cause you to develop strong bonding feeling with your partner. It is not the case you have with friends and hence breaking a strong bond seems tougher.
3. People who get goosebumps frequently while listening to music have a special connection with it. These people listen to music very frequently and their work capacities and capabilities are partly dependent on it. If they are barred from listening to music for 1 month, their productivity will fall.
image 22
It is because the hormone adrenaline increases in their body while listening to the music and that causes more activation, more awakening and better functioning of their body. Plus, it keeps the mind calm.
4. The more attention you give to a person, the more attitude he/she will show you and the less crap he/she will give about you.
image 21
It is because as the humans get more attention, their minds tend to think that they are very important and good looking and the person who is giving them attention needs their company desperately and is not equal to them at all.
5. Money instils confidence and happiness in majority of people. It increases their desire to work.
image 20
It is because anything (money) that is able to complete every single desire of people is very much acceptable to them as human desire are insatiable.
In 5th grade I had a 1st year teacher, Ms. Craig, who was amazing and one of the reasons I went into education, but I digress. One day we were studying the United States and where all of the states were. I noticed that she had switched Missouri and Minnesota. I remember thinking – that is not right. you see my dad is from Minnesota and my family lived there for a short spell when I was 4. I decided, to ask her if that is really where Minnesota located. I will never forget her reply – You know Denise, I am not totally confident that it is let’s check. So in front of the entire class, she lifted the map she had written on to look at the map that contained all of the States written on it. Well, look at that Denise is correct, I made a mistake and mixed up two states!
Miss Jana Craig if you are out there and can read this, you made a very strong impression on a 5th grader in the very first class you taught. You were the BEST teacher ever! Thank you for making me love school.
The most important required secondary power is to be born in an upper class family. Most of those high IQ people who succeed, have born with silver spoon on hand.
The reason is trivial. Nobody makes it alone nor in a vacuum. To be successful, you need to get socialized with right people, to know the right people, to be encouraged, to have social support, you name it. The less you have those, the less likely you are to succeed.
Then there is the thrice-goddamned communication range. If you are a high-IQ person in a middle class environment, you are likely to be branded as a weird kid, a nerd, a geek, an egghead and bullied and ostracized. You learn very quickly to hide your intelligence to stay below the radar lest you are torn into pieces. And God help you if you are born in a working class family – you will be stampled as a weirdo, a misfit, an outcast, and eaten alive.
For a middle class and working class high IQ individuals, the best hopes are military and STEM branches. Military because militaries are meritocracies, and high IQ is an asset once you are past buck sergeant or lieutenant. STEM branches, because they are difficult and require brainpower, and you are likely to get networked with similar-minded youngsters.
Forget the rags-to-riches fairy tales. They are just that – fairy tales invented to deceive the gullible and to make the proles to blame themselves for their failures.
When I was in High School, I would often work until late at night in the mines, and then go home. But more often enough, no food was left for me. While my mother told my sister to make a plate for me, most of the time it was either [1] completely missing, or [2] starvation plate; one baby spoon of corn, one baby spoon of potatoes, and one half of a meatloaf.
Now, to keep up my energy, I would often buy my own food, and make it and eat around 10 at night.
One day, I was making a pizza for myself. I was alone at the house. But you know, suddenly I had to go to the bathroom. So I went upstairs while my pizza would finish cooking.
Unfortunately, while I was upstairs, my sister came home, with two of her friends. Took out my pizza and the three girls ate my dinner.
When I came down, I was livid, and they just laughed at me.
They taunted me. They told me how stupid I was, and all the rest of the silly kinds of games that adolescent girls play on the weak.
Meanwhile, my FUCKING father defended them saying “You are the oldest son and it is your responsibility to take the hits”.
…
He was always a BLUE PILL dweeb.
I’m much older now, and you know what, I should have beat their god-damn faces in. Let them cry and holler. Let them scream in pain.
But, you know, I didn’t. I was a “good boy”.
As far as my father is concerned… he passed on, and I forgave him. But I have to tell you all the real truth… he taught me to become the wimp nerdy blue-pill “kick me” beta simp that I had to endure with for decades.
DO NOT DO THAT TO YOUR KIDS.
You do not take abuse.
You PUNISH the abuser(s).
Swiftly. You rub their faces in the shit that they just laid down upon you. As they scream and hollar, let them. Soon enough they will shut the fuck up.
Mine was in the Air Force. I had a racist for an immediate supervisor who always gave me average ratings on my performance. I didn’t realize how bad I was getting screwed until one of my counterparts (who was a total screw up) was shocked that he higher ratings than myself. A “3” is considered average (which I was getting on my reviews). This “screwup” was getting 5’s which is the highest score. I was thinking “how the HECK did he get a 5??” This dude missed time, came to work drunk, was reprimanded for fights….been to jail….etc. my record was SPOTLESS. Always the first on the job and the last to leave. Kept my uniform super clean. So I realized that I’m working twice as hard as this other dude and getting a much lower score.
This was in the 1990’s. I overheard a conversation with my racist supervisor one day about what he wanted to be when he leave the military. He stated that he wanted to be a highway patrol officer “so that he can legally hit minorities”. He always made crude jokes about Mexicans and blacks. As an African American myself I hated this dude’s guts. His leadership skills were the worst. I hated every day of working with him.
One day it was his last day of work. The shop was going to throw a going away party for this racist pig. There was an option to donate $10.00 to the potluck to participate in the party or miss out and work. I chose to work. I’m not donating a DIME to this dude’s going away party.
After he gracefully disappeared from the job I thought that would be the last I’ve heard of him. NOPE! I was wrong. Found out later that he did apply for the state highway patrol position.
The timing on this particular day couldn’t have been more perfect. Two men from the highway patrol were visiting our unit and I happened to be the ONLY person there. They asked me “who’s in charge?” Well, I’m the only airman in the shop so I was actually in charge. I asked them what’s going on? They told me that they are doing a follow up on a gentleman who applied for highway patrol who used to work at this unit. I told them I have detailed files on this person. What made this even better was the fact that one highway patrol officer was black, the other was Hispanic. I was so nervous in hopes that our main supervisor didn’t show up because he would give this guy a decent feedback. I wanted them to hear the DARK side of this scumbag.
I told them that he was a decent worker at best but here are some documents I wanted to share. Luckily I kept my old floppy disk handy with all of the stuff I wrote to the higher chain of command about this racist pos. The statements had dates and times I written down of his racist comments over the years. Too many to write in this essay. But let’s just say it was two pages worth (front and back).
The look of disgust was very apparent on their faces. One of them asked me “people like him still exist in the military?” I replied “shockingly, yes”. They asked me, “did you ever want to knock this dude the F- -K out?” (Many Times I did).
To make a long story short, months went by and I didn’t hear anything. Then one day I overheard a conversation about my former supervisor being turned down for his highway patrol job and was working at a Wal-Mart as a warehouse worker. In all honesty, I take GREAT pleasure in feeling that my sneaky swift actions were the reason.
Dave and Buster’s Muffaletta Salad
an amazing salad
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
1 1/4 pounds Romanelli pasta
4 ounces sliced turkey
4 ounces sliced ham
2 ounces (24 slices) pepperoni
2 ounces sliced salami
1/4 cup sliced black olives
1/2 cup chopped green salad olives
1 cup sliced celery
3 tablespoons Italian dressing
12 ounces prepared assorted lettuce
2 ounces julienned spinach leaves
1 cup diced Roma tomatoes
1 cup assorted pizza cheeses: fontina, mozzarella, asiago or parmesan
4 tablespoons chopped green onion
1 cup roasted red pepper
1/4 cup shredded aged asiago cheese
Instructions
Julienne (cut into strips) the pepperoni, salami, ham and turkey then place in salad bowl.
Cut celery, green onions and roast peppers, add to the bowl.
Chop and add both types of olives and add to bowl.
Add the Italian dressing and pesto and toss all together well to mix.
Cook pasta in boiling salted water until done, drain and place in salad bowl. Pour the Italian dressing on the pasta and toss all together gently.
Place assorted lettuce, spinach, pizza cheeses, diced ripe Roma tomatoes and onions on cold platter (leave a space in the middle for pasta).
Add tossed hot Romanelli salad mixture; pile high in the center of platter. Add shredded asiago or parmesan to garnish.
As a triage nurse in an Emergency Room, there are duties that become mundane but are necessary. One rule we had was that if a pregnant woman approached the check in desk complaining of pregnancy symptoms, the nurse asked how far along they were.
Twenty weeks is the magic number. If they are 20 weeks pregnant the baby has a realistic chance of surviving if delivered. This meant the nurse had to get up and push the patient by wheelchair to Labor and Delivery. It was a big hospital and L&D was on the exact opposite side of the hospital.
If they checked in at the front entrance, security would push them to L&D and the staff there would determine how far along they are and just as the triage nurse in the ER take them by wheelchair to the proper care area.
A pretty good system that had worked for years without incident. Both areas had to push an equal number of patients across the hospital.
And then one day I get a call from the L&D Director.
“We had a patient come in today who says she was told rudely by the ER staff that she was in the wrong place and needed to drive around to the front entrance,” she said.
I neglected to mention that this was a huge hospital that took up 2 city blocks. Crossing the hospital required a 10 min walk through a maze of locked doors and corridors. Driving around required 2 red lights and avoiding a one way street.
“I’ll have to speak to the staff,” I told her, “They know what they’re supposed to do.”
“This girl was 32 weeks and complained of her water breaking,” she continued.
It seemed she was catastrophizing the situation. The staff broke protocol. I will remind them and reiterate the protocol.
“I’ll make sure they understand,” I said.
“Keith, the baby was dead,” she said.
Turns out she was minimizing the episode. The seriousness of the call was not lost on me.
“I am going now to take care of it,” I said, “I am sorry.”
“These people are livid,” she added.
I called the charge nurse and asked who was at triage. Of the two names given, I immediately surmised who the culprit was. Judy was an outspoken nurse who enjoyed sharing her opinion that most of the patients in the ER did not even have an emergency. I went to get her.
“Can you come with me?” I asked.
“Why?” she asked, “Am I in trouble?”
She followed me out into the hallway, and as we walked to my office I asked her, “Did you send a 32 week pregnant patient around to the front?”
“Is that what this is about?” she started, “We are busy and I don’t have time to be pushing people all over the hospital.”
“The baby was dead,” I said, “This is not trivial.”
“That baby was dead before she got here,” she argued, “That has nothing to do with me not pushing her to L&D.”
Stating things that were most likely true did not change facts. She probably was already fired, honestly, but without hesitation I said, “Collect all your stuff and go home.”
“Am I being put on administrative leave because of this crap?”
“Come by my office before you leave,” I said.
While she collected her things, I called Human Resources and made sure I had grounds to terminate. The HR representative agreed to come witness the termination.
“I don’t care what you do,” Judy started as she entered the room. “That baby was already dead.”
“Judy, because of your refusal to follow proper protocol and continued insistence that you have done nothing wrong, you are being terminated. Effective immediately.” Her mouth fell open, and she began to cry. “This is Allison from HR. She can answer any further questions you may have.”
That’s the moment, I think, she finally realized the seriousness of her actions.
An Egyptian woman insisted that her husband’s sperm be checked, because something was obviously wrong. They were trying to get pregnant, but nothing happened at all. And she wanted that baby.
His semen sample turned out to be a bit of a surprise, because it was dead. There was not a single living sperm cell detectable, and it had always been like that, because the man was consequently diagnosed with a rare congenital condition in which patients are infertile from birth.
His sperm had always been dead. The suckers never swam.
You might wonder why the woman’s question was shocking in the first place.
Well, they had three children. And her husband was convinced that he was the biological father of all three of them. His wife, on the other hand, knew only too well that maybe — just maybe — that might not have been the entire naked truth. Because back in Egypt — where they lived when all their children were conceived — there must have been another kind sperm donor. With living sperm.
And yet she was the one who insisted that her husband’s semen be checked by their urologist, because something was wrong. Only to be unmasked as a serial cheater.
I was working as a computer programmer. I was given a task with an impossible deadline with the threat “if it’s not finished on time, you’re fired”.
I was working late, very late like past midnight late. For some reason, I had an urge to snoop in my bosses desk. I was shocked to find a hand-written report on everyone in the department. The boss was following everybody around, timing and recording our movements. For example “A” took 3 minutes in the rest room, “B” took 7 minutes getting coffee then went to the rest room 17 minutes later, “C” returned from lunch 3 minutes late.
I was appalled and quit soon after that without telling anyone what I found. The rest of the team quit before the summer was over. From what I heard later on, they were all given a project with the same threat; “if it’s not finished on time, your fired”. Upper management called the boss in to find out why 75% of the department quit in less than 6 months.
I learned a very important lesson; if a boss hands you a project and says “if it’s not completed in time, you’re fired”. Quit immediately because that project was deliberately chosen for you to fail.
Its not exactly revenge, its more getting paid back.
I lived in a condo, I parked right next to a main door.
I would drive to work every morning, and one morning when I pulled out of my parking spot I noticed pinkish red transmission fluid on the parking spot. We have an expensive waterproof coating in the parking garage. You are not allowed to get oil on it, as it degrades it. There are huge fines for dripping oil
So I drove to work, called a transmission repair place, and told them that I had a leak, and they said I could drop it off at lunch. Towards the end of the day, they called me back, and said that they couldn’t find a leak, and they were sorry, but they were going to have to charge me $20 for the time spent looking. I thought this was a screaming deal, and put them on my list of places to deal with. A couple of years later, I did use them.
I drove home, and there was more transmission fluid in my parking stall, and I hadn’t had the car parked there.
So I went shopping, and bought a trail camera, that I placed in my stall. I also put up a sign, saying Parking $200 an hour. Which by condo bylaws was illegal, but I hoped no one would catch me on the first day.
I went to work the next day, and when I came home I checked the trail cam, and a delivery truck parked in my stall 4 times during the day, and the guy ran in and delivered packages. If he didn’t have the leak, he wouldn’t have been a problem. But it was like a $1000 for an oil spill on the membrane, so I had to stop it.
I called the company the next day and told them they had a driver parking in my stall, and they owed me $200, in parking fees. This covered my $20 at the transmission shop, my time off work, and my trail cam. They argued, but eventually paid, because I had pictures of the van parked in front of the $200 an hour parking sign.
He never parked there again. As I said, I wouldn’t have been upset, except for the leak. He might have been doing it for years, before he had a leak.
Yes. I am one of six siblings, the youngest was my sister. At 20 she got married, to what turned out to be a physically abusive husband that raped her. She got divorced. He began tormenting her.
I was ten years older than her; and I had started a business that was doing well. I was aware my sister was having problems with her ex, but I wasn’t paying much attention. She called me, and said she wanted to talk to me about if I could help her.
I could help her, but I was busy dealing with something, and told her I’d call her back when I had more time. Then I forgot to call her back.
A week later, her ex broke into her apartment in the middle of the night, and stabbed her to death, stabbed her 22 times.
It was up to me to go through her apartment after the police turned it over to us, and collect her things. I found a diary. And in the diary, she had written she thought her ex was escalating, he had cut the brake lines on her car, and she was afraid he was going to kill her. So she called me, she wanted me to help her run away for a while, where he couldn’t find her. And I said I could help.
And I forgot to call her back, for a week.
I had plenty of money, I could have easily supported my sister anywhere she wanted to go, indefinitely.
And if I had remembered to call her back, she’d still be alive. But I was too busy to talk to her, and learn how bad it really was. And I was too busy to remember to call her back.
Instead, I spent about $50,000 getting her ex prosecuted and sent to prison. I was prepared to spend even more, but back then, that’s what it cost.
That was over 30 years ago. I put my business ahead of my family. I still know I am guilty, my sister cannot forgive me, and I cannot forgive myself. That will be true for the rest of my life.
Edit: Thanks for the upvotes and sympathy. To save some trouble, I will say I do not want any advice on getting over this, or what my sister would have wanted for me, or forgiving myself, or that her ex is guilty but not me. If I could do any of that, I would not have written this answer. I’ve dealt with this 30 years ago in the way I still think is best: I accepted my mistake, and I changed my priorities and thinking to never make the same mistake again. And at retirement age now, those changes have helped me with other losses; they were not due to my neglect or wrong-headed priorities.
Edit2: several have asked how this cost me money; it is the States job to prosecute and they pay for it. True. But the DA has a budget, and spends it all on cases based on which ones they believe they will most likely be able to get conviction on. Especially you don’t want to prosecute a murder case, fail to get a conviction, and then if new evidence comes to light you cannot prosecute again, due to double jeopardy. They thought our case was just circumstantial and hearsay from the family that hated her Ex. (I understood that.) So I went looking for a solution, and found a law partnership with two ex-Assistant DAs, still on good terms with the current DA. They were now defense attorneys, but I paid them to reprise their former role as prosecutors, they hired private investigators (by the book professionals) to develop the evidence needed to get her Ex prosecuted. I paid a retainer of $10K up front, and every time that ran low, I bumped it up $10K. It took several months, but eventually they brought their case to the DA (I was not present for that meeting, they thought it would be easier to talk if it was just them and no civilians). The DA decided to prosecute. So I didn’t pay for the prosecution, I paid to make it cheap and easy for the DA to prosecute, and that was the new evidence they needed. None of that was illegal or used any illegal means. Her Ex was convicted, and the Jury deliberated about 30 minutes before sentencing him to 30 to life.
Shortly after graduating from the police academy, I learned of a three-day course for police officers called “Street Survival.” I paid my way and attended the event. I learned a tremendous amount from going to that course. One of the biggest things I learned is what happens to a person when they are shot. We reviewed a lot of actual videos of police officers being shot. Some fell while others remained standing.
The skill they were attempting to teach us, was that as a police officer you never stop fighting. Not if you’re shot, not if you’re stabbed, stay in the fight as long as you are alive. This was at that time, shown to be the officer’s best chance at survival.
They showed examples of officers severely wounded who continued to fight until help arrived and survived. Conversely, some officers that were hit and simply disengaged were more likely to either die of shock or subsequently be killed by more gunfire.
I have watched videos where police officers in a gunfight don’t even realize they have been shot. I have always been taught that in a gunfight you keep fighting as long as you are able. It will hurt, and there will be blood, but an officer’s best chance at survival is to fight.
Secret doc AND modern policy aims to slow development in China
I got called for an interview two days after submitting an application. I cried after getting off the phone, because heck, I need this job and I have an interview tomorrow.
For context: I was out at the beach with my niece and nephew, and it was cold water and their first time at a beach so of course I follow them into the water because someone has to keep an eye on these trouble makers.
I failed to realize the consequence of having sniffles combined with taking care of kids and a cold beach. While were out to lunch, I get the aforementioned call.
I wake up the next morning and I am sick. Sick as in flu, runny nose, throwing up, coughing, barely speak sick.
I get my butt up and go to the interview. That alone is crazy.
And this interview goes incredibly well. I manage to get through it.
The manager extends his hand and says with a big smile, “Well, we’d like to extend an offer to work here to you.”
I’m about to shake his hand when, because my life is an actual joke, I throw up. Onto his shoes. All over the carpeted floor.
I look at him, and I’m scared. I thought I royally goofed. He hands me tissues and smiles like a dad does.
”Don’t worry. The offer still stands. I hope you take it too, because it’s obvious you are a determined young woman. I’ve never had anyone come to an interview sick before.”
1) 80% of people would write their name if asked to write something with a new pen.
2) If a person laughs at a low quality joke then he is suffering from loneliness.
3) The big toe indicates the nervous weakness hidden by the other fingers, indicating that the person wants to be unnoticed by many.
4) Psychology is the first 6 seconds of meeting with someone, the first impression about him is formed.
5) It is a proven fact that our response to any situation is capable of radically changing that situation.
6) Many times someone’s indifference indicates his utmost care which he does not want to express.
7) If you write down negative thoughts and throw them away like garbage, your mood will get better.
8) In 90% of cases, those whose handwriting is bad are more creative than usual.
9) It has been proven that orange helps reduce anxiety. That’s why doctors recommend eating an orange before going to work.
10) Never reveal your goals to anyone. It produces the equivalent effect of achieving goals in the brain.
11) When surrounded by plants, the brain releases certain chemicals which increase the thinking power of the brain. That’s why walking in the garden is part of some psychiatric procedures.
12) The conversation of the parents with the child becomes the language of his mind.
13) 8 positive statements disable a negative statement.
14) If someone’s foot is back towards you during the story-gossip with many people, then it should be understood that he is interested in you.
15. If a girl likes you, she will play with her hair while talking to you.
16) You will rarely die in your dreams, if you die in your dreams then you have started something new in life.
17) Dream is a conversation between you and your subconscious mind.
18) But before we go – a click on the upvote button will make both of us happy.
Even if Xi requested for a Loan of $ 900 Billion, the request would be made by the Bank of China to the US Treasury and would be an official request
The Loan would need Congressional Approval
Besides why would Xi need Biden for $ 900 Billion?
He has $ 3.1 Trillion in Forex reserves and even if China pays off all the debts it’s committed to, that leaves $ 1.2 Trillion in the clear for China
That’s more than the next 17 nations combined
Plus even if Xi needs money to bailout some aspect of China, his people have almost 80–100 Trillion RMB in Savings and Investments and all he needs to do is to offer 8% interest and tomorrow morning he gets his $ 900 Billion.
Plus where exactly does Biden have $ 900 Billion?
Plus why would Xi need $ 900 Billion in US currency?
Obviously this news is not just wrong but fundamentally stupid
Xi and Bidens meeting was done at Bidens request
Xi took the opportunity to meet the businessmen of USA and present to them his three new policies on Foreign companies
A. Reducing the time needed to withdraw capital from 36 months to 12 months
B. Extending IP protection from 1 year to 5 years (Many US Businessmen loved this)
C. Decriminalizing Espionage which didn’t have National Security Implications and changing 15 year imprisonment to 100 Million RMB fine
Biden and Xi met to mainly bide time
Biden has the US Elections next year and has his plate full of conflicts and simply can’t afford a third conflict
Xi said he would not invade Taiwan without red lines being violated including the declaration of Independence
My cousin once ordered some louts out of the store he was a manager at.
Later that day, as he drove home, he spotted them following him. He didn’t speed, he didn’t weave, he just drove carefully to a nearby suburb, turned down a side street and then turned into a driveway between two blocks of residential units, with them closing the distance and pulling in right behind him . . . right into the parking area behind the local police station.
The louts realised where they were, started to reverse out as a bunch of police looked up at what was going on, only to have a police car pull up behind the louts, blocking them in.
My cousin got out and explained what was going on to the officers on hand. The louts denied following him but it didn’t matter. They had outstanding warrants AND were already on the ‘Be On The Lookout’ list for some antics they had gotten up to earlier in the day.
My cousin gave a statement and went on his way, the louts didn’t get to do the same.
My family has been involved in sourcing the cows for McDonald’s for decades. I use the word “cows” as opposed to “cattle” because almost all of the meat comes from dairy beef. Now dairy beef is not a bad thing if you make hamburgers out of it and it is very lean. Growing up on a beef farm I was raised on premium ground chuck. The texture is totally different. Our burgers would easily fall apart. However, you do not want that in the fast food industry. Dairy beef creates a “chewier” patty. Processed thin, it is perfect for McDonald’s and it is 100% lean beef.
As cattle buyers, our family has had their fair share of tricks pulled on them. Unscrupulous sellers make give a cow an injection right before she enters the sale barn and we would buy her thinking that she was just a cow that had quit given milk. Since there is a time period between the sale barn purchase and the cow’s arrival at the processing plant, the ailment would inevitably show up and she would be rejected by McDonald’s. We, of course, had to bear the cost of the reject. McDonald’s was strict!
Additionally, all the cattle are brought to a central source where they are butchered and processed to provide a more “generic” flavor as opposed to one particular breeds distinguishing taste (if that makes sense). In other words, all the patties taste the same.
Though I do not eat at McDonald’s very often, I am not afraid of their meat. I recently read an article on Pollock (the fish in Filet-O-Fish). McDonald’s only uses PREMIUM Pollock! And their tatar sauce is one of the top-rated in the world for flavor! Crazy. Try the Filet-O-Fish with added bacon – game changer!!
I tore a guy’s arm apart at the wrist, elbow and shoulder. I dragged another guy’s face along a brick wall.
I was out walking late at night. I’d just had unexpected news that my daughter had died. I was sitting on a bridge near my home contemplating jumping. I was completely broken.
Three men approached me. I was called a Paki and threatened with violence, and rather than run or de-escalate (which is the standard/correct response and one I had consistently tried to use until now), in my emotional state, I threw the first punch.
I dragged one of their faces along a pebble dashed wall, cutting up most of one side of his face.
I grabbed one of them by the wrist, twisted and yanked using a nearby wall and my foot as fulcrums. Elbow popped. Shoulder popped. Wrist cracked. He screamed and it looked completely misshapen.
This is why this was the worst: I was not trying to save myself. I was trying to hurt them. The self defence was coincidental. I was angry beyond anything I could control and they made themselves a valid target for my rage. I did not need to do those things to those people to protect myself.
They ran away with their injured friend(s). I went home and called the police. They sent me to a psychiatrist who assured me that my response was not “abnormal” given the sudden exposure to several extremely stressful events back to back, but that I did need further counselling.
I was put in touch with a longer term psychiatrist to help me process both my grief and anger, who also helped me deal with my subsequent depression.
True violence is very rarely the result of a healthy mind.
Where we live daycare is $500 a week for an infant with almost a one year waiting list. My daughter and my son in law (SIL) were making hard financial decisions on who would give up their career to watch the newborn – trust me they make good money, but not enough in this economy.
I said “I am eligible to retire. I can watch her”. I watch her 7–5, five days a week and do not ask for a penny.
What do I get in return? A bonding with my amazing grandchild that I never had with my own children that went to daycare when I worked.
I see daily, the world through her eyes, and the pure joy only a child has. Days filled with laughter. Singing her to sleep. Reading books. Playing together. Taking walks in the park.
Also they buy or cook food for me so I have a free breakfast, lunch, and snacks everyday. My SIL also helps with our routine home maintenance and also provides the muscle for jobs our old bodies can no longer do.
I receive special gifts from my grandchild every holiday and birthday that I know my daughter and SIL bought – items my daughter knew I wanted, but never would purchase for myself.
Yes, I could have worked a few more years at a very nice salary but I put my own ambitions aside. Family is all you have in the end. Hold them close.
Before the 1990s super corrupt Deng Xiaoping’s son and Macau Gambling debt is testament to that.
Then the 2000s rolled along and there were anti corruption drives. Literally people with bricks of RMB in their homes.
By the mid 00s human flesh search came along. When a citizen saw a government official with stuff beyond his pay grade? Or Flaunting it. They reported it. The CPC went and investigated it.
Li Gang is the poster child for this – This son said I’m LiGang’s son showing his power/wealth influence. He lost everything.
By the end of the 00s corruption existed but it was good fellas
You see by the 2010s cashless payments were the norm. So yeah sure you COULD have bricks of RMB in your home… but you can’t get it out the country… you also can’t spend it as above people watch for things you have above your pay grade if you pay in cash.
BIG cash payments draw attention to you as everything else is paid electronically.
But there are still 420,000 prosecutions each year out of 80–90 million CPC members for corruption.
The big difference? Jon Corzine steals 1 billion dollars. He apologies pays a small fine (significantly less than he stole) and got no prison time, oh and he resigns… the ULTIMATE punishment and the ULTIMATE HIGHEST WORST PRICE IN THE UNIVERSE!
Meanwhile in China. Corrupt politician equals DEATH!
Most westerners laugh at how soft this punishment of death is! I mean if he resigned that would be a MUCH MUCH HARDER punishment!
One day, while I was working upstairs in my office, my German Shepherd came upstairs, stood in my office doorway barking at me.
Then he walked over to the top of the staircase barking as he looked down the stairs. He lifted his head, looked towards me and continued barking.
He walked back and stood in the office doorway again looking at me, barking.
He did this repeatedly for a few minutes while I worked. It became obvious he wanted me to follow him downstairs. I got up and asked him, “What’s the matter?”
As soon as I asked this our house began to shake.
Everything on my walls and shelves were rattling.
I did not understand exactly what was happening, but we both ran down the stairs while I yelled, “Let’s get the hell out of here!”
We got outside and I felt the ground moving.
Then it stopped.
We had just experienced an earthquake. They are practically nonexistent in our region. Somehow, my boy knew it was coming and came upstairs to warn me.
He did many intelligent things in his lifetime, but that was the most amazing.
My grandmother won’t throw out food. If the strawberries go gray, soft, and moldy, she’ll carefully cut out the bad parts and eat them anyway.
When I was a kid, a friend and I played frisbee with a pita bread in a public park. An old man sitting on a bench nearly had a heart attack yelling his lungs out at us.
Both my grandmother and the old man had survived the Holocaust. My grandma watched her own mother wither away, her ribcage protruding more and more every day, her face becoming skeletal until she died from malnourishment.
They lived on unsweetened tea, watery soup, and a fistful of rockhard black bread. You were lucky if you had a potato peel floating around in your bowl.
When the prisoners were liberated, many died because of taking in too many calories too soon. Their bodies couldn’t handle the sudden nutritional richness. Imagine how the Allied soldiers must have felt when they realized their generosity was lethal.
The vast majority of us can’t even imagine a life like that. We live surrounded by an abundance that is unfathomable for people who have gone through such heinous adversity.
We have access to the basic necessities of life.
We have the luxury to dream, create, and even help others.
A long-term relationship not always ends up with a marriage.
Love exists but it is preferable for many to become a slave and cry in a BMW rather than laughing and enjoying every moment with another person sitting right behind his/her two-wheeler.
Money is not everything but it is everything.
Looks are not everything but it is everything.
Sex is a need and is a way to every enlightenment.
The unconventional form of the profession or acts like writing, blogging, taking a year gap, traveling seems tempting by self but not appreciable by society.
“I need some space” is the most hypocritical statement ever.
Change is the only constant thing which stays immortal.
This used to be me. I’m successful in tech & love being with family. I was a travel RN for many years & I have family all over America. Fifteen years ago I was assigned to San Diego for six months. My Uncle Trent lived there with his wife & three kids. I’d see them once weekly for dinner & always paid. The family always ordered the most expensive on the menu but never finished the food. This went on for months. A few times I suggested that they all order what they could eat to no avail. So after four months of this I stopped going out with them when I visited. When they suggested dinner out I took my leave.
Father’s Day my Uncle calls me to come celebrate with them at an Italian restaurant in the mall. Sure! I’d love to be treated for once! I even bring my daughter with me since she’s visiting the city for the first time. We arrive at the restaurant & it’s one of those buffet type places where you pay first then eat. As we are walking up my uncle & his family line up in front of us. My daughter is in front me & we are all laughing & talking.
As I get up to the cashier & order she tells me the total. At my shocked face she says ‘He said you’re paying for everyone.’
My daughter hears this, puts her tray over mine & we turn & leave.
China has succeeded way beyond its own lofty goal 2 full years ahead of time. The goals were to match or overtake the west in all key technology for today and tomorrow’s world to the point that the U.S. and the west can no longer control China technically.
Roughly 2 years ago a Neo funded, Australian think tank call ASPI or Australian Strategic Policy Institute researched and comprehensively concluded that China today lead in 37 out of the 44 key strategic technologies and know how and the U.S. only has a marginal lead against China in 7 out of the 44.
China calls this technology sovereignty and China has them right where they wanted to be at. Frankly the U.S. by being so obnoxious about preventing this actually speed China along. The more the U.S. tried to contain and control China the harder and faster the Chinese work to overcome them.
So don’t asked this bias and ignorant question China is ready and China has overtaken. The question is how can the west win it back!
Start by getting the highest paying job you can get . Be the hardest working man in the room, always.
Get more responsible. Pay your bills on time and reach your workplace on time . Remember, you are capable of so much more.
If you have got any skill, level up and make it earn money for you . Start any side hustle , women love it and men respect it.
Adopt the 5 hours rule . Spend the 1 hour a day , 5 days a week , leveling up your skills , be it reading , studying or painting.
Become dangerous. Start boxing or karate classes , learn how to hurt people , destroy things and take a beating.
Increase your self discipline. Remember pain of discipline is less than the pain of regret and disappointment.
Create your own set of beliefs and standard about what you expect and will tolerate in your life . Like , I will not hang out with people who drink , smoke or have no ethics.
Improve your lifestyle. Cultivate good habits like reading, meditation and cut on bad habits.
Start working out be it yoga, boxing or hiking.
At the end of the day, you have to answer yourself and your conscience,” Did I live today according to the values and beliefs ? Was today a day of peace for me?.
Tibet has been a part of China for more than 700 years. Before 1950, Tibet was a brutal serfdom under Dalai Lama and had a cast system similar to that of India. The Monastery class were the slave masters and owned 99% of the land in Tibet. As a matter of fact, Dalai Lama was the biggest landlord and slave master and owned more than 6000 slaves. As a result of the brutal treatment of serfs, such as judicial bodily mutilation, Tibetans life expectancy under Dalai Lama was only 32.5 years. Now it has more than doubled.
I constantly am told how can I support China considering what they have done to Tibet? For one, the Dali Lama is not the “pope” of Buddhism, the man claims to be Buddha reincarnated, 99% of Buddhists world wide reject this claim, it would be like if someone said they were the second coming of Jesus. Tibet was a backwards feudal theocratic society that tortured people, burned out peoples eyes as legal punishment with heated metal balls. It was a barbaric backwards society that in no way represented the teachings of Buddhism. China has since developed and provided massive humanitarian aid, schools, hospitals, infrastructure, and did away with the barbaric inhumane practices, if you know the truth about Tibet, how can you not support China?
Let’s not forget when Dalai Lama was in Tibet the top 5% own the remaining 95% as serfs. Dalai Lama was from a rich family that has 27 manor houses, 13 pastures and 6,000 serfs. He didn’t want reform and coerced with foreign powers to fight the PLA. He and his rich big land owners now live in India like kings from the huge wealth they moved out of Tibet. The foreign powers used to operate in Tibet as about 20 years I once saw a video pointing from a second floor to a ground front door where a group of rioters suddenly came and systematically set fire up to the property in a staged and well rehearsed manner. I was taken back by the clarify, perfect position of the camera and the exact timing that it captured the entire sequence from the beginning. The video was supposed to prove Tibetans were suppressed and rose up to protest. It appears China has since put an end to these foreign-backed rioters. The CIA also played a huge role in Hong Kong riots in 2019 as they were filmed personally took charge in directing the crowd. Many protesters were paid. Some judges were bribed, arrested protesters were provided with legal lawyers, families of the arrested were given financial helps and those wanting to escape the law were arranged paid transport to Taiwan. The US has infiltrated the the education system, the civil servants, control some media and own one major newspaper.
Dockside Grill Shrimp Remoulade
classic shrimp remoulade plate front
Ingredients
Remoulade Sauce
2 cups mayonnaise
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup horseradish
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons Creole mustard
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Tabasco sauce
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
1 head shredded lettuce
4 Roma tomatoes, cut into quarters
Shrimp
1 pound boiled shrimp
Instructions
Mix all sauce ingredients well and refrigerate two hours.
Place boiled shrimp on shredded lettuce.
Add the tomato, top with Remoulade Sauce and serve.
What’s the craziest or weirdest thing a new hire at your job has ever done?
I went back to my office after lunch and sat down at my desk. There were crumbs on it.
I called out to my secretary, who had a desk just outside my office, asking,” What are these crumbs all over my desk?”
My secretary says, “I told her not to do that. I told her. But she wouldn’t listen.”
“What is going on,” I asked my secretary, my voice rising. “Who did you tell not to do WHAT?”
Turns out a new hire decided that she needed a change of scenery for lunch, so instead of eating at her desk or in the cafeteria that she’d eat at my desk.
To me, it was:
1. a violation of my personal space
2. rude to leave crumbs all over
3. a stupid thing for a new hire to do
I chewed her out, but then a couple of weeks later a contractor called to let me know that this same new hire had told him not to tell me about a big costly mistake she had made. As if he’d risk his relationship with me!
I fired her sorry ass on the spot.
But when I came back from lunch after I fired her she was still there!
I asked her why she hadn’t left and she said because I couldn’t fire her without a written warning first and then counseling. I informed this sorry excuse for an employee that she was still on probation. She said that couldn’t be because it was past her first 30 days. I told her that she had been causing so many problems (her colleagues were furious with her) that I had officially extended her probation with HR, so I could fire her without any warnings or counseling, and that if she didn’t pack up and leave immediately I’d have Security do it.
When I was a young boy, perhaps in second grade, we lived in Monroe , CT. It was a housing development that was being carved out of the forests, and was very nice. We only lived there for a year or so, before my father was transferred to Pittsburgh. We sold the place. Bad move, as the house ended up being worth millions of dollars.
2023 11 22 15 27
Anyways, at that time in my life, I loved roaming the woods. All 7 years old, and it was a big part of my childhood.
I would often go into the homes being constructed with wire cutters and rip out the wiring and electronics for fun. Oh, that is, until my father had a talk with a building contractor. LOL.
But, you know what?
Yeah, what I most remember about that time was spending all day hiking and exploring, and then coming home to a nice big “sit down” dinner. These were often improved upon as I got older, but at that time, my mother was just getting into her “stride” and it was simple but delicious fare.
Meatloaf, roasts, soups, chicken, and the like. All very delicious and filling.
Instant Pot Spaghetti 1
One of my fondest memories was the meat-laden spaghetti, with plain “wonder bread” on the side, and a nice large salad. Other popular meals consisted of pork chutney over rice, and submarine sandwich meals.
2023 11 22 15 31
But it’s the spaghetti that I miss the most.
one pot spaghetti and meat sauce image 9
I used to take the bread, and butter both sides. Then, I would spoon the spaghetti into the bread, making a fine thick sandwich. Oh, I was so simple and silly then.
I guess the MM audiences would go “ohhh yuck” at this story. But for me, nah. it’s good memories and good times.
I was a young, recently divorced, single mother of a 3 year old and one Christmas my grandmother gave me a HUGE box to open. In that box I found a little bit of everything! It had paper towels. Toilet paper, cleaning supplies, canned goods and many other items that you may want or need for your home and pantry! I was so grateful as it is pretty costly when you run out of everything especially all at the same time and because my Grandmother had no money she said she added everything a little at a time all throughout the year in order to help me the best way she could. My Grandmother was the sweetest, kindest Lady you’d ever know. I loved her with my whole heart!
I made $7.50 per hour for 3 years before I got a sweet .50 raise that catapulted me no where.
And I only got that because the lady was guilted into it.
I was told, as most people are, if you work hard and prove yourself, you will make more in time. Well that never really happened.
When I first started I just answered phones and worked the register. Then I got my vehicle inspectors license and begin inspecting vehicles. And answering phones and the register.
The business was a window tinting business, primarily, and they tinted vehicles, homes and commercial buildings. Soon I was prepping jobs for tint and doing bids for residential and commercial jobs. And doing well, I might add!
Then helping with the books. Opening, closing, picking up and dropping off customers. Driving out of town to pick up materials. And finally tinting commercial windows.
And I worked, often 80 hours per week. For $8 per hour. Which is a problem because at a certain point, over time starts to hurt. The extra would be taken out in taxes and the effort is not worth it.
Let me also mention that I didn’t have a car and used a company truck for company business but my commute to and from work everyday was just over 3 hours. I woke up at 4 to be there at 8:30. (Hitchhiked, rode 2 buses and walked…both ways…yep)
When I inquired about a raise she kept putting me off. She’d think about it. Couldn’t afford it, etc. Finally she said to me…
”It’s not like you need more money. It’s not like you have a family to take care of, house or car. It’s not like you have any bills.”
I will never ever, forget that. Ever.
Apparently it never occurred to her that I didn’t have any of those things because I was poor. And it was totally ok with her if I never had anything because it benefitted her.
And I had other issues with the place like rarely getting a day off and it would be the end of the world if I took a break at work because only smokers are allowed breaks. Twenty breaks, a hundred, doesn’t matter, because you need those cigarette breaks!
“If you don’t like it, then go work somewhere else.”
When she told me that.
I quit.
She was so certain I would come back because I had no prospects. Two weeks later, a friend told me she was looking for me, she wanted me to come back.
Why, you might ask??
Because she can’t find any decent help (read: people who’ll work for nothing!). And she wanted me to come back for…
Wait for it…
$8.50!!
See, I needed to understand that she could not afford more than that.
I told her. “No thanks.”
Then she called me selfish. She was struggling to find help and I didn’t care. Selfish!!
She ended up having to hire 4 other people. And for the next 5 years she contacted me off and on to try to get me to come back.
“Ok, how about $9! Be reasonable!!”
So on and so forth until she got to $12 over time.
I can’t honestly say I was irreplaceable. I can say that she needed a lot more help after I left. I can also say the business did not exist the fifth year after I’d gone.
I learned a very important lesson working for her. I needed to look out for myself. Work hard but only stay so long, based on the rate, frequency and size of raises. And all the while, always keep my ear to the ground for other opportunities.
I need to look out for me with the same ferocity the companies look out for their own interests.
In 100 years 5% of those who use the U.S. dollar will remember how it look. And 15% of the nations who bought weapons in 2023 will still use weapons from the U.S. still! In 100 years US economy will be lying at best a distant 3rd behind China and India by a very long way. China will be roughly 5–6 times the U.S. size and even India will be close to double that of the USA!
The G7 at best is a fifth the size on BRiCS economy. The U.S. will be broken up into some 3–4 nations. And Democrats and Republicans are close to the full scale or outright U.S. civil war 2.0 in 2123! The U.S. and some 4–5 die hard dogs like UK, Australia and Canada will meet and still talk shit. But no one bother, no one even listen.
China has made the world 10 times more prosperous and 20 times more peaceful by then. Talking about the U.S. in 2123 is like talking about the former Yugoslavia today. By 2023 the U.S. would have long collapse and implode it’s economy and a full scale fight between Democrats and Republicans and also between the whites and coloured and also between the rich and poor has destroyed the so call liberal democracy.
In 100 years, China is selling moon and space tourism, become the leader in autonomous vehicles, supersonic planes, biggest ports and airports world wide. China will be in the business of hypersonic weapons, quantum computers. Artificial intelligence, Bio technology and nuclear technologies. A far cry from selling cheap T-shirts and plastic toys in 1980! By 2123. China has built an alternative Panama and Suez Canal 5 times its size! And a bridge to cross Russia to Alaska!
BRICS by that time consist of 50 nations. And gets supports from 190 out of 200 nations. Meanwhile as many as 10 million are living in tents homeless in the U.S. suburbs. Random mass shootings incidents happened at least 50 times a day in the U.S. killing roughly 100 people a day in the U.S. Confederate flag flies more widely than the Stars and Stripes in the U.S. in 2123.
China has just given warnings on visiting certain parts of the USA no different from the warnings of visiting Ethiopia or Yemen in 2000. That is what is likely happening in 2123 a hundred years from now. But the U.S. still scream liberal democracy like a 80 years old lone hippie!
My husband and I are avid cruisers, which means food, food, and more food. That being said, I typically eat what I choose, save the occasional pick of something that is just not good. I usually eat breakfast alone, as he is still sleeping, and I sit and people watch in the buffet. My breakfast is always the same: oatmeal with fruit, some scrambled eggs, and a couple of pieces of ham or Canadian bacon. The same as I eat at home, essentially. I get to witness the Sodom and Gommorah of food sin every day on a cruise, especially at breakfast. Football sized mounds of food get piled on a plate, and a lot of it is eaten. But it pains me to see a muffin with one bite. A bowl of cereal that had one bite, uneaten food galore. Yes, we pay for the food in our cruise fare, but it is as though we have no conscience when it comes to waste. We often stop in Haiti at the cruise line’s resort, and they prepare a barbeque style lunch there. What many don’t know is that the leftovers are given to the locals, and I have watched them pick a piece of discarded watermelon off of the ground and brush off the sand to eat. While people are tossing full plates of food into the trash, these people are desperate for our scraps.
Food waste bothers me. For the farmer that took the time to sow the crops. For the cow kept pregnant to provide milk. For the pig slaughtered to provide us with ribs and bacon. For the countless hours spent preparing the food. We don’t honor what we have. We assume it is there because most of us have not had to go without. I am lucky, I always had a meal to eat, and I don’t waste food. I eat leftovers until they are gone, I cut my own fruit so that I can get the most out of the rind, and I toss produce scraps out for the deer and groundhogs that frequent my backyard.
We don’t appreciate the food we have. That is the sin.
The future of American women
Cajun Chicken Club Sandwich
2023 11 11 20 23
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 slices Swiss cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan salad dressing
4 hoagie rolls, split and toasted
8 slices tomato
8 strips bacon, cooked
Instructions
Pound the chicken to 3/8-inch thickness; sprinkle with Cajun seasoning.
In a large skillet, cook the chicken in oil for 5 minutes on each side or until no longer pink.
Place one slice cheese over each chicken piece.
Remove from the heat; cover and let stand for 1 minute or until cheese begins to melt.
Spread dressing over cut sides of rolls.
Place two slices of tomato on bottom of bun, top with chicken and two strips of bacon.
Serve with crispy fries or potato salad on the side.
When I was married to my exhusband, I got a ‘‘bee in my bonnet’ that I wanted to learn how to sew. I’d never sewed a day in my life. So we went to different places, looking at machines. Hubs was a ‘research on Consumer Reports’ kinda guy. He didn’t want to buy something that would fall apart. Who knows though, honestly, if I would suck at this?! I’m not sure if he looked at it that way. He just wanted to get me something good.
So, we kind of narrowed it down to a couple, and tbh, they were ridiculously nice. One was a Singer, the other I don’t remember but it was pricey I think like $800 in like 1990. Crazy, for just wanting to try something. It was going to be a ““surprise” for Christmas… but I sneaked a look in his wallet one night (I KNOW, bad wifey) and saw he bought the $800 wonder. I was SOOO excited!!
Christmas morning comes.
I’m still very excited, because this IS an awesome gift. Knowing did not diminish my excitement. I opened up the wrapping, and inside, it was a different machine.
Tears rolled down my face and I couldn’t speak. The $800 wonder wasn’t there. Apparently, he had exchanged it. For an upgraded, fancy $1100. Wonder.
It was amazing. It did embroidery, a zillion stitches. It was a very high quality name I can’t spell 😂 Husqvarna? But wait, there’s more. There’s another box. Inside that box was a 5 thread Serger, a BabyLoc. I had everything I needed to be successful.
I sewed my butt off for years.
But I’ll never forget that feeling of ““I want to give you the moon” that he gave me that Christmas. That was epic.❤️
If the controls are successful, they could handicap China for a generation; if they fail, they may backfire spectacularly, hastening the very future the United States is trying desperately to avoid. Alex W. Palmer, NYT.
The Chinese cannot understand why we fight with “Fists of Seven Injuries” (七伤拳), inflicting as much harm on ourselves as on our target. The sanctions hit our high-tech companies hard, as they lose not only their biggest market, but also important partners in their supply chain. Qualcomm’s profits fell 23%. Samsung’s dropped 95% . Louise Low. Face-off on the Grand Chessboard.
The year of living vulnerably: 2015
By 2015, when President Xi warned of China’s vulnerability to a chip embargo his team, led by the redoubtable Liu He, had spent two years preparing to create an indigenous chip industry. By 2022, the first fabs were producing commodity chips in high volumes at low cost and China spent $300 billion importing high-end chips.
The first breakthrough came when Huawei quietly released its 7 nm. Kirin 9000 chipsets, and its Mate 60 phone sales quickly surpassed Apple’s – as they were doing when the US embargoed Huawei. While the Kirin CPU was a remarkable achievement, professionals were more impressed by Huawei’s indigenous communications chips, like cellular modems, previously a Qualcomm semi-monopoly.
Three months later, YMTC shipped its 232-layer 3D TLC NAND memory chips. Their huge capacity and speedy 12 GB/s I/O make bleeding-edge drives possible.
But the sexiest market right now is insulated gate bipolar transistors, IGBTs. They’re the CPU ‘brains’ that conduct the orchestra of sensors and inputs and reduce EVs’ power loss and improve reliability. They’re expensive: 7% – 10% of an EVs’ final cost. Back in 2020, BYD supplied IGBTs for 20% of Chinese EVs’ and Infineon supplied 58%. The IGBT market has grown from $5.27 billion then to $8.42 billion this year and expects CAGR of 15.7% for some years.
There’s also money to be made in less sexy chips, like microcontrollers, says TP Huang. “Has anyone heard of Zhixin’s chips? You’ll find SMIC’s 40nm auto grade processor in Zhixin’s MCU microcontroller – domestically designed, fabbed and packaged entirely in China. This has huge implications for STMicro, Texas Instruments, Infineon and TSMC. Few automotive applications will ever need processes beyond 28 or 40nm, which is SMIC’s mass production sweet spot. Why wouldn’t Chinese automakers buy domestically? I bet Wall Street analysts covering TI have never looked into new Chinese competitors and considered what that entails. SMIC will be a monster soon enough”.
I was strung out for about 4 years from shooting up dope. After losing almost everything, I finally snapped out of it. It took, however, losing friends, my career, my therapist, my car, my motorcycle, my musical equipment, my instruments, my tools, my electricity, my water, all my savings which was in the tens of thousands, my sanity, almost my freedom, almost my life, and almost my house. I’m still in danger of losing it bc of unpaid property taxes of 3 years now going on 4. So when I was about 2–3 months sober, I had a friend drive me to Little Caesars to see if they were hiring. The manager was there. I asked. She said yes. Then she asked if I had manager experience. I said no…but I kinda did. I just wasn’t prepared for that gig being that I’m just barely out of a horrific addiction. She asked if I had an ID and a bank account for direct deposit. I said yes to the ID but no to bank account. She told me where I can get one at that moment and as soon as I get it to come back and I can begin to fill out the paperwork. Within 30 mins I was hired & started to fill out the necessary forms for employment. This was at the end of January this year and I’m still there and I’m sober.
I know this is a long story for such a question. My reason for including the other info is strictly for those that are currently where I was at when this happened. If this can help one person snap out of it then I will feel like I did a tremendous good for not just that one person but the world. Drug addiction affects way more than the drug addict. If you’re struggling, don’t give up. Be strong. It may take one time to quit or many times. Just don’t give up on yourself. I now have electricity and water and trash service. My house is still a wreck but it’s come a long way. I rode my bike to and from work which was 8 miles there and 8 miles back. But now I have a vehicle. I’m 6 feet tall and at the height of my addiction I weighed about 155lbs. Now I weigh a plump 210lbs. With time, that will change bc I want to be physically healthy. I am, w/o a doubt, physically healthier now than I was when I was using. And I prefer this to that any day. So if you’re reading this, you have to be strong and committed to this change no matter how tough it gets. It’ll get better. There’ll be shit days but it’ll pass. Keep going. We are made of sterner stuff. We’ve been through hell but now we are returning. And don’t think of it as starting over. You’re continuing your journey w a wealth of knowledge and wisdom. You may have lost everything but you’re not starting over. I wish you luck and lots of love. You’re not alone. I know that feeling of loneliness and despair. I felt lonely all throughout my journey through hell. But I wasn’t. You aren’t. If you need someone to vent w, message me. I’ll listen. I will not judge. If not me, reach out to someone. Anyone. And if you get rejected, fuck them. Move on. Don’t let that deter you. Look at me. I’m still here and am getting better everyday. Sure, we are all different but, in many ways, we are the same. We fuck up, and to fuck up is human.
One more thing: don’t beat yourself up if you quit and then go back to using again. Sometimes it happens. Sometimes it doesn’t. Just don’t let that stop you from quitting again. I have days when I feel so weak. I miss it so much. Coupled w the overwhelming feeling of how far I have to go to get back to where I was before my downfall, it feels hopeless. These moments test me, and I’ve come so close to shooting up again but I haven’t. I hope I don’t. In my journey, I always feel so glad I didn’t give in. Those feelings will wash away but they’ll be back again like waves in the ocean. You just stay afloat. It’ll pass and you’ll admire yourself for not giving in after it flows away. You’ll be proud of how strong you are becoming.
Anyway, there are my 2 cents.
Love yourself.
Love those around you.
Don’t be afraid to say it.
Don’t be afraid to show it.
Amp It The Fuck Up!!!
Antony Blinken Wrecked By Protesters In Congress
Great episode, Lee. Your humor is top dog here.
China and the Chip Wars: a Battle It Cannot Afford to Lose
The race for supremacy in the semiconductor industry is about much more than just technological dominance. It is about shaping the future of civilization.
image 148
“Can China ace the chip wars?” This was the central question that framed my talk at the Future of Finance China Forum held in Beijing on July 28. The forum, run by The Asian Banker, served as a critical platform for thought leaders amid the unpredictable economic and financial landscape of 2023.
While these wide-ranging discussions were informative, my focus was squarely on the place and potential of China in the semiconductor industry. Instead of merely asking if China can win the chip wars, it’s more insightful to consider whether China can afford not to. This reframing provides a sharper understanding of the stakes for China’s economy and its global standing in the semiconductor industry.
Current situation
“Valuation extravaganza” is a phrase I use to describe the surging market caps of companies like Nvidia and AMD. The remarkable value growth of these companies has raised eyebrows and led to questions about whether we’re witnessing a semiconductor bubble. However, the rational ubiquity of semiconductors, essential to various sectors, might justify these high valuations.
In 2021, over 1.1 trillion chips were shipped worldwide, finding their way into everything from cars and consumer electronics to industrial applications. Semiconductors, quietly yet crucially, have become a part of nearly every aspect of modern life. According to a recent survey of industry executives, the industry’s future direction is being steered by emerging sectors like the metaverse, sustainability, mobility, and digital health – each calling for unique semiconductor capabilities.
This importance of semiconductors is reflected in the market’s response. Nvidia’s stock price tripled last year raising its valuation to more than $1 trillion with a Price-to-Earnings (P/E) ratio over 240. AMD’s stock price has also doubled, its P/E ratio almost reaching 500. This valuation growth is partly due to the robust demand for semiconductors, with the global market projected to grow to $1.8 trillion by 2032.
Even with the current chip shortage, some industry observers argue that these high valuations are justified. They view the long-term growth prospects for the industry as strong and believe these valuations are based on the expectation of persistent semiconductor demand.
Despite short-term disruptions like the global chip shortage, the long-term outlook for the semiconductor industry remains bright. Semiconductors play an integral role in the global economy, and their importance will continue to grow in the future, shaping our tech-driven world in ways we’re only beginning to understand.
image 147
Future growth
We must also consider the potential drivers of future chip demand, taking into account the radical changes that advances in artificial intelligence (AI) may bring. A compelling perspective on this comes from Sam Altman, a prominent figure in the tech industry and CEO of OpenAI, in his manifesto “Moore’s Law for Everything”.
Altman applies the principle of Moore’s Law, which traditionally refers to the exponential growth in computing power, to a broader societal context, predicting a future where rapid growth permeates all facets of our lives and economy. Coined by Intel’s co-founder Gordon Moore, the law originally observed that the number of transistors on a microchip double roughly every 18 months. Altman, however, envisions its implications beyond the realm of computing power.
This broader interpretation anticipates an era of abundance, where the ubiquitous adoption of AI causes a steep drop in labor costs that fundamentally transforms society. Altman posits that as automation replaces human tasks from plumbing to R&D, labor costs will plunge, leading to significantly cheaper goods and services. The cost of the essential inputs shifts from labor and raw materials to data, driving prices towards zero and marking the advent of an era of profound abundance.
But abundance here isn’t just about an increase in available goods and services. It’s also about equalizing access to these resources, democratizing what was once the exclusive privilege of the affluent. High-quality healthcare, education, travel experiences, and even a secure standard of living—Altman’s vision suggests these will be accessible to far more people, with the cost of a “great life” approaching zero.
At the core of this transformation is AI, its learning and decision-making abilities propelling us towards this era of abundance. Yet, the manifestation of this AI-driven prosperity depends heavily on a robust, efficient, and advanced computational infrastructure— semiconductors or chips. Semiconductors are the foundation of our digital world, powering everything from personal devices to advanced machinery.
The complexity and scale of AI necessitate more advanced and efficient semiconductors. The AI algorithms promising this era of abundance require enormous computational power to process large volumes of data and make complex calculations. The task of providing this computational power depends on a wide range of semiconductors.
The abundance that Altman predicts will not only be driven by AI but will also critically hinge on the availability and advancement of semiconductors. In the coming era of AI-driven abundance, those countries and companies that can ensure a stable supply of chips will hold the upper hand. Thus, as China strategizes to win the chip wars, the stakes become clear—it’s not just about surviving but thriving in this world of unlimited abundance.
image 146
Domestic politics and geopolitics
In the global context of the race for technological supremacy, the semiconductor industry is emerging as a key battleground. The rise of artificial intelligence (AI), with its potential to usher in an era of unprecedented abundance and revolutionize labor economics, amplifies the national security implications of the semiconductor industry. Indeed, the ‘resilient redesign’ of the global supply chain is becoming an essential facet of national strategies to ensure sustained success in this critical sector.
The complex web of today’s supply chain, spanning continents and countless entities, is inherently vulnerable to geopolitical shocks and pressures. The need for countries to develop resilient domestic capacities is becoming increasingly clear. Governments worldwide are already showing a keen interest in the sector’s growth and security, a trend that is set to heighten as strategic reorientations, regulatory shifts, and a heightened focus on security come into play. The semiconductor industry is becoming a significant geopolitical flashpoint, a field of intense competition for technological dominance.
In the context of China’s domestic politics, this resonates profoundly with President Xi Jinping’s vision of ‘common prosperity’. The potential abundance enabled by AI could pave the way for realizing this vision, democratizing access to what is currently available only to the affluent and creating a more equal society. The era of abundance that Sam Altman envisions could, in fact, help manifest President Xi’s aspiration for the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
In this light, China’s broad conception of national security – which encompasses not only traditional military aspects but also economic and even cultural security – becomes particularly relevant. The advancements in AI, underpinned by the semiconductor industry, will be vital for maintaining and enhancing China’s national security in this broad sense.
Therefore, China cannot afford to lose the ‘chip war’. The stakes are beyond high – economic vitality, technological advancement, geopolitical influence and even the future of the human race. The semiconductor industry is not just another industry; it is a cornerstone upon which human civilization may be decided.
In conclusion, the race for supremacy in the semiconductor industry is about much more than just technological dominance. It is about shaping the future of civilization. For China, acing the chip wars is not just a matter of national security in the traditional sense. It is also about securing the future of its society and realizing its vision of prosperity for all.
Before a class room of three hundred 1st year students, I was teaching, and my cell phone started vibrating. And I totally froze.
Just a couple of months earlier, I had become a father for the first time, and my girlfriend and I had agreed not to call during class hours, unless it was an emergency.
Often, I muted my cell phone during class hours, but this time I had forgotten. And this time the phone also rang. My girlfriend was the only person who would ring me at this unearthly hour in the morning. And suddenly it crossed my mind. Something is wrong with the baby.
Instead of two minutes, I had more than fifteen minutes left to cover while my mind blocked my every mathematical thought. So I taught the rest of the class through a true other-worldly out-of-body experience — I literally heard myself talking to the students, explaining things on the blackboard, and answering questions, while I was constantly thinking —
Something is wrong with the baby—Something is wrong with the baby—Something is wrong with the baby—Something is wrong with the baby.
When class was over and questions had been answered, I immediately called my girlfriend. She had forgotten about our agreement.
I’m a landlord and went to renew the lease on one of my rentals once. And when I pulled in to the neighborhood and turned the corner towards the house, the very first thing I saw was the screen door hanging off the front of the house.
I pulled into the driveway, knocked on the door, and while I was waiting for them to answer I looked at the screen door. It was literally ripped off its hinges.
Then they came out and greeted me as if nothing had ever happened.. I asked what happened to the door, and I swear they both looked me straight in the eye and said..
“It was like that when we moved in.” I was absolutely shocked…
I said, “Doug. You two have been here for TWO YEARS. You signed a move-in checklist when you first moved in that said everything was ok. I took and have pictures of everything before you moved in. And last but not least, I was here exactly ONE year ago to renew your lease then! Now, is this seriously your story, and are you sure it’s the one you want to stick to??”
“Yes.. It was like that when we moved in.”
So I called bullshit and told them that I would not renew their lease, and to be out before the end of the week. OR if they wanted to stay then they could fix the door.
They fixed it – reluctantly. Still swearing that it was like that when they moved in.
When I was an administrative assistant to the dean of a department at a 2 year college, there were a couple times during the year that I ate at my desk for various reasons. There was another admin in a different department that took a dislike to me and tried to get me in trouble for only taking 30 mins to eat then leaving 30 mins early. She went to my boss and he said I had his permission to do so. She then went to HR to file a complaint and I got called in. After that, I requested a sit down with HR, my boss, her and her boss which we had. Over several weeks, I had documented everything she had said and done to undermine me and she turned beet red and had no real defense since she documented nothing. A couple of weeks later, she no longer worked there and they hired a woman who became a good friend.
Document everything—day, time, incident, what was said—and keep it in a safe place. I used an old fashioned college notebook and hand wrote everything with just a blank line between each incident. I about filled the notebook in less than a month.
He was the head janitor at my school, a teddy bear of a man, under 5 feet tall with the sweetest little smile and laugh. He had worked at the school since he was a teen and was due to retire.
Da Tuk (not his real name) was gentle, kind and generous, a soft touch for a sob story. He and his family had just enough but always ended with too little because of his ‘kindness.’
A relative had begged him for a large sum, almost all that Da Tuk and his wife had saved for a deposit on a home. He signed over a land deed to Da Tuk and then disappeared into the gambling dens of Klong Tuey.
When Da Tuk took his family to see the land, they found a hilly, barren, nowhere-near-anywhere, unsellable plot. Da Tuk was inconsolable, realizing that he had been duped and had lost almost everything.
Fortunately, the chairman of the school found a way to help the family to buy a small house and deal with the costs of their children’s educations. They never really recovered from the loss.
As the school grew, so did Da Tuk’s staff, to the point where he was overwhelmed. An ‘assistant’ was hired but was, in fact, in charge. However, he always treated Da Tuk as the boss and saw to it that others did as well.
For Da Tuk’s retirement day, the Board had arranged for a huge luncheon, and we were all seated, waiting for Da Tuk.
When he arrived, he looked stunned, which surprised us because everyone had been talking about the party and teasing him for over a month.
Then an equally stunned member of the Board made a shocking announcement.
Da Tuk had just been paid forty million baht (approximately two million U.S. dollars) for that ‘worthless’ land because it was adjacent to the planned eastern seaboard industrial estate.
I got laid off from my work. It’s an awful experience. I just had the yearly performance review and got a raise, I was thinking ‘life is freaking good’, then one fine morning, I woke up to a sudden 1:1 from my boss, and he told me I was let go (together with half of the company).
It’s unexpected, and I was shocked.
I sent my coworkers texts, told them my goodbyes and my wish to stay in touch with them.
All of them offered the same message:
Please let me know how I can help in any way at all!
I was touched seeing those messages, truly.
The only thing I asked from them was: I need to retouch my Linkedin Profile, the job market right now is super tough and competitive, anything can help my profile stands out would mean a great deal and I really appreciate a recommendation from them – if they have a few minutes to write me one. It would be a huge help.
Only 2 out of 10 people offered me the message to help in any way actually did give me a recommendation. And one of them actually referred me everywhere she could trying to help me to get interviews.
I don’t think any less of the 8 people that didn’t give me a recommendation. I understand perfectly that there are millions reasons for that, like I might not worth giving a recommendation, or they just simply forgot to give one, or writing a recommendation is not their cup of tea, etc… I just wish they didn’t tell me that they would help in any way if they didn’t mean it.
And I do admire the ones that offer and live up with their saying “let me know how I can help in any way”
Being a person of their own words is a super power.
Way out in the stick in the north of England there was huge project ongoing to build a dam. A new site manager had been brought in because workers were reportedly lazy, either turning up late or skiving off down the local pub (which I worked in) during working hours. On his first day on the job he grabbed someone from the admin office and headed off round the site looking for a sacrificial lamb. He was going to fire someone as an example to the rest of the staff.
After half an hour or so he came across a young guy sitting behind a building, against a wall, drinking coffee.
“Who are you?” he bellowed. “What’s it got to do you with you?” asked the guy. “I’m the new site manager, who are you, and where do you work?” “Fuck off, leave me alone!”, replied the young guy. “OK, you’ve had your chance, you’re fired!” He turned to the admin guy, “get his details, give him his cards!” The site manager then stormed off thinking this was a good start to his tenure.
Later that day I was serving behind the bar in the pub and the guy came walking in. “Give me a pint of Guinness, I’ve just been fired”. “Oh dear, first one’s on the house!” “Cheers, that’s very nice of you.” he replied. He had his Guinness then asked how much? I said, “no, it’s on the house. Anyone who gets fired from the site gets a free beer.” “No – it’s okay, I’d better pay!” “But you got fired – it’s free!” “I did get fired. I’m just sitting there having a cup of coffee when this idiot appears out of nowhere screaming and shouting at me, and fires me on the spot. He seemed so happy about it I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I didn’t work for him, and I’m just a hiker who had stopped for a coffee.”
Surprised My Cheating Wife With Divorce Papers at Her “Secret” Hotel Getaway Affair.
I nearly hit ENTER on my resignation email. I’d been with the company for 24 years at the time and I was tired of my boss contradicting everything I’d say. Sometimes he was right, usually he wasn’t but of course he only remembered that one out of 10 times he was right come review time.
Most people say I’m too much of a pacifist but he’d ding me as pointlessly argumentative. And, the reason why I was never promoted (he’d tell me year after year) is because I’d said or done “the wrong thing yet again to” and it would always be an unnamed executive. If I asked what I did or said, I’d get “you know I can’t tell you that” and if I asked who’s cage I’d supposedly rattled, it would be another “you know I can’t tell you that.”
This day, he said something that was completely wrong about a field he knew zero about and that I was an expert in. I should have known better but I said something just “in passing.” He erupted and screamed at me. “YOU ARE WRONG and you felt the need to ruin my day. I walked in here this morning feeling okay for the first time in months. You couldn’t let it go. Noooo … not you … you had to correct me and ruin my whole day. And you aren’t even right Mr. Know-it-all. Fine. You ruined my day so now I’m going to ruin yours. I expect a written apology, three copies, and this is going in your file.
I will then have your final written warning for insubordination and disrupting the office ready when you come back with your apology. IF I accept it, you will go on warning. But if I don’t like what you said, I tear that and the warning up and you will be done. You have pretty much just thrown away 24 years of work and any goodwill you might have built up with me because you just always have to say something.
You just can’t let anything go and you always have some story. No matter what anyone says, you were there, did that, had that or something too. Well now I think you can add fired for cause and blacklisted from a whole industry to your awesome list of life experiences. I’m giving you one hour. I’ll see you then or you can spend the time packing up your stuff. I really don’t care which at this point.
And because you are a critical employee with no backup or replacement, I will see to it that you pay for this for a long time to come if I have any say over anything. Now get going. The next time I see you, it will be either carrying your shit to your car or in here with a heart felt written apology.”
I typed out a resignation, just a terse one paragraph indicating only that I resigned effective that day and would agree to make my last day two weeks hence. Dated and my signature typed. I was ready to hit SEND and the email would go to my boss, HR and the Sr VP (who was the department head).
But then I thought: first, I’d be out of a job and it would not be easy for me to get another one. It’s next to impossible to describe what I really do — it’s a bunch of low level tasks where the high level aspect is that I can do them all. I already knew that no one in my industry was interested — had they been, I’d have been contacted at least one of the times where competitors or clients tried to grab employees from us. I was about the only long time employee who’d never been contacted by anyone.
My resume would make even less sense outside my industry. I’d at best have to hope for some small employer looking for a jack of many trades willing to work for next to nothing. Not very appealing.
He was right in one sense about something: whenever someone had a story, I’d often have a counterpart. I’m not a know it all, just a lot older than many of my colleagues and I’ve been around. I’d always thought I was just participating in a conversation but maybe that’s not the way some took it. Perhaps I should sit and listen more even if I did have such an experience myself and even if the teller was way off base.
So I resolved to say a lot less and not correct people unless there could be a serious consequence for letting it go. Even if I’d done whatever 50 times to their 1 and was considered an expert, just let it go. Let them tell their story.
Ruined his day? That was his responsibility. He was going through many personal problems but people other than I were getting tired of his ripping our heads off at work because his personal life was in a tailspin. I know that when I was having many issues one time (many years ago, different boss), my manager came along and told me I needed to straighten myself up.
He knew what I was going through and that’s why nothing had been said for a couple weeks. But now I had to pull myself out of it or he’d have to let me go. That was a couple weeks … but my current boss had been going on that way for months.
So there was wrong on my side and that was on me to handle. But I wasn’t responsible for ruining my boss’ day with an offhand comment of a factual nature. I needed to speak a lot less: not counter a story with one of my own, and don’t correct someone unless there was a vital business need for it. On the other hand, I was not about to take written responsibility for someone else’s life and emotions.
I apologized verbally including indicating where I was wrong and what I planned to do about it. But I made clear what I was apologizing for along with being clear without saying it that it would not be in writing. I also made clear without throwing anything in his face that if he chose to give me a final written warning, I would not sign it but rather resign effective immediately.
Nothing more came of it in large part because by the time I walked in there, the anger was gone. I dealt with this in a clear headed way and that’s the point to this long answer. Anger solves nothing, even if justified or at least partially so. We’ve probably all snapped at work and with what results? If you have sufficient clout, others might respond out of fear. But that never results in a good long term effect. You’re far better off resisting the urge to go off until you’ve had a few minutes to think about the whole situation.
I’m boy, When I was 13 , The principal always checks students’ hair and nails and punishes them if they were long
One day, he came to the line and checked our nails, I had forgotten to trim my nails for a long time, and my nails were long like a girl’s.
When he saw my nails, he asked sarcastically: Am I a girl?
I was embarrassed and lowered my head
The principal sent me to the corner of the wall and I stood facing the wall with my head down
he sent about ten other people to the side of the wall because their nails were too long
When all the students went to class, the manager and the principal came to us with a ruler, the principal said, we have to give them a nice punishment!
Principal said that we should paint their nails to make them girls!
They took us to the manager’s office and forced us to put our hands on the table
Then the manager took out a bottle of red nail polish from his drawer and started painting our nails completely
We felt ashamed and humiliated and our heads were down
They took us to the front of the line in front of all the students and calles us girls!
All the students laughed at us and we cried and felt humiliated
They hit our palms with a ruler to make us cry more!
From that day on, we didn’t have the courage to keep our nails long
1. Successful people don’t leave their life in the hands of luck. Life is too unpredictable to leave it in the hands of luck. Therefore, successful people choose to take control of things rather than sit around and wait for luck to finally smile at them.
2. Successful people take risks at the right place, at the right time. Successful people know that they don’t have the luxury to be taking mindless risks that can do more bad than good. Rather, they wait for that perfect timing and occasion when they can justify taking the risk.
3. Successful people trust their intuition. Many people underestimate the power of gut feeling. But in reality, it’s one of the most efficient and free tools you can utilize profitably. And successful people know how to do just that.
4. Successful people are the masters of their own destiny. Some people believe that one’s destiny is predetermined, and so they decide to simply let things unfold accordingly. But successful people prefer to take charge and carve out the destiny they aim for.
5. Successful people know the importance of having control over their emotions. They understand the impact emotional control or the lack thereof can have on their motivation, perseverance, and overall success. Therefore, they always try to keep their emotions under control so they’ll be the ones having the power over them.
6. Successful people practice positive self-talk. Successful people try not to listen to that negative voice in their head that tells them it is not going to work out. They don’t insult themselves, either. Instead, they train themselves to be compassionate, understanding, and encouraging toward themselves so they never succumb to the destructive effects of negative self-talk.
7. Successful people know that making mistakes is an essential part of the process leading them to ultimate success. They are aware that no matter how many mistakes they make along the way, they can make use of each by learning from them, guiding them toward success they’ve been working hard for.
8. Successful people know how to take constructive criticism well. Not only do they understand the benefits of constructive criticism, but they also appreciate getting it because they see it as a way to improve themselves or get closer to their goals.
9. Successful people have an unshakeable faith in themselves. Even if everyone else around them thinks they are just idealistic dreamers chasing after unrealistic goals, they refuse to see themselves from the same lenses because they know they have what it takes to get the things they are after.
My first thought was to say no but as I was paying for my gas I grabbed the milk. Outside was his girlfriend holding a box of cereal. He thanked me and I started to walk to my car. Something in me made me turn around. I told them I was about to get a car wash but if he wanted to wash it for me I’d pay him $20. We went to the nearest car wash and he had tears in his eyes after I paid him!
He told me that more than anything he appreciated me giving him the opportunity to be a man again in the eyes of his girlfriend and work for the money. The whole time his girlfriend helped him. It’s like she was proud of him. You could tell the love was so real. Real beyond material things and what he could do for her. She told him he did a great job and he couldn’t stop smiling. I had a long talk with him and her and he had a backpack full of paperwork from all of the places he’s been going to get help for them. I drove them to my apartment complex and gave him clothes for interviews and a few outfits and fitted caps. I don’t have much but life is about sharing what you do have.
Be a blessing to someone today because you could be in that situation before you know it! I gave them my number and I plan to take them to any interviews or appointments they have. It’s a great day to be alive no matter what your situation is. Someone has it worse than you! Share this message and inspire others to do good.”
Well it was a older Ford heavy duty truck, a three axle mini dump truck. It came in for brake work and when I opened the hood I discovered that most of the underhood wiring was redone with household electrical wiring cable, Romex and stripped Romex. It ran fine for a truck of the era that it was built and when the guy came to pick it up after the brake work, I had to ask about the wiring. He had the truck sitting unused for several years while he was working for someone and mice or squirrels had gotten in and destroyed the wiring and he had a roll of Romex in his garage and redid the wiring using another very similar truck as reference and got some bits from another truck he found in a junkyard. Mechanically the truck was solid and I was more impressed than anything else with the craftiness.
Woman Demands A Train Ran On Her! This Is Why Men Question The Value Of MW
Lack of purpose. All your young life you are given purpose of passing exams and learning, then all of a sudden you are thrown into the world and told to find your own meaning.
You can stay up as late as you want. But you shouldn’t.
Where did all my friends go?
Didn’t know that other adults have the emotional intelligence of teenagers and its almost impossible to deal with logically.
Getting burnt out.
Having to make dinner every. Fucking. Day.
Not having a lot of free-time or time by myself.
Figuring out what makes you happy. Everyone keeps trying to get you to do things you’re good at, or that makes you money, but never to pursue what you enjoy.
The more life you’ve lived, the faster time seems to go.
I once stopped to help a guy change a tire. He had an arm in a sling and two very young kids in his car. He thanked me saying he didn’t want to hurt his arm any more and wanted to get back to work.
Fast forward three months and I’m in a very ugly motorcycle wreck. One of the EMTs noticed my back was broken. Had they continued I’d have been paralyzed. His quick thinking prevented that.
After I recovered I got to meet the EMT crew that saved my life.
The guy that noticed my back was broken? The guy whose tire I had changed.
About 25 years ago, while living in Tucson Arizona, I received a phone call (bold = caller, non-bold = me):
Hi; Is this David Joseph? Dr. David Joseph?
Yes, who’s this?
Hi David!! It’s Garry Shandling!
Now at that time, Garry Shandling was a pretty well-known comedian, with his own show (“It’s Garry Shandling’s Show”), which was well known for its hilarious opening theme song. I was a big fan of his show, so I assumed a friend was pranking me:
Oh really?? Garry Shandling? Prove it; sing me your opening theme song!
He went ahead and sang me his opening theme song, and then went on:
David, how have you been? It’s been forever — can you believe it’s been over 20 years since we graduated?!
Since we graduated? Graduated what??
High School; Palo Verde??
Wait, I think you have the wrong David Joseph; are you looking for Dr David Joseph, the vet?
Yes; that’s not you? I thought your voice sounded different!
Yeah, that’s not me; I’m a people doc. I think that David Joseph moved away from Tucson a few years ago.
Oh, bummer. OK, I guess I’ll keep trying to find him — we were really close in High School.
Well, if you don’t find him, feel free to call me anytime; I’m happy to be your back-up Dr David Joseph!
Haha! Maybe I will! Thanks!
Good luck!
Then he called back a couple of hours later, explaining that he hadn’t been able to find his high school friend. We chatted a bit more, and then, once every few years, out of the blue, I would get a call from him, wanting to ‘catch-up with his back-up David Joseph.’
After I made a successful (static line) parachute jump – which turned out to be my first ever (and last) jump from a plane – I traveled back to the jump site three more times with Jeff C. to do it again. Various conditions prevented that from happening again, and after the third time that we were unable to jump again, we saw a fire a couple blocks off the interstate that was being fought by a team of professionals. A police officer instructed us to move along, but Jeff chimed in with “Why don’t they just let a good fire burn?” The officer walked to the front of Jeff’s car and wrote down the license plate and village sticker information, then asked Jeff AND me for ID. During the following week, I talked to mutual acquaintances of Jeff and related the aforementioned story to them. From one former coworker of Jeff, I learned that he was suspected of possibly starting two fires at his place of employment, with the second allegation causing him to be let go – I decided not to key ‘fi_ed’ – immediately. I no longer answered any of Jeff’s subsequent telephone calls, and did not answer the door when he came over.
Psychologist Addresses FEMALE DISRESPECT: why this is essential to relationship success
Damn! This is one HELL of a great video! Shit! Amazing video!
What most people don’t understand is that disrespect is a process. The best predictor of overt disrespect is covert disrespect. And this is why it is important to address disrespectful behavior while it is still in its nascent form. Failing to do so will jeopardize your relationship, primarily due to the fact that it is not possible for a woman to love a man she does not respect.
“Seeing how my now ex wife treated me compared to everyone else was an eye opener. I realized why everyone liked her, she treated them with respect and care, while I got the cold, cruel, disrespectful part.”
He beat me with a belt until I would bleed when I was very young and then when I became a teenager he would beat me with his fists. He broke my nose and blacked my eyes a few times. He’s dead now and I’m 69 years old. I have never for forgiven or forgotten. He beat my mom too. They divorced after I left home at 17. May he rot in HELL!
Oh man! I sure have. Often. Up until recently I worked, either with a guy or on my own, doing demolition, kitchen removals and buying/selling used building materials. I also ride a motorcycle. A big-ass noisy motorcycle. And, personally, I think I am a pretty nice person. I am considerate, kind and polite. But sometimes I am covered in drywall or brick dust, insulation, paint or sawdust. I usually carry Handy Wipes to, at least, wipe my face and hands clean. I may be dressed in work clothes and/or motorcycle gear. I am otherwise a well-groomed, clean, and pleasant 54 year old woman. I currently work outside all day and am in and out and crawling around assessing cars and trucks. Again, in work clothes or cover-all’s I am often dusty and wind-blown with dirty, with grease under my nails.
AND I GET TREATED LIKE SHIT.
I get followed, have had rude and disparaging comments made or completely ignored. Some staff treat me like I am invisible and are dismissive, assuming (I think) that I have no money to spend. At other times, they have been openly mistrusting and suspicious.
ALL BECAUSE I WORK FOR A LIVING!
Two of my very worst experiences occurred at places connected to religious institutions. One a church bazaar and the other a faith-based second hand shop. Another time I was speaking, as a counsellor, on a panel about alcoholism and addiction. Independent of each other, the hosts TWICE assumed that I was the newly recovered individual as opposed to the presenting professional.
In NO WAY am I ashamed of what I do or how I look. In fact, I am proud of who I am and the jobs I have done (and still do). I just wish people would judge me on my character or my actions rather than the way I look.
Bought a small place years ago that had a nice shed that could be used for tools, mower, etc and I asked if it conveyed and was told yes. Went to move in after settlement and no shed. Since it was in the contract, I called my realtor and told her the she came back or I would immediately stop the sale. No shed by the next day when promised so I notified the bank again that the sellers were in breach of contract. I was living in the house but had not put my furniture in yet, still in the box trailer belonging to a friend. The sellers had the shed at their new place but moving it damaged it so I refused to accept it and they had to order a brand new shed, same size, for the deal to be completed. The bank held the check, I finished moving in, and 2 weeks later the shed arrived.
Don’t try fast ones when selling since you may seriously regret the expense of fixing it.
Do what my garden-savvy cousin did to keep deer away from her garden. She set up hoses and multiple impact sprinklers with a motion sensor that set them off when deer approached, startling them and soaking them. Very effective, and not mean.
If the neighbor complains your sprinklers got him wet, say “Sorry, I had to do something to keep the deer/bears/monkeys/kids from stealing all my peaches before I can make pies/cobblers/jam from them.
You could even say, if I have a good crop this year, I’ll bring you a bowl of peaches.
In Chinese culture, sharing a meal with friends or family is a time to socialize. It’s actually something I very much enjoy being part of. As a Westerner, growing up in a Western and traditional Southern family, children were “seen and not heard,” and the talking points of a meal were, “Please pass the salt,” or “mind your manners.” The lively, upbeat, excitement that is exuded by Chinese people sharing a meal is something I adore.
When I bought my house the seller told me he had lost a ring a few years prior, and if I ever found it, it would mean the world to him to get it back. Three years later I saw something shiny while I was raking leaves. I picked it up and realized it was a ring encased in mud. I cleaned it off but didn’t think it could possibly be the lost ring. The stones were so large I thought it must be costume jewelry. I phoned the old owner and told him I found a ring but didn’t think it was valuable and asked if he could come take a look. When he saw it he started to cry and said it had great sentimental value. He offered me a reward but I declined. It didn’t seem right to take money for something that belonged to him. What I thought was a cheap ring with glass stones turned out to be $70,000 worth of diamonds.
a friend of ours who at the time was single mother of two, her son is autistic. She complained she had no heat in her mini van and winter in southern Ontario can be bitter cold. Local franchise repair shop quoted her north of $1700 to fix it!
I said let me take it to my trusted repair shop.
After a quick diagnosis he says “is she a teacher?” I’m like “how’d you know?”
He says “I cleaned a pile of papers out of the vents by the the heater core…lots of heat now!”
$75 and she had heat again…and was advised to keep papers off her dash!
Yeah actually… A few years ago I went out on the town for a mates birthday – straight from work. I’m carrying with me a £2.5k laptop and my mates got his full pay packet in cash and a thermos of soup given to him by a friend for his birthday (separate story).
These two kids come up to us and demand all of our worldly belongings. We dismiss them, as the bravery of a nights worth of fairly strong Hazy Pale Ale courses through our veins. As we walk off, the braver of the two pulls out a pretty small knife and demands more of our attention.
With a look from my mate we start off round the corner. Once we’re there we in whispered, quick voices form a plan and we wait for them.
I caught the first guy with a swing of my rucksack right under the chin and all 15” and 2.6kg of my MacBook Pro knocked his head back nearly off his feet. My friend followed with the Thermos on the 2nd. We didn’t hold back on those hits.
Once they recovered enough to speak, the braver one asked the other one if he was bleeding… he was… and the other guy told him.
Angry from the revelation he was bleeding, he said if he ever saw us again we’re dead… My friend, living round the area didn’t take kindly to this and threw the statement back at him. Told him, NO if you ever come back here YOU’RE dead and flew at the guy with the Thermos a second time. He chased them both up the street with that flask, with me laughing in hysterics at the bottom of the road.
In a strange way, being drunk that night changed the whole outcome of that encounter. Doubt we would have stood up to them sober.
He most certainly has a case. One of my neighbors tried to have two of our old silver birches and one 50-years-old Cedar tree cut, and it cost him dearly. It started with a Christmas tree though.
We came back from the United States, and as usual when we are back from holidays, I checked the garden — just to see how the plants, flowers and mushrooms (but also our rabbits and barn owls) were doing.
And then I noticed that one of our beautiful Christmas trees had been cut. The top half was gone, and no higher Mathematics was needed to conclude who had done it. One of our neighbors — I once had a relationship with his youngest daughter Ebba, but he seemed reasonably normal in those days — goes berserk if even only a couple of leaves fall on his property.
This time, he had cut an evergreen conifer, and we were sick of it. We called the neighborhood police man to sort this out, and he reprimanded the neighbor — to no avail. We decided not to go to court for the time being.
Instead, he sued us.
Together with another neighbor friend (who apparently also had problems with leaves and needles without us knowing), he filed a complaint against us in Justice Court. Big goal: having some of our trees (two old birches and an old Cedar) cut.
It did not quite work out that way, though.
Instead, he was forcefully reprimanded by the judge, who explained that leaves and needles are a part of country life, and that there was nothing wrong nor illegal about them falling in his garden.
The judge also dismissed the demand that our trees would be cut —
“It is STRICTLY FORBIDDEN to cut old trees, Mister C., so NO ONE will touch them. And very high maximum penalties would be issued if someone would.”
(Goal not attained.)
Since then, our neighbor had become even more mental than before. He throws all the leaves and needles he can find in our garden, and he has, since recently, started to throw buckets of his own stinking urine in our backyard.
I’m also one of those foreigners who think China is not just good, but a great place to live in! After working in China for the past few years, I have realized so many reasons for loving China.
A quick list of my personal observations about China:
1. Life has been very peaceful in China: I am never worried about my personal safety, or disruption of work. Life has been going quite smoothly.
2. Cost of living: About RMB 5,000/month (~$700). For the quality of life that I have enjoyed in China, it can’t get more affordable.
3. Jobs: my job is going fine. No issues with salaries.
4. Tax holidays: expats from a good number of countries (including US) enjoy tax holidays in China (due to the Double Tax Avoidance Treaty). I have not paid any tax in China so far. 🙂
5. Great food: China offers one of my favorite cuisine (I also love Thai, Vietnamese, Malaysian, and Indian food). You can order from home. RMB 15 for 20 dumplings (饺子, jiaozi). Even if you cook at home, it can’t get cheaper than that.
6. Online shopping: you can buy almost everything online in China. Taobao is probably one of those few sites I visit every day. I buy something every day.
7. Cashless payments: we don’t carry cash in China. We just need to bring a phone, scan QR codes and pay. In fact, you can rent bicycles by just scanning QR codes (first 1hr ride is free).
8. I have a history of diabetes. Going anywhere, including back to the US, puts me at a very high risk of Covid-19 pandemic. There are great medical facility in China. Every Chinese city has a good number of hospitals. It’s very convenient to visit hospital in China (Btw, my city is virtually covid-19 virus free).
9. Learning Chinese: if you want to learn Chinese, China is the best place. The whole atmosphere is warm and welcoming. You’ll learn Chinese fast. This was also a reason for me to move to China.
10. Travel: Lots of nice places in China. Recently I visited Zhouzhuang (周庄), a water town (江南水乡). It was a pleasant experience. Chinese tourist attractions are generally very different from the typical western tourist attractions.
11. No illegal immigration: you can’t enter China illegally. You will be caught if you try. Penalties are heavy. You will be deported, however, only after serving the sentence.
Living in China is a very different experience. It doesn’t make sense to compare China with other countries (or vice versa). Explore what China has to offer, and you’ll love it.
Also, I wish to thank China for taking a good care of me throughout my China stay, especially during my diabetes phase. Otherwise, I couldn’t have survived probably.
The U.K.: much, much more working-class than Americans are raised to assume. It’s a textbook example of American ignorance that we tend to believe Brits are all very sophisticated and “aristocratic.” (And I don’t mean that as an insult, just a reality check.) Britain can be polished and classy, and it can be tougher than a bad neighborhood of Philly.
Ireland: deep beauty, deep gloom, too. Really depends on where you go and when and what you’re up to. One of the friendliest countries I’ve been to. Just don’t expect everything to be rainbows and sentimental fantasy and you’ll be fine. Again, from an American perspective: virtually all Americans need a reality check here.
Mexico: been there multiple times, still haven’t been killed. Haven’t witnessed so much as a mugging let alone a cartel operation. The worst thing I’ve seen is sexual harassment. The worst thing that personally happened to me was an epic case of farts. In general, what I’ve seen of Mexico is more truly cultured and sophisticated than a large chunk of the most hyped places in Europe and certainly more cultured and tasty than significant swathes of the United States. (Some of Mexico is pretty benighted, but the chances of you ending up in those corners of Mexico are next to none.)
The United States: lived here most of my life, still haven’t been shot. A country with places as diametrically different as Vermont and Miami Beach, New York and the Sonora. What’s pretty true about one place isn’t even remotely true about another. And contrary to the stereotype that Americans brook no criticism of our country, I think it’s actually the most hyper-self-critical country I’ve ever personally been to. If you can’t hear copious criticism coming out of the United States, see an ear doctor, your ears are plugged up. (Too much of this criticism is tribal criticism and not enough self-criticism, but Americans love to bitch and moan about the place. How do you not hear this?)
Canada: lovely people, lovely country, but nowhere near as happy or perfect as a big part of the world believes they are. Canadians are aware of their problems, because they’re honest. This isn’t a comment about Canadians. It’s a comment about the mystery of why so many other people aren’t aware of the problems and unhappiness that do exist in Canada.
Colombia: didn’t get killed. Didn’t see any obvious drug deals. Freakishly hot. Got horrifying Montezuma’a Revenge: do not ever ever EVER drink the water. Would I revisit? Yes.
Cuba: very much like the pictures of 1950’s cars and bars would have you believe. Fucking amazing to fly down there from Wisconsin in February: it’s not a long flight at all, but you feel like you’ve gone back 60 years in time and also dropped into what Southern Europe felt like a generation or two ago, not just the Caribbean. Lost worlds, truly. The sanitation will get you, though. The poverty is shocking. The people are wonderful but deserve so much better.
Italy: the only part I really liked was Sicily, where I didn’t killed by the mafia. Sicily was extraordinary.
Greece: incredibly cold when I was there. I think I picked up a minor case of pneumonia. It was March and I was freezing to death.
Turkey: went in 2002 and no Muslims killed me. The waiter brought his kid sister out, maybe 10 years old, to practice English. She giggled and thought Americans were funny. I thought the Turks were friendlier than the Greeks. But I was an asshole kid back then.
Bulgaria: also went in frozen weather in March 2002. Bulgaria was probably the closest to the grim Iron Curtain stereotype I’d sort of been expecting. (You half expected to see Stalin at the train station in Sofia.) But I’ve heard it’s changed a lot for the better. I was there 21 years ago. Would I revisit? Yes. In July.
Spain: didn’t see anybody going to bullfights. Tacos are not the dominant cuisine there. Paella is overrated tourist food. Seville beats Barcelona and Madrid. Go to Lanzarote for surreal quiet time (I was there last April, showed up in a tiny town at night, sat on the balcony watching the moon, and I was like “I’m in Spain and there’s no noise. This is weird.” Also, you’re more likely to see people having big parties than going to a Catholic religious procession. Spain has an exaggerated reputation for being “extremely Catholic.” The American Midwest is 10 times more Catholic.
Sweden: only went to Stockholm. Incredibly empty. Not very exciting. Dirtier than I expected.
Finland: severely underrated people.
Iceland: not as cold as Minnesota. (I’ve been to both in January. Iceland is Ipanema Beach compared to Minnesota.)
Portugal and Slovenia: Europe’s most underrated countries.
Czech Republic, Poland and Croatia: not gray. Everybody who heard I was going there said “that sounds so gray.” These places were bursting with color and life. Ate like a king for the price of a Big Mac meal in the U.S.
Bosnia: didn’t get killed. Contrary to stereotypes, that war ended 30 years ago. Being afraid to go because there had been a war and some bad shit in the past would be like being afraid to go to Germany in 1975, thirty years after WWII. Ridiculous. (I drove on some roads in Bosnia that were better than roads in Michigan. There are other roads where if you’re not paying attention, you’ll drive off a ledge and end up upside down in a cabbage patch.)
I’ve been to a few more countries, but that’s the gist.
One thing I’ve learned from travel is not to put too much stock in other people’s opinions. I’ve been to places they love that I hated. I’ve been to places they bashed or were afraid to visit that I thought were some of the best experiences of my life.
It’s not that I don’t trust anybody. It’s just that I’ve traveled enough to know that I’d rather go somewhere myself and form my own opinion.
Xi knows China needs the US, and of course the US needs China, maybe more so today.
Xi also knows that the world, which is facing more than enough difficulties right now, needs a stable US relationship and can not endure any major conflicts between the two largest economies.
Xi knows he can handle the situation here within China.
Then, looking around, who can help stabilize the bilateral relations? Who have a big say on the US domestic issues to try to calm down the sentiments there?
Is it possible, helpful and practical for him to talk to those big bosses of MICs, the Military Industrial Complex? Not quite possible — they prefer war than peace, they are thirsty for wars.
Is it helpful for him to talk to the US politicians? He has tried. He talked with Trump, and treated him well in Beijing, then what? Trump can tear down any agreements as he likes; He talked with Biden, last year in Bali, Indonesia, then what? Biden can’t even really govern his own administration team, neither the Democratics, let alone those from the GOP. But Xi tried once again, this time, he met Biden in San Francisco. But, again, then what? What if Trump came back after next election? He would again turn everything upside down.
Is it useful and helpful to talk to the general public? Might be of some help, but how many can he talk to? And how much help would that be of? No one really knows.
Then, who are left? The ones with a big say in the US politics, economy and even society — Yes, the business executives.
What they care more about is the market, the profits, the money, where China can offer. And with the money, they can stand with those candidates who are more practical and support a more pragmatic approach towards China, instead of those full of ideologies in their minds and even can’t wait to drum up a war with China.
Thus a comparably virtuous circle is hopefully to be formed to prevent the China-US relations from further spiraling down, which neither can China afford, nor can the US, as well as the whole world.
I joined a ship in Rotterdam and on sailing for Suez, noted that the generator oil temperatures were rather high. On asking the other engineers, they said “They’re always like that” which was often a reason given by those of an idle nature… I investigated and found that they had raised the alarm point to stop the alarms going off instead of actually fixing the problem, which I assumed to be the generator lube oil coolers being fouled. On arrival at Suez and waiting in the anchorage, we opened up the LO coolers but found that they were clear, though with a fine sand lying in the tube bottoms, suggesting a lack of seawater flow-rate. We transited Suez but on meeting the warmer seawater temperatures of the Red Sea, had to reduce the generator load to avoid them tripping out altogether. We put into Aden to fix the problem, blacked out and started working back from the seawater lines into the coolers to the pumps themselves, eventually having to take out just about all the seawater lines until on opening up the main piping from the pumps (some 650mm diameter) we found them to be just about blocked with an aggregate of mud, sand and shellfish, such that only a small diameter of some 250mm was available for passing water to the generator coolers. Out came the main length of piping and we started to shovel out the muck. As we cleared it, a large, Triffid/Hydra-like apparition started to appear, causing the more faint-hearted to jump back in alarm, though it was only moving by virtue of us shovelling out its supporting mussel bed… It turned out to be a submarine tree of surprising length and girth (around 5–6m long and about the diameter of my arm in the main trunk, with lots of squid like leaves on it which had been waving in the ever reducing breeze of seawater passing through the pipe. We eventually removed all the gunk and the “animal” itself and laid it along the plates for a photo opportunity (we only had the ship’s Polaroid instant picture camera in those days so I don’t have a record unfortunately).
How did such a large beast get into the system? Presumably it had entered as a micro-organism and found a handy place to anchor itself in the rubber jointing between flanges (its roots were entwined around the bolts) and then fed itself from the handy warm water stream passing its front door. It gradually grew, causing other marine life such as shellfish to cling on where the water was less turbulent, and then gathering mud and other essential nutrients from its environment. Amazing thing, but fortunately harmless in that it didn’t actually attack us… Being in Aden the temperature in the engineroom without the fans running was around 50C (we had to shut down the generators and rely on emergency lighting), such that we could only work for around 20 minutes each before having to go on deck in the (relatively) cooler air of some 35C Aden night time temperature. It took us most of the night to clear the piping and refit it – a big job indeed.
Final job on restarting everything was to wind the generator LO temperature alarms back to the proper alarm point; I checked back through the ship’s engineroom log books to see where the problem had first started, and it was some 3 years in the making without anyone investigating the slowly rising temperatures.
I was Marketing Director for a major, easily recognized company that manufactured female oriented products. Our President was in over his head, as evidenced by our declining market share and revenue. I was hired to help turn things around given my successful track record at other companies. However, the President couldn’t handle any outside suggestion or strategy unless it was his so I was constantly reprimanded for doing my job.
One day, my timid, suck-up boss sends me an email about a report she needs me to do ASAP. I scoll thru the entire email and at the end, I see it originated with a request from the President. Basically he wanted my boss to assign the report to me and once she had it to fire me. The email also contained some very derogatory & crude & inappropriate comments about my appearance.
I forwarded the entire email to my personal email account, HR and members of the Board. In exchange for me not pursuing legal action or sharing the incident with my press contacts (would have killed any credibility in the female marketplace), I received my bonus, 6 months severance including paying my health insurance, & a strong positive reference letter. I had a new position in 6 weeks.
The President was let go after about 2 months and it took him over 1 year to find a new position at a less prestigious company and lessor salary.
I wasn’t a mechanic, I was a service manager. A guy drove into the lot, he had poked a rod through his block. How the car was still running was a mystery. For some context, this was 1978, he was driving some little 1970 English import, a Vauxhall Viva, possibly. The blue book price was less than $500. He was a recent immigrant, with broken English, and obviously didn’t have much money, from the car he was driving.
I explained that it would cost twice as much to fix the car as it was worth. He didn’t appear to understand. So he called his pastor, who was his sponsor. I talked to the pastor when he arrived, and he called me a racist for refusing to work on an immigrants car. I explained it two different ways, and it didn’t make any difference.
I finally gave up, wrote up a work order, for $1200. Then I ran down the street to a convenience store, and bought an autotrader magazine. I handed him the work order first, and he audibly gasped. Yet it was just what I had verbally told him. Then I flipped the magazine open to a car like his, but in better shape, for sale for $500.
The light switched on. He wasn’t happy, but he now understood why I didn’t want to repair it. Since it was worth more than the car was to repair it, we would have required cash up front. Before starting the job.
My boss wasn’t happy with me, for spending my time driving away a customer.
I have no idea if the guy could have afforded to make the repair.
The next week the pastor started sending other members of his flock to us.
The following is a translation of a recent essay that examines the circumstances of close encounters between Chinese and U.S. militaries in China’s vicinity, explains China’s grievances, and identifies the factors that further heighten risks.
The author of this essay is Hu Bo, Research Professor and Director of the Center for Maritime Strategy Studies, Peking University, and Director of the South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative.
Full text below.
______
Recently, the U.S. DoD “declassified” some of the videos and pictures of aerial encounters with PLA military aircraft in the East China Sea and the South China Sea, accusing China of “risky intercept” and “unprofessional behaviors.”
This is, of course, a one-sided narrative from the United States. The Pentagon has not made it clear where these air encounters took place or why they occurred. As the China-U.S. military competition intensifies, the frequency and intensity of air and sea encounters are increasing, and the risk of possible friction and conflict does exist.
However, the United States is hyping “anxiety”, partly because of real concerns about risks, and partly because it wants to take hold of the “moral high ground” in international public opinion and diplomacy.
In fact, in the waters surrounding China, such as the East China Sea and the South China Sea, despite the growing competition between the China-U.S. militaries as well as air and sea encounters, it is important to emphasize that the vast majority of the air and sea encounters between the China-U.S. militaries, which occur more than a dozen times a day and thousands of times a year, have been conducted in a safe and professional manner.
For example, in a 2022 emailed statement about transit through the Taiwan Strait, US 7th Fleet spokesperson Mark Langford said in an emailed statement that “all interactions with foreign military forces during the transit were consistent with international standards and practices and did not impact the operation.”
In August 2022, Capt. Amy Bauernschmidt told the press after the USS Abraham Lincoln, which she commanded, finished a deployment in the Pacific that “We were operating in the vicinity [of] Chinese warships at times, mostly … that shadowed our ship……It was safe and professional the entire time that we interacted with them. During some flight operations, our aircraft did interact with some of their aircraft, but again it remained safe and professional each and every time we interacted with them.” [1]
Both the U.S. and Chinese militaries have made it clear at the highest levels that they “do not want war” and want to avoid direct military conflict.
While formal communication mechanisms between the two militaries (e.g., the China-U.S. Military Maritime Consultative Agreement meetings, Defense Policy Coordination Talk, and China-U.S. Theater Commanders Talk) were interrupted after Nancy Pelosi’s Visit to Taiwan, there are other channels of communication between frontline commanders, such as the Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972 (COLREGs), and the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES), which was adopted in 2014.
High-level exchanges between the U.S. and Chinese militaries have also been slowly restarting since President Xi Jinping had a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden in Bali. Overall, the situation of China-U.S. air and sea encounters is not as dire as portrayed by the media and some scholars.
▲ Four scenarios for confrontational encounters between China and the United States
However, under certain circumstances, the risk of conflict could run high. When the United States and China talk about military frictions or dangerous encounters and blame each other, the first thing we should be clear about is where these frictions or encounters are taking place. For both sides, air and sea encounters in different areas have different legal and political implications. Most confrontational encounters between China and U.S. military forces occur under the following four scenarios.
1. When U.S. forces approach the territorial waters and airspace of mainland China or Hainan Island, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) reacts vigorously, taking such actions as interception or forcing out.
2. U.S. forces enter the territorial waters and airspace of the Xisha Islands to carry out so-called FONOPs and are warned and driven away by the PLA.
3. When the U.S. military conducted FONOPs within 12 nautical miles of China-controlled islands and reefs in the Nansha Islands and Huangyan Island, The PLA warned and drove away the U.S. military. For example, on September 30, 2018, the USS Decatur conducted a so-called FONOP in the waters near Nansha Islands’ Nanxun Reef and had a close encounter with a Chinese warship. The two ships were only 40 meters apart at their closest.
4. Both China and the United States engage in close reconnaissance of each other’s military forces during military exercises, including live ammunition exercises. While mutual tracking and surveillance of military activities are common, the reconnaissance operations conducted by the U.S. military sometimes come dangerously close.
Particularly during the PLA’s live ammunition exercises, the U.S. military often disregards the no-entry notices and unlawfully enters the relevant sea and airspace. For example, in August 2020, a U.S. U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft intruded into the PLA’s Northern Theater Command’s live ammunition exercise airspace, and an accident was barely avoided.
▲ China has legitimate concerns about the close encounters between Chinese and U.S. naval and air forces
While China is dissatisfied with the U.S. military’s actions in the waters near China and believes that the root cause of the encounters at sea and in the air is the aggressively close reconnaissance and other targeted military operations conducted by the U.S. military, it nevertheless tracks and monitors the U.S. military in accordance with international conventions, which is no different from reciprocal reactions of U.S. and Japan for China.
China only reacts more strongly in the four above-mentioned types of military encounters, which is in line with international common sense. Any country would take all feasible measures to safeguard its territorial, sovereign, and platform security against any actions that attempt to approach its territorial waters and airspace or pose a threat to its training exercises.
Strategically, China opposes the continuous challenges posed by the U.S. to China’s sovereignty over islands and reefs and its national security. Technically or in specific actions, China opposes actions by the U.S. that endanger the safety of personnel onshore at sea and in the air. In addition to strategic and legal differences, China also has three legitimate concerns:
First, some of the U.S. military’s reconnaissance missions are too close to China and overly provocative.
For example, on September 4, 2021, a U.S. RC-135S Cobra Ball missile surveillance aircraft approached Jiaozhou Bay in Shandong Province for close reconnaissance, with its closest point of approach to the Chinese territorial baseline being less than 20 nautical miles. On December 8, 2022, a U.S. P-8A anti-submarine patrol aircraft flew over the Taiwan Strait, at times with a distance of less than 13 nautical miles from the Chinese territorial baseline.
Second, China has reasons to be concerned about frequent accidents involving the U.S. military. In recent years, the high frequency of U.S. military operations and the negative impact on training and proficiency have led to numerous unfortunate accidents (such as the collision incident involving the U.S. Navy’s USS Fitzgerald missile destroyer in 2017).
When the Chinese and American militaries come into close proximity, the possibility of accidental incidents occurring due to a decline in the professionalism of the U.S. military is increasing.
Third, the United States has intensified the public hype and politicization of encounters at sea and in the air and military actions. In recent years, the United States has amplified the political and diplomatic implications of its military actions, with the most iconic examples being the so-called FONOPs carried out by the U.S. military within 12 nautical miles of China-controlled islands in the South China Sea and its transits through the Taiwan Strait.
On October 27, 2015, the U.S. destroyer USS Lassen conducted a highly publicized FONOP in the waters near the Nansha Islands. Although the U.S. had previously conducted such activities in the South China Sea, they were rarely so open and high-profile. The same is true for U.S. transits through the Taiwan Strait. Since 2018, after each transit through the Taiwan Strait, the U.S. Navy would either feed information to the media or directly issue announcements, claiming to “maintain freedom and openness in the Indo-Pacific region”. Such hype and politicization have increased the complexity and difficulty of military communication between China and the U.S. and added to the risks of encounters between Chinese and American naval and aerial forces.
[1]Note: the original essay wrongly attributed the above quote to Rear Adm. J.T. Anderson, this newsletter corrected the inaccuracy.
You smile, bank the check and say thank you! I had a very small role in the Spiderman movie starring Emma Stone. The scene never made it into the final cut. It wasn’t necessary for the story line. But I got paid union rate and residuals and spent a very pleasant afternoon and evening filming a 2 person scene with Emma Stone, who was absolutely delightful and charming. No complaints. And they sent me the specially designed movie baseball cap. I was treated as a professional and my contribution was valued at the time of filming.
In many western nations it fails on both counts. What they have left is an electoral system that goes through the motions. I remember a module on Law I did at UCL. It’s an elected dictatorship mostly. Before you screech but you’re in China, yeah but I was born in the UK. I watche the 1997 election (too young to vote) participated in 2001, 2005, 2010 and sat out 2015. I had left the UK by 2017 and 2019.
We can go through the common failings:
We can vote out those who fail!
We can freely criticise our leaders!
We can vote somebody in new and different!
Western systems ensure the BEST standards of living
Western systems are accountable!
Western systems ensure the most capable people!
We can vote out those who fail!
Except you don’t. The Labour regime of from 1997 to 2010 didn’t really achieve anything. They had some decent literacy programmes with the gremlins campaign but this was dismantled by the late 00s.
We can freely criticise our leaders!
Less so now, the UK has massively restricted free speech since the 80s, it has massively restricted protest. And guess what? Call the current prime minister a bum what happens NOTHING to you and NOTHING to them.
We can vote somebody in new and different!
Except it’s a false choice. You can choose a Neoliberal or a Neoliberal. The policies are a venn diagram that is a circle.
Western systems ensure the BEST standards of living
Maybe in the past 70s, 80s maybe the 90s. But once it got Neoliberalised productivity got disconnected from wages and there’s been a massive stagnation.
Western systems are accountable!
Yeah, they apologise or say let’s draw a line under it and then simply ignore it. I still remember Blunkett UK MP (EDIT) simply saying I don’t accept that to dismiss a well crafted argument against him.
Western systems ensure the most capable people!
No it ensures popular people. The UK’s Johnson for instance. What qualities other than being popular did he have?
Now let’s return to the above:
For the people.
For the people, are your lives REALLY getting better? My life in the UK:
Access to medical care: As a child I remember being able to get appointments with Dr Sharma same day for the times I was ill. As a teenager when I was beaten up, I could be admitted to hospital pretty quickly. Nose operations to put it back were done in as little as week. Into my 20s. It became increasingly difficult. Barriers kept being put up to see my GP. First off it was you had to book a day in advance, then a week in advance. By the early 00s. My GP had a 10 minute window at 8am to book appointments. There were 10 available a day.
My commute times : Each year it took longer and longer. I recall sitting in my dad’s car. To get to the big city nearby it was 20 minutes door to door. We moved a couple miles East but by the mid 00s it was taking 45 minutes and by the 2010s it was taking an hour each way door to door.
Policing There was a small police station in my dad’s town. It was gone and consolidated by the mid 00s. My dad had things smashed and police would attend same day. By the 2010s they wouldn’t attend and simply give you a crime number.
Of the people.
There’s the odd outlier like Mahri Black? The youngest MP ever. But the trend is establishment candidates. Only those backed by the party apparatchik have any chance of success. Tons of people like Lord Binhead try.. or the Monster Raving Loony Party try but always lose their deposits.
Sheltered, to begin with. In elementary school, I thought that friends who lived on Park Avenue were middle class.
One thing, though, that many don’t understand — not all of the students in these schools are rich. The schools generally offer financial aid, and many students are from upper middle class families. Increasingly, they have some poor children as well.
But of course there are lot of rich kids at them — kids who go skiing in the Swiss Alps, kids with household staffs, what have you. This can leave kids from middle class backgrounds thinking that they are poor.
The schools themselves — mine anyway —
Very high standards. You did not skip class, and you were not absent unless you were ill or there was a major crisis like a death in the family.
Very solid, college preparatory curriculum with lots of electives. Math and language classes were tracked by ability. The curriculum was accelerated to the point at which many students went to college after their junior year — there just wasn’t much left to do.
No bad teachers; they ranged from good to superb.
Few bad students. Admission was competitive and those who couldn’t handle the work were asked to leave. All students went to college, any or most to Ivies or similar, and most got advanced degrees.
Small class sizes. Ours were about 15. Teachers had low course loads, and latitude in what and how they taught — no submitting lesson plans. And they could focus on teaching, rather on lunchroom duty and such.
No “teaching to the test.” But then, such a thing didn’t exist when I was in school.
That said, there was good prep for the SAT’s. This can’t make a dramatic difference in scores, less than 100 points, but it can make some.
Beautiful campus, also like a small college. Here’s where I went to school — that’s the library building:
image 144
9. Excellent facilities.
10. No bells, etc. But very high standards of behavior. You didn’t arrive to class late, and there were no fights or anything of the sort.
11. A friend who transferred in from public school told me that he was delighted to be at a school where the teachers actually liked the kids!
12. I recall visiting my cousin’s public school when we were juniors and was appalled at the way the kids were treated by the administration. Obnoxious.
13. Smart kids were admired rather than bullied or looked down upon.
14. Today, there is a lot of pressure on the kids to get into a top college. Less so in my day. In any case, the schools are feeder schools, known to top colleges. At my school, for example, six kids went to Yale every year. Not five, not seven — they had six slots set aside.
15. The quality of the students was remarkable — probably more so at privates that cater specifically to the children of the rich. Out of a class of 100, one of my classmates became the first female editor of The New York Times. One became a philosophy professor at Cambridge, the other at Harvard. Another became a physicist. Most became doctors and lawyers. (Only three of us, I being one of them, became engineers.) One of the lawyers worked for President Obama. Etc.
16. I asked a former teacher why it was that, on a standardized test administered to students in New York City, the public school students did better than the private school students, but that in life, the private schools students did better, and he said it was simple — the private schools taught the students to think. They don’t stuff your head full of facts like a public school, but you can write an essay or prove a theorem.
In retrospect, if there was a downside, it’s that we were so sheltered. But overall, my experience was just about as good as it could be, within our current educational framework and given the requirements set by the colleges. I wish that every student could enjoy a similar experience.
There is no threat to the Chinese political system. 95% of Chinese support China and its government. People live longer, today their life expectancy is 78 years old and the U.S. is 2 full years lower at 76 years old! They live better lives. Their real standard of living less inflation has grown 30 times in 40 years. Meanwhile during the same time. The U.S. real standard of living not only not grow. It deteriorated back 20 years into the 1960 level!
Chinese has full universal healthcare coverage and college education is free of charge if one qualifies for it. All of which is not free in the U.S. and close to a third of Americans are not covered by healthcare and may die if they fall sick! That is the U.S. not China! Kids gets into college debts before they even start life in the world.
So who want to change their political system? Well by trust on government measurement carried out by trusted western research in the west showed Chinese trust their government 95% and only 30% of American’s trust their government!
And your question is what is the biggest threat to the Chinese political establishment? Not what is the biggest threat to the so call US liberal democracy? Why do you not ask the obvious? And why do you worry about a non issue? Where is your intellect? Where is you rationality and sanity?
Ok I get it you are a China and Chinese hater and you term communism as a slur to demonised China. But let me help you. 87% of the world don’t buy your shit. Sure the 13% westerners may be fooled by your media but even that a higher proportion of westerners are smarter than you. They know this is a nonsense question. But I addressed it to call you out. If you can ask this question you don’t amount to much.
What was odd thirty years ago, is my new normal, but here are a few random remembrances from 1990 Germany, 6 months after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Brutal truth rewarded me when I asked “how are you?”. Replies weren’t always “great”, “awesome” or “just fine thank you.” Germans actually thought I cared (and eventually I learned not to ask if I didn’t).
Germans are direct. They don’t beat around the bush. When they have an opinion they share it with you. And they expect you respect it and deliver honesty in return. Political correctness was non-existent.
Service workers didn’t smile and chirp sugar-coated pleasantries. Shop attendants ignored me unless I asked for help. Restaurant meals were uninterrupted by the obligatory-every-five-minute repetition of “is everything OK?” I learned to ask for the bill rather than wait for it.
Smiling at strangers often seemed to discomfort them. I soon learned to recognize when a smile was welcome and when not.
Football (soccer for me at the time) rules. The 1990 World Cup began soon after I arrived. During games the world stopped. Loud cheers or groans occasionally livened up silent and traffic free downtown streets. As games ended, streets filled with honking cars waving huge flags (Italian, Spanish, Brazilian, Romanian and of course German).
I thought the Super Bowl huge, but the World Cup is much bigger.
Sporting events and television programs were advertising free. Ads appeared only between scheduled programming.
Everything was expensive. A used car with over 80,000 miles cost more than a new Hyundai in the US. A pair of brand name jeans cost 3 times more.
The electronics store salesman spent an hour trying to talk me out of a Toshiba television and a Samsung microwave. He insisted Asian goods broke as soon as the 2 year warranty expired. (The microwave is still going strong 30 years later, and the TV was only replaced because it was no longer smart enough for the digital age).
Nobody ever asked me about my religion or my profession, but damn were they curious about life in America.
Talking about money or charity is taboo.
Alcohol was everywhere. It was common to see people drink beer in the park or walking down the street. Lunch usually included a beer or carafe of wine.
There was no free water in the restaurants. And soft drinks were more expensive than beer. All drinks are served without ice.
Nobody littered! The public waste bins were emptied daily.
Germans pedestrians wait for a red light to turn green even on a deserted street at midnight.
Zebra-striped crosswalks get the same respect as stopped school buses in the US.
I was never asked to show ID to prove myself of legal drinking age. Sixteen-year-olds are allowed to drink wine and beer (even in a bar).
Magazines at the supermarket checkout featured naked breasts (no longer).
Shops closed at 6.30 p.m. on weekdays, 2 p.m. on Saturday and were all closed on Sunday (this has changed).
There were only three types of soda on offer, Coke, Fanta and Sprite (the selection is slightly larger now – but nothing like in the US).
Bagels and donuts were not to be found (that has changed too).
Bread was light on air and heavy on grains. My digestion became like an alarm clock.
Cities and streets are designed for pedestrians, bicycles and public transport – not for cars. Pedestrian zones are everywhere, parking is in expensive garages.
Downtown streets aren’t straight. They wander among the buildings and sites. Highways don’t mention north, south, east or west. They only tell you what towns and cities are ahead on the route.
Restaurant meals took hours not minutes and lack of television in the restaurants forced me to communicate with my friends. Meal portions were smaller and menus much more varied. Chain restaurants were rare. Tipping was optional and the wait staff gets 20 days of paid vacation.
Dogs are allowed in restaurants.
German flags were only displayed during the World Cup.
Everybody took a one hour lunch break and left work promptly before 5.30. People took three or four week vacations and left work behind.
Construction workers drank beer during their morning break. Obesity was unusual, beer bellies were not.
People walked for fun, but nobody seemed to run for fitness.
Some women at the pool sunbathed topless. Young children at the pool often wore nothing.
Public transport was immaculately clean and ran on time.
Brothels are legal.
Nobody ever seemed to get shot (though there were plenty of stabbings in Frankfurt where I lived).
Gas was four to five times more expensive than in the US.
My hour lunch break is over now. I’ll add to this if anything else occurs to me.
Back in the 70s, when smoking was legal almost anywhere except elevators. I stepped into an elevator in an office building with a coworker when another person stepped right in as the doors closed, smoking a cigarette. I pointed out it was illegal to smoke on an elevator and she replied, “what are you going to do, call the police?” My coworker, who happened to be a reserve police officer, pulled out his badge and said, “that won’t be necessary.”
Ah, I still remember her expression.
Varginha UFO Crash: Alien Contact, Government Denial and Coverup
You must be joking!!! I don’t understand how you could be unaware. China has been the target of massive anti-China propaganda in Western media for years.
And not only in mainstream media but in social media like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and here on Quora.
Curiously, there are very few positive stories about China in Western media. They’re nearly all negative! How can that be?
Can a country that…
built the world’s largest economy from scratch within 40 years
lifted 800 million people out of extreme poverty
created the world’s finest infrastructure of roads, bridges, high-speed rail, airports, etc.
landed on the dark side of the moon
sent an ambitious space mission to Mars
built the spectacular BeiDou navigation satellite system
reforested 34 million acres of land
produces the most renewable energy in the world
created the world’s best 5G technology
sent pandemic aid to dozens of countries around the world
…have practically nothing positive to report on at all?
Well, that’s what the American (Western) narrative is.
China don’t throw innocent people into jail like the how U.S. cook up some shit and throw the Huawei CEO daughter in jail in Canada. The 2 Michael’s are spies and doing things in China to hurt China and the Chinese people to spy for the 5 eyes. These are facts. These are self confessed facts. Canada, do the honourable think and apologise to China and the Chinese people.
Canada you are a hypocrite and a liar. You cohort with all the media to claim that they were innocent. Well they now says in their own free speech that they spied for you! You are lucky China don’t sentence them to death. China ought to. China should do. After all what they do could kill many Chinese.
The time that a white persons life is worth more than another race belongs to the 19th century today. We should sue every media that claims the Michael’s are innocent. We should end every journalist that lied. We should fine the media and politicians so hard the will never dare to lie again. Caucasians do the right thing. Do you like to be lied to? Again and again and again?
I thought that freedom of speech is so vital to you. And surely you want the truth, nothing but the truth? Why the hell are you keeping quiet? CNN and BBC. Why are you quiet as a mouse? Lying News channel?
I raised a young family in the 1970’s as a TV repairman. Made good money. TV’s were so unreliable there was a TV shop on every other street corner. Drug stores had a vacuum tube tester for DIY’ers (You can’t guess how many service calls I made where the customer had a bag of tubes they took out to test but didn’t have brains enough to read the tube layout on the inside of the cabinet to return them in the proper place.) When the RCA XL100 came out as one of the first solid state TV’s, repairs started a slow decline. When integrated circuits became the norm, the bottom opened. Microprocessors blew the bottom away.
Drive down ANY 5 streets and tell me how many TV repair shops you can find. Go ahead, I’ll wait………..
I saw the handwriting on the wall, jumped into early PC repair, became an electronics teacher, saw the build you own PC market crash, got into networking, watched Cisco plummet in the 90’s, did cyber security and retired. Modern TV’s are far superior to any previous generation by my firsthand experience. Not to mention a color tv in 1960 cost $300 – 500 dollars. Do the math with inflation vs any brand of 40″ flat screen. Be amazed.
image 149
This is what fed my wife and daughter for 12 years.
Because I got married and had her very early in my 20s, at that time, none of my friends had kids. My baby was the sweetheart for all the aunties – mom’s three close friends. We threw her a party.
It was fun. Each auntie got her a present. They handed it to her one by one so she opened it and got excited. To the last auntie, before she handed the present to my daughter, she ‘demanded’ my girl, “Say ‘please’ and bow, so auntie will give you the gift!”.
I thought she was joking, so I interrupted and told my daughter, “Auntie got you a present, you say ‘Thank you’ out loud!”.
My daughter exclaimed, “Thank you auntie!”, then opened the present.
It was a Lego Friends set. Needless to say, my daughter was so happy, and jumped up and down with the Lego set.
Then suddenly, the auntie snatched the Lego set from my daughter’s hands again, held it up above her head, and demanded my daughter, “Say ‘please’ and bow, or auntie’s gonna take it back!”.
This time, I knew she wasn’t joking.
I got angry but tried very hard to keep my voice calm, “No one demands my daughter to beg. We’re poor but we are not cheap”. “I was just joking!”, she said. “No, you weren’t.
That’s the second time and I don’t like it”, I told her.
Now she got angry, raised her voice with me, “Even so, this is an expensive toy, what wrong with begging a little?”. “You take the gift back and please leave”, I told her, while getting up and holding the door open.
She left and never came back.
The next day, I took my daughter to the toy store to get that Lego set. My friend was right. It was a damn expensive toy, it cost me a big chunk of my skinny paycheck and a friendship.
Of course it is the U.S. but to be fair the U.S. is the biggest threat to the entire world. China included. And the world. As a whole the world need to jointly and severally stop the U.S. excesses. I dare say for the good of the human race including the Americans.
The U.S. is the only nation that will push human into extinction through an all out nuclear war if uncheck. We humanoids on earth need to be very mindful of this fact and the U.S. powers must be checkmate at every turn and ever aspect. Militarily, politically, financially, economically and strategically.
The U.S. must be brought back into being a member of responsible human society where the common good of humanity must prevail over the selfish interest of the U.S. military industrial complex profiting from wars, chaos and violence worldwide.
China is a very peaceful loving nation and it survived 5000 years because it has a peaceful coexistence between nations as a priority. China don’t want enemies and certainly do not like war. Since 1979 some 44 years has passed since China last fought a war. But during that time China phenomenally grew rich and strong to deter any nation from threatening them.
China wants a peaceful world where we can live peacefully and harmoniously. We can all get prosperous and live better and longer lives. And we trade with each other. Today there are only some 12–15 nations that are part of these war threatening pack. Most of them are either forced into this pack as slave vassal states or coerced or bribed into this grouping. Glued together by the U.S. and the western media, this loosely defined as western powers need to be dismantled for good.
Chinese history
Cajun Beef Po’boy Sandwiches with Red Eye Gravy
For Cajun Beef Po’boy Sandwiches with Red Eye Gravy, sirloin steak is rubbed with espresso coffee powder and pepper, then broiled to perfection. Red Eye Gravy is added to the steak.
cajun beef po boys
Ingredients
Po’boys
1 (1 pound) beef top sirloin steak, cut 1 inch thick
6 teaspoons espresso coffee powder, divided
1/2 teaspoon pepper
4 large French bread rolls, split
8 slices tomato
1 cup shredded lettuce
Redeye Gravy
3 tablespoons butter, divided
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup diced tasso or pancetta ham
1/4 cup diced onion
1 tablespoon Creole Seasoning
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/3 cup hot water
2 cups beef stock
1 to 2 tablespoons hot pepper sauce (Louisiana-style)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
Rub beef top sirloin steak with 2 teaspoons espresso powder and pepper.
Heat broiler to HIGH.
Place steak on rack on aluminum foil-lined broiler pan so surface of beef is 3 to 4 inches from heat. Broil for 16 to 21 minutes for medium rare (145 degrees F) doneness, turning once.
Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons butter in large skillet over medium heat; whisk in flour. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes until caramel color, whisking often. Remove mixture from pan; set aside.
Melt remaining tablespoon butter in same skillet over medium heat; add tasso, onion, Creole Seasoning and garlic; cook for 10 minutes until onion is translucent.
Dissolve remaining 4 teaspoons espresso powder in hot water; add to skillet and cook for 1 to 2 minutes until browned bits attached to skillet are dissolved and sauce is reduced almost completely.
Whisk in butter mixture until smooth.
Add beef stock, hot sauce and Worcestershire; bring to a boil. Reduce and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until sauce is reduced to 1 cup.
Add roast beef to skillet. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes until heated through, stirring often so sauce coats beef.
Divide beef mixture between rolls. Top beef with tomato and lettuce. Close sandwiches.
There is no need to answer such boring questions anymore.
All infrastructure in China, including logistics, communication, power supply, water supply, and gas supply, is very complete.
In 2021, China produced 8.5 petawatt-hour (Pwh) of electricity, approximately 30% of the world’s electricity production.
There are two most advanced transmission technologies in the world, one called “ultra-high voltage transmission” and the other called “flexible direct current transmission“. China is far ahead of other countries in these two top technologies.
Overhead power lines can easily cause fires and can also lead to power outages.
Outdoor power poles and overhead power lines in China have been basically cleaned up during the renovation of old cities, and all cables have been buried underground without any exposed or disorderly phenomena.
If you have traveled to cities in Taiwan, Japan and Chinese Mainland, you will find that only cities in Chinese Mainland rarely see bare overhead power lines.
I haven’t experienced a power outage in China for 40 years.
Young people born in China after 1990 may not even understand what it feels like to have a power outage.
In China, even remote rural areas have stable electricity supply.
The Tibetan village at an altitude of 5000 meters has also been electrified.
But whether it’s India, Vietnam, or the United States or Europe, power outages are frequent.
The machines running in the factory require electricity, while the computers in the office require electricity. If the power supply is unstable, how do you make the enterprise work?
Taiwan’s power system has always had various problems. Taking TSMC as an example, due to a power outage in Tainan City, 30000 wafers on TSMC’s production line were damaged, resulting in a direct loss of US$200 million. No matter how rich TSMC’s finances are, it cannot withstand the losses caused by several major power outages.
Anyway, since you want to attract foreign investment, the first step is to ensure a stable electricity supply.
Otherwise, these enterprises will have to face downtime and production stoppage.
Through the the Belt and Road Project, China will help these countries improve their power systems and will actively transfer some enterprises to countries along the the Belt and Road.
China’s homegrown TP500 unmanned transport plane makes maiden flight, and transportation between Chinese cities will be faster in the future. Goods that originally took 3 days to arrive can be transported in 2-3 hours.
I was a workaholic, working 16 hour weekdays and 8 hour weekends. This was about 20 years ago.
It was Christmas eve, and I still hadn’t done my Christmas shopping, I had my list for everything, most of it specified by my nieces and nephews.
I had been reading how a few malls in our city were in trouble, as everyone was switching to big box stores to shop. They showed pictures of traffic jams in big box store parking lots. I was finally out of time and had to shop, and hope I could get the stuff on my list, at the last minute.
I pulled up to Sears at the local mall, that had been featured in the news, as being in trouble. The parking lot was empty. I was afraid it was closed. I parked in the closest parking spot to the door. I walked in and manager saw me enter, and was on me like glue. I was the only customer in the store, ON Christmas Eve!!
He asked me what I was looking for and I pulled out this long list. He smiled and called someone over to get me a hot chocolate from the mall, he sat me down in a recliner in the furniture section, and called two more workers over, and asked them to get the stuff on the list.
We talked, and I drank my hot chocolate. He was pretty sure Sears wouldn’t last another five years, and he needed it to, to collect his pension.
After about 15 minutes, the workers were back with my presents. I paid for them. They had a gift wrapping service, which normally cost extra, but he said that the staff weren’t doing anything anyway, so it would be free.
In another 10 minutes, they helped me load the wrapped presents in my car.
It was maybe 25 minutes from when I walked into the store, and I was done. Wrapped and everything.
I had almost never shopped at Sears, but after that I was a regular, until they closed the doors. I saw the manager until he successfully retired.
I later read that Sears ended up shorting the pension fund. I hope he made out OK, as I have never had service like that, before or since.
Just read this out to my wife and she burst out laughing. In 1996 I had been widowed over five years when a crazy woman burst through the door of our car sales site with so much enthusiasm and vibrance and chatter and said she wanted to buy a car. It was a quiet time so I stopped playing my guitar and set about helping her. She bought a car and left and I turned to my mate and said, ‘She’s totally bonkers’, he replied, ‘you’re telling me’, I replied, I could do with some of that’. I delivered the car a few days later and took her to the pub for a chat, after a few dates we were driving towards the Mersey tunnel, Merseyside from Wirral to Liverpool and I asked her if she would like to go on an adventure and her answer was yes, just then we entered the tunnel just as the petrol light came on, I said, ‘welcome to the adventure’.
We sold our houses, bought a B & B, called it ‘Firkin House’ and thirteen years later retired to sunny Cyprus and will have been married twenty years next May with lots of fun and laughs along the way.
Oh, boy. I’ll never forget this one as long as I live.
I had been living with my significant other for about four years. He always treated me well … but other people? Not so much. In this case, it was his grandparents, who I adored. They were just the sweetest people. They really loved their grandson, too, even though he rarely gave them the time of day. They wanted him to fly home for Christmas—I’d made plans with my family, so we were going solo that year.
Anyway, this guy refused to buy a plane ticket unless his grandparents paid for it. Here’s the kicker: he had the money to spend on plane fare. He just didn’t want to. A$$hole that he was. So, his grandfather, who was around 90, had said that he’d put the check in the mail. It hadn’t arrived, due to the holiday mail delay.
I bore witness to this guy browbeating his elderly grandpa into Fed-Exing another check over the phone. This was two days before the cut-off date to book the flight. So his grandfolks sent another check, because they wanted their grandson home for the holidays. These were old, frail people who barely got out of the house. Not good drivers. You know, why didn’t my S.O. just pay for the fare and let his grandfather pay him back once he was there?
A day or so after he left on the trip, his grandfather’s original check arrived in the mail. I looked at his spidery handwriting on the signature line, and I felt positively ill.
I ended up breaking up with my significant other because of that, and for countless other times that I’d seen him be really mean to other people who loved him—family members, even. I knew that one day, I could be next in line, and I wasn’t about to wait around for that to happen.
First of all, the great and grand snow squalls are called ”Northeasterner’s”( also called “nor’easter“). A weather cell hovers over the Atlantic ocean, and then migrates to Boston… then then unloads a shit-load of snow on everyone.
It is truly amazing. My last experience was in 1 April around 1997. Eight feet of snow in four hours.
Well, of course, the roads are impossible.
But…
If you have a snowplow on your truck… wait, because the local government will PAY YOU GOOD MONEY to clear out specific streets and roads. No shit.
It’s a great program, and works wonderfully.
Other states, such as Indiana and Pennsylvania should really give this system a try. Hint Hint.
Different places… with different laws and policies. Isn’t life grand? That’s why travel is important.
I have an amusing anecdote involving Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz, Commander-in-Chief of the German Navy from 1943–1945.
The imposing naval figure above was a daring submarine commander in World War One. In the lattermost stage of his career he was responsible for fleets of warships, hundreds of thousands of personnel, and the mightiest war-fighting vessels of his nation. He reached the height of naval command and was covered in honors. He was even briefly Head of State.
But with a steep rise came an equally steep fall. After Germany’s surrender in 1945, he was in a Allied prison cell, awaiting trial at Nuremberg. To while away the time, one of Admiral Friedeburg’s adjutants taught him and his fellow prisoners how to play the game Battleship.
Of course, the game requires an opponent. Who else did he find to play against him but his fellow Commander-in-Chief, Hermann Göring. Those who once directed wars and decided the fates of nations, now directed fantasy fleets across pads of paper. Göring tried to sink Dönitz’s warships with as much gusto as if he was directing his Luftwaffe’s bombers against them personally, and he did not like to lose. Once the Admiral protested,
“Hermann’s cheating! If he doesn’t like where my shells are falling, he marks them in on different squares!”
You read that right: a Grand Admiral was reduced to playing Battleship, sparring against none other than Hermann Göring, who was a dirty cheater. If that’s not hilarious yet completely in character for both of them, I don’t know what is!
In the right way
CIA in China
The CIA I mean the NED is hiring and paying shot wages. No wonder we run circles around them.
But would you whore off your soul for such a pitiful amount?
main qimg a028c7a1bc221d4e96b3777863364131
She fucked up
Creole Andouille and Shrimp Jambalaya
This jambalaya recipe will become an extremely popular dish with family and friends because it’s filled with tasty sausage, boneless chicken thighs, shrimp, fresh vegetables and rice…let’s be honest…it screams comfort food!
BRICS is an economic organization, and if you care about human rights, you should be upset at many countries which are allies of the west.
Your thinking is very muddled, and it is apparent that you let just one criteria be the judge of your economic decisions, when economics and politics are completely separate issues. The world is changing and it is important to be flexible.
At the prestigious “AAAA” firm, Mr. Stevens was known for his level-headed approach and patience. As the Head of Department, he’d mentored many and had rarely ever lost his temper. But there was one incident that everyone in the office remembered.
A young intern named Jake had recently joined the team. Ambitious and eager, he sometimes came across as overconfident. One day, during a team meeting, a colleague, Mrs. Ramirez, proposed an idea she’d been working on for months. Instead of providing constructive feedback, Jake laughed dismissively and said, “Do you really think that old-school idea would work? Maybe it’s time you retired and made way for the new generation.”
A hush fell over the room. Mrs. Ramirez, a veteran with 20 years at the company and revered for her innovations, looked hurt but stayed silent.
Mr. Stevens, usually so composed, turned to Jake, his face stern. “In this company, we value respect as much as we value innovation. If you cannot provide the former, you have no place here, regardless of your skills or ideas.” By the end of the day, Jake’s internship was terminated.
It became a tale that echoed in the corridors, not as a threat but as a reminder: talent without humility means nothing.
Before I moved to the U.S.; I worked for my boss for 5 years. He was a big-ish deal of my company and I worked under his direct supervision.
It was a very normal thing when I picked my boss up from one vendor’s office at 11.30am to another vendor’s office for another meeting at 1.00pm. He used to ask me to get him a sandwich and a coffee so he could eat in the car while listening to my briefing about what’s the next meeting about. He could just tell me, ‘My flight arrived at 5.30pm Thursday, and I want to fly back Friday evening. I want to meet Mr.X for dinner’ and I would contact Mr.X’s office, try to arrange the meeting, make the reservation for dinner, and jot down a list of things Mr.X might want to discuss and the status of all ongoing matters for him. I also always carried an extra box of my boss’s name card, just in case he ever forgot and needed a backup.
I was hired to manage a computerized lottery system nationwide (43 cities). None of the above was in my job description. Yet, I did them gladly, just because I could, and I felt like I did make his life a little bit easier.
When I told him I would move to the U.S shortly, he offered me three extra months of pay added into the last paycheck, so I could have a little ‘runway’ to settle things down in a new country. At my farewell party with the team, he told me, ‘You’re not just one employee to me, you’re my brother-in-arms’.
While I totally understand others’ reasons for not wanting to be bothered to ‘make me a coffee’; I still think it won’t hurt if I go a bit further in terms of doing things for others.
When me and my husband split up my landlady decided to evict me and my son because she wanted to be able to rent the house for more money. We’d lived there for 10 years and even spent money out of our own pocket for small repairs. Our rent was only $400 a month. Went back a year later. The house is falling apart and is sitting empty. There was a workers permit laying on the front porch. It was really faded and I could make out it was for electrical work. I tried the front door and it was unlocked. 2 of the rooms looked like they had been half painted. You could tell no one had been in there for quite some time. The back porch had completely fallen apart. I guess she realized it was going to cost her more than she was willing to spend to get this old farm house up to the standard to rent for $1200. And now she is bringing in no income for the house. Bet she’s regretting kicking us out now.
Fair doesn’t factor in the U.S. vocabulary list at all. A nation who is the only nuclear bomb user don’t know the word fairness. A nation that used Agent Orange and Nepalm fire bombs on Vietnamese civilians don’t know fair. A nation build on the backs of ten of millions of African slaves never knew fair. An nation that become a nation after genociding and carrying out biological weapons of western influenza on its natives certainly don’t know fair.
Stop mixing up US and fairness. It is like oil and water. It will never mix.
A new gal started in my dept. at work and she seemed really nice. We both started early so began talking over coffee before the others straggled in. After a couple of weeks though, I saw that the humor I had admired so much at first was really a thinly disguised nastiness. She would make fun of her handicapped husband, and then laugh raucously. Everyone else was joining in, but I recognized that what she was putting forth were her true feelings disguised as humor.
Some of the things she joked about was hiding her spouse’s wheelchair before she left for work, and then watching him on the cameras she had placed around the house while she was at work. (The man was blind and unable to walk, yet she thought it was so hilarious.) The saddest part was that the supervisors and bosses, as well as the co-workers all thought it was hilarious, too. They laughed even more when she showed them the videos she had recorded of his struggles.
I transferred out of that department as quickly as I could after that. I couldn’t stand to work with people who thought being a bully was funny.
I play flute, and years ago I spent four months busking around Europe. I had three encounters with police:
The Netherlands. Playing in Amsterdam, a mounted cop pinned me up against the wall of a building with his horse. The horse stepped on my flute case (open on the ground, full of coins) and broke it. The cop told me this was illegal and scared me to death; though I wasn’t hurt. After he left, while I was picking coins and stuff off the ground, some older men came out of the pub across the street. They helped me get everything and invited me into the pub to play in there, where they asked if I could play some Frank Sinatra for them (on the flute?) I did my best, and they were very generous.
Switzerland. I was playing in a square in Geneva, making a ton of money. Suddenly some cops pull up to me in a van and tell me to get inside. My travel companion was having coffee nearby and she came running over. The cops explained that this wasn’t allowed in Geneva, drove us to the outskirts of the city, and dropped us off. Message received.
Sweden. Playing in a square in Stockholm, a uniformed cop came over and listened while I ran through a movement from a Bach sonata. (First played straight and then the Jethro Tull version, part of my act.) When I stopped, he told me that that was beautiful but that sadly, it wasn’t legal in Stockholm. Then he put some kronor in my (new) flute case and wandered off.
For years, I often heard women complaining about the dating scene, and men who didn’t “Do what they say they were going to do.”
It struck a chord with me as I went through my 20s, and grew increasingly impatient with flaky friends and people who were constantly, and egregiously late to things.
I realized that the people who were the flakiest, and least likely to honor their word, were also the people who had far more problems in their life. Their careers were stagnating. Their relationships were turbulent and problematic.
Their lack of commitment to their word correlated to a bunch of other character flaws, for which they were paying a steep price.
I have since kept a strong radar pinging for people who fail to follow through on even tiny commitments.
My advice to you — and one that I’ve painfully followed — take a knightly approach to your word. This means saying no to things you aren’t sure you can follow through on.
If you explain yourself and say, “I don’t want to make a commitment I am not sure I can honor.”
They’ll usually understand and appreciate it.
This is especially true in dating. Women hate, hate flakey dudes.
My home burned down in 2012, end of January. Lost everything, including all my pets. Lived in a motel for 8 days, 5 of which my aunt gave me money for. My boss and cousin helped me find housing in a highrise, primarily seniors. Snoopy seniors.
I was sitting on my floor on blankets since I had no furniture. But I did have a TV and free basic channels from the building’s antenna. I could hear whispering in the hallway, right by my door. “Why’s she sitting in the floor? Why doesn’t she have furniture. Maybe she got out of rehab.” Typical gossipy old ladies. The maintenance guy hadn’t replaced my peepholes in the door and they were looking through the holes. I yanked that door open so fast one almost toppled over her walker. Told them I was burned out, was a working woman who drove many of them to doctors and church. I was not putting up with their shit. They took off down the hall. I put duct tape over the holes, which I hadn’t thought anyone would be rude enough to look through. Notified the office the next day. Both ladies got a letter about respecting privacy. They were on camera, peeking into my place.
Here we see an image from in interview in which actress Amber Heard “fights back tears” after telling about the horrific domestic abuse she claims to have suffered at the hands of her former husband Johnny Depp. She’s sad. She’s pitiful. She’s a brave victim, telling her story… only she isn’t. She’s bullshitting.
The truth is, Amber Heard has a history of domestic abuse. As in, committing it. Before Depp she primarily dated women, and she has a tendency of flying off the handle with them physically. Domestic violence between women, like female partners beating up female partners, is historically massively underreported. So is violence against men, by women. There’s shame, and there’s stigma involved.
She was arrested for it, before. Got into a physical altercation with an ex-girlfriend. Hit her, in public, in an airport.
And the case was dropped. And she got away with it. Because she’s a woman. A pretty woman. Better yet, a pretty rich woman. All the nasty stories about Amber Heard were carefully buried for years. Until the moment her then-husband, Johnny Depp, had enough and defended himself physically.
He then became “the bad guy”. The man with many wild and rocky relationships, who in spite of his substance abuse had never, ever been accused of abusing any of his partners… was accused by the woman who had a history of abuse. And yet she was believed, by default. Why? Because she was a woman.
That’s the most blatant double standard I’ve witnessed in recent years — you can literally be a woman with a history of abuseand beat up your husband, slap him, call him names, cut off his finger and defecate on his bed (Heard did all these things to Depp!) and the MINUTE he defends himself physically? He’s labeled a ‘wife beater’ and all-but blacklisted from Hollywood.
As a Christian and a lover of Chinese culture and history, I have to tell you that there is so much wrong with the premise of this question that it’s scary.
True Christianity (not the “new evangelical movement” we see in America) is strictly Bible based. Bible based Christianity is not political. Bible based Christianity isn’t interested in overthrowing governments. Bible based Christianity won’t send you on crusades to conquer nations and set up a state church.
Understand that I’m not just talking out of my butt like most US politicians and popular evangelists. I actually devoted years of my life earning a degree in theology. I have studied the history of the Christian missionary movement. I have studied the history of Christianity from the New Testament down to modern day. I have researched and written books on it. I’m not trying to brag but I give my credentials to explain that I know of what I speak.
The very attitude behind this question is why Christianity finds itself unwelcome in some countries; because the government fears that that in allowing Christianity that they are importing a Trojan horse of imperialism. This very line of thought is what got Christians killed in China’s Boxer Rebellion. Some of those killed did seek to claim parts of China for their country. Just like the political cartoon of the day, nations gathered around China as if China were a pie to be sliced up in pieces. Is it any wonder that China fought against it?
However, some true Christians suffered in China during that time. I want to tell you about one of them. His name was Hudson Taylor. Born in 1832, he was English and had studied medicine at The Royal College of Surgeons. He became a Christian at the age of 17 and committed to go to China as a missionary. But not just any missionary.
At this time in his life he began studying Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and Mandarin. He earned a degree from the Royal College of Surgeons, and he studied the ways of Christian missions of that time period. He arrived in Shanghai in 1853.
He was not well received to start with. And had arrived during Civil War. He wondered what he could do to better fit into life in China. You see, he wasn’t there to convert Chinese people to English ways. He wasn’t interested in making them more like the West. He didn’t want to destroy Chinese culture.
In fact, he chose to embrace Chinese culture. He began dressing as a Chinese man. He shaved his head and grew a queue, as was the hairstyle of the Qing Dynasty. He began living among the Chinese people instead of at the Christian missions. He learned Mandarin, Cantonese, Chaozhou, Shanghaineese, and dialects of the Wu and Ningbo. He even learned them well enough to give them a New Testament in their language.
The established English missionaries were horrified. It was considered improper for him to live this way. They very nearly stopped his marriage because of this. They thought him a fool, but he didn’t care. He renounced the ways of the English and said that if he had a thousand lives he would give them all to China.
He traveled to remote villages and gave them free medical care and free schooling. And yes, he preached the gospel. But he genuinely loved China and the people of China. He and his wife adopted orphaned Chinese children and raised them with their own children. He buried many of his children and his first wife in China, but that didn’t stop him.
As time passed, the people that he ministered to came to love and respect him and his family, as well as those who came to work with him. He would only allow missionaries who were serious about giving their lives to China. To follow Hudson Taylor, you had to renounce English ways and live as the Chinese lived. In dress, language, and custom. He was turning the English Chinese, rather than making the Chinese English.
His living children grew up and his daughters married in China, living among the Chinese all their days. Hudson Taylor remarried, and continued there. He survived the Boxer Rebellion, probably in part because he genuinely loved China, but many of his followers were killed—58 missionaries and 21 children. He refused to accept money from the government as reparation, though other Englishmen criticized him for this, but he maintained he had not come to take from China but instead, to give.
His health caused him to leave China for a time, where his second wife died in Switzerland. He returned to China again, in 1905. He died in Changsha, Hunan Provence and was buried with his first wife.
Hudson Taylor was the right kind of Christian missionary. He had no use for politics, and no desire to please the English. He immersed himself in the culture and way of life of the Chinese people. He preached Christ, yes, but he lived as a Chinese. He gave them hospitals, schools, and churches, but he did it while living among the people that he loved.
I am convinced that Christians today would find themselves better received if they’d leave politics and government and American ways out of mission work, and focus on loving the people of their chosen mission field. God didn’t call Christians to make converts to Westernization. God could care less about Western ways.
God isn’t interested in overthrowing governments or turning China into a democracy. Show me in the Bible where God said to establish democratic governments. Chapter and verse, please. God doesn’t care about your democracy. He said to obey government as long as it didn’t command you to go against the Bible. In the event that government and Bible clashes, God was ok with civil disobedience in that area, but that didn’t mean topple the government. You want to win people to Christ? Then stop trying to make them like you.
My Dad and his brother started a feud when they were in their early 30’s and kept it going until they both died fifty years later. No, I tell a lie. My uncle forbade my Dad from coming to his funeral, so he carried the feud on even after his death.
The irony is that neither could explain what the feud was about, so I am convinced that it was a trivial matter that just grew, and neither of these two headstrong men could let it drop because that would be to admit that their years of feuding had been a silly waste. In a sense, the longer it went on, the stronger the feud became even as the memory of the cause became weaker.
It hasn’t been a total waste though. My cousin and I are very close. It’s united us. It has also acted as a lesson to the extended family, a kind of example of how not to behave.
The brothers were both child refugees from the Nazis and had very difficult childhoods. They were both angry young men, and perhaps that explains their decades of refusing to go to family events if the other was going, the forbidding of the other’s name to be mentioned, etc. I don’t want to get into amateur psychotherapy except to say they were both nuts.
I have an employee that I assigned to a huge deal. He not only made it. He absolutely killed it. He did far better than my wildest expectations. I called him into my office and told him to contact our travel people and to book a ten day cruise (all expenses) to anywhere he and his wife wanted to go. He was speechless and then didn’t understand how he earned it. I explained to him that his contribution to the company was invaluable. Prior to the cruise he was a Departmental Manager. On the day he returned he was Named a Vice President. I always reward high performance and talent. The cruise didn’t cost me a thing. He’s repaid the cost many times over. Did I have to do that? No, but it seemed like the right thing to do.
What is the USA gonna do now?
China’s SMIC and Huawei have surged ahead in chip technology, defying the U.S. restrictions aimed at curbing their technological advancements, Burn J. Lin, a former TSMC vice president, told Bloomberg in a rare interview. He believes ASML lithography tools that SMIC already owns will allow the company to advance to a 5nm-class fabrication process.
“It is just not possible for the US to completely prevent China from improving its chip technology,” Lin told Bloomberg.
Despite the U.S. imposing technological constraints via sanctions, SMIC has showcased notable resilience and ingenuity by developing its 2nd generation 7nm-class fabrication process. It also achieved yields high enough for Huawei to make plans to supply 70 million smartphones. SMIC allegedly used ASML’s Twinscan NXT:2000i litho tool, which is a deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography scanner that can produce chips on 7nm and 5 nm class process technologies. Exports of this tool to China were curbedby the Dutch government earlier this year.
The resolution that the Twinscan NXT:2000i features (≤38nm) is good enough for 7nm-class single-patterning lithography mass production. However, when it comes to 5nm-class process technologies, a finer resolution is required. To produce it, chipmakers can use double, triple, or even quadruple patterning, a lithographic technique that involves splitting a complex pattern into several simpler patterns, which are printed sequentially to achieve higher precision and detail in semiconductor manufacturing. Usage of multi-patterning is a tricky process that affects yields, and the amount of chips per wafer that can be used, so typically its usage is limited due to economic reasons.
But being limited to tools that it already owns, SMIC has no other option but to use multi-patterning for finer resolutions. Apparently, it has managed to achieve yields acceptable to Huawei. As a result, one can ask whether the U.S. government’s curbs against China’s semiconductor sector work.
“What the US really should do is to focus on maintaining its chip design leadership instead of trying to limit China’s progress, which is futile as China is adopting a whole nation strategy to boost its chip industry, and hurting the global economy,” former-TSMC R&D VP Lin is reported to have said.
Interestingly, the U.S. sanctions seem to have inadvertently opened the doors of opportunity for SMIC. The restrictions imposed on TSMC, barring it from transacting with certain Chinese entities, have allowed SMIC to step in and capitalize on substantial orders. This shift has facilitated SMIC’s enhancement of its manufacturing techniques and technological capabilities.
The really harsh reality…
Looks what mothers actions (when she was single) did to her 13 year old boy years later.
Visiting Banff National Park, touring motorists left their parked vehicles to take photos of the cute Black Bears and their cubs. One stopped and before long a dozen more. The bears were grazing on a meadow about 100 metres (300 feet) from the road. Some brave individuals without telephoto lenses tried to get up closer for a good picture. A mama bear sensing a threat to her cubs could reach those touring idiots in 6 seconds, not even enough time to open the car door and get in, let alone run the distance back to their car. It took Park Rangers about 5 minutes to notice the “bear jam”, and they were screaming at everyone to get back in their cars and disperse the traffic jam.
I discovered that driving down any infrequently used Canadian wilderness road, when descending a slope, if the engine was turned off to coast down, half a dozen heads popped up to see why the sound had ceased. It surprised me that so many bears were hiding in the growth on the sides of roads, and how close they were. I would not recommend hitch-hiking. Another time just as I was passing, a huge timber wolf appeared and just stood there looking at me as I drove past. The paws were bigger than my hand, and in the rear view mirror I could see he was still looking at me for some time.
Basically Australia deserves it. Not Aussies. Many are smart good people. They lose a meal a day because your racist PM Scott Morrison prefer to have alliance with Mike Pompeo and confirm that Australia is indeed a China hater and Chinese hater. You harvest what you sow! Aussies promptly kicked him out of office. But the damage is done.
Not only China. But Asian especially South East Asian lost trust and faith in Australia. It sees them as a U.S. stooge and a colonial minded nation thinking that it is ordained by god to be white man run roughshod over coloured people. We Asians has a jolt of awareness that Australia don’t want to be part of and partner to Asia. It wants to be a U.S. dog nation.
Asia don’t want and don’t need a U.S. assistant sheriff! So Australia need some soul searching if it wants to be a real partner or a colonial outpost. Asia is watching.
HiI was working as a security guard outside a 24:-hour McDonald’s in Australia around 2am. I was about 21 and a small-framed woman working alone and it was a bit of a rough area so I had to be careful.
A group of 5 or 6 teenager boys turned up and were standing around in the car park trying to pick fights with any guy who looked at them sideways. Mostly men were ignoring them but they were getting bolder and I was beginning to think I was going to have to call the police before things escalated.
Just at that moment a small thin guy exited the building. Everything about him said scared. He held the food bag in front of him like a shield, he was looking at his feet and walking fast trying to avoid any conflict with the boys.
Predictably one of the loudest lads zeroed in on him as an easy target to hassle and impress his friends. He runs over with the usual, “What are you looking at? Are you looking for trouble?” bullshit and the small man just sped up. I started to walk over to rescue him, thinking he was about to be beaten up by the group if they were allowed to proceed.
The guy ignored all provocation until the boy laid a hand on him. I have never seen anyone move so fast. The man dropped the bag grabbed the kid by the hair and pulled him backwards off his feet in a move he had clearly used before. He proceeded to punch the boy in the face 4 or 5 times til the kid was out on his feet.
There was a moment of shocked silence then the guy gently put the kid down and picked up his meal. He suddenly saw me standing there in uniform completely frozen in shock. The guy had yanked the kid’s head back so hard there were clumps of his hair on the ground.
As soon as he saw me the guy was like a lost kid. He said nearly in tears, “He started it. I just wanted to go home and have my dinner.” I just nodded and said, “OK off you go” because I sure as hell wasn’t going to stop him, and he drove away.
The kid suddenly came round, with a split lip, bloody nose, and a few loose teeth I would think. He was a bit dazed and I asked him if he needed an ambulance or the cops. He said no so I told him and his mates to piss off.
I have never seen a beat-down like that. From scared little guy to full psycho and back again in less than a minute. The guy must have been on parole or something because he wanted no piece of that fight before or after.
As for the kids, they learned an important lesson about picking fights with people you don’t know. Sometimes the little guy is not the easy bet. Sometimes people avoid fighting for your protection rather than theirs.
As my grandfather used to say, “Beware the wrath of the quiet man.”
Updated Response: thanks to everyone who up voted. When the incident occurred I was only 21 and very unsure of how to respond. Unfortunately the law in Australia is very clear. Security guards have no rights to remove people from anywhere and calling the police is often the worst response. While many people have criticised my actions that’s OK. The story illustrates as much as anything the lack of support guards have.
For those who could have done better, this reminds me of another of my Grandfathers sayings, “Everyone knows how to tame the mad bull, except the man who owns him.”
Name a time when people with guns have ever stopped US government overreach. Want to know a secret? Most people prefer tyranny, as long as they aren’t the ones being tyrannized.
People with guns didn’t stop government racial segregation and Jim Crow. They cheered.
People with guns didn’t stop the mass interment of Japanese citizens in concentration camps. They cheered.
People with guns didn’t stop the police or government from lynching Black men. They cheered.
People with guns didn’t stop the police or government from persecuting gay men and lesbians. They cheered.
See, normal people know your felusional Rambo fantasies about “mY gUn WiLl StOp ThE gOvErNmEnT fRoM tYrRaNy AnD iNjUsTiCe” is a self-serving lie. No it won’t. You lot line up on the streets and celebrate government tyranny and injystice, as long as it hurts people you hate.
Gimme a break. You need guns to stop government oppression…ah HA ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Riiiiight. Sure you do.
It’s been a couple of years now but this happened with a friendship that began in the early 90’s so that’s a long time. We had a slight falling out and it was over something I said, but her response to it changed me feelings of close friendship with her. I didn’t mind that it made her made or maybe offended her but she said friendship altering things that were beyond what the issue was. There was damage and issues that had evidently occurred that I just wasn’t aware of. I wish she had talked to me about whatever was going on with her towards me but, she didn’t. So when the opportunity arose she gave me more than I was ready for. It was a deal breaker for me and I think that, that is what she wanted. This may sound odd…….I miss her because we enjoyed a lot of things together but I’m okay with it at the same time.
Hi, Joseph Mcmanus. Thanks for the very interesting question.
I’m Chinese and I spent a handful of years living in the States.
During my time stateside, I paid rent to my landlords. I paid school tuition fees to the school I was attending. I paid all living expenses out of my own pocket.
At no time during my handful of years in the States did I have to pay the Chinese government for living in the US.
Unless, as Frosty Shoat mentioned in their answer, you’re counting the cost of the passport as an expense for living in the US. But I don’t see how that is an expense exclusive to Chinese alone.
I saw a Facebook post from an acquaintance of the hysterical variety. “Can anyone help me move on Tuesday? I’m being kicked out of my place. “
Being the guy with a truck, and having that afternoon free, I said I would meet her at 3 and help move. So day of, I’m there at the appointed time and she’s nowhere to be found. The owner of the house is there and there’s a pile of stuff outside. I start hauling the stuff up to the Uhaul which fortunately is there and talking with the owner. Turns out my acquaintance is being kicked out because she hasn’t paid rent in 10 months and has left the landlord (her ex-sister in law) about $35,000 in the hole. They are going to have to sell the place to recover the money. She shows me around the place. It’s a bit of a mess but an absolutely lovely home. Quiet neighborhood but close to downtown Honolulu, views, parking. All the things.
I tell her that I love the place and before she talks to anybody else or lists it, to let us make an offer. My acquaintance shows up an hour and a half late, after the bulk of the work is already done. I finish helping her move, with a lot less sympathy now.
Six months later, after a lot of talking and negotiating and inspecting, we moved into the beautiful house! And because we negotiated directly we saved about $45,000 in realtors fees.
A crime watch group in Homestead, Florida held a neighborhood crime watch.
This meeting took place outside on a back patio. The Chief of Police was meeting with all the participants and team members.
He was outlining all of the things to be on the look out for. He was going down the list of agenda items related to criminal activity.
As he was talking, they heard a loud engine sound. The BZZZZZZ of an airplane motor.
It got louder and louder.
Then.
vvvVVVVVVROOOOOOM
It streaks by.
And
<boom>
Something hits the ground.
Everyone is startled. Then they see a big box right next to them.
The officer goes to check it out.
What is in it?
Seventy-five pounds of cocaine.
The plane that had been flying overhead was on the run from Customs, and it was dumping its cocaine so as not to be caught when they landed.
Let me restate that – a box of cocaine fell on top of a crimewatch meeting.
The plane dumped its last box shortly after that before they landed and were arrested. (Source: What’s that falling from the Florida sky. It could be pork, poop — or worse. Miami Herald. Cohen, Howard)
Luckily that last box of cocaine only hit a church.
I wrote a letter to my manager outlining his misbehaviours. I gave a copy to every one of his staff. In due course I was in the state managers office with the personnel manager there too.
The state manager told me he was going to take disciplinary action against me. I looked from one to the other and said:
I don’t often beg, but I am going to beg this time. I’m begging you. Please take disciplinary action against me.
They looked at each other and there was silence for about ten seconds.
Then I said:
You’re not going to do it are you?
And quietly the state manager said “No”.
I told them the meeting was over and went back to work.
That was not the end of the issue, but there were no consequences against me.
My dad … brought us up to NEVER LIE so when he blatantly lied to the State Trooper standing in the family kitchen one early afternoon I was dumbfounded!
My aunt (dads younger and only sister) married an abusive drug addict/alcoholic child abuser (his own kids).
My aunt had a black eye and lots of other injuries, new and old but she told of her husband having an abusive fit and while beating her he grabbed their three year old son and threw him so hard he went through the plaster and lathe board leaving his whole body as a marker to how hard he was thrown. My aunt called the police eventually (this was mid 1970’s) but her husband threatened if she told them what happened he’d kill the children (1 boy 3, and a girl 1.). She didn’t press charges because she knew he had guns and knew how violent he was.
About three days later two State troopers were in our driveway. They asked my dad if he owned a handgun. They also knew what had happened to my aunt and her little boy (small community).
My dad wanted to kill her husband but knew he wasn’t worth it. So, my dad’s younger brother obtained a gun I think it was a .45 handgun. My dad climbed in the window of his sisters house after his brother dropped him off … and he waited. The abusive husband/father came home, unlocked the door and was going about his business. At some point my father came into view with that gun. He made that scum get on his knees and beg for his life.The end of the gun was put in his mouth. As my father was asking him how tough are you now? Beating up your wife and 3 year old son is easy. How tough are you now? The scumbag pissed his pants while begging for his life.
I’m sure there were a lot more things said and done.
The gun went back to its owner. My dad was having coffee and a cigarette when he invited the cops in. He was so calm, cool and collected as he told the cops he didn’t do anything. He was home all morning. He LIED! Then one cop left and the other one told him, “it’s just me and you, I’d have done the same thing if my sister and nephew got beat up. C’mon, you can tell me. My partner is outside and he can’t be witness to you telling me what really happened.”
My dad calmly lied again and told the cop he knew nothing about it.
After they finally left I asked my dad why he didn’t tell the one cop that he did it. There wasn’t a second cop to corroborate his confession. My dad told me, “Oh yes there was! They don’t carry two way radios for nothing!
My dad was a badass. Just a humble middle class auto shop rat. He died last summer. I learned a lot about life from him.
***edit: I thought that the abuser of my aunt was dead. I recently asked a family member of his. He’s alive but in bad health, still drinking and drugging. He did leave the state but it was after my aunt divorced him. He had a girlfriend. He beat her up so bad she died. I don’t know anymore details than that. I have no idea why he isn’t still in prison. I only know my dad changed his sister’s life for the better and probably saved her life. Her daughter was younger than her son (who was 3 years old when the abuser threw him through a plaster and lathe board wall) and she only recently found out that my dad also changed HER life for the better by scaring the sh;t out of her father and giving her mother the strength to divorce him. I’m sure the a$$hole knew he’d be severely beaten if he ever touched my dad’s little sister again.
Driving an ambulance in response to a “Man down” call on a Saturday morning; lights and siren activated. My travel route took me over a twisting two lane road that was frequented by bicyclists. I encountered a pack of cyclists – maybe 40 – who wouldn’t yield to me. The winding road prohibited me from swinging into the opposing traffic lane to pass.
Took me several extra minutes to work my way to the front of the pack whereupon the lead rider flipped me off and offered me some salient verbal advice. Got past them, delayed in responding to a serious call.
Returning to the station afterwards, made comment to one of my co-workers, a fellow volunteer and a full-time police officer in the local jurisdiction. On the next Saturday, he donned his police uniform, drove his cruiser to the bike-traveled road and waited for the particular bicycle club to cruise thru the stop-signed intersection, en masse….their usual disregard. He pulled the ENTIRE pack over and wrote reckless riding tickets for each and every cyclist. Took him more than two hours!!!!
I went to court with the officer, as did the rest of our ambulance crew….some riders showed; many defaulted. After the 4th or 5th defendant appeared, the judge called them all up together —— maybe a dozen —— spoke for a bit and found them ALL guilty. Good karma day.
EDIT: And before I receive another comment going to legal procedures, please know that in our community, organized bicycle groups make frequent use of a gent who is well-known as the “Bicycle Advocate”. He commonly appears at proceedings where/when bicyclists are cited. On the appearance day discussed above, The Advocate was on-hand, standing up to assert his interpretation of the motor vehicle statutes as they do/don’t pertain to cyclists. The rhetoric is without legal support, and the guy is neither an attorney, nor does he actually represent a defendant. He’s very good at deflection.
With serial defendants and the same fact-pattern, the judge soon tired of the Advocate’s repeated and time-consuming speeches. He cautioned the guy a couple of times and eventually fined him $200 for contempt. He then called up the remaining defendants, asked them to declare an exceptional circumstance or individualized defense(s) to their citations. Hearing none, he passed the collective judgment. The individual defendant due process rights were, indeed, preserved by the judge’s line of questions prior to rendering his decision.
This single coincidence tends to make more of a difference to a persons’ life than any other factor, including whatever efforts the person himself makes to try to improve his lot.
Who your parents happen to be has a tremendous impact on a huge range of things that shape just about everything in your life to a huge degree.
It determines if you’re born in Sweden or in Somalia
The genes they gave you determines whether you’ll be tall, intelligent and handsome or short, stupid and ugly.
The genes also play a big role in whether or not you’ll be healthy, whether or not you’re likely to get a long list of diseases.
If your parents are kind, compassionate and nurturing your start in life will be very different from if they’re cold, inconsiderate or abusive.
The hobbies and interests they have in many cases have a lifelong influence on your own hobbies and interests.
Their wealth and their income determines what material standard of living you’ll have for the first 20 – 25 years of your life, and in fact often for your entire life. (in most cases lazy sons of multimillionaires end up better off than hardworking daughters of slum-dwellers)
They more or less entirely decide who is important in your life for your first 5 years. Such early formative relationships are very important for a child’s development.
They determine what quality education you’ll get, this depends on their wealth, where they happen to live, and their priorities. You as a young child have low influence on all of this.
I’m not at all saying that it’s hopeless to get ahead in life if you had a bad start. What I’m saying is that having the right parents means getting to play life on “easy” mode, while having the wrong parents makes everything a whole lot more difficult.
When I was 16, I was driving home from my boyfriends house which was a good 15 miles away. My car suddenly stopped working. It was dark and it was 1996, so no cell phones. I was out in the middle of nowhere! I saw a house and decided to walk up and ask to call my dad. I was TERRIFIED!
A woman answered the door but barely opened it. I told her that my car broke down and asked to call my dad. She asked me to give her his number and she would call from inside. I agreed. It was cold outside and I was shivering (both from cold and fear). She called him and asked if he had a daughter etc. Then she gave him her address and she invited me inside. I was still scared, but went in because I heard my dad was on his way there.
She made me hot chocolate and I sat by the fireplace, petting their dogs and chatting until my dad showed up. My dad got there about 20 minutes later asked if he could come pick my car up the next day and they said, “of course!” Her husband put his coat on and helped push my car off the road and into their driveway. We both thanked them sincerely and they said “If You ever need anything again, you come straight here!” The lady gave me a warm hug and said goodnight.
My dad sent a tow truck to get my car to the shop the next day and it was back in order with a new timing belt. I made sure to always take that route home just in case I broke down again.
My Mom loved Roll Top desks. She always wanted on one. So in 1975, she went to a local Sotherby’s auction and she emerged victorious but financially wounded. In 1975, she paid $1500 for a desk almost identical to this one.
In 2023 dollars, that cost my Mom about $8,500 dollars.
When my Mom died in 2022, we had a professional estate sale guy come to the house. Now my parents lived in the heart of Silicon Valley. He said…………you know, around here this item is really difficult to sell. Nobody wants them because they aren’t super friendly to computers. Anyone young with money around here, won’t be interested. We’ll be lucky to get $2500-$3000, even if we can find a buyer.
That puts my Mom’s purchase around $500 in 1975 dollars.
I’m actually glad she never knew…it was her crown jewel among all her antiques.
ALERT: LARGEST NAVAL FORCE SINCE WW2, ATTACK ON TWO NUCLEAR PLANTS, HEZBOLLAH DECLARE WAR IN 5 DAYS
Not me but my dad. He was a supervisor, and had a less than stellar employee. My dad was offered a job with the potential for a promotion on the other side of the country. He was retired military so we had moved a lot, so he didn’t take it as he didn’t want to move us again. The job was offered to the problem employee; my dad was happy to see him leave.
Two years later, the guy comes back, only now, he was my dad’s supervisor, and made his job a living hell. For example: this was back in the days of overhead projectors (a precursor to PowerPoint). My dad was to give a presentation to some high-level people. He starts, but the projector isn’t working, so he had to give the presentation with hastily copied handouts. His boss had removed the lightbulb from the projector, and then chastised him for not “checking his equipment”.
He pulled a lot of similar unprofessional stunts. My dad had already retired from the military, and had enough years in to retire again. His physician told him that based on his medical problems, he could retire any time he wanted to, so my dad had him draft an undated letter stating he was retirement-eligible based on years of service and medical issues.
We had an expensive vacation planned, and were to leave on a Friday night. My dad had put in for vacation, so the boss was well aware of it. Ten minutes before he’s about to leave, the boss shows up, drops a file on his desk, and tells him not only does he have to stay late to get started on the project, but he’s cancelling his vacation.
My dad got a box, and started filling it with his personal items. The boss goes ballistic, so my dad pulls out the physician’s note, dates it, and says “I just retired” and walked out. It was a tad petty, but it was epic.
Wife Has MELTDOWN After Husband Secretly Discovers Her Affair, Plans A Strategy & Then Divorces Her!
We had a very nice lady come by our fire station with an “ice chest” full of hot tamales (which we purchased). Everyone who ate the tamales got food poisoning (including myself). We were not incapacitated, but close.
The question is, by eating food that is given to us, will we be able to perform our job of protecting our community? Could we fight fires? Could we perform rescues or fulfill our duties as EMTs? The answer could be “no.”
For example, on another occasion a family was nice enough to deliver a big plate of cookies and other homemade treats. The family appeared dirty and reeked of bad hygiene. We thanked them profusely (as was the polite thing to do). After they left their treats (unfortunately) went in the trash.
We had a few regulars who brought us pies, which we ate. It took a bit of a size-up on the individual delivering them, at first.
On some holidays a major restaurant chain brought us an entire meal, which we ate (it was prepared in a professional kitchen).
All the food that was brought to us was appreciated and accepted. It was never looked at as a bribe (we had no involvement in enforcement issues).
Coffee or tea offered on fire scenes? Now that is something I’d like to see adopted in America! A lot of winter fires were in below freezing temperatures. We were wet and cold. A hot drink of just about anything would have been much appreciated those freezing nights.
We once had a terrible fire, with much loss of life (Deadly Reno Fire
). It was across the street from the rear door of the original Harrah’s casino, in Reno, Nevada. The investigation lasted for two weeks. The casino set up a room for us with 24/7 coffee, tea and snacks. They also provided many meals, which they did at no charge. They expected nothing in return. They were just being good neighbors. Kudos to Harrah’s!
The best policy is “Unless you know the history of the food, it’s unsafe to eat.”
The boats
Al Copeland’s Basic Cajun Jambalaya
8af59975dcc2510a22cf8acf3a022972
Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 medium onions, chopped
1 pound pickled pork, diced
1 pound smoked ham, diced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 pound smoked sausage, sliced
4 cups beef or chicken stock or hot water
2 cups rice
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper or to taste
Instructions
In large saucepan with lid, melt butter with oil.
Add onions and pork and sauté until onions are soft.
Add ham, garlic, thyme and parsley and sauté for 5 minutes.
Add sausage and cook until browned. Stir in stock and bring to boil.
Add rice, bay leaf and cayenne. Return to boil and cover. Simmer over very low heat for 30 to 45 minutes, checking after 30 minutes to see if all liquid has been absorbed and rice is tender. If necessary, add 1/4 to 1/2 cup more water if liquid boils away before rice is cooked.
My cat is four and a half months old. He’s part of our family for a month now.
As I was playing with him with the laser pointer about a week ago, he happily chased the red dot over the floor as always. But when he sat down to look at me, he suddenly looked over to my hand where I held the pointer, than back to the red dot and my hand again. His enthusiasm for chasing the moving red dot was suddenly gone. As if he understood that it was I who made the dot move and that wasn’t as interesting for him as a red dot that’s kinda “magically” moving on its own.
He also found out how to open drawers after watching me doing it two times.
And he’s been exceptionally quick to understand that I keep his “special” toys in the black plastic box on top of the shelf in our living room. As soon as I touch the box, he jumps off the desk and runs over to sit at my feet, waiting for whatever toy I might pick this time.
He’s extremely vocal and complains loudly when I chastise him whenever he does something undesirable, like playing with the computer chords (cuz he chews on them), jumping onto the kitchen table, scratching the wall corners instead of his scratching post, etc.
American Psychosis Chris Hedges on the US empire of narcissism and psychopathy
“Open marriage” appears to be an (American) acceptable way to turn a marriage into a fuck-fest. Sheech! I’m way too old for this bullshit.
I mention further down that there are races in China, where “open relationships” are the norm. But in the West, it turns out that an “Open Relationship” is but a code phrase to allow the female in a relationship to have multiple sexual partners, while the male sits at home watching the kids, the pets, and earns money.
Nine times out of ten, he never has an “outside relationship” even though officially he can.
…
The videos about “open relationships” are interesting and disturbing at the same time.
Sigh.
I find them very disturbing. After all, a “marriage” (prior to it being twisted into something different) meant a single monogamous family with shared emotions, shared sex, and shared responsibilities.
A core family unit.
Now, in the USA it is a freeway toward complete social discord and a breakdown at all levels of society.
Anyways…
As I get older my body changes.
I get shorter. No shit. My height gets smaller and smaller over time. Though, I will admit that my feet seem to get larger as a consequence of that.
Shorter in height, but bigger feet.
Not only that, but my hands seem to get slightly bigger, and my fingers are getting longer.
Big hands. Long fingers. Big feet.
Lordy!
…
Ugh. Why don’t women find big hands and long fingers attractive?
And a bald head… and a bot belly?
Not all of us can look like Adonis, don’t you know?
…
Balding, and fighting against a pot belly. Oh, the pain of aging!
But at least I have big hands and long fingers. LOL!
…
I don’t think that these body changes are attractive, but it is the price you pay to live to an old age. Perhaps, when I break 90, I’ll be a squat short man with big, big hand and feet and a bald head. Yucky!
Looking a little like Yoda.
I’d get a nice haircut, and some nice outfits if it mattered. But in my case, those are low on the priority scale right now. Smile.
Just smile. Accept yourself as it is, and as you change.
Americans foolishly screamed and shout that they are the leader of the free world without ever questioning if it is even remotely true or not! Please don’t be angry or upset if I help you guys since I understand you can pretend to be free or even dare says you are ordained by god to spread democracy and freedom but you Americans are one of the least free country on earth.
Let me help you good American. So first I like to explain how unfree you guys are.
35% of you cannot get health care when you fall sick! The most basic of freedom is the freedom to see a doctor and get cure when you fall sick. At least 100 million Americans don’t have this basic of basics of freedom.
Next 1 million Americans are homeless and don’t have another basic of basics of freedom. The freedom to have a roof over their head.! They have to live in makeshift tents on the streets.
20% of Americans don’t have 500 dollars to their name and don’t know where their next meal is coming from! Surely everyone must have the freedom to have a hot meal to stay alive!
USA with about 4% of world population has 25% of the worlds prisoners population! Think about this my American friends, prisoners are certainly. Not free. Many of them coloured people thrown into jail for the slightest reason. How on earth can you keep a straight face to say U.S. is the leader of the free world. No one know!
In many cities in the U.S. one cannot go to certain parts of the inner city like the Queens in New York. As crimes are rampant. So normal innocent and good Americans like you have to avoid that part of America! Surely freedom means you can go to anywhere or any part of America.
Kids and parents suffers the mental turmoils daily for just going to school. Many got shot to death in schools, public places, cinemas and even in Capitol Hill! Is that freedom? Even your kids are not free to go to school without a random mass shooter lurking with military grade weapons to murder them! Is this freedom?
If you are not fortunate to have a white skin you could be necked to death in the bright daylight of even driving a good car may be be shot to death just for suspected of stealing the car! Everyday you live in fear of a white policeman! Is that freedom to live? Freedom to avoid death at the racist inclination of the white racist? Surely not.
Freedom means you can choose who you really want to be your leader. Only 30% choose Biden. Or 35% choose Trump! Why are they your president? Your system allowed 0.8% of the richest and most influential people to choose your candidates! Surely this U.S. not freedom. This is far from democracy. How on earth can you call yourself the “beacon of democracy” who in a sane mind can claim that?
Oh today you country stop the Americans from having access to best 5G technology, Smartphone, best EV’s, drones and others for some geopolitical nonsense! Is this freedom? Freedom to be deprived? Let me help you understand. You can buy a 10 thousand EV. And need to be charged once a week but you are not allowed to! You can but your Tesla like for half the price but you are not allowed.
But to me EVs and Drones are just the top of the iceberg of your draconian policies that takes away the freedom of Americans like you. Think about Jullien Assange, Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden! Freedom?
According to a scientific research paper by the mainland military, the People’s Liberation Army has established the world’s first “Close Air Combat Command Force” (Near Air Command) equipped with professional hypersonic weapons and directly taking orders from the highest level of the People’s Liberation Army. It is responsible for executing “precise and ruthless operations” during wartime. ” attack mission. In addition, solar-powered drones and spy balloons are also possible intelligence-gathering devices.
Note: this answer only applies to the American Mafia as the Italian Mafias have repeatedly killed public officials of all persuasions and badges.
Because killing cops, judges or any form of law and order official invites heat and exposure.
A ‘secret society’
Despite the movies, the books, the podcasts, youtube channels and press stories, at its core, La Cosa Nostra (LCN) is supposed to be a secret society. A money-making secret society.
It is meant to operate in the shadows, a ‘brotherhood’ using codes of silence and modes of discretion to conduct legal and illegal activities that bring it great wealth.
It seeks to evade law and order and allow its members to not only profit from illicit means, but, more importantly, enjoy the fruits of their dishonest labour.
A whole load of pain
Law enforcement communities are also brotherhoods (and now sisterhoods too). Kill one of their own, and they want revenge. They go ‘all in’ to catch and make an example of the ‘cop killer’.
Killing law and order officials has even proven to be ‘game changer’ for some organized crime groups. For example:
In 1985, the Guadalajara drug cartel kidnapped, tortured and murdered US DEA agent Kiki Camarena. The DEA was enraged and flooded Mexico and the border regions; playing a major role in breaking said cartel apart (clearly others appeared to replace it)
In 1992, the Sicilian Mafia killed Judges Falcone and Borsellino in two separate car bombs. These attacks created a ‘sea change’ in the political and societal will to go after the Mafia, with the late ’90s being an era of significant prosecutorial success against the Sicilians
In short, killing a cop or any other law enforcement official places a target on your head – and indeed that of your organisation. The resulting attention inhibits your ability to earn, to operate, and even places your freedom or life at risk … far better to just not do it and keep on living your illicit life.
Forbidden Archaeology, Human Origins, and UFOs… Michael Cremo
Just once, but that was enough for the rest of my life.
It was 1993 or 94. Things started off just fine. He smiled at me from the window seat as I took my place on the flight from Philadelphia to Frankfurt, Germany.
Our ages must have been close. We shot the shit about sports and music and all those other harmless topics popular with early-30-something unmarried males.
He was impressed that Lufthansa (long ago) served him Johnny Walker red in his whiskey cola. He sure did like those whiskey colas…
Everything was amiable until just after the after-dinner drinks trolley finished serving.
He commented that he hated queers and he was pretty sure the male server was one.
I stared him in the eyes and said calmly and slowly, “nearly half of my best friends are gay … I think you need to rethink your attitude, the world is changing.”
Never have I seen someone transform so quickly from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde. “You’re an effin’ homo lover! … I ain’t sittin’ next to no effin’ homo! Eff! Disgusting I even talked to you…”
Standing up he yelled at the stewardess, “This guy is queer. I don’t sit next to queers.”
The looks on the faces of the other passengers ranged from amused, to angry, to sympathetic. Most just pretended not to notice.
I got up and went to the back of the plane and waited for the crew to sort things out. They reseated me about 15 minutes later in a business class seat.
I have no idea what happened to him, but I think we can be sure he didn’t get any more whiskey colas…
Business class served Johnny Walker black.
The Male Loneliness Epidemic – Is It Women’s Fault?
This is a MUST watch.
Western society is DOOMED.
The Eviction Notice Is Being Written, and Will Come in Four Languages
The Eviction Notice is being written. And it will come in four languages. Russian. Farsi. Mandarin. And last but not least, English.
A much-cherished pleasure of professional writing is to always be enriched by informed readers. This “eviction” insight – worth a thousand geopolitical treatises – was offered by one of my sharpest readers commenting on a column.
Concisely, what we have here expresses a deeply felt consensus across the spectrum not only in West Asia but also in most latitudes across the Global South/Global Majority.
The Unthinkable, in the form of a genocide conducted live, in real time on every smartphone in the third decade of the millennium – which I called the Raging Twenties in a previous book – has acted like a particle accelerator, concentrating hearts and minds.
Those that chose to set West Asia on fire are already confronting nasty blowback. And that goes way beyond diplomacy exercised by Global South leaders.
For the first time in ages, via President Xi Jinping, China has been more than explicit geopolitically (a true Sovereign cannot hedge when it comes to genocide). China’s unmistaken position on Palestine goes way beyond the geoeconomics routine of promoting BRI’s trade and transportation corridors.
All that while President Putin defined sending humanitarian aid to Gaza as a “sacred duty”, which in Russian code includes, crucially, the military spectrum.
For all the maneuvering and occasional posturing, for all practical purposes everyone knows the current UN arrangement is rotten beyond repair, totally impotent when it comes to imposing meaningful peace negotiations, sanctions or investigations of serial war crimes.
The new UN in the making is BRICS 11 – actually BRICS 10, considering new Trojan Horse Argentina in practice may be relegated to a marginal role, assuming it joins on January 1st, 2024.
BRICS 10, led by Russia-China, both regulated by a strong moral compass, keep their ear on the ground and listen to the Arab street and the lands of Islam. Especially their people, much more than their elites. This will be an essential element in 2024 during the Russian presidency of BRICS.
Even with no check out, you will have to leave
The current order of business in the New Great Game is to organize the expulsion of the Hegemon from West Asia – as much a technical challenge as a civilizational challenge.
As it stands, the Washington-Tel Aviv continuum are already prisoners of their own device. This ain’t no Hotel California; you may not check out any time you like, but you will be forced to leave.
That may happen in a relatively gentle manner – think Kabul as a Saigon remix – or if push comes to shove may involve a naval Apocalypse Now, complete with expensive iron bathtubs turned into sub-ocean coral reefs and the demise of CENTCOM and its AFRICOM projection.
The crucial vector all along is how Iran – and Russia – have played, year after year, with infinite patience, the master strategy devised by Gen. Soleimani, whose assassination actually started the Raging Twenties.
A de-weaponized Hegemon cannot defeat the “new axis of evil”, Russia-Iran-China, not only in West Asia but also anywhere in Eurasia, Asia-Pacific, and pan-Africa. Direct participation/normalization of the genocide only worked to accelerate the progressive, inevitable exclusion of the Hegemon from most of the Global South.
All that while Russia meticulously crafts the integration of the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea, the Baltic Sea (Finnish hysteria notwithstanding), the Arctic and the Northwestern Pacific Sea and China turbo-charges the integration of the South China Sea.
Xi and Putin are gifted players of chess and go – and profit from stellar advisers of the caliber of Patrushev and Wang Yi. China playing geopolitical go is an exercise in non-confrontation: all you need to do is to block your opponent’s ability to move.
Chess and go, in a diplomatic tandem, represent a game where you don’t interrupt your opponent when it is repeatedly shooting itself on the knees. As an extra bonus, you get your opponent antagonizing over 90% of the world’s population.
All that will lead to the Hegemon’s economy eventually collapsing. And then it can be beaten by default.
Western “values” buried under the rubble
As Russia, especially via Lavrov’s efforts, offers the Global South/Global Majority a civilizational project, focused on mutually respectful multipolarity, China via Xi Jinping offers the notion of “community with a shared future” and a set of initiatives, discussed in lengthy detail at the Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) Forum in Beijing in October, where Russia, not by accident, was the guest of honor.
A group of Chinese scholars concisely frame the approach as China “creating/facilitating global nodes for relating/communicating and platforms for concrete collaboration/practical exchanges. The participants remains Sovereign, contribute to the common endeavor (or simply specific projects) and receive benefits making them willing to keep on.”
It’s as if Beijing was acting as a sort of shining star and guiding light.
In sharp contrast, what remains of Western civilization – certainly with not much to do with Montaigne,
Pico della Mirandola or Schopenhauer – increasingly plunges into a self-constructed Heart of Darkness (without Conrad’s literary greatness), confronting the true, irredeemably horrifying face of conformist, subservient individualism.
Welcome to the New Medievalism, precipitated by the “kill apps” of Western racism, as argued in a brilliant book, Chinese Cosmopolitanism, by scholar Shuchen Xiang, professor of Philosophy at Xidan University.
The “kill apps” of Western racism, writes Prof. Xiang, are fear of change; the ontology of bivalent dualism; the invention of the ‘barbarian’ as the racial Other; the metaphysics of colonialism; and the insatiable nature of this racist psychology. All these “apps” are now exploding, in real time, in West Asia. The key consequence is that the Western “values” construct has already perished, buried under the Gaza rubble.
Now to a ray of light: a case can be made – and we’ll be back to it – that orthodox Christianity, moderate Islam and several strands of Taoism/Confucianism may embrace the future as the three main civilizations of a cleansed Mankind.
Yes, they do. Forget the so-called “combat footage” you see on TV or YouTube.
It’s important to spot your enemies before they see you. This will give you a big advantage over them because you can better fight them or you can use this info to plan your next moves:
You already have a good hunch where your enemy is located before any fighting starts. Where and when you move will depend on the (often assumed) location of your enemy.
While you are moving, you are always on the lookout. It is usually the side that spots the enemy first that will have the upper hand in a firefight.
It’s one of the most important qualities in an infantry squad leader to have “a good eye”, meaning to anticipate the enemy’s whereabouts and to spot the exact location of enemy forces, especially under fire. You want to know from where you get shot at!
Sometimes, you will see the enemy, but they are still out of range of your weapons. You may want to relate their location to combat support troops that will then execute an artillery attack or an airstrike.
If you have no artillery or air support, as is often the case for guerrillas or special forces, you can approach the enemy until they come into range of your weapons or you set up an ambush.
In combat, you have to see your enemies to be able to kill them. Shooting around without anything in your sights is a waste of ammunition.
image 155
On the lookout: A Kosovo Liberation Army soldier observing enemy territory
There are exceptions:
Suppressive or covering fire where you shoot to hinder the enemy from exposing themselves to your fire keeps them out of sight. Still, even when shooting covering fire, you usually have a very good idea where your enemy is located.
In a combat situation, targets often disappear quickly after the first shots are fired. Your enemy will take cover. It’s not a mistake to send a few bursts of automatic fire to the place where you saw your enemy drop down, but after that, it’s time for indirect fire options, like hand grenades or Multiple Grenade Launchers (MGL). You won’t see your enemy, but as you use fragmentation weapons, there is a good chance to cause some damage as long as your grenades hit close enough.
It’s not always necessary (and possible) to see the enemy, but:
The sooner and the more precise you are able to pinpoint the enemy’s location, the better.
One word about “firefights” we see on TV: Most of the shootings on those clips is simply a waste of ammunition.
On the other hand, you won’t have a GoPro or any other camera switched on for twenty-four hours a day. When you spot the enemy (or they spot you), you’ll first shoot them (or jump for cover) before you start thinking about filming. As visible targets disappear quickly in the first moments of a firefight, the chances of getting an enemy live on camera are very slim.
Television crews rarely film on locations where the real action happens, but are often sent to less active parts of the frontline. The mere presence of a TV camera often prompts soldiers to start shooting. This is why our news shows are full of soldiers firing away at an empty landscape.
I was headed in for a job interview several years back. As I’m walking in, two other men are approaching the door from different angles. One of them speeds up to cut off the other and get in the door first, and the other walks in, shaking his head in disbelief. As I walk in behind them, the first guy runs to the elevator and presses the button, not holding the elevator for the other guy and me. Again, the second guy just shakes his head and we wait for the next elevator. I say “Can you believe some people?” And we both chuckle a little bit.
As it turns out, we are headed to the same floor, so we get off the elevator together. As we walk into an office, there is guy #1 Mr Impatient, standing at the desk tapping his foot as the receptionist is finishing up a phone call. The receptionist asks him “can I help you?” And he says “I’m here to see Mr Smith for an interview at 3:30.” (it’s currently 2:50).
I think to myself “Great, this guy is interviewing for the same position I am and he will act like the sweetest guy during the interview.” I lean over and tell the receptionist “I am Mr Smith’s 3 o’clock interview.” Mr Impatient GLARES at me.
The other guy I walked in with (the one Mr Impatient cut off) then says “Hey gentlemen, I’m Mr Smith.” And turns to Mr Impatient and says “you don’t need to wait around. I’ve already determined you are not a good fit for our company. “
I don’t know if you’d count this as a “benefit,” but my first job was at Wendy’s, when I was 16 in 1994. When they hired me, the manager said “minimum wage is $4.25, but we like to start people at $4.26 to give you a little extra and show we care.” He was dead serious, no irony. That has occupied part of my brain for 30 years now.
I knew something strange was going on when a candidate with X-men hair was elected president.
Buenos Aires has always had one of the world’s highest number of psychoanalysts. Now the psychological issues have made their way out of the bedroom into national politics.
Cheesecake Factory Louisiana Chicken Pasta
deliciousv
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients
Cajun Sauce
1 tablespoon butter
1 small yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 small red bell pepper, chopped
3/4 small red onion, chopped
3 whole garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 1/4 pints whipping cream
1 cup low-salt chicken broth
4 tablespoons fresh basil, thinly sliced
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Chicken
6 skinless boneless chicken breast halves
3/4 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
Pasta
1 package bow-tie pasta
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
salt and pepper
Instructions
Cajun Sauce
Melt butter in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add yellow and red bell peppers, mushrooms and onion to same skillet and saute until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes.
Add minced garlic and crushed red pepper to skillet and sauté 2 or 3 minutes.
Add whipping cream and chicken stock. Simmer until sauce reheats and thickens slightly, about 5 minutes.
Add basil and 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese to sauce, stirring to incorporate. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to low, simmer. Sauce will reduce and thicken.
Chicken
Wash and drain chicken breasts. Pound until very thin, as thin or thinner then 1/4-inch thick (the thinner the chicken breasts the better).
Mix breadcrumbs, flour, and Parmesan cheese together. Place milk in dish for dipping.
Dip chicken into breadcrumb mixture and then into milk and then back into breadcrumbs.
Heat oil in skillet and fry at medium high temperature until golden, crisp, and cooked through. Add more oil as needed. Remove and drain chicken. Keep warm.
Pasta
Meanwhile, cook bow-tie pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to bite. Drain and return to pot. Add sauce and toss to coat.
Place pasta with sauce on plate, and top with chicken breast.
Hello Allen, thank you for the question. Honestly, there were quite a few times I had the hell scared out of me. I’ve written at length about a few of them. I will provide a rerun of one of them now.
I was a in an FCI, a medium high prison with walls about 20’ high and rolls of razor wire 3 rolls deep at the base of the walls. There had been a lot of tension on the yard for weeks.
One morning as I was preparing for a Saturday, I noticed a group of 5–6 guys walk up to a bunk in a cell down a way. There seemed to be a bit of chatter and movement, sort of the thing a group might do if your team won a game. Talking, a bit of laughter, movement.
I walked by and went to breakfast, saw a couple guys I knew and we took a walk and discussed some important topic like that night’s dinner. A couple hours later I went back to my cell.
There were a couple CO’s and another guy in the cell where the group had been. They were standing over the bunk of the inmate.
there was something sticking out of his chest and the blood trails were in several areas.
It turned out this guy owed something to someone and wasn’t paying so the crew was sent to make an example.
The story was the weapon was a pencil, there were 9 wounds and the vic was rushed to medical and when he healed a bit was sent to a different prison.
The near murder right there was horrifying enough but the way the guys carried out the hit was nearly professional. It just seemed like a bunch of guys hanging out. All the while covering the scuffle, takedown and gigging.
In a flash you understand that if you cross an uncrossable line, even by mistake, it easily could be over before you realized what was happening.
It was a long time before I was comfortable in my cell, alone during open times or movements. Walking in a hall and coming across 4–5 guys of another race, you couldn’t show fear, but more than once I walked by waiting for a shank!
There is always a stress when you are inside. It is exponential when a high level yard is on edge.
On a summer’s day, as my wife Dorothy and I sat down to dinner, we thought we heard the sound of water being hosed onto a car. The front entrance was secured only by a screen door and we could readily hear neighborhood sounds.
Then Cocoa, our Seal Point Siamese, asked to be let in. When I opened the door, she fell over. And that noise was louder. I looked out; no car, no one hosing anything. And the noise was right below me, just off the porch. I looked down. A huge, very pissed off rattlesnake!
I called to Ralph, who had just stepped out of his kitchen, next door. “Rattlesnake!” I yelled. “Bring a rake!”
He did. And as Ralph pinned the snake with the rake, I tossed a large stone onto it, killing the serpent.
My wife took Cocoa to the vet, and while she was gone I decided to skin the snake, eviscerate it, and pan fry it. Rattlesnake meat was tasty, I heard, and the beast was as easily gutted as a bass.
But what do I do with the head? The fangs, the venom sacs?
Toilet.
I was unprepared for the surviving impulses of the snakes nervous system. Beheaded (and betailed, for the rattles) and completely stripped of the hide, I had in hand what appeared to be a section of a thick light grey garden hose, split down the middle. And when I ran this corpse under cold water, the spinal cord delivered one last discharge, causing the thing to writhe in my hands. It was alive! I threw the twisting monster into the freezer and slammed the door.
Dorothy and Cocoa came into the kitchen; the cat was recovering but Dorothy said I looked like I had just seen a ghost.
I explained. After a few minutes, I took the frozen snake from the freezer and let it thaw as I prepared a frying pan with melted butter and some salt and pepper. I cut the snake into sections as one might cut a sausage, and added the sections to the gently crackling pan.
In 5 minutes, the flesh had turned white and flaky. I removed all, divided onto 2 plates, and Dorothy and I sat down to eat.
And we tried. We chewed and chewed and chewed and chewed. But the meat had turned into some kind of weird plastic strands that refused to be swallowed.
I took all and tossed into a pressure cooker with some white wine, set all to max pressure and gave it a full 30 minutes. After decanting the vessel, there appeared the most perfect, delicate flakes, like carefully separated crab meat.
And we chewed and chewed and chewed and chewed. Next stop; snake to trash, hot dogs to grill.
I had this experience once. There was a Shawarma/Pizza place on the same block as a place I had newly moved into. So I (single mom) went in with my young kids to order a pizza.
They didn’t have a menu, the ’employees’ were a bunch of guys in expensive tracksuits, jewelry, and all looked like buff gym rats, with the perfectly lined up and gel thick hair – they looked initially very confused that I was actually ordering food there, and there was a bunch of arguing in (I think) Arabic. They insisted that I order a pizza there, it would just be a bit of a wait. One guy left, and came back with a bag of groceries. It took over an hour. I offered a few times to go elsewhere “You’re busy, so sorry..” but they insisted I wait. I chatted with the guy who was at the front counter a bit- he was pleasant enough, but it seemed like he was deciding whether or not my entering of the restaurant was going to be a problem for them. While my kids and I waited on the pizza, a few times some tracksuit guys came in, went to the back, then left with stuffed brown paper bags. His whole demeanor changed when I mentioned that my kids and I had left an abusive situation, and that’s why we’d moved into the area. He wanted to see a picture of my ex, and insisted I show the other tracksuit guys too.
The pizza was ok I guess, a little undercooked. I don’t think the pizza oven had ever been used before- I could see the pizza oven from the front counter, and they had a huddle around it to figure out how it turned on.
The guy at the front didn’t know how to work the register, so he told me it was on the house.
Before I left, the front counter guy told me I was part of the neighborhood now, and to let him know if anyone bothered me or my kids, and he’d “take care of it”.
Anytime I walked past that store after that I was greeted warmly by the tracksuit guys, and they always asked if anyone was “giving me trouble”. Never tried to order food there ever again though!
He surprised me. We were in our early 30’s and newly married. My husband said “ oh my , the freezer defrosted you better go look to see what can be saved”. I went to the kitchen and opened the freezer. Inside was a little box that said “ ice”. He had bought me a pair of diamond earrings. They weren’t the biggest and most expensive but they were beautiful. we are still married and I have worn them for the last 41 years.
I worked late one day so I talked to my boss and we agreed that I would come in late the following day. I had a funny feeling about this, as if she might try something. Thus, even though she agreed I should come in at 8:30 the next morning, I arrived on time and sat in the parking lot. She called me at 8:15 and asked me where I was. I reminded her that we agreed I could come in at 8:30, “but,” I said, “I’m parked right outside the office. Do you want me to come in earlier than we discussed yesterday?” She said no. That was in May.
In June, I got called in to her office and she wrote me up for being late that day a month prior as well as walking in 2 minutes late one morning. The write up skipped the initial verbal warning and first write up and stated it was a final warning.I was on notice that I could be fired for anything at any time.
One day in September she called me into her office and fired me for excessive tardiness. I filed for unemployment and won. The Judge laughed at her and told her “This lady was late by 2 minutes and you found that soooo agregious that you fired her for it, yet you waited 3 months to do it? You’re gonna pay on this one.” I ended up with 4k in back payments.
Several months ago I went to a hospital fearing that I was having a heart attack. I wasn’t, as it turned out, but I was admitted for what was really wrong: pneumonia.
I was in the hospital three days before being discharged, and during that time I questioned every single medication they brought for me. An antibiotic IV about to be hooked up? I’d ask the nurse to confirm what specific one it was. A couple of pills they want me to take? “Which pill is which specific medication?”
I did this partly to be sure they weren’t giving me a wrong medication, and also to be aware of every medication they actually administered and could thus bill me for. Good thing, too.
When I was discharged they gave me a stack of paperwork. Some it was warnings about what I should or shouldn’t do going forward; some outlined the tests they had conducted and the results of them; and one page was supposed to be a pair of new medications one of the doctors had told me he was prescribing for me to fill after discharge. That page was missing, so I had to wait a few more hours while they got hold of that doctor and got him to enter the order.
Turns out one of the drugs he prescribed was atorvastatin for the high cholesterol that came up on one of the tests. The thing is, I am allergic to all statins, a fact that was all over the medical records they got from my primary care doctor, and which I had told them on at least three occasions as well when they asked me to confirm any and all allergies. Obviously I didn’t fill that prescription.
Then I got the bill, charging me $1145 for atorvastatin administered during my inpatient stay.
Now I of course knew full well they had never given me that drug, not only because I had been checking all the meds they did give me, but because I never had the severe reaction to it that would have resulted if they had. So I called their billing department, explained the matter, and requested they amend the bill. They refused.
I called my doctor, and she suggested I write the request out and send it to them via certified mail. That would have been a pain in my ass, as my big truck would not fit in the parking lot of the kinds of places one can do that, and I was over 1000 miles from home.
So I instead called hospital administration and told them I wanted to report a dangerous medication error by that doctor. That got their attention.
I again related the whole matter, which they verified from the notes right there in my records as I went along through the narrative. They clearly saw the multiple notes about the allergy, they clearly saw that no such medication was administered during my stay, and they clearly saw that the doctor had only prescribed it hours after I had been discharged.
They apologized profusely and promised that they would attend to the matter using the legally prescribed procedures, which they did not explain. I pleasantly accepted their apology, then asked if that process would include striking this billing item for administering that drug they had just admitted I never received.
They refused again.
I said that was fine, then asked how I should go about reporting them for malpractice for administering a drug my chart clearly said I was allergic to? Response: but we didn’t administer that drug!
My reply, as long as they insisted on billing me for it, I could only assume that meant they really had administered it. So it could only be one of two things: malpractice for giving me the drug, or fraud for charging me for it after not giving me the drug. I said I would leave it for them to sort out while I called my insurance company and briefed them on the matter… which I then did.
Two weeks later a new billing statement arrived with not only that charge removed, but charges for two tests they had charged me for but apparently not actually done. I called the insurance company again, and they informed me that those tests had been ordered but never actually done, and they themselves had been the ones to uncover that after my earlier call to them. They had requested an audit of my treatment, which had then exposed the other errors.
The most absurd thing to my mind was their insistence on billing me for a drug after they knew that doing so was documented evidence of malpractice.
30 years ago a mate and I were heading off to the range to hit some golf balls.
It was his idea and he wanted to drive. I was saved by one thing and that was he didn’t have his wallet, so he went upstairs to get it and while he did that I thought I would take a quick look in the glove compartment in case it was in there.
It wasn’t but I found an exploding golf ball, still in it’s box, so I quickly swapped it with a real golf ball leaving the box exactly where I found it.
On the range we are smacking golf balls to oblivion trying to hit it further than the other can. After about 5 minutes my mate says, “Would you mind if we swap sides?”
Funny thing is, that was exactly what I was going to say in order to make him hit the exploding ball. Exploding golf balls don’t look or feel real so teeing it up for the victim is the only way for it to work.
So I said, “Sure. Just let me hit this one.” which I did and then while he watched it I quickly teed up the exploding one, which was loose in my pocket.
We then swapped sides where he then challenged me to a longest hit competition with our next shots. Of course I agreed and smacked mine as hard as I could and looked straight at him not where the ball went.
He was expecting my ball to explode but it didn’t and he looked quite confused about it. Then he had his turn. The whole thing just turned to dust in an instant. One huge dust cloud!
He spun around and looked guiltily at the range office like he had done something wrong and would get in trouble. If he was confused with my shot he was now flabbergasted with his own. His facial expression was priceless.
I’m laughing my head off as I can tell he can’t work out how any of this has happened. He told me later that in that moment he could not understand how it went wrong. He couldn’t figure out how the golf ball he took out the box and teed up for me got to the other tee.
I think there is nothing more satisfying in life than getting someone with their own practical joke.
My Wife Asked For An Open Marriage So I Hooked Up That Night And Dumped Her The Next Day
Stopped caring or giving a Fck about people who doesn’t care for me.
Their benifit, opinions and even existence. Caring is mutual, if you can’t. Sorry. I won’t take a minute to forget you. My family and people who love me is everything for me.
Stopped taking stress and overthinking.
Because which I can control, I can control. What I can’t. I can’t. Me taking unnecessary stress not gonna give me control on things I can’t.
Stopped crying.
Most importantly, doesn’t gonna change the situation. If something happened, it happened. Crying will not change reality. Move on. Think calmly and search for a solution.
Stopped giving Explanation.
If you are asking proper explanation and proofs every time ( once or twice is okay ), he doesn’t believes you and he won’t, no matter how many times you prove yourself. Just don’t waste your time.
Stopped seeking for outer beauty.
When it comes to relationship, I am so deeply wounded by people who looked attractive only from outside, my preference changed. I now seeks for behavior and personality more than skin colour aur figure. But yeah, they matter too but isn’t a vital deal-breaker. But, if I get it, I won’t mind.
Stopped seeking for people’s company.
I don’t know, the day I took drop, my outside life is cut short, and all I have is my books, and my computer screen, and a small cozy bedroom-cum-studyroom.Now, it’s more than half a year, and now I prefer not to interact with outside world and stay in my cave.I can stay like that, alone whole day, even I want to live like this in hostel in single room.
Stopped being in people’s life, where no body want me too.
“When to leave” is most important thing. Not everyone who care for you really care for you, maybe one is just intrested in you, but when they lose interest, they won’t. It’s better to leave these people’s life, before they kick you out.If you feel things aren’t same like it was before, but you aren’t the reason, don’t stay there to heal, it will just reduce your self respect. Just leave it. Hurting yourself is better than hurting your self esteem.
Stopped reducing my respect for someone’s ego satisfaction.
You first feel that it’s just small stuff, it doesn’t matter. Let’s do this or that, to cheer up. Naah, my self respect isn’t worthed to become someone’s entertainment.You will ignore once or twice, but then it will become a habit, and will end when you completely become someone’s hand puppet.
I stopped keeping expectations.
Expectations are the reason of being hurt. Just remove expectations, you will be satisfied and happy.If you keep absolutely no expectations from people, even their most basic gesture will make you happy, because it was more than what you expected and you will feel blessed.
As a youngster of 17, I worked for what was then (1965) known as the Maryland Department of Game and Inland Fish. (Today, the Department Natural Resources — DNR). My job was taking the census of the fish in Deep Creek Lake, located in Garrett County, the westernmost in Maryland, below Pittsburgh PA.
No, I did not knock on the surface of the water and then interview fish who answered the knock.
But what I DID do was interview anglers, fishing from docks or boats, asking them to pull up their stringers and show me their catch. And I asked what fish they had returned to the water and if those fish were dead or alive when returned. All of this went onto a data sheet. The data sheet itself was organized sectionally as to areas on the Lake, designated by name (such as Harvey’s Peninsula) and by a mark on a map.
Thus on any given day I would follow what appeared to be a a random walk from place to place, chatting up the fishermen, taking notes. I was the ideal employee because I lived on the lake during the summer and I knew every little inlet, peninsula, and tributary.
Now here are the parts that made the job especially interesting, occasionally hilarious, and sometimes mildly dangerous.
Illegal Anglers: The ones without a fishing license. My john-boat had state of Maryland Decals just aft of the bow, port and starboard, so as to identify me as “official.” And some of those who saw me approach assumed I was with “enforcement,” which I was NOT. Thus I heard all kinds of stories, ranging from the license being accidentally dropped overboard, to “I was just practicing fishing, I’ll buy the license tomorrow.” Some people actually untethered their stringer, to let the catch swim away. And one guy threw all his tackle overboard. Then there were those who had fish that measured less than legal for keeping; so full of apologies were they. I did my best to assure that I was with the State Biologist, NOT the enforcement division.
But one good thing…I learned where all the best fishing was and yes, I sure DID drop my line or trawl those areas.
Babe Watch: The Deep Creek Lake State Park has a sandy beach area.
When my lunch break had me near the park, I would beach the boat and sit on the grass munching my sandwich. And if I was lucky, I would make the acquaintance of some lovely lasses who might be receptive to a return visit from me when I was “off the clock.”
The Big Kill: In addition to the data I collected, the State biologist would stretch a net across an isolated inlet, and poison the water from the net to the shoreline. Hundreds; no THOUSANDS of fish floated to the surface, belly up. And some were trophy size walleye, pike and large mouth. I was in heaven. I was going to scarf up a basket or two, and have the ultimate fish-fry.
But no, said the biologist. Those fish would kill you.
Damn.
(You might wonder why all the fish outside the net weren’t killed. Some were. But the target inlet was NOT fed by a creek, so the water was fairly still —no current. Plus, the poison was short-acting.)
The Thermocline: There comes a point at which the water at the top half of the lake exchanges place with the water in the bottom half. Or, at least the temperature gradient does a flip-flop. I’m not sure why that mattered, but it was my job to transport the guy with the sample container to an area over the deepest place in the lake, where he would toss a brass container overboard, then jerk a cable to open the cylinder and let the bottom water flood the vessel. When he pulled on the cable again, that trapped the water inside, and he pulled the sample up to the boat.
There, we had various Erlenmeyer flasks arrayed in a wooden rack, into which flasks he drained enough bottom water to reach an index line on the flask. Then, he dropped in some power and watched the color. When he smiled, I knew it was time to take him and his chemistry set back to the dock.
Personal Use? You bet! The State’s boat had only an 18 HP outboard motor, so I wasn’t pulling any skiers. But yeah, when off duty I could use it as my personal ride, or to go fishing.
He was a teacher and in his school the principal made the rule that all teachers must have their lesson plans for each week on the principal’s desk by 8am Monday morning, and he’d read them, sign them and have them back to the teachers by the time school started at 9am. This was. of course, a hassle for teachers and my friend worked out that there was no way that the principal could read every lesson plan in that time, let alone understand them. So he decided to run a horticulture unit with his class of about 9 year old children, the project being to plant trees up the middle of the school assembly hall. Now obviously this was a ridiculous project and was never going to happen, but the plans came back each week duly signed by the principal.
The teacher taught and had the children research what sort of trees would be suitable, measuring temperatures, light, heights and widths of trees, and researching the best species, all of which was clearly documented in the lesson plans and came back duly signed and approved by the principal. Finally the day came when the locations for the trees were to be marked on the hall floor in preparation for cutting the holes, importing the soil and planting the trees. The teacher carefully chose a day when he knew the school inspectors would be arriving. Sure enough, the inspectors had a meeting with the principal after morning assembly and part way through this meeting, as specified in the signed lesson plan, the teacher politely knocked on the principal’s door and asked where did he want them?
“Where do I want what?” the principal asked.
“The trees in the assembly hall,” replied the teacher.
“Trees? In the assembly hall? What do you mean?”
“Well,” replied the teacher, waving the sheaf of lesson plans, all carefully signed by the principal, “As you know, I have been running a unit on horticulture in preparation for planting trees up the middle of the assembly hall, and today’s the day we mark out where to put them. So we need you to show us where you want them, as I specified in the lesson plans which you read and signed.” He waved the sheaf of plans once again.
Needless to say, no trees were ever planted up the middle of the hall, and the principal never again wanted lesson plans submitted for approval.
A few months ago, I noticed that my daughter smiled to herself a lot. I decided to “confront” her: “You have a crush. Haven’t you?”. She blushed and exclaimed: “How do you know that?!?!”. I played my cool poker face 😎 “Been there, done that. Tell me!”. Then she told me about the boy.
A couple days later, she asked me: “I noticed that during lunchtime, he finishes his lunch real fast then goes to the library to play chess. Should I go talk to him? I play chess too!”
I told her: “Why the rush? I think, you might want to practice playing chess a little bit better first, then ask him to play a match with you. You might win, or at the very least, not lose badly. And I tell you a secret: you can learn a lot about a person when they lose a game!”
For about 2 weeks, she played chess with me every evening.
One day, she came home and told me: “I un-crushed him. We played 2 games today. He won the first, I won the 2nd. But when he lost, he curse and stomped out. Not cool!”
That was the moment I felt like a warm hug. The feeling of being able to share with my daughter her stories, her feelings always warms me up.
My Fiancée Asked For An Open Relationship 3 MONTHS Before Our Wedding So I Kicked Her A** Out!
When I was being recruited by Nike in 1997 I was a little concerned about cultural issues, especially institutional sexism — I had heard that the place was something of a boys’ club.
I couldn’t travel for a few weeks so I was having a series of conversations with the general counsel in advance. We were arranging the logistics for my interview day. I’d basically see a different interviewer each hour from 9 am till 6 pm, including lunch with him and my predecessor in the job.
As we were discussing the plans I asked him if he could please include a woman who had been with the company for a long time.
I held my breath briefly for his reaction. Some male executives would have been offended. But he exclaimed, “What a good idea! I should have thought of it!” and immediately agreed to make it happen.
He was good for his word — my first interview that day was with Nike’s corporate treasurer, who was at least a 20 year veteran of the Swoosh.
I think it’s reasonable to state openly that you are eager to get a sense of the company culture, and ask the interviewer how they would describe it.
The Chinese YiChe race
China is home to many races, while Han is dominant, the other races are very interesting. This is a very interesting race. They have “open marriages”, wear miniskirts, and have a graduated system of Bride Prices.
Many, many years ago I received a letter in the post. It was a recorded delivery and I had to sign for it to confirm delivery. I was intrigued and opened it immediately. It was a summons to appear in our local small claims court. I was being sued for £6,000. There were no details about the charges or any explanation of what the case was about other than the name and address of the complainant. I was mystified as I didn’t recognise the name. Lets call him Mr Smith.
In the three weeks before the stated date I convinced myself that one of my sons was playing an involved joke on me. I quizzed them all mercilessly but nobody would admit to knowing anything about it. As the date drew closer I determined to go to court just to find out which of my boys was the perpetrator of this rather involved joke.
Court day arrived and I went into the court building and presented my summons to an attendant, still expecting to be told it was a forgery. I was wrong. I was politely directed to a small waiting room and told my case would be called in 10 minutes. I was stunned.
When I was escorted into the courtroom the Sheriff (a lay judge in Scotland) asked me if I had a legal representative. I explained how I thought that the summons was a joke and I had no lawyer. He said that I could ask for a deferment to get legal advice if I choose but he didn’t think that was necessary. I sat down still stunned and confused but by now rather scared.
The Sheriff now asked the other side to outline their case. I listened in stunned amazement as the story unfolded.
Apparently some 6 months previously I had sold Mr Smith a tenpin bowling ball and drilled the ball to suit his hand. I had explained to him the need to keep the ball clean of lane oil on a regular basis. Mr Smith had taken me at my word and had left his bowling ball soaking in a bathtub of hot soapy water overnight. Feeling that the finger and thumb holes were wet when he fished the ball out of the bath in the morning he had decided to dry out the ball. Fifteen or twenty minutes in the microwave should dry it out nicely.
Some time later the ball had exploded. The force of the explosion was enough to destroy the microwave and send the door of the microwave flying upward with enough energy to punch through the ceiling and the floor of the room above his kitchen. Unfortunately the room above his kitchen was his neighbours bathroom. The microwave door not only punched through the floor but punched through the actual bath. Really unfortunately the poor woman was taking a bath at the time.
She was suing Mr Smith for the damage to her bathroom from the flying microwave door as well as the water damage to her carpets from the bath full of water. She wasn’t suing for the shock of a microwave door suddenly puncturing her bath although it must have been a terrific shock.
Mr Smith was suing me for the same amount on the basis that I had sold him a bowling ball without specifically telling him not to put it in the microwave.
By this stage several people in the gallery were laughing and the sheriff was definitely smiling. I was still worried but feeling considerably less scared. We all sat politely until Mr Smith’s lawyer had finished. The Sheriff then drew himself very straight and without a trace of a smile said that he was here to apply the law of the land and not to educate idiots. Case dismissed.
It’s early morning, the sun is just barely visible in the edges of the sky.
The date is August 5th, 2001 and Richard Ankrom and several friends are preparing to commit a crime that is several years in the making.
Twenty years prior, Ankrom was driving north on the 110 freeway. He got ready to merge onto Interstate 5 North, another freeway but missed the exit.
A few years later, he officially moved to LA and found himself driving on the same stretch of road as before.
He glanced up at the sign and realized the I-5 exit wasn’t marked at all.
That was why he had missed the turn ages ago.
And on that day, he swore to himself he would never let another person suffer the same fate.
He began studying freeway signs, their exact color, size and make up. He balanced on the edges of bridges to get precise measurements.
He copied the existing signs to a T, even consulting the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices to make sure he got the width and height perfect. He even sprayed the sign to make it look more worn down.
From there, he disguised himself, cutting his hair and buying a hard hat and vest.
And on August 5th, 2001 he positioned his ladder and climbed thirty feet to reach the sign.
He and his friends rushed away, afraid of getting caught in the act.
Nine months later, one of his friends confessed, leaking the crime to a local newspaper.
However, instead of being taken down, it passed inspection and remained there for another 8 years and even then, they put up a new sign in its place.
I was 12 years old, and back then thought you teased girls you liked. I was infatuated with a girl in my neighborhood and would tease her on the school bus.
One day I meant to say “I’ve seen better, but I haven’t seen worse!”
It came out as “I’ve seen worse, but I haven’t seen better!”
I said this in front of all the kids on the bus. I stammered a minute, not believing what came out of my mouth! I never would have had the confidence to say something like that! She immediately smiled and hugged me. Suddenly I had my first girlfriend. I just went with it.
I had suspected my wife was cheating, so put a tracker in her car. When she claimed she was going to a friend’s house to watch his dog, I watched on the tracker monitor as she in fact drove in the exact opposite direction to a hotel to meet one of what I would later find out were several lovers. So, I grabbed her spare keys, took a Lyft to the hotel she was actually at, got in her car and drove it to the friend’s house she was supposed to be at, then took a Lyft home. When she called the next day, claiming her car was stolen, I asked her to use the friend’s Ring camera to see the culprit. Cornered, she confessed, and found her own way home, then shortly thereafter, her own home.
You’ve all seen this formation right? It’s rather famous.
Well, would you be surprised to find out it was not that commonly used? We have some records of it from Dio and a few other historians but it was not that common.
Typically this formation would be used during a siege where the infantry needed to close in on some high walls under missile fire. Otherwise, it was never really used that often.
The problem is that this formation makes units less maneuverable and less flexible and it makes hand-to-hand combat almost impossible. So in every battle, the Romans would just be in normal lines ready to fight.
2: The Romans had poor cavalry
Now the Romans truly did not produce great cavalry from their own ranks. However, the Romans most certainly used talent wherever they found it.
When they conquered a people that were great on horseback they would employ them as Auxiliaries to assist the legions.
This means the Romans had
Numidian Cavalry (ranked among the best on earth at the time)
Macedonian Cavalry
Gallic Cavalry
These were without a doubt the best horsemen on planet earth and they all fought for the Romans.
In fact, during the late Imperial period, the Roman military became very calvary-centric and did end up boasting some of the best trained and equipped cavalry on earth.
One thing to remember is that cavalry at this time was not all that great. Stirrups were not yet invented and this meant that cavalry were basically expensive scouts minus a few exceptions. Infantry won wars in the ancient world far more often than cavalry.
3: The Romans were brutal conquerers
Now the Romans could be brutal and there were many times where they were brutal. However, in terms of being conquered, you could do worse than Rome.
If you snuggled up the Romans as an ally and played the role of submissive ally Rome would defend you to the death and be extremely hands-off. You’d keep your rulers and laws and merely pay a small tax to Rome. You also got the benefit of protection from the legions which meant total safety for centuries.
Rome viewed every relationship (diplomatic or otherwise) as having the dominant patron and the submissive client. The role of the patron was to support, elevate, and protect while the role of the client was to submit, admire, and support. If a tribe submitted itself as the client, Rome was often a great patron.
The Romans were also extremely tolerant of others. There was some racism and xenophobia as there is in all peoples but Rome accepted all religions and cultures as valuable. The Romans often adopted cultural elements or even gods from conquered peoples.
Now if you betrayed the Romans or worse yet attack them, they could be extremely brutal. Any slight paid to Rome would be returned ten-fold.
Being conquered by Rome was not the worse fate in the world, but being an enemy to Rome was certainly a death sentence.
Copeland’s of New Orleans Stuffed Strawberry French Toast
strawberry
Ingredients
1 cup milk
3 cups heavy cream, divided
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 French baguette, sliced diagonally
1 cup strawberries, freshly cut
Powdered sugar for dusting
1/2 pound cream cheese
Instructions
Combine milk, eggs, vanilla extract, sugar and 2 cups heavy cream; mix well, then set aside.
Whip remaining 1 cup heavy cream until peaks form. Beat in cream cheese until smooth.
Heat skillet over medium-high heat; add butter.
Dip bread slices into batter, making sure to leave them long enough to absorb some of the batter without making them soggy. Place bread in skillet; brown on both sides.
Remove bread from skillet and place on a plate.
Scoop cream cheese mixture on top of each piece.
Top with another piece of toast to form a sandwich.
Top with fresh strawberries, dust with powdered sugar, and serve immediately.
For context: I’m 37. Married since 2017. One kid. Flat broke. Heavily indebted. Diagnosed with an incurable autoimmune disorder in 2016. Recently embarked upon a spiritually rewarding career as a helicopter pilot.
(Neither this nor what follows is an indictment of capitalism or Western society, as I hope you know. I’m flat broke because I have a toddler and am starting over from scratch career-wise, and I’m indebted because I borrowed heavily in order to attend flight school. It was my choices that got me here, nothing else.)
At this point in life, what excites me the most is:
1. Affording steak.
My wife and I usually have anywhere from $20 to $150 between paydays. My wife just got a job at a daycare center, so that’ll take some of the pressure off. But our debt is such that every spare penny should be spent paying it down. Frivolities like steak, good booze, fancy dinners out, and even trips to the zoo and aquarium with our daughter have gone out the window. My folks had to float us $1100 for snow tires earlier this month, and I’m having a hard time dealing with the shame of it. What excites me the most right now is making enough money to pay down debt and still have enough disposable income left over to treat myself and my family.
2. Supporting my girls on a single income.
In a year’s time, if I play my cards right, I could be the assistant chief flight instructor at my flight school. Or I’ll move on to a job in the helicopter tour or utility industries. Either way, I’ll be getting a fat raise. This has amazing ramifications for my little family. It could mean that my wife and I will be able to pay off a significant chunk of our debts, and we’ll have more disposable income. Far from merely being able to afford steak, I might be able to buy itregularly—and grill it on a grill I could then afford to purchase, while drinking beer I could afford to homebrew. It might also mean that my wife and I could afford to have a second child, accrue some savings and an emergency fund, and even scrape together a down payment for a goddamn house. (I’ve never bought or owned a home in my life, and I’m tired of renting.) But whatever the consequences of my pay raise, I’ll just be happy and proud to be providing for my family at long last. And not dependent on my folks.
3. Enjoying a proper autumn.
November up here in the Northland has been unseasonably warm, the locals tell me. Normally there’s a few inches of snow on the ground by now, and the temperature is below freezing every day. It was 50 degrees Fahrenheit yesterday. The leaves have already fallen, but the abundant sunlight and mild temperatures are making me feel like we’re getting an actual autumn instead of leaping straight from summer to winter. And I’ve been taking full advantage of it. I hiked to the top of Ely’s Peak in my shirtsleeves last Wednesday, and today I took my daughter to Hawk Ridge and Hartley Park.
4. Getting checked out in a turbine helicopter.
Speaking of shame, I have over 500 hours in rotorcraft and all of them are in Robinsons. Not that there’s anything wrong with Robinsons, but you can think of them as the tricycles of the helicopter world. Some people ride them for fun, and very few for work, but they mostly use them for training. Getting checked out in a different helicopter, especially a turbine-powered one, would be like learning to ride a motorcycle by comparison. I’d feel like a real helicopter pilot then. My school just happens to have an old Bell 206B that it uses to provide turbine transition training to students. I missed my chance to get checked out in it this fall—too low on the seniority list—but I’ll almost certainly get into it next summer. I’m stoked.
5. My daughter’s 2nd birthday.
I can scarcely believe that my girl is almost 18 months old, let alone that she’ll be two in June. Being able to say “she’s two” instead of “she’s XX months” excites me for some odd reason.
6. Reading, as usual.
Having a kid and becoming a flight instructor put a major crimp in my reading schedule. I’m currently 13 books behind, according to the tracker I use on Goodreads. Granted, I picked some doozies to read this year. It’s been a long, hard slog, reading Lewis and Clark’s journals and The Brothers Karamazov simultaneously. But I’m almost done, and I have a couple of new books waiting in the wings—a much-anticipated travelogue by Anton Chekhov (Sakhalin Island), and a horror novel by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (The Relic), which I’d intended to read in October. That, and the rest of the books on my reading list (sketched out until the year 2031), have me excited. As they always do.
7. Making soup every weekend.
Classic dad move, right? I enjoy soups and stews immensely. And winter, of course, is soup season. To take full advantage of it, I made out a list of soups that I want to make this season and have been checking them off one by one, starting the weekend of my birthday in late September. I’ve done beef stew, French onion soup, pumpkin soup, fish-head soup, and chicken stew with dumplings. Tonight it’s beer cheese soup. I am super pumped.
8. Date night with the wife.
Due to various factors—lack of funds, a dearth of trustworthy babysitters, scheduling issues, the realities of having children, and general stress levels—my wife and I haven’t been dating each other like we should. In fact, we’ve gone on exactly three dates this year: in January, June, and October respectively. We’re trying to fix that. I’m securing a sitter for the night of Friday the 24th. My wife and I have plans to slip across the river into Wisconsin for burgers and brews at a much-beloved taphouse. I am beyond excited about this. It’ll be nice to sit across a table from my spouse, sip local brews, and discuss something other than poop and money.
Once upon a time I put in average speed cameras on a section of the A31 in UK. They were dropping the speed limit from 60 mph to 50 mph on this stretch. For those that don’t know these monitor your speed over a set distance and if you are 10% + 3 miles per hour over the speed limit you will get a fine, (or occasionally offered a Driver Awareness Course, based on the speed and if you have done one in the last 3 months).
Anyway, cameras go in, we do the testing phase and final commissioning.
2 weeks after they are commissioned, I went to a meeting to close the final account for putting these in, drove passed them on the way home at 62 mph, (as I had always done), and forgot they were now live and got a £60 fine and 3 points on my licence. All from safety cameras that I put in.
Four thousand and seven years ago, my father, who was a great man, one of the greatest men in history, he was born in Germany; he went into the real estate business. You have to be really, really smart to get into the real estate business. I inherited his smarts, and I got into the real estate business too. I have the best real estate. Everyone loves my real estate. But now we are engaged in a great civil war. The greatest civil war. Why are we engaged in it? Because my predecessor, President Bookananin, was a bad deal maker. If I had been President then, we wouldn’t have had a war because I would have made a deal, the best deal. I am the best deal maker ever. It’s true. If I had been President, I’d have made such a good deal that the North would be happy, the South would have been happy, the slaves would have been very happy; they would have been the happiest slaves you have ever seen. Just smiling and singing and picking cotton. Such happy slaves. But now we are here to bury the dead. But what we say here cannot honor them. Because they don’t deserve to be honored! I like soldiers who are so good that they don’t get shot. What good is a dead soldier? Dead soldiers can’t soldier any more because they are dead. All soldiers who die are just losers. If I had been a soldier, I would have survived, I guarantee it. Now let’s go play some golf!
I arrived for an interview and was asked to wait a few minutes as the interviewer was held up. A few minutes later he came out, apologised said he’d been called to an urgent problem. He explained that some of the stuff I’d be working on would highly commercially sensitive and while he finished up could I read through the pre-interview contract and sign it.
I read through it and though I’m no lawyer it read like they could sue for everything I owned from my house down to my underwear if I so much as said I’d been within a mile of the building. The I interviewer came back a few minutes later and asked if I was happy and had signed the paperwork.
I replied that I hadn’t signed coz it looked a bit iffy on the conditions and he replied
‘congratulations, you’re the first person out of 8 people who passed the first stage test’.
Apparently everyone else had skimmed through and signed and not bothered really looking at what they were signing off on.
For the same reason it takes three minutes to trace a phone call, firewalls have a progress bar on them, and all handguns regardless of caliber and design always make the same sound (unless they’re silenced, in which case they go “thwip thwip”):
Because Hollywood isn’t real.
In the real world, a phone call can be traced the instant the phone rings; you don’t even need to pick it up. In the real world, firewalls either block some bit of traffic or they don’t. In the real world, different firearms all make different sounds, and they’re heckin’ loud, even if “silenced.” Like loud enough you won’t be exchanging witty quips with anyone during a shootout.
And in the real world, antipersonnel mines detonate instantly, except some old bouncing mines that detonate about a second after they’re activated.
I woke up one morning after having a bizarre nightmare. I dreamt that called my boss and told him my youngest son was going to die. My son was only 10 days old at the time. A perfectly healthy beautiful little baby boy. When I woke up I felt nauseous from the dream and experienced the worst anxiety I have ever had. I knew intuitively that something was wrong with my son. He didn’t show any rare signs or specific symptoms, the only thing that was odd was that he slept a bit heavier than usual that night. I couldn’t ignore my anxiety and checked his temperature and was shocked when it showed 35,1 degrees Celsius. I immediately took him to the ER and soon found out that an entero virus (a normal winter season virus that gives you a cold) had affected his heart and the room was soon filled with doctors and me and my husband were asked to leave. 12 hours later the doctors informed us that the virus had caused our healthy baby a serious heart failure (dilated cardiomyopathy and myocarditis ) and that he probably wouldn’t make it. They called a priest and the rest is black for me. Our baby was put into coma in a respirator and was going to be put on an ECMO machine. We were transferred to the ICU for infants. After 2 months at the ICU he suddenly improved. The doctors told us that almost no children survive this virus on the heart – because there are no obvious clear signs so the parents don’t understand that something is wrong. They also said that what he survived is in theory impossible to survive (considering how ill he was). They asked me what caused us to seek help and I told them about my dream. I will never forget the doctors answer “there are somethings between heaven and earth that medicine can’t explain – your boy is a living miracle”.
He turns 5 next year and has almost recovered 100% from the heart failure expect for 1/8 of his heart that is permanently damaged.
They are not trying. They are. You are out of business due to you guys looking down and under estimating China. And all the shit about intellectual property theft and copying while in truth China overtook the U.S. and the world in EV technology. Global warming is caused by the U.S. and the west China resolved it.
Yes you guys are caught off guard but it is your fault. Today there are still many especially white Caucasian westerners who thinks the Chinese as no technology, no can only do T-Shirts and Cheap plastic toys. To me it is racism and served you guys right. China will out compete you in every sector including jet planes, rockets, quantum computers and AI.
Even this question is a racist and underestimating China nonsense. Even the great Tesla used Chinese engines and batteries. China makes 9/10 EVs on earth. And they are catching up! What a foolish statement.
When i was about 9 years old we lived acoss the street from a little store that had a paper machine out front. My mother would send me over with a quarter each morning and 3 on sundays to get a newspaper. One day an old timer was walking up and said, watch this. He put 4 pennies in the machine and much to my surprise, it opened right up just as if he had put a quarter in it and sure enough on Sunday, 12 pennies did the same thing. Not sure if the machines worked by weight or what, but this went on for a few years until we eventually just got it delivered. This was a time when 20 cent would buy 4 fireballs or lots of other smaller candies. I truly believe karma caught up with me as i had more than my fair share of cavities growing up.
My sister died 5 weeks ago. We’ve just got back from her funeral in the UK. She’d been in poor health for several years so it was no great shock, but sad as she was only 69. This (slightly edited tale) was read out by the celebrant plus several of her other exploits over the years. She was a force of nature. Don’t rest in peace Lynn, create all the mayhem you did when you were here.
My sister is extremely feisty. She was in hospital giving birth to her first child, who was a large baby and my sister is tiny, she weighed about 35kg. Anyway she needed an episiotomy for her son to be born. Anyway after the birth the midwife said the cut was so long it would need stitching. The doctor came in, agreed and gave her a local anesthetic into the area. Then he disappeared for 3 hours, by which time the pain relief had totally worn off and he began to stitch. When she cried out in pain he told her not to be such a baby and to quit whining.
He had a tray of instruments by the bed so she picked up a scalpel and rammed it into the back of his hand. While he was screaming she told him not to be such a baby and quit whining. They administered more local to finish her procedure, and found another doctor.
When I was in high school in New York, rumor was that my friend’s tough looking father was in the Mafia. One day, he hired a bunch of his son’s friends to attend an auction in the Bronx. He gave us an address and told us to be there at 8am.
The auction, selling off the assets of a bankrupt business, was going to begin an hour later. By the time the real bidders arrived, they were denied entrance by a bribed fire marshal because the room was already filled to its legal capacity by dozens of hired bodies like myself.
Clueless, we sat there and watched as my friend’s father and his buddies won every lot without competition.
A man and his wife are awakened at 3 o’clock in the morning by a loud pounding on the door.
The man gets up and goes to the door where a drunken stranger, standing in the pouring rain, is asking for a push.
“Not a chance” says the husband, “it is 3 o’clock in the morning!”
He slams the door and returns to bed.
“Who was that?” asked his wife.
“Just some drunk guy asking for a push,” he answers.
“Did you help him?” she asks.
“No, I did not, it is 3 o’clock in the morning and it is pouring rain out there!”
“Well, you have a short memory,” says his wife. “Don’t you remember about three months ago when our car broke down and those two guys helped us? I think you should help him, and you should be ashamed of yourself !”
The man does as he is told, gets dressed, and goes out into the pounding rain.
He calls out into the dark, “Hello, are you still there?”
“Yes” comes back the answer.
“Do you still need a push?” calls out the husband.
My daughter had married a guy I really liked. One fall we were discussing hunting and he mentioned an unusual shotgun he learned to hunt with. He really liked it, but had never seen another like it. It was a bolt action 20-gauge shotgun.
As he described the finger grooves in the plastic trigger guard, I realized he was describing a Mossberg Model 185K. I collected Mossberg firearms and had a decent specimen sitting unused in the back of my safe.
Over the next couple of months I refurbished the gun, rubbed the stock down with tung oil and restored as much of its 1950 beauty as I could. Having found a box for it, I took it by on Christmas day.
When he unwrapped it, his mouth fell open. Literally.
“Oh migod. THAT’S THE ONE! That is EXACTLY the gun I grew up with! How did you find this???”
My 6′7″ son-in-law picked me up and hugged me – with tears in his eyes.
Yes, China and India have border disputes, and border conflicts broke out in the 1960s and 1970s. There have also been conflicts in the Galwan region in the past few years.
But the relationship between China and India is not as bad as Western media renders it, nor is it as terrible as some Indian media render it.
2023 11 25 10 11
If we look at a world map, especially one with altitude. It can be seen that China and India are separated by the Himalayas. Although the two countries are neighboring countries, they are naturally separated.
Therefore, in the past thousands of years, the two countries developed independently without interfering with each other, and even little trade was carried out. The current China and India were only established after World War II. The contradiction between them originated from the division of territories by the British colonists, rather than the natural contradiction between the two nations. In the words of the Chinese, China and India “have no historical debt.” After all, the Chinese view history in terms of 100 years as the smallest unit.
If you ask a Chinese: Who do you think China’s enemy is?
The vast majority of Chinese people will answer: Japan. Maybe someone mentioned the United States, and maybe South Korea.
, some may even say Russia. But I have hardly ever heard the Chinese label India as their enemy. Even if I emphasize that “China and India had a war,” they will still think: “India is not an enemy” and regard the Sino-Indian conflict as “a quarrel between neighbors.”
In the eyes of Chinese people, couples also quarrel, let alone two neighboring countries. As long as the scope of cooperation is far greater than the scope of differences, then both parties are partners.
Of course, the results of this survey in India may be completely different, mainly due to the influence of Western and Indian media. After all, the media is very good at seizing on a certain local hot spot and then telling the audience that this is all.
The point I’m trying to make, though, is this. The two sides are not really hostile. The similarities between China and India outweigh the differences. They are all developing countries with huge populations and face problems such as poverty alleviation, public education and environmental pollution. Both countries are developing rapidly and are gradually coming into conflict with developed countries. The two sides have consistent interests on many issues, especially international trade, carbon emissions, human rights and other issues, and they jointly resist the squeeze of developed countries. On the issues of the Russia-Ukraine war and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, China and India basically have the same attitude.
China and India do not have much competition in business. China is developing high-end manufacturing and competing with developed countries. India is developing mid- to low-end manufacturing industries and can take over the production capacity transferred from China. India is a major agricultural exporter, while China is a major agricultural importer. There is a lot of room for cooperation between the two parties.
When the Sino-Indian border conflict occurred, there were already serious deaths of soldiers. No shots were fired. This shows that the agreement between the two sides outweighs the differences. The border dispute is not the mainstay of Sino-Indian relations. This point has a clear consensus among the elites of both sides. So the soldiers were severely restricted. The foundation of the relationship between the two countries will not change because of the advocacy of the Western media. There will be no war as the West expects.
After all, neither Chinese leaders nor Indian leaders are fools.
The Chinese build so much that they are used to such collapses and have extremely specialized rescue teams
Like in the Turkey earthquake recently
Their ability to use small drones to slip through the small holes, use positioning of living objects under vast structures and their ability to vertically drill and horizontally drill makes them the world’s best experts in rescue operations
image 158
This team rescued 319 people given up for dead in Turkey
image 157
They were HEROES
The victims were given up for dead
image 156
Plus the Chinese Tunnel building through Mountains makes Indian tunnels look like School Project work
This Tunnel in India is a straight cut
Chinese Guoliang Tunnel is at a 36 degree upward incline through mountain surface. They are masters at tunneling
image 13
The Chinese teams drilled 368 meters deep vertically against an EXPLODED SHAFT in a gold mine with fissure methane gas and still rescued 11 workers from certain death in 11 days
That was an explosion plus collapse plus methane pockets not just a collapse like in UK
Compared to that, this rescue is horizontal and can be done in their sleep
So why aren’t we calling the Chinese?
Simple
Ego and nothing else
Calling the Chinese would be a blow to our ego and would cause our politicians to lose face
I was patient for a few days but now it appears the NDRF team are morons and the Aussie in charge is a bigger moron
The Auger has been damaged four times now
The men have been stuck for 15 days with no hope as yet
Time to pick up the phone and call Beijing for help and rescue these men and send them home
Enough of this worthless ego
Enough of the learning curve
It’s clear the team members are dunderheads because the augers have been broken four times in four days
Today it was so likely that the men would be out and yet again the Auger broke
Last night my kids flooded the whole living room with slimy water.
“BEEEEEEEEN!” my wife hollered. “COME SEE THIS!”
I knew this was trouble because my wife is one of those people who never raise their voice.
When I stepped onto the scene, I saw my three kids plus a friend of my oldest son’s all belly-sliding from wall to wall with nothing on but underwear.
The sight was so perplexing, surreal, and unexpected, that I couldn’t help but laugh my ass off.
It was like the first time I ever got stoned as a teenager and every time a friend threw an M&M on me I giggled uncontrollably.
Every kid scooting across the gooey floor, his arms flailing, letting out screams of glee, had me laughing until my belly hurt.
They were like cute gremlins swimming through space.
Never mind that I was terrified of slipping because I just had my ACL operated on. Or that my youngest one started bawling after two of the others crashed into him at the same time. Or that my wife and I had to use all the towels in the house to soak up the gunky liquid later.
I hadn’t had such a good laugh in ages.
I’ve been punched in the balls. I’ve cleaned neon-yellow runny poo from across the floors of multiple rooms—why would you crawl across the whole house while pooing?! I’ve made elaborate date plans with my wife just for two of us to realize we fell asleep while reading to the kids.
And somewhere along the way, instead of getting angry every time, I discovered the humor in all of it.
Something of the maddening nature of having kids taught me to stop taking myself so seriously. Showed me that sometimes, life is so damn absurd that all you can do is laugh. That every single plan and intention can come boomeranging back to you and whack you in the face.
And before you feel the pain—or clean the slimy floor or the runny poo or make a new plan—you can take a moment, laugh it off, and then get to it.
I’m in Ghana and was invited to a Thanksgiving party, what the H3LL?
My neurologist asked me to wear an oximeter/heart rate monitor overnight. I told him it would be useless, as I was not sleeping much, but he had me do it. I got a call a few days later asking me how I coped on such little sleep. We never mentioned it again.
Then I got a bill for $14. For what?
I was being billed for the “use of the monitor.” Not by my neurologist’s office, by some 3rd party.
I called my neurologist’s office, they said that they don’t own the equipment, they rent it from the service that sends them the test results, which was not this company. They were like, fine, don’t pay, we don’t know who this company is. I called insurance – they said they had never heard of FBN Rental.
I called FlyByNight Rentals and told them to bill my insurance. They said they had. I said I had proof they never had. I told them I would not pay as they had no grounds to bill me.
I kept getting bills, which I ignored.
Finally I got a phone call from them. “You owe us $14.” “No. I don’t. Bill my insurance.” “We did.” No you didn’t. You’re a scam.” Rinse, repeat.
I had looked them up in the meantime. They apparently buy marketing lists of people who used pulse oximetry equipment and insert a minor charge. Something small and inconsequential that people will just pay to clear. But – and here is the key point – they don’t actually have any relationship to the test.
I kept getting calls threatening me with collections. Finally I picked one up. A lady confirmed that I was seconds away from going to collections. I had had it. I had already called and written to them to tell them to fuck off, multiple times.
I said, 1) that they were a scam, 2) I’d already reported them to my doctor, the insurance, the BBB and 3) if I ever heard from them again, they would hear from my lawyer with a bill for the time *I* had had to spend figuring out they were a scam and dealing with their bullshit.
I never heard from them again.
What a brilliantly awful idea. Make a teeny, inconsequential charge, something so small no one would care and collect on some or most of those charges. Multiply $14 by tens of thousands and presto, you have medical fraud that no one will ever notice.
A woman responds to “an open marriage”
A man suggests that instead of a open marriage, he gets a second wife.
I am out of the hospital, and I am feeling much better. I can’t wait to get back to business with the start of the new year. The world seemed to be passing me by. Just excited and ready, but my engine is purring. All is good.
…
STORY 1
When I was 16 years old, I went horseback riding with a girl-friend (not a girlfriend) and we were riding in the woods. Well, there were some low hanging vines, and sure as shit, one caught my neck and rubbed it raw. I mean, it was brutal. All my skin was removed.
To everyone at work… it looked like a big “hicky”; a huge sucker bite.
That wasn’t the case, of course, but the razzlin’ and all was really excessive, don’t you know. It took me months to get out from the hasslin’, but you know it was the early 1970’s and that kind of stuff was common in the work-place.
I was still “sweet 16” and never been kissed. That ended shortly afterwards when two of my “girl-friends” fought to become my girlfriend. Which resulted in a sidewalk kiss, that I will never forget.
STORY 2
We were leaving a “sweet 16” birthday party of a classmate. She, a girl named Robin, invited me to it, and I as clueless as ever didn’t know what to do. When we left, and we were on the sidewalk… walking home she stopped turned to me and and “Kiss me”. And so we did.
That was my first kiss.
Robin went off to college, got married, and last I heard was doing well. I’m happy for her.
People, as cherished as those memories are, there is no way that I want to relive similar events in another life. I am tired, and have no desire for another reincarnation. I’ll tell you what.
The star of the whole show, in my opinion, is the turnout of Big Business.
No, not what President Xi said, but the audience composition. Namedrop a household corporate name and the CEO was probably in attendence, Tim Cook and Elon Musk included.
The movers and shakers of Wall Street paid handsomely for the privilege of WELCOMING President Xi. In fact, the visiting Head of State may have gathered THE star-studded corporate audience in recent years, bigger than any Democrat or Republican convention. Even King Charles and the Pope will struggle to demonstrate the star appeal lighting up San Francisco this November WEEKEND.
It was a dinner worth trillions upon trillions in market cap. One need only imagine the private jets lining up to pay hangar premiums for parking rights.
America NEEDS China, economically.
That is why Janet, the top-ranking finance official in America, welcomed President Xi on the tarmac personally.
image 143
Note that both Janet and Gavin visited Beijing PERSONALLY to arrange the visit.
Both the tarmac welcome and dinner highlighted the conspicuous absence of the State Department. No more James Cook Hotel browbeating and public attempts at humiliating the Chinese contingent.
What’s the key here?
American corporations are suffering in the downturn and the captains of industry want guarantees from Joe that the situation with China will not deteriorate further. The chips they have on the table? 20–30 billion in election funding for 2024.
We can expect a freeze on escalation of the new cold war, but not a ceasefire. The militaries will resume direct communications, which is nothing more than “we’re continuing with the harassment, but we’ll inform you first, with your acknowledgement”. However, we can expect cabinet officials to either be gagged top-down or bottom-up, or instructed to be cordial and tone down on provocation. In other words, Gina et al. morphing back to friendly beaver mode rather than “feet to the fire” wolf warrior incarnation.
That’s the tone for 2024. I don’t believe Joe will repeat the “genocide determination” stunt next year, having committed to extravagant molly-coddling in San Francisco, amidst the sea of bipartisan support for playing the China card the corporate-sanctioned way.
Lobbying works, both ways.
This is why President Xi appeared relaxed throughout, almost as if he was on holiday, totally unlike the tense atmosphere in Anchorage, Alaska, back in 2021. People have short memories.
President Xi was being feted and courted, and he was only here after two years of intense US diplomatic efforts to re-establish ties torn down by the State Department, no less.
Crazy world, isn’t it?
Note: The welcome dinner also reassured the Chinese, and gave them the confidence to negotiate deals with the Fed. Corporate America’s turnout is the real deal, in a fiery red vs. blue battle to the death.
I’ll probably never be as successful as my dad and I’m perfectly OK with that.
If anything I’m proud of him. At one point he was overseeing a $50 billion annual budget as Undersecretary of Defense. The dude earned his Wikipedia page.
My father is also an excellent case study. He is certainly very smart. But it wasn’t like he was always the smartest guy in the room. In fact, he was keenly aware when he wasn’t. Yet many of my dad’s peers, who were smarter on paper, fell way short of his success.
Why? It’s mainly because of his people skills and his diligence. He is an excellent listener. He knows how to dial in and pick up on what is important. He is also conscientious and very ethical. He treats people equally regardless of their position.
I’d say if anything, my dad’s superpower is the ability to size people up quickly and judge their character.
He has a special distaste for self-serving people, which is probably because of his career with SEAL teams, where teamwork is a religion.
This is where many highly intelligent people fail. They lack the soft skills, the ability to relate with many types of people.
Cliche as it sounds, many gifted people also have an underlying arrogance they mask. Business textbooks are filled with case studies of executives’ careers being destroyed by pride. My girlfriend is a college professor and complains constantly about the incessant egos at academic conferences.
And to be fair, I can’t totally blame them. When a person is told from birth that they are brilliant, and their test scores affirm that praise, and they live in a world that prizes intelligence — it is probably hard to stay 100% humble.
No matter how talented you are, remember you are dealing with human beings in your career. Success isn’t a MENSA test. Soft skills matter—bigtime.
The U.S. should but it won’t and it can’t. The U.S. thinks like a racist, xenophobic superior white Caucasian nation that their neighbours should be kept as savage, poor, undeveloped nations that it can invade anytime it feels like doing. So they won’t help these nations. It is beyond them. People like Donald Trump can term them robbers and rapist so that he feels very good as the Aryan Superior. So the U.S. abused them instead of helping them.
Of course now that the Chinese decide to help them the U.S. will term it “Debt Trap” China will help to make these former Spanish and Portuguese stolen nations rich and successful.
Anyway they can’t help them. The spent all its money and resources in forever wars, war mongering, war financing, war orchestrating, chaos and coup tormenting. And barely have enough to help US homeless and poor. The U.S. own infrastructure were also 20 century relics and dilapidated beyond repair in the U.S. so they cannot help. Even if the wanted to they will set a thousand conditions including signing over their sovereignty to Uncle Sam.
She Can’t Answer This Simple Question About Marriage
My cat goes on a rampage when he wants to wake me up, knocking every conceivable item off of every flat surface until I finally give up on sleep.
He did it to me the other night. I’d fallen asleep on the couch and woke up to the familiar sound of the TV remote control hitting the floor, then the Roku remote.
I could just make out the little guy’s form on the coffee table through blurry eyes without my glasses. My smartphone was the next thing to hit the hardwood (I have a military grade case precisely for this reason), then he violently smacked a bottle of pills so hard they ricocheted off an end table and went spinning across the room.
Next he hopped onto the end table, upending a bag of restaurant tortillas and swiping my keys off. A water bottle went flying. I heard my vapor pen skidding in the opposite direction.
The little f—er is relentless.
(“Does it look like I’m judging you, human? Because I am.”)
If that doesn’t work — and sometimes it doesn’t, because I know giving in just emboldens him — and he runs out of things to smack and wreck, he’ll pad over to his litter box and start punching the cover flap with his paw because he knows it squeaks and it pisses me off.
He’s a super vocal cat too, so all this is accompanied by high-pitched trills like “RRRRRRRUUUUPPPP!” and “BRRRRRUUUU!”
And you know what the most ridiculous part is?
He’s not asking for food because he always gets a bowl of dry food before bed. He wants to hang out and snuggle and be buddies. I can’t be mad at him.
So yes, it’s pretty common for cats to wake their people up for no other reason than they want us awake, acknowledging them, or giving them scritches and affection.
It’s not always tied to more concrete requests like food, although sometimes it is.
You’ll also notice that cats have no regard for your sleep, but they’ll give you the feline death stare if you rudely interrupt their naps. Such is the pecking order in feline-ruled households.
It is possible to train them out of waking you, especially if they’re young. If your cat is a kitten then she’ll adjust to your schedule. If she’s an adult, well, good luck with that. You can break the habit, but you’re going to make sure you never give in or you’re just hitting the reset button by proving to her that if she makes enough noise, you’re going to get up eventually.
In that case, grab a package of earplugs off Amazon for a few bucks. Your brain will thank you for wearing them.
(“I am a sweet little kitty cat and none of these vile lies are true.”)
We were at an airport in Mexico, going through customs and immigration. Once your bag is xrayed you pick it up, and walk to this green button and push it. If the light above flashes green, which it almost always does, you proceed on. If the light flashes red, and the buzzer, buzzes, you get pulled into a side room and they go through your luggage thoroughly.
There was a huge line up. We had waited an hour to get to the X-ray machine. We were up next. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone from a culture that doesn’t believe in queuing, walking alongside the line, right up to the front, I actually stepped in front of him, so he couldn’t get past me, and his wife took the luggage and threw it on the X-ray conveyor belt. At this point I admitted defeat, and let them go.
They get through the x-ray, and push the button, in my place. It flashed red, and they were led off to a little side room, It would have been me, if they hadn’t barged into the line.
I waved to them as they were being led into the little room.
He is the manager of my neighborhood gym, a very rinky-dink gym.
He makes ~$35K per year. It isn’t terrible money. You can certainly live on that, but it isn’t great money in the US. His salary isn’t specifically why I have so much respect for him. It’s the context:
He was a big-time lawyer here in Tampa. He had a fancy degree and a job making huge money. He did it for 15 years. He had the respect of his peers, the fear of his opposition.
He was fully capable of continuing his relentless march as a litigator.
But he realized, “Nah – this isn’t the right life.”
He walked away – chose a low-stress job, managing this local gym.
When the end of the day rolls around, he goes home and work doesn’t chase him. He is free to indulge the rest of his life.
I see him 3-4 times a week while I sign into my gym. He is always in good spirits. Relaxed. Not troubled by some unseen threat that looms on his calendar.
We grow up. The people around us tell us they just want us to “be happy,” but at the same time, they are pushing this maximization mindset: maximize grades, maximize salary, maximize reputation, go, go, go.
You see plenty of people that maximize. You see plenty of people who don’t.
But how often do you see people who maximize and then walk away? Who goes from introducing himself as “Senior Counsel at XYZ” to answering calls, “Hello, ABC Fitness! How can I help you?”
It’s surprisingly rare. It’s hard to kiss the ring of ambition for so long and then drop it.
He’s a bit of a novelty in my life. On my bad days, I envision what it would be like to be him — that one guy who stepped through the paradox of happiness and ambition.
And although I suspect I don’t have the guts to do what he did, walk away, I have a surprising amount of respect for a guy who is capable of so much, yet aspires to so little.
He did it his way. And he’s happy. Does anything else really matter?
A girl I quite fancied took me to meet her parents for dinner – which turned out to be lasagne. The only prior experience I’d had with lasagne had been at school, many years before – about a millimeter thick, cooked in trays half a mile wide, with about 50p’s worth of ingredients and left to dry out under a heat lamp for a year. 🙁
But I had to be polite.
“I’m not very hungry,” I said. “just give me a little.”
Turns out that lasagne cooked by an Italian mother was rather different to the filth churned out at St. Mary’s. So I asked for seconds
In the 1980s, state law in Florida required that all public high school students take a one-semester class called Americanism vs Communism, or AVC.
The State-approved AVC textbook can be summed up this way:
“Rah rah rah! We’re #1! America, fuck yeah! We won WWII and saved Europe and Russia! America is the best at everything! Woohoo! Look at how amazing we are! America, go us!”
Like, seriously, it was embarrassingly bad. We’re talking Soviet-Union-textbook bad. If George Orwell included a page from the AVC textbook in Nineteen Eighty-Four, critics would be all “nah, bro, too unrealistic.” You wouldn’t think it’s possible to fit so much cringe into one book.
I cannot fathom the degree of insecurity that went into passing the law that required teaching this class in schools.
Fortunately, I lucked out. My high school teacher, a WWII vet and survivor of the Bataan Death March, hated and loathed the class requirement and textbook with every fiber of his being, and made that very clear on the first day of class.
He refused to teach from the book at all. He told us point-blank “The state requirement for this class is complete propaganda bullshit. As far as I’m concerned, this is a class in Russian history, and that’s how I intend to teach it.”
He made his own teaching materials for the class and it rocked.
China has already stopped investing in U.S. Treasuries.
Since the beginning of the Ukraine War, China has been selling its Treasury holdings. As of October 2023, it continues to hold about $820 billion of U.S. Treasuries. This is a reduction of about 18% in one year.
Russia previously sold all its U.S. Treasury holdings, after the United States began to sanction it in connection withe Ukraine War. In about 2017, Russia encouraged the world to do the same.
At the same time, the Federal Reserve is selling the U.S. Treasury Bonds that it purchased during covid.
The combined actions of Russia, China and the Federal Reserve are driving down the value of U.S. Treasury Bonds. In the past six months, the value of 30 year bonds has fallen by about 50%. This raises interest rates in the United States, because the U.S. government must pay more to borrow.
The higher interest rates have greatly limited America’s options, financially. Housing prices are poised to fall, due to higher interest rates. Even worse, interest payments on the U.S. national debt have doubled. Interest payments will soon exceed what the United States spends on national defense. Thus, as you can see, the tactics of Russia and China have limited America’s ability to fight wars. We are seeing just the beginning of the cycle.
Your question is — will the United States face a financial crisis?
The answer is yes. If the United States (a) continues printing dollars, and (b) continues supporting a violent response to conflicts in the world, two things will happen:
The planet will refuse to work with the United States during America’s foreseeable crisis; and
The U.S. dollar will collapse, due to continued printing and the planet’s rejection of the dollar.
The collapse of the dollar will be devastating in the United States, because American society is dependent upon cheap gasoline and cheap imports, which will no longer exist in the United States.
The United States imports 28% of its crude oil. This leaves the United States vulnerable to a falling dollar. Contrary to popular belief, the United States is not “energy independent,” and remains vulnerable. The United States imports 5 million barrels of crude oil per day more than it exports. That is a lot of oil that won’t be coming into the United States when the dollar falls. In addition, President Biden foolishly sold decades of oil stored up by the WWII generation in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. America is not ready for the foreseeable crisis coming to its shores.
Expect riots and shortages in the United States. If Biden continues to pursue violent solutions to global conflict, those wars will return to the United States when the dollar comes down. The American people will be fighting over limited resources. There won’t be any jobs in America, when the shopping malls close.
Normally the work product belongs to the company, not the worker. In the early days of solid state circuitry, my BIL developed much of it. Although his name is on the patents, the company owned them.
I was an independent contractor managing HOAs. ( Also a lawyer). I started by managing my own while my kids were preschoolers. It ran very smoothly so no one ever wanted to be on the Board until crazy ass lady and her group of idiots came on. True nut cases. One insisted on judging the Holiday decorating contest, then picked her own house as winner. One shot my dog. Board meetings were like “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”.
The Board was 3/3, three humans, three horses asses. When one human was on vacation, the three asses called a special meeting and “ terminated “ me. Now they knew I would just sue them on my 2 year contract so they made paying me for another 18 months conditional on me delivering all the Assn documents and computer data on fees, violations etc on discs within five days. This belonged to them.
I was happy to get out of the nut house. The Assn owned the file cabinets. I just put them on a dolly and walked them to a Board member’s house and left them. I downloaded all the data in computer language and gave them the disks.
Problem was, I used a program I bought that was made by a company that had gone bankrupt. It was a great program. Totally unavailable for purchase anywhere. But I had no duty to give them my program. The computer disks were useless. The finances were also kept on a very old edition of an accounting program. I had no duty to provide them with my copy. The financial disks very useless to them without paying a few thousand for the program. It was a very specialized program used by CPAs
They spent a fortune going through old files and bank statements and quarterly financials to recreate payment records etc. And, I had fulfilled my duties. I got the next 18 months of my contract paid. They also received a cease and desist letter from me. The Assn ‘s original documents had a problem and no lender would loan on a house without a document called a Subordination agreement. Only a lawyer can write one. I always wrote them. No cost. It was my own HOA. But the first time they copied one on a new sale, I hit them with a cease and desist letter and reported them to the Bar for the unlicensed practice of law. So then they had to pay a lawyer for the next 150 or so documents. Lawyers are not free.
So, what the employer owns and what the employee owns is a mixed bag.
I was in an elevator on a cruise ship. Some wiseacre saw my polka-dot suspenders.
He smirked, “Nice suspenders. You from Wisconsin?”
I replied, “No. Ever since my cancer surgery, I can’t wear a belt.”
His smirk instantly evaporated. The elevator doors opened on my floor, and I got out.
Soft tissue sarcoma caused by Agent Orange in Vietnam, They took out 1–3/4 pounds of me from my groin to my beltline. It left a notch where a belt would sit, so I can’t wear a belt comfortably.
Two years back, I was on a road trip on my bike to Meghalaya. While returning, as I was tired I was riding slowly. I was still some 70 miles away from home, and it was already dark. On the highway, I saw a car parked and some people arguing. I rode past them, however before passing them I caught the sight of two women crying and eagerly looking through the front window.
I took a turn and came back to the spot. I saw four boys, around my age, were arguing and pushing a man of around 50 years old. Turns out, the family was returning from some function and lived in another town which was about 90 miles from mine. They were stopped by these four boys on bikes and asked them for some money. They started misbehaving when the old guy refused to pay. He asked his wife and daughter to stay in the car and got down to reason with them.
I heard the story from the old guy, while the boys asked me mind my own business and get the f**k off. I simply turned and started walking towards my bike. The man begged at me to stay and help him, and looked at the women in the back seat and felt their eyes pleading me to stay. But, I kept walking!
Here comes the twist! Now, during my rides I always keep a hockey stick on my bike. Bad luck for the guys who never knew this. They laughed at me, calling me names. One even said, “Yeah, keep walking you p***say.”
I took the hockey stick and came back running. The boys didn’t get time to react and I started beating them. The blows landed everywhere and I think two or more of them bled as well. I didn’t show them any mercy. Someone threw some punches and kicks at me too, but I had a more formidable weapon than them. Seeing me in action, the man also jumped in; his wife and daughter also got down and helped in whatever way they could. All beaten up and even not being able to stand properly, two boys somehow managed to run off on their bikes while the other two ran after them.
I told the man to start the car and keep driving, while I rode in front of him in case the boys decided to get help and chase us. When we entered the man’s town, we went to the police station and lodged a report. The daughter was smart enough to note down the bikes’ number plates. As it was very late, the man requested me to spend the night at their place. Once reaching home, the family thanked me for helping them. He wouldn’t even allow me to leave early next day, saying that he can’t send me off without a proper meal. Family, friends and relatives came to thank me for my heroism. I stayed for lunch and returned home.
To this day the gentleman calls me occasionally. He even invited me to his daughter’s wedding.
Now, let me tell you something. I’m not the brave person they take me to be. I was equally scared that night. I was terrified. It took me a lot of courage to do what I did. After this whole thing was over, I was so proud of it!
Companies Are Ditching Hiring Fresh Female Graduates
My grandparents were too poor to afford a private jet or a private helicopter, they had to rely on government programs like public roads to get by.
They couldn’t afford to hire private tutors for my parents, and so had to send them to public schools to learn to read and write.
As one might expect, this cycle of dependency continued: My parents also didn’t have a private jet or helicopter, and they also had to rely on government programs like public roads to get by. They also sent their kids to learn to read and write in public schools.
And here I am: made lazy by all this generational welfare, I’m not pulling on my bootstraps nearly hard enough to afford my own private airport. Like my parents before me, and my grandparents before them, I depend entirely on government programs like public roads (or worse, public transit!!) to get to work.
There is no means testing in place for using public roads, which leads to rampant abuse. I’ve seen people use them to go for a stroll, even though they could have afforded a treadmill. Not only that, but these type of government handouts kill any incentive for most people to get a private helicopter, they’d rather stay dependent upon the government provided public roads.
It’s truly a modern tragedy, with no end in sight.
Years and years ago, when I quit smoking, I found my temper would often flare up during the first few weeks of abstinence.
I worked at a remote branch office with a staff of six. One morning when I came to work early, something went “wrong” and I was so angry that I impulsively gut-punched my office door.
The door was hollow core wood; I punched right through it.
I admitted my foolish outrage to my office mates when they entered an hour later.
And little was said about it; I believe they were sympathetic with my situation, and supportive of my effort to quit smoking.
There matters laid at rest; nothing more said.
Until the office Christmas party, when staff from all branches and the headquarters office (over 100 souls) gathered at some central location for a cocktail party and most sumptuous feast. Everything paid for by the company as a treat to us. This was followed by after-dinner drinks, and the “awards ceremony.”
The awards ceremony was a production of the employees and was in the nature of a good-humored “roast,” drawing upon such amusing things as had happened involving any of them over the past year. Some of the recognition was by actual funny trophies which were passed from one recipient to another; others were unlikely objects constructed of broom sticks, hub-caps, old radios, or heaven knows what.
Because I and my cohorts were from the remotest branch, none of us received, or ever expected to receive, recognition at this ceremony. We had our OWN Christmas party, for that.
Thus it was quite a surprise, to me, when I saw that my associate, Greg, was called upon by the master of ceremonies to announce the grand prize winner. He briefly described in very general terms the struggle of one individual to overcome a serious addiction. I was as curious as everyone else to know who, and to know the story. The room became very quiet, as the subject appeared to deviate from the laughable to the serious. The recipient was as yet unnamed.
Then a cloaked object was carried onto the dais, looking for all the world like a draped coffin.
With the words, “And the winner is, John Scott Geare,” the black drape was pulled away to reveal my actual office door, with a precise halo painted around its wound. Somehow, the damned thing had been spirited from our office, and carried the 60 miles to the party, unbeknownst to me.
And it became the stuff of legend.
You owe me half
Chick was only going out for a free meal. And he says…
Cajun Style Tip Roast
2023 11 09 15 20
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
Ingredients
1 (4 pound) tip roast
1/4 cup finely chopped onions
1/4 cup finely chopped celery
1/4 cup finely chopped green bell peppers
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
Heat oven to 300 degrees F.
Combine vegetables, spices and oil.
With a sharp knife make 8 to 12 deep V-shape slit pockets, stopping an inch from the bottom of roast. Fill the pockets with the vegetable mixture, reserving some to rub on top of roast.
Bake uncovered for 2 1/2 hours or until thermometer reads 140 degrees F for medium rare beef.
Serve with pan juices.
Nutrition
Per serving: Calories 391; fiber 1g; carbohydrates 2g, Protein 61g, Cholesterol 160mg; Sodium 509mg; Fat 14g (32% of calories from fat)
A number of years ago I worked for a large US company. My role was in sales (industrial product). In my third year, I was selected for management. As such, I was trained in recruiting and helped district managers hire talent.
I visited one district and held a recruiting fair and ultimately recommended 10 applicants to the manager. The manager had his own candidate and asked me to interview him. In my opinion, his choice was terrible. He did not have any of the qualities successful people in our business had. I told him this.
Jump ahead six months. I become the manager for that district. My predecessor had hired the guy I did not recommend and did not even call any of the 10 I recommended.
Within three months i had hired five new sales reps. Four did very well and stayed for years. One failed within six months. The one that I did not recommend? I had to let him go due to poor performance and poor attitude. When I told him I had to let him go, he held onto my desk and told me he really did not want to be fired and would not leave the office. He would continue to come to work. It took several hours to convince him that he was not a good match for our industry. I continued to pay him for one month as he searched for another job.
Please don’t tell me I am mean and unfeeling. In my 30+ years of managing, I have supported many people in many different ways. The bottom line, if someone is not doing well in a job, it is usually because they are not trying or they are just in the wrong job. The latter is almost always the case. If you have a good, hard working person, try to find a different position in your company for him/her. That’s the mark of a good manager.
I first noticed this phenomenon with a guy named Dr.Layne Norton. Layne has a PhD in biochemistry. This man has forgotten more about the human body than I’ve ever learned, and I’ll have my Masters degree next month.
He’s an elite level powerlifter.
And a pro bodybuilder,
He also runs a youtube channel where he shares some advice on bodybuilding and powerlifting. I began to notice that the comment section was particularly toxic.
People were insulting this man’s intelligence, his personality, and his family.
I didn’t understand why. He seemed like a nice enough guy. Until I stumbled upon the answer.
One commenter said, “I’m sure you know what you’re talking about, you just seem arrogant though.” The comment had 100s of likes.
Scientists tend to speak in very absolute terms. Why? Because they’ve studied the shit out of whatever it is they’re discussing. And because they speak so unequivocally, people get turned off.
For example, I wrote an answer in which I said working out in the afternoon is best for muscle building and performance. The hormones and body temperature are in a better position to support a workout in the afternoon.
How do I know? I wrote a 20 page paper on this topic for school (supported by 30 peer reviewed studies).
Some guy told me that I was a liar. Why? According to him, testosterone is obviously highest in the morning… because men get morning wood…..
Like many have said, scientists have spent years studying a topic, and they’ve forgotten more about said topic than most will ever even hear. As far as I’m concerned, they’ve EARNED the right to be a little arrogant when it comes to their subject.
I was adopted at birth. From the time I was able to understand anything, my parents called me their Chosen Child and gave me a poem with that name. I was raised to feel special. When I was in 3rd grade, one of the spoiled little rich girls tried to make fun of me, saying mean things, like, my mother hated me and got rid of me so that I had to be taken in by strangers out of pity – really wicked thing for an 8-year-old to say. When she finally took a breath, I responded by saying that I KNEW my parents wanted me, they CHOSE me. Then I said “I bet you were an ax-i-dent!” and walked away. When I got home from school, my mother said she had gotten a call from that girl’s mother, wanted to know what happened, and asked me how in the world I knew what an “accident” was, laughing all the time! I was only 8, had no clue, but I had heard her talking on the phone when she mentioned a girl getting pregnant by accident. Obviously, she didn’t know I heard her or that I understood the gist of the conversation. She was laughing when she told daddy – and that was when I began hearing her say to her friends that “little pitchers have big ears” as she changed the conversation. I don’t know what a little pitcher is, and that may not be what she said, but that’s all that I heard before they started a new conversation!
If they said they would be home at a certain time and didn’t call to ASK if it was ok that they stayed out later, I would call the police. I give them 1/2 hour past designated time to call and if they didn’t answer 2 calls and 2 texts all done within 1/2 hour time frame, the police would be informed of how worried I am about their safety because it’s now an hour late with them not calling or answering multiple calls and texts. Let them deal with the cops questioning them about not contacting you or answering you. The cops will let them know you only concerned about their well being and they will also rip them a new one for informing you and also for leaving their child alone with a babysitter who is now upset that something had happened to them. Trust me, they will never do it again to any babysitter. I say any babysitter because after that, I would NEVER babysit for them again, even at 4x’s the amount of money.
This Creole pork sausage is an old local favorite dating back to the 19th Century, but Chaurice isn’t as easy to find as it once was. It would seem to have come to Louisiana with the Spanish, and was adapted to local custom and ingredients; the term is similar to the Spanish chorizo. It’s great with white or red beans, and good for breakfast too, with eggs.
2023 11 09 15 18
Ingredients
4 pounds lean fresh pork, butt or shoulder
2 pounds fresh pork fat
2 cups onion, finely minced
1 1/2 tablespoons garlic, finely minced
1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
8 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground red pepper
2 teaspoons dried thyme leaves, crushed
5 tablespoons parsley, finely chopped
3 bay leaves, finely crushed
1/2 teaspoon allspice
3 yards small sausage casing (optional)
Instructions
Cut the pork at fatback into small pieces. Mix together and run once through the coarse disc of a meat grinder into a large bowl.
Add the seasonings and mix thoroughly until the stuffing is very smooth and well blended.
Make into patties, and use within three days or freeze.
Notes
You can also put chaurice into casings; make each sausage about six inches in length.
The MWI is real, and it is valid. However, the idea in the movie that consciousness is equally shared between the world-lines is a tad distorted. Instead the centering of consciousness on a given world-line is the actual REALITY within this universe.
At a tense meeting with IRS inspector Deirdre Beaubeirdre, Waymond's body is taken over by Alpha-Waymond, a version of Waymond from the "Alphaverse."
Alpha-Waymond explains to Evelyn that many parallel universes exist because every life choice creates a new alternative universe.
In the Alphaverse, the late Alpha-Evelyn developed "verse-jumping" technology, which enables people to access the skills, memories, and bodies of their parallel selves by performing bizarre actions that are statistically unlikely.
The multiverse is threatened by Jobu Tupaki (Alpha-Joy), whose mind was splintered after Alpha-Evelyn pushed her to verse-jump beyond her endurance; Jobu experiences all universes at once and can verse-jump and manipulate matter at will.
She has created a black hole-like "Everything Bagel" topped with everything,[18] which appears as a toroidsingularity[19] that could destroy the multiverse.
Evelyn is given verse-jumping technology to fight Jobu's minions, who converge on the IRS building.
She discovers other universes in which she made different choices and flourished, such as becoming a kung fu master and film star; she also learns of Waymond's plans with the divorce papers.
Alpha-Waymond believes that Evelyn, as the greatest "failure" of all Evelyns in the multiverse, has the untapped potential to defeat Jobu.
Gong Gong is taken over by Alpha-Gong Gong, who instructs Evelyn to kill Joy to stop Jobu from using her to enter Evelyn's universe.
Evelyn refuses and decides to face Jobu by gaining powers through repeated verse-jumping.
Alpha-Gong Gong, convinced that Evelyn's mind has been compromised like Jobu's, sends soldiers after Evelyn.
While they fight, Jobu locates and kills Alpha-Waymond in the Alphaverse.
As Jobu confronts Evelyn in her universe, Evelyn's mind splinters, and she collapses.
Evelyn uncontrollably verse-jumps alongside Jobu across bizarre and diverse universes.
Jobu reveals she does not want to fight at all, but that instead, she has been searching for an Evelyn who can see, as she does, that nothing matters, while killing the Evelyns that do not agree with her.
She brings Evelyn to the Everything Bagel, explaining that she wants to use it to allow herself and Evelyn to truly die.
Upon looking into the Bagel, Evelyn is initially persuaded, and behaves cruelly and nihilistically in her other universes, hurting those around her.
As Evelyn is about to enter the Bagel with Jobu, she pauses to listen to Waymond's pleas in her universe for everybody to stop fighting and to instead be kind, even when life does not make sense.
Evelyn has an existentialist epiphany and decides to follow Waymond's absurdist[20] and humanist[21] advice, using her multiverse powers to fight with empathy[22] and bring happiness to those around her; in doing so, she repairs her damage in the other universes and neutralizes Alpha-Gong Gong and Jobu's fighters.
In her home universe, Evelyn reconciles with Waymond, accepts Joy and Becky's relationship and tells Gong Gong of it, and talks with Deirdre after Waymond convinces Deirdre to let them redo their taxes.
Jobu decides to enter the Bagel alone while, simultaneously in Evelyn's universe, Joy begs Evelyn to let her go.
Evelyn tells Joy that even when nothing makes sense and even though she could be anywhere else in the multiverse, she would always want to be with Joy.
Evelyn and the others save Jobu from the Bagel, and Evelyn and Joy embrace.
It is a fantasy. Which is still a fun illustration.
So that is OK, don’t you know.
10947799
But what does the audience get from this movie?
That there is a multi-verse; and MWI.
That you can travel between different world-lines.
That the traveling consciousness can absorb simultaneous experiences that color the actions in the reality.
I personally view this movie as an entry bridge towards enlightenment of the true and really pertinent reality that we all experience.
World-line slides… shown in the movie.
everything everywhere all at once
The three key points above are all in alignment with MM’s MWI narrative.
Edward. We called him Crazy Ed. At 12 years of age during a family reunion he grabbed his dad’s shotgun and started shooting. He got mad at his parents over some little crap. Shot his ma, pa, aunt and was chasing his uncle but ran out of shells. In a juvenile prison, this was the 1960s, he tried to poison a few people. And beat another thug with a broom half to death before they hauled him off. He was a polite, fairly polished, soft spoken youth. Looked like a mousy little accountant, glasses and all. He told people when he got he wanted to be a hit man for the mob. He enjoyed killing. I have no doubt that’s what really became of him.
I was an IT director for a company that had been acquired by a much larger company. When I declined to move to their IT location half a continent away, I was laid off. by phone. (my whole group was effectively laid off because they moved my group’s functions to the parent companies group much larger group and they all refused the move).
This was not unexpected, but the knowledge transfer had not taken place yet between the groups. (it was just beginning)
I accepted the severance package and told them we needed to call my counterpart in the corporate group to make sure the transfer was done securely.
When they asked why, I said that as an IT directory I have all the adminstrator passwords and could literally shut down the business if I was upset about the termination. I want to make sure that any issues that come up will not be pointed back at me or my team.
They agreed to conference call with my counterpart so he could take the necessary steps to secure the system.
The call went like this:
Me: Hey! You need to change all the administrator passwords on our unix servers and close out some accounts:
Him: Why?
Me: My group and I just got terminated and you need to secure these servers to make sure everything stays copacetic. You need to terminate my accounts, all access, and those of my team laid off effective immediately to protect corporate and customer assets.
Him: <explodes>What Assh*t did that? We haven’t got anyone to manage those systems, There has been no knowledge transfer on what the systems are used for, <folornly>I’m screwed!
Big Boss: That would be me. Just do it.
Him: OK, OK. I am logging on to the servers. What is the command? Oh Sh*t, I can’t ask you can I….
Big Boss (to me): This is a surprise. Would you be willing to stick around for a couple of weeks….
Me: Sorry- Even though I don’t particularly have an issue about being laid off, Corporate Security Rules identify me now as disgruntled employee and I am not allowed access to secure systems or even the building spaces.
When I was about 17 years old, my dad walked in on me and my then-boyfriend having sex.
The house I lived in at the time was located directly across from my high school. I was enrolled in a lot of sports, as was my boyfriend. Our practices often didn’t start until a half an hour or so after school ended, so most days we had a little bit of time to, um, kill. This particular day, I thought my dad would be at work. We raced to my house, went to my bedroom, and went at it. A few minutes later, without warning, my dad did the thing he always did – knock, then immediately open the door. Seriously? What was the point of knocking? I’ll never understand.
So there I was. His precious baby, naked with a boy. I did the only thing I could think of, which was to do a little *roll* off the bed, and then a second *roll* to hide myself underneath my bed. Leaving my bare-bummed boyfriend to the nightmare above me.
The only words my dad said was, “get dressed.”
I did not go to practice that day. Instead, I had to have dinner with my dad, alone. I couldn’t even look him in the eye. I was mortified.
We tried to have small talk???? “How was your day?” “Fine, yours?”
Worst. Day. Of. My. Life.
Cajun Style Cube Steaks
2023 11 09 14 37
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided
4 (4 ounce) beef cube steaks
1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 (15 ounce) can no salt added tomato sauce
1 tablespoon of Cajun seasoning
2 cups hot cooked brown rice
Instructions
Place foil grilling bag on cookie sheet. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of flour in bag.
Arrange steaks in single layer on top of flour; top with pepper and onion.
In a small bowl stir together tomato sauce, Cajun seasonings, and remaining 2 tablespoons flour. Spread evenly over steaks and vegetables. Seal bag by double folding open end, leaving room for expansion.
Coat grill rack with nonstick cooking spray. Heat grill to medium indirect heat.
Slide bag from cookie sheet onto grill rack. Cover and grill for 35 minutes.
Remove bag from grill. Use kitchen shears to carefully cut open bag.
We had a a couple of very dear and long- time friends coming over to watch a DVD a few evenings ago. I went into the living room to make sure the sofas were clear of books, newspapers, knitting etc, but there was still some clutter around. The odd grandkids’s toys sitting in a corner. A laptop my husband was fixing for someone In bits on the coffee table. I said to my husband “ Oh, it looks OK. It’s only Angela and Colin coming.” Then I thought that’s a horrible thing to say! But then it occurred to me – it was, in fact, a great compliment. They were like family. I don’t do a big tidy up, making it pristine, if my daughter is coming with her children. Like them, Angela and Colin are part of our lives. It’s clean and comfortable, but it doesn’t have to be “ visitor ready.” When they arrived I told them what has gone through my mind, and they agreed – they would feel the same about us.
Newlywed Has MELTDOWN After Husband Gathers Proof Of Her Cheating For Their “At Fault” Divorce State
All these stories are so sad. But this one seems to be really authentic. The human situation sucks. Ugh. I am sorry for all three people.
USA and Australia are clearly stolen nations or stolen continents after barbaric and phenomenally cruel slaughter of natives living in their land for centuries. These lands don’t belong to the present inhabitants and it must remind all humans in earth of what savagery and imperialism occurred during the 1600–1900 where rampant European colonialism and aggression happened throughout the world.
Australia and the Americas have to be seen as naked aggression and raped of land and destruction and real genocide whatever culture is a 200–300 years old remnants of these atrocities.
China and Japan has long history spanning thousands of years. It possesses history and philosophy of life and both nations were helped by Confucianism and its ethics of discipline, hardworking, respect for the elders and authorities and constant learning and meritocracy. Both are highly educated and very successful societies. For a while Japan was infatuated with western style colonialism. Not the Chinese as it sees that is wrong to steal other people land.
Nations that grew out of stealing land that belong to others naturally sees themselves entitled. Dominate its regions. The U.S. Latin America and Caribbean while Australia the Islanders and thinks they have a right to command South China Sea too. That to me is clearly wrong and high handed with a tinge of colonialism.
Both Australia and the U.S. benefits from the so called international rules based order that favours the west at the expense of the developing world. But that privilege is being stripped away bit by bit. And truly free competition is beyond them. Hence the huffs and puffs.
Only one word RESPECT. Without respect US will always think their way is always the right way. China is not trying to change the U.S. liberal democracy. That is the U.S. way the U.S. sees fit for the U.S. it is the U.S. that insist China must not practice Socialism with Chinese characteristics! There lies the problem.
As long as one thinks and believed that they and only they knows best no relationship can work. The U.S. must know that to each it’s own. And one man’s meat is another man’s poison. I dare say the problem in the entire 100 years passed us that the U.S. wanted every nation on earth to be submissive and subservient to them!
China is very mature. China wants a rich and prosperous USA to sell to and to go for holidays. It doesn’t want to change a thing. The U.S. wants to weaken China. It wants China to be split into a 100 bite size nation for the U.S. to chew on it! It sees itself as the standard, the authority and the god ordained nation to rule the world.
That disrespect cannot go on. It gets no where. A 5000 years responsible civilisation cannot accept a 247 years old rogue stolen nation of cowboys telling them what to do.
This is HOW MUCH My Vending Machines Made in 365 Days!
I have taken a while to collect my thoughts. Some things need to be said.
This will be a disturbing post. So let’s cling precariously to reason. Please.
Two things are obvious here. The first is that the actions by Hamas rip a new gash in the face of humanity. No thinking person can deny this. Generally reliable news agencies like Reuters [1] report:
“We’ve seen dismembered bodies with their arms and feet chopped off, people that were beheaded, a child that was beheaded,” a reserve warrant officer identified only by her first name of Avigayil told reporters.
She said multiple cases of rape were found by forensic examination of the bodies, which have been stored in refrigerated containers.
A large number of international journalists have viewed graphic footage [2] that documents these atrocities:
Other sequences showed a militant with an agricultural tool hacking at the head of a man lying on the ground, gunmen killing wounded female Israeli soldiers and a jubilant Hamas fighter calling his family: “I killed 10 Jews with my own hands. I’m using the dead Jewish woman’s phone to call you now.”
Only a really crazy conspiracy theorist with his underpants on his head would doubt that these terrible things are absolutely, shockingly real.∗
But there is one more thing …
The other obvious thing
Hamas planned this attack meticulously over months—almost certainly with Iranian support.
[3] Israeli intelligence failed comprehensively. But no, these are not that obvious, other thing. The second thing is the answer to the question “Why?”
One answer is “Because Hamas hate Israel, hate Jewish people, and want to erase Israel from the face of the Earth, as they have often declared”. This is almost certainly true, but it is too glib. It is not the answer. If you follow this reasoning, then Hamas are like a fox in a henhouse—ripping away until no living thing is left alive.
The problem with this glib answer is that it doesn’t make complete sense. Yes, of course those who killed 1400 Israelis and kidnapped many more did so with almost indescribable savagery. Yes, of course they went out of their way to document the bloodshed and atrocities. And yes, of course, this is a new low—by even the lowest imaginable standard.
But this is far less than half the story. Those who set up this atrocity surely knew how Israel would respond. They could predict that Israel would pummel Gaza. They invited a blockade, and an invasion by the Israeli army. So the correct answer to that “Why?” question is …
This is all going according to script
Hamas knew that this would result in a huge number of deaths of their own people in Gaza.
Hamas are hoping that thousands—or even tens of thousands—of their own people will die. They have planned for a bloody fight in Gaza, with civilians all around. They want this. They want large numbers of children to die in Gaza. This is part of the plan.
At least thirty Israeli children died. By 24 October 2023, two thousand three hundred and sixty children had died and over five thousand had been injured in Gaza. [4] This is precisely what Hamas want. It is part of their plan. It is surely what they predicted. They are malevolent—but they are not stupid. So then, why did they do this?
Why?
They knew that Benjamin Netanyahu would have no choice but to retaliate not just in kind, but on a vast scale. They knew that had he said something like:
We will not descend to their level. We will hunt down every single one of these terrorists, but we will do this in our own time. Not one will escape. We will move mountains to preserve international law, and protect innocent civilians …
… then he would have been labelled ‘weak’. He would have been out on his arse. The atrocities were so bad that people would have demanded an immediate military response from his successor. This is the main reason why the atrocities were quite deliberately so atrocious.
So thousands of children are dead, and thousands upon thousands of innocent civilians of all ages will still die. Quite according to the script that Hamas has laid out. They don’t care. In fact, it’s precisely part of the plan.
Now you asked:
Will people forget the massacre of innocent Jews by Hamas after seeing the Gaza attack?
No, of course not
That day will live in infamy. But it won’t matter.
Because the countries around Israel will also never, ever forget the vastly greater number of children who died. They will never forget Israel’s response. And here’s the truly terrible thing.
For every one who died, several more will spring up, their heart filled with hate for Israel. There are about two million people [5] packed into the Gaza strip. It’s like a vast kindergarten—and from this kindergarten, hundreds of thousands of people will emerge, and none of them will forget Israel’s actions.
Israel is running things entirely according to Hamas’ script. And when they deviate, they do so in the wrong direction …
A bonus for Hamas
Israel has even provided a few unanticipated bonuses that make things worse. For example, Israel’s UN envoy Gilad Erdan has accused the Secretary General of the UN as follows:
[6] The UN Secretary-General, who shows understanding for the campaign of mass murder of children, women, and the elderly, is not fit to lead the UN. I call on him to resign immediately. There is no justification or point in talking to those who show compassion for the most terrible atrocities committed against the citizens of Israel and the Jewish people. There are simply no words.
This was in response to his speech on 24 October, [7] that went as follows:
I have condemned unequivocally the horrifying and unprecedented 7 October acts of terror by Hamas in Israel.
Nothing can justify the deliberate killing, injuring and kidnapping of civilians – or the launching of rockets against civilian targets.
All hostages must be treated humanely and released immediately and without conditions. I respectfully note the presence among us of members of their families.
Excellencies,
It is important to also recognize the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum.
The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation.
They have seen their land steadily devoured by settlements and plagued by violence; their economy stifled; their people displaced and their homes demolished. Their hopes for a political solution to their plight have been vanishing.
But the grievances of the Palestinian people cannot justify the appalling attacks by Hamas. And those appalling attacks cannot justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.
Another perhaps unexpected bonus for Hamas is how Israel has cut off supplies…
Fuel
By far the most important supply Israel has cut off is fuel. No, not water. Not food. Fuel. [8]
This is because the hospitals with their thousands of bomb-injured and crushed people need fuel to run. And water cannot be pumped (or even desalinated) without fuel. Oh yes. The Israelis also supply one third of the water to Gaza. And this has been cut off, too.
They are allowing a few percent of the supplies needed. This will result in multiple deaths, particularly of vulnerable people—the elderly, and children, and the sick.
The most disturbing bit
In the video clip associated with this post, the Israeli defence minister describes Palestinians as ‘human animals’—and says that this justifies cutting off food, fuel and water.
This is from the international playbook [9] of dehumanisation:
During the Holocaust, Nazis referred to Jews as rats. Hutus involved in the Rwanda genocide called Tutsis cockroaches. Slave owners throughout history considered slaves subhuman animals.
In summary
So this is the way I see it. Israel has provided a knee-jerk response.
In consequence, their entire state may not survive. This will likely take a few decades to play out—but I think Israel has just signed its own death warrant in the blood of thousands upon thousands of the sick, the elderly, and children.
This is precisely what Hamas scripted. Israel has simply followed the script.
I find this all tragic beyond words.
My 2c, Dr Jo.
∗
It’s sad we even need to say this. But already the conspiracy nutters are out there in force.
Image was generated by Poe/StableDiffusion in response to the prompt “a fox in a henhouse with lots of feathers and blood”.
Based on my observations after having lived in most of the Anglosphere and in West Europe, I feel that many of the people from said countries would not consider Singaporeans “Native English Speakers”.
Which is pure snobbery, in my opinion. I guess they see themselves as the gatekeepers of who can or cannot be a native English speaker.
I have been to Singapore several times, and in the early part of my career, I was even seconded there.
While it’s true that there are many Singaporeans who grew up in a Chinese-speaking (or Malay-speaking, Tamil-speaking) household and might not have reached the level one would expect from a native English speaker, I also came across many Singaporeans (admittedly, I only worked with Chinese Singaporeans during my time there), the young ones, especially, who could only speak English.
Sure, they’re ethnically Chinese, but their Chinese is…. below even the rudimentary level. Like, if you ask them something very simple and basic like “Can you state the four cardinal directions in Mandarin?”… they can’t.
If they can’t even do something as simple and basic as that in Chinese, and their main language, the one they’ve been using since birth, is English – then how are they not native English speakers?
If you don’t consider them native English speakers – then the question becomes: So, what is their native language?
They can’t, or, to be generous, barely, speak or read Chinese. The only language they know is English.
Shouldn’t that, by definition, make them native English speakers?
Or is it really possible for someone to not be a native speaker of any language?
I would definitely consider this demographic of Singaporeans native English speakers, but, you know, I’m not one of the “gatekeepers” mentioned above, so my opinion might count for nothing.
Taking my morning shower, I felt a twinge of stomach pain. “Man, I’m really hungry!” I thought. “I’ve got to hurry up this shower and get some breakfast.”
Then I started to feel a little light-headed. I put my hand out and braced myself against the shower wall. I felt even more faint. “I could pass out and fall in here,” I thought. “I’d better get out.”
So I did, and as I was toweling off, I started to feel nauseated. I went to the toilet and threw up—blood! Holy shit! I called to my wife, “I’m vomiting blood.” She came and took a look; “You sure are!” It wasn’t a whole lot, about 30 ml of bright red blood and mucus, but it was scary as hell. I was hoping it was only an ulcer or something, but I couldn’t help thinking cancer, especially since a friend of mine had recently died of stomach cancer. It was mid-January and my daughter’s wedding was coming up in April. “I’m not going to make it to Nicole’s wedding,” I said to my wife.
The nausea passed. I finished drying off, laid down in bed, and fell asleep for 2 hours. When I woke up, I threw up more blood.
It turned out that it was in fact cancer. I had a rare type called GIST—gastrointestinal stromal tumor. There was a tumor in my upper stomach exactly the size of a billiard ball. But I’m writing this 7 years later. I lost very little stomach to the surgeon—only an area a little larger than a (U.S.) silver dollar—and I was eating at a fine Italian restaurant in Houston five days after the surgery, everything from red wine to tiramisu. I danced with my daughter at her wedding and I’m a grandfather now. I’ve been fine and very healthy since that surgery. Scared the hell out of me in 2010, though.
I hope never to have another bathroom experience as bad as that one.
Baby Poo
Huawei and Meituan announce collaboration to develop HarmonyOS ecosystem
Huawei and Meituan announced a comprehensive partnership to innovate industries, apply technologies, and develop businesses using HarmonyOS. Huawei will fully back Meituan in launching the development of native applications for HarmonyOS.
The announcement comes on the heels of Huawei’s HarmonyOS Next is expected to ditch Android app support as early as 2024. Several of Huawei’s self-developed OS concept stocks rocketed and hit the daily limit after the news was released, according to ChinaDaily.
Huawei partners with Meituan for HarmonyOS ecosystem
Meituan is a Chinese tech giant that offers a wide range of services, including food delivery, online grocery shopping, and ride-hailing. It is one of the most popular apps in China, with over 600 million active users.
Huawei’s confidence in its alternative ecosystem strategy on the mainland received a boost in late August when the company launched its Mate 60 Pro smartphone, its first 5G handset since the Mate 40 series was released in October 2020.
The Mate 60 Pro was met with strong public support, and Huawei became mainland China’s fastest-growing smartphone vendor in the third quarter of 2023.
Recently, multiple job applications in China have announced the launch of HarmonyOS app development. For example, 同程旅行_旅游_旅游线路_旅行_出国旅游_自驾游_周边游_旅游网站 (formerly known as Tongcheng) announced the launch of HarmonyOS native version App development, with plans to complete core version development by the end of 2023.
In addition, a number of internet giants, including Meituan, have listed several job openings related to HarmonyOS. For instance, Meituan publicized a variety of HarmonyOS-centric roles, such as Senior HarmonyOS Engineer and HarmonyOS Infrastructure Engineer.
According to data, as of August 2023, the HarmonyOS ecosystem boasted over 700 million devices and was supported by more than 2.2 million developers actively contributing to its development. By October 30th, the number of devices upgraded to HarmonyOS 4 had surpassed the hundred million mark.
The connection between “body count” and “cheating while married to a man”
They are still slowly trying to clean it up. The areas that were too dangerous are called Red Zones. Restrictions within the Zone Rouge still exist today. After the war, the French government declared a 460-square-mile area unfit for human habitation or development. It stretches roughly from Nancy through Verdun and onto Lille, with various non-contiguous zones so riddled with unexploded shells (many of them gas shells), grenades, ammunition, and human and animal remains that it was simply too dangerous to enter.
In the 1920s and ’30s, the government oversaw the planting of 36 million trees, mostly pine and spruce, in part of the Zone Rouge. This the Verdun forest.
The Department du Deminage, was created after the war. Over the decades, it has helped to reduce the extent of the Zone Rouge, destroying hundreds of thousands of munitions and chemical shells, and has returned some land to civilian and agricultural use. They calculate that they have 300 years work ahead of them before they have cleared the whole battlefield. French farmers collect a huge amount of unexploded ordnance, barbed wire, shrapnel, and bullets every year. It is called the “Iron Harvest.”
Some areas remain entirely off-limits, the soil so full of arsenic that 99 percent of all plants die. There is still the ever-present threat of unexploded shells. There are many ghost villages that were left abandoned after the war, deemed beyond repair. The bodies of roughly 80,000 soldiers whose bodies were never recovered are still there. The bomb depressions are still there.
I mean, that’s the simple, and charitable, way to put it.
The more complex answer is…less charitable.
Most people don’t have moral principles. They have a general set of guidelines they absorb from the society around them without really questioning too much. These guidelines are tribal in nature, and as often as not are more about marking in-groups and out-groups than about a coherent, consistent set of morals.
A great many people want to think of themselves as “good,” but aren’t particularly interested in thinking a lot about it, and particularly aren’t interested in sacrificing comfort or lifestyle for it.
And given that what passes for morality in many folks is actually a set of tribal signifiers, they most definitely aren’t willing to give up social standing for it.
In fact, I’ll wager you that more than a few people who truly consider themselves moral, scrupulous people willing to give up money for morals, will still toss their values aside the moment they involve loss of social standing.
We are social creatures. We need the support and approval of the people around us to survive. Not just in the sense of an income stream to keep ourselves fed and a roof overhead, but in the sense of a social group—without that, we suffer.
So yeah, confronted with social censure for not adopting the opinion of the people around them, most folks absolutely will surrender their values. Confronted with losing money for not adopting the opinion of the people around them, most folks absolutely will surrender their values. If you’re reading this, odds are pretty good you’re one social smear campaign or a few hungry days away from letting go of what you imagine to be your most cherished moral principles.
Originally Answered: What is the best case of “you just picked a fight with the wrong person” that you’ve witnessed?
Ooh yes this brings back the memories from the early 1980s.
A bunch of us went to the next town for a few drinks and a laugh. I seem to recall one of the lads (not me) was getting married so for reasons that won’t become apparent we trooped off to a bigger town 10 miles away instead of our own little town.
We walked into a quiet little pub, grabbed some drinks and sat down on a round table which perfectly suited our group of seven.
The pub was totally empty apart from us and the barman. It was very early in the evening.
A group of three guys walked in and one of them looked very angry. Big and mean he was too. They walked straight over to us and the angry guy looked directly at me.
Angry – You! You’re a big cunt. Let’s have a fight now. Outside!
Me – No thanks mate. We’re here on a lads’ night out and don’t want any aggro.
The lads – Nah come on mate. We just want a drink. Blah blah blah.
Angry – Come on you cunt. Let’s fucking fight now.
By now he’d walked around to my side of the round table. He was a big and very tough-looking guy and I really didn’t want a punch in the mouth off him. I was probably the biggest in our group at 1.90 metres and 110 kg but even so, I didn’t want to fight this big lummox.
Me – Listen mate…
Angry punched me in the side of the face so hard I thought my head had come off. Blood spurted out but no teeth. It hurt a lot and I just held my face thinking “what the hell do I do now?”
I didn’t have to do anything. Andy, who is a very slender and weedy and very sweet young friend of mine stood up.
Andy – No-one hits my mate. Big mistake.
Angry – Oh yeah. What you going to do about it you strip of piss?
Andy sent him sprawling across the next table with one perfect punch to the face. Angry got up and together with his two mates left the pub without another word being said.
The barman walked over and spoke to Andy.
Barman – Wow. That guy you just floored is the hardest guy in town!
Me – Not any more he isn’t. Cheers Andy.
My face hurt for ages but thankfully no serious damage. Andy was our new top mate of the group.
I was offered a $500/month truck allowance, by my employer, to use my own vehicle on service calls. I bought a used truck, for that purpose. I had to carry a $1 million liability insurance policy, due to some customer’s requirements, in order to drive on their property, too. Then, he changed the number to $250. I told him that wasn’t what he had originally told me. That Friday, he gave me a note, as I left to do service calls, and said to think about it. All it had on it was “$350”. Monday morning, I showed up early, and loaded EVERYTHING that belonged to me into my truck. When he showed up, I gave him my building keys. He wanted to know what was going on, and I said “I’m gone.” When he asked if that was how I negotiated, my reply was “I don’t negotiate with liars.”
I sent postcards to the customers I did work for, telling that I was no longer with that company, but was available to keep their equipment running. I was the ONLY one at that company who knew how the stuff worked, and all the repair business went to me. The company had to down-size, and then sold out to a competitor, so my old boss went from owning his own business, to being just another employee.
Too late! The U.S. allows South Korea to produce chips in China, and China is not doing it!
Too late for South Korea, the China ship has sailed.
On a regular basis? Taking a giant gas guzzling car and lifting it to make it even less fuel efficient.
The trucks you see here in America are so obnoxiously big and with callous disregard for global warming. It’s crazy when you drive around here in Florida: 70% or more of the cars are SUVs or Trucks. Literally, 70% or more.
It’s definitely a cultural thing but I wish it would go away. The guys in these lifted trucks are almost always the hyper aggressive drivers the push up behind you and lay on the horn and then flick you off as they go by.
But then, a few minutes later, I’ll see one of them pulled over by a cop. That’s always the most gratifying feeling.
US Supreme Court Tackles Game-Changing Social Media Censorship Case!
Well that’s exactly the thing. The point of attacking the harbor was so they could take on America. There are two reasons that Japan carried out the attack.
The Paper tiger
The Japanese referred to America as a “paper tiger.” What they meant by this was that their military was all bark and no bite, and if the fleet was destroyed there was no way America could come back. What the Japanese underestimated was America’s production capabilities. America was at the time of 1941 one of the largest and most efficient producers of the world, and while FDR was of the intention to stay out of the war, the factories of the United States were churning out tanks, rifles, planes, and ammo to the Soviets fighting the Wehrmacht in the Europe, and Britain fighting the blitz, the Italians and Germans in North Africa, and the Japanese in Burma, China, and Australia. US Shipyards were just as impressive, with destroyers and merchant marine ships built by the hundreds, sold to Britain to protect against the u boats tearing up the Atlantic trade. Japan made the mistake of underestimating the capabilities of US industry. When the US declared war on Japan in retaliation, production went towards building their own military, including the navy. The US navy numbered in the thousands, from the dozens of capital ships to the hundreds of destroyers and submarines, and all of the auxiliary ships and escorts included. In addition, right after the attack the navy raised most of the sunken ships in the harbor. Of the eight battleships we lost, five were raised and went back into the fight, one of them sunk on refloating, and only two of them remain there, USS Arizona and USS Utah. Pearl Harbor remains one of the greatest tragedies in US history, but because of America’s industrial might, it was not the end.
2. The target
From a tactical perspective, another reason for Japan’s attack was what they believed they would destroy and how it would impact the fleet. The Japanese’ main target was not the many battleships and destroyers that were stationed in Pearl Harbor, not the oil tanks, command, or airfields- These were very significant, and their destruction was all devastating to our efforts in getting in the fight, but the most important targets were but one part of the navy:
The US Carriers
It is often said by historians that Pearl Harbor was the end of the days of mighty battleships and battlecruisers and the dawn of the carrier. The six Japanese carriers, Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, Hiryu, Zuikaku, and Shokaku, were the most important part of the Japanese fleet, and carried out the attack on Pearl Harbor. The Japanese knew that the US would only have a chance against the Japanese carriers with the carriers of their own. Therefore, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor believing that the US carriers were there. Fortunately for the US, and the Allies as a whole, the carriers were at sea, safe from the carnage. As a matter of fact, the battleship USS Utah was painted to look like a carrier from the sky, to train US dive bombers, and because of this saw some of the heaviest bombardment of all of the ships, being one of the ships unable to be raised from the bottom. The assessment that the US carriers were essential to the US staying in the fight proved correct. The US launched the Doolittle raid the following year, striking Tokyo for the first of many times in the war from the carrier USS Hornet. The Shoho was destroyed in the following battle of Coral Sea at the cost of the carrier Lexington, but where we really see the tide turn in the Pacific is Midway. The carriers USS Hornet, USS Enterprise, and USS Yorktown crippled the Japanese fleet by destroying Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, and Hiryu. This would not have happened if it wasn’t for the stroke of luck we had with our carriers out at sea when the Japanese struck Pearl Harbor.
Admiral Yamamoto, the brilliant Japanese commander who was behind the attack, which I should say despite its failure to knock out America was still a well planned and impressive attack, astutely believed that a drawn out war with the United States would end in defeat, and despite his best efforts to prevent a drawn out war, he was correct. In the film portrayal of Yamamoto in Tora! Tora! Tora! He is quoted for saying:
“I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with terrible resolve.”
Yamamoto was killed in April of 1943, and with the carrier might have Japan gone as well, the rising sun was doomed to set.
Men are GIVING UP on Women and their hypergamy
There is such a serious problem with RELATIONSHIPS in the West.
Her department acquired a new department head, a newly promoted V.P.
One of his first actions was to identify all of the highest paid (and most productive) managers and terminate them as a cost cutting measure. At that point managers at my wife’s level were considered “at will” employees and, as such, could be terminated at any time with or without cause.
In any case, the V.P. then proceeded to fill the vacant management positions with much lower paid and less qualified staff. All of this happened within a matter of hours on a Friday afternoon. My wife was understandably quite distressed when she got home that evening.
Over the weekend, though, my wife received a call from the executive V.P. who oversaw her department. He called from his home in Southern France late in the evening so he could speak to my wife in the mid afternoon here in SoCal. He asked her to please report to work as usual on Monday morning.
When she got to work on Monday everything was back to normal and the new department head was gone. Fired for incompetence.
My wife stayed with the company more than a dozen years after that. She was eventually terminated permanently after her department had been sold to a different company. This time, though, she received a rather generous golden handshake — 32 weeks severance pay — as she left for the last time.
This is why men are no longer approaching women; Top 10 reasons WHY
I never experienced unconditional love until I got a dog.
Very likely. Their recent MOU to develop semiconductor lithography, naval shipbuilding, marine nuclear reactors are just another episode in that relationship. The glue that binds them is energy and technology. China needs energy and Russia needs technology. Trade between both countries are growing exponentially, currently at about 40% per year. Russia recently announced it would allow China to build a container port in Vladivostok, another indication China is preparing to use the Arctic belt road via northern Russia.
My opinion: There could be a day when Russia buys warships from China. It has already begun with Russia buying a Chinese frigate. It could also be possible that Russia and China will jointly develop gen 6 and gen 7 fighters and bombers, reducing non-recurring costs. Russia needs ‘China speed.’ China needs Russia’s energy from oil/gas to uranium. It is also likely that Russia and China will standardize military calibers and weapons between them so interchangeability and user knowledge will be compatible between both countries. The SCO makes the case for this standardization to increase to SCO members.
Both are BRICS and SCO members and both organizations are growing which gives them more world influence.
It wasn’t exactly on accident. I worked in the office of a commercial laundry business and they asked me to come in on a Saturday to mail out the monthly bills. During the time I was there the assistant manager came in and started hitting on me. He kept urging me to “go in the back and make out”. I refused and soon one of the drivers came in and he had to go talk to the driver. I finished up with the bills and went home. I told my boyfriend “Well, I don’t think I will be working there very ling”. Sure enough the next Tuesday I was let go for some “bookkeeping errors” that weren’t errors and I had been doing them for months without any problems.
What men and women want
Creole Meatloaf and Macaroni
2023 11 09 14 39
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
1 onion, minced
1/2 green bell pepper, minced
2 tablespoons butter
1 (28 ounce) can tomatoes
1 1/4 cups elbow or broken macaroni
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 to 1 1/2 cups meat loaf, cubed*
Seasoned salt and pepper
Instructions
Cook onion and green bell pepper in butter for 2 or 3 minutes.
Add next four ingredients and 1 cup water. Bring to boil and simmer, covered, about 1/2 hour, stirring frequently.
Add meat loaf and seasoned salt and pepper to taste. Heat through.
Notes
* Use leftover meat loaf.
What will these snowflakes do when things get REALLY tough? We haven’t even started yet.
For a serf: It sure beats being a slave. You are treated as a human being, you have your law-encoded rights and responsibilities, your taxes usually were reasonable and your lord had the responsibility to protect you and provide a free access to the castle. He also had the responsibility to provide you work and livelihood, and if he abused you, you had the legal right to flee to a town.
For a freeman (franklin or yeoman): You had the right to your life, body and livelihood, you could freely carry weapons outside a town, you did not pay rent to a lord and you could choose your profession. And should things go sour, you could freely move to a town.
For a town dweller: Towns were semi-independent domains who often were subordinate to the king alone, and while working can give you living, trade will make you wealthy. Townspeople usually were richer than countrypeople, and towns were bastions of freedom.
For a clergyman: You are the subject of the Mother Church and Father Pope alone, and nobody else. You are no more a subject of the lord, the king or the emperor. You will learn how to read and write, and you are free to pursuit your intellectual tendencies. If you join the Cistercian order, there are good chances you become a great engineer.
For a civil servant: You are the subject of the King alone, and nobody else. Same as with the church on intellectual pursuits, but you also may marry and have kids.
For a nobleman: You are first and foremost a soldier. You practice martial arts and train for war, military skills, leadership skills, equestrian skills and anything needed to serve in arms. You are exempt of taxes because upkeeping a military lifestyle is expensive. Your life is likely to be violent, nasty, brutish and mercifully short, but you might become a knight and a lord one day if you avoid that.
For a lord: You are a semi-independent ruler of your domain, and you are the lord and the hidalgo. You owe allegiance to the King alone, and you either pay it in taxes or serve 30 days in his service. Your main profession is to be the supervisor of the peasants who work on your estate, and maintain the balance between overworking them and providing them decent livelihood. Sorry, no ius primae noctis – that is an Age of Enlightment myth.
For a King: Think positively. You do not have the same absolute power as the sultans and czars in despotism, but neither you will face the same chances of getting assassinated or ousted or mutilated as they experience, and you do not need to kill your little brothers to ensure the throne. It is a good idea to run the country as a family enterprise – give important tasks to your younger siblings – and use the most talented of the lords as civil servants. Just maintain the balance between Church, Lords and Commoners, and you will do just fine.
If you are asking me personally, what is my biggest regret, I would have to say that I regret not taking more pictures of things I did when I was younger, and not documenting the adventures I had.
I find that after 50+ years on this earth, I remember bits and pieces of my life, but there are big chunks of my life that I cannot recall, so having more pictures of those events and having a documented record of those activities would be something that would truly bring me joy, being able to remember more of the life I lived.
My international company failed to have routine office supplies at our US location. Entirely. No office supplies.
So one day I needed a new pen. There were, of course, none. But rather than going out and buying my own at a local store, I decided to order one just to be ornery.
So I filled out the formal requisition form for one pen. I justified it (I wrote stuff and my old pen was empty), then used the proper channels to submit the requisition. The form:
Traveled from my California office to the main US branch office in Boston.
Boston routed the form to their home branch office in London.
London sent the form to the main International headquarters in Paris.
Paris approved the req. then…
Cut out one layer of bureaucracy by sending the approved form direct to Boston (the Paris and London offices hated each other)
Boston sent the approved req. back to my office.
I was then able to go out and buy one pen at corporate expense from the local store.
I was tempted to ask for a sheet of paper next, but Boston eventually decided to fund a small office supply in our location.
Oh. The Internet was around, but I should add that the original requisition form was hard copy. A piece of paper. That form physically travelled from California to Boston to London to Paris back to Boston then back to my office before I bought my pen.
This is what the Nile looks like when it goes through Sudan
image 135
This is The Sudd. It’s Arabic for “barrier”. It’s also part of the Nile. It’s also much bigger than what you see here. It’s not much better even when it floods. Imagine you’re an explorer in, well, any time really and you come across this. The Ancient Egyptians tried to navigate past it for centuries. They utterly failed. Then the Romans decided to have a go at it. They failed too. Europeans tried in the 19th century. They had no better luck.
And where there’s swamp, there’s malaria. Good luck with that.
Europeans only found the source because they decided to avoid it entirely and attack it from the other direction, exploring into Central Africa. That’s not much easier.
image 134
Richard Burton decided to make a go of it. He started in lovely civilized Zanzibar and worked his way overland until he found Lake Tanganyika. “Eureka” he exclaimed, “I have found the source of the Nile”.
However, the guy he brought along with him, John Speke, told him he was nuts. Tanganyika was too low and too small to account for the fact that the Nile never ran dry. Burton told him was an idiot and they returned to England triumph…. no, wait, the scientific community wasn’t convinced.
So Speke got to go on his own expedition. He turned north instead and found the much larger and much bigger Lake Victoria.
He returned to England well, not triumphant, but with enough good data to get funding for another expedition to try to make it to the Sudd and not only did he do that, he found another source of the river that met up in the Sudd, what we now call the “White Nile” as opposed to the larger source flowing out of Lake Victoria, the “Blue Nile”.
So, Speke gets the credit, literally for “connecting the dots”.
Image: Me sitting on my porch at my home in the Central Valley of California.
Well as a disabled person, I am legally blind the cruelest thing, in my opinion, was not said with words.
Deeds speak out loud and clear.
I took a class on a subject of interest to me.
The teacher with a happy smile in her voice told me she had a special place in class for people like me.
It was the back corner, furthest away from all of the others in the class.
Total isolation. I could hear the other members of the class, I could see the shadows o of the other members of the class.
When the class had a pot luck of snacks at the last week of class, somehow I didn’t get the e-mail to ask me to take in something. So I didn’t.
Then no-one actually told me directly that there were snacks available nor did they come over and tell me about the pot-uck offerings.
Though they did make quite a bit of a racket, going back and too to the snacks tables and telling each other who had brought which items.
Another classmate came to the class in about the second week and was sat close by in the same corner. She only attended one week and disappeared. She was profoundly deaf. We could chat okay as she could lip read. But as for interacting with the class it was difficult.
Me being bloody minded as I am, finished the class. I paid good money so I wasn’t going to surrender to unspoken insults.
Biden Angry, Calls Xi ‘Dictator’, US Business Applauds Xi; US Isolated UN SC; Sullivan Sleepless
Very good, and clearly explains the Geo-political situation today.
I was fired on the day I was going to hand in my resignation.
I hated the company: boss played favorites, personnel feedback was nonexistent, and they were very stingy with vacation time, even if you earned the days.
The third point I found out too late. After earning 10 days of personal time, I requested for time off six months ahead. Not only was it declined, I also got a stern talking-to by the same boss who played favorites.
I was so pissed off that I started looking for a job that very same night.
Within two weeks, I got an offer from a company I interviewed the previous year who kept my résumé in the active bin.
I moved my vacation date to the next month, upped the number of days, and got a business class ticket. I printed a resignation letter once I signed the offer at the new job.
The next day, I cared not an iota at work. I was just waiting for 5:00 so that I can hand in my two weeks.
4:30pm came and I got an email from the boss. I was being let go. They didn’t really say why (not that I cared) but they were going to give me a full month’s pay to help me find a new job.
i cleared out my desk, gave a quick thanks to my boss (co-workers have left at this point), and screamed when I got to my car.
I got the final pay the week after, then collected unemployment for a few weeks, and had a bloody fantastic time on vacation.
Growing up in Florida, we used to play at the beach almost every day. At least once or twice a week, we’d be building sandcastles, or kicking the surf when we’d watch a tourist with wide eyes knowing what’s to come…
I’m an empath, and often tried to warn them. As a pudgy six year old however; I wasn’t usually fast enough. By the time I’d be close enough to yell “don’t touch that!!”, the elderly tourist or drunk college kid was already screaming in agonizing pain! The Portuguese man o’ war looks like a shiny blue balloon, or plastic grocery bag. The venom is insanely painful. I watched about a dozen people pee on each other by the time I was 8.
Pretending you are not hungry when going to an expensive restaurant with friends, because you can’t actually afford to order food there.
Acting like you don’t like after-school sports, because you have to bolt to your after-school job, so you have lunch money and bus fares.
Pretending that family commitments prevent you from going on the school trip. You know there’s no way you can pay for it.
Declining invitations to weddings because you don’t have proper clothes to wear and because you have no way of getting there either.
Spending an extra hour in the supermarket so you can make the best choices with the $28 you have for food for a full week.
Listening with horror as co-workers trash the boss who only gave each a $20 gift Visa card. You, on the other hand, are silent and also excited beyond words – you plan to get much needed shoes, a winter coat, and a backpack at the Goodwill store.
Having teeth pulled, which should instead be filled and capped, because it costs one-tenth this way.
Talking to supervisors in chain food stores to find out what they do with damaged food. (Poor people know these stores often have a place where you can go to collect it.)
Adding water to the quart bottle of milk to stretch it.
Taking home unused sugar packets, tea bags and napkins from the fast food place and feeling grateful for them.
These are my memories of being poor. Although I am no longer poor, these memories keep me grateful, and, more importantly, I will always understand the behavior of those whose actions are continually checked by empty pockets.
After Denmark surrendered to the Nazis in April 1940 the status of Iceland was ambiguous. Although Iceland was an independent state, it’s ‘personal union’ with Demark, and dependence on Denmark for its defence and foreign relations, potentially meant it could be occupied by Germany. Its strategic location astride Britain’s Atlantic supply route to the United States made it vital to the United Kingdom’s security.
Britain invited Iceland to join the war as any and, when they rejected this, plans were made to occupy the island. Four Royal Navy ships led by HMS Berwick (above) deposited 745 Royal Marines in Iceland who met no resistance from the Icelandic police force, who were the only permanent armed presence on the island.
Iceland was occupied first by a British Division, then by elements of two Canadian Divisions and then by a brigade of US Marines. The latter arrived in June 1941, a whole six months before the United States officially join the war. This was one of Roosevelt’s most partisan decisions and greatly helped the British war effort as the Canadians could be sent to Britain, where eventually they would take part in the Dieppe raid and the battle for Normandy. Roosevelt sent the Marines as, being part of the US Navy, they were under his direct control, whereas sending the US Army would have required the approval of Congress, which was uncertain. The occupation of Iceland was not always popular with the locals, but one benefit of it was the construction of Rejkjavik airport.
Although planes and ships based in Iceland saw action, the garrison itself saw no action. There were, however, casualties as a result of the Icelandic climate and terrain. A five man patrol of the Kings Own Yorkshire Infantry were lost to the elements, for example. Despite the cold though, there were definitely worse places to spend the Second World.
NOTE
A lot of people have asked why the US Army couldn’t be deployed before war broke out. The answer is complicated, but it’s due to a policy decision rather than an act of the Constitution. Here are the details:
“At the same time, the War Plans Division raised inquiry concerning the effect of the legal restrictions that prohibited the National Guard, members of the Reserve, and men drafted under the Selective Service Act from serving outside the Western Hemisphere and which limited their terms of military service to a period of twelve months. For purposes of naval defense the President had placed the Atlantic frontier of the western world, quite arbitrarily, along the 26th meridian, which excluded the whole of Iceland. [25] The question was one of policy, not geography; and if policy for the moment dictated a course of exclusion, circumstances at any future time might well prescribe a change in policy. Whatever concern was felt during these first days in June seems to have arisen over the time limit rather than the controversial geographical restriction. On this basis it was entirely rational for the Chief of Coast Artillery to observe that selectees would have to be used in constituting the harbor defense regiment proposed as part of the Iceland garrison. In any event the problems posed by the legal restrictions did not seem insuperable as long as the 1st Division was being considered for the nucleus of the force. Although 75 percent of the officers of that division had been drawn from the Reserve, it was presumed that most of them would volunteer for duty in Iceland. The problem, in this respect, was considered to be one of maintaining secrecy. As for enlisted men, only a “small percentage” of them were selectees, and only about 10 percent of the men of the two antiaircraft regiments-the 61st and 68th-were subject to the restrictions written into the Selective Service and National Defense Acts. “
We were once renting a house and saving money towards a down payment to buy, when the owner came and told us he had to sell and had already and we had to be out by the end of the week. We refused since our lease guaranteed us 30 days. The new owner said that lease was void and had our utilities turned off. So as a goodbye gift, we went to the store and bought some old fish and 10 cans of cat food. There was a fireplace in the basement built of brick and had come separated from the back wall. We dropped the fish behind that. The cans of cat food, we opened and placed in crawl spaces throughout both floors of the house.
Well, according to my ex girlfriend of 40 years ago, I am blind, because I didn’t notice that the hostess, had sat down next to me, leaned in close to talk in a loud room, laughed at my jokes (hey, I’m funny) and played with her hair.
My girlfriend said it was so obvious she was about to throw up. Guys are oblivious.
Steve Jobs sold all but one of his stocks in Apple when he left in 1985, when Apple stock was at an all time low. He founded NeXT and was the majority owner when Apple bought the company, though at that point he was almost out of money, on the brink of bankruptcy. He also bought Pixar and it has been rolling out blockbusters every other year for 20 years. He also invested in other companies. Toy Story alone made Steve Jobs a billionaire because Pixar was publicly traded company.
Woz on the other hand gave away a lot of his stock. He financed more than a few huge rock concerts that lost a lot of money. He started a company making remote controls that failed and lost money. He got divorced more than a few times. He helps old Apple employees that are out of luck and deal with sickness. He gives away a lot of his money. But you don’t need to worry about him, he still has a lot and he is according to everyone who actually knows him, a super nice guy. He was never in it to have money, he just wanted a computer that he could fiddle with.
China Warns US “Don’t Try THIS” As Biden Prepares To Hug Xi
Just develop the smart bombs to change the equation from MAD to MGD – i.e., from the “old-fashion-not-so-accurate assured” to the “IoT-satellite-guided guaranteed” way of mass destructure.
These are the AI-enabled hypersonic bombs that cannot be defended against and only a few hundred launched from a control center are needed to completely annihilate the entire country the size of Russia, China or the U.S. Then the 5,000-plus warheads in the nuclear arsenals of Russia and the U.S. would become redundant and useless.
Even the triad security concept of land, air and sea delivery system becomes redundant. No need for those expensive bombers and subsmarines to deliver nuclear warheads as backup when those smart ICBMs can do the job.
The calculus for disarmament becomes very straightforward and simple.
War can be so simple when you know its guaranteed and forever.
And isn’t it why Biden is trying to deny China our advanced chips?
We were in a beautiful relationship for about 3 years. And then suddenly she over texts, broke up with me. No explanation given. Like every other guy, I cried, pleaded for just one reason, and all she said was it’s over, I don’t want to be with you. She has changed her college a month before the break up. And like I suspected she fell out of love with me because there is new guy who approached her. Quite similar to everyone’s love story. Lol
Anyway, I was literally shattered, and broken. I couldn’t believe the girl I thought to be my future left me in such a dire condition.
It’s been three years since she is gone. Yesterday, I got a phone call from her at 2am. Basic points from the calls were:
She was unhappy, crying profusely over the phone. She said she don’t have anyone to trust and talk to, except me. And yes, I talked to her because pretty much I loved her too much.
She said the guy cheated her, and when asked him for a breakup, he said he will going to kill her, he abused and hit her off. And she thought everybody will leave silently like me.
I asked her to do a police complain, she said, she doesn’t want her parents to know, she is stucked.
After few minutes on call, she was laughing, talking to me as if we were never separated, I was wondering how easy the things are for girls.
Then she told me even before her father and brother, I am the person she trust and respect the most. I was flattered but I knew, it’s no more important.
I was again at ground zero, I felt happy talking to her, but the wounds were yet fresh.
I tried not to make her feel bad and bid her bye.
Today I Changed my phone number, and email id!
I do love her a lot, still? Yes. But I cannot give her the power to destroy me again.
One day, I had a woman come into my checkout line and wanted to buy ALL the $1.00 Bic cigarette lighters at the checkout stand.
Between the two sets of lighters, she was purchasing about 35–40 lighters.
I was then ringing up all the rest of the completely full shopping cart of stuff she got in line with. At the end, she then handed me a bunch of coupons.
I was already on guard because buying so many lighters was very unusual. I looked at the coupons and there was a whole stack of them that were for $4.00 off of a $6.00 Lady’s Bic shaver.
She never purchased any shavers, and I told her these coupons could not be used, as she did not have the item.
She said they were for the lighters. I told her, “No, this is for 4 dollars off the shaver, not the lighters.”
She insisted that it would accept, and scan for, the lighters, too. I agreed. I told her I knew it would, but it was because of an error in the coupon codes, and it was not deliberate. We had been made aware of the error and did not accept it. She persisted in telling me that if it scanned, we had to accept it.
“No, Ma’am,” I said. “The coupon has to be for the item the coupon is for, not something else.”
What she was attempting to do was get 4 dollars off a 1 dollar item, giving her a negative 3 dollar balance with every lighter purchased. With about 40 lighters, that would leave her total at -120.00 dollars, which then got balanced out with all the rest of the items in her cart. Had I not paid attention to the actual coupons and just blindly started scanning them, not only would she gotten 40 dollars’ worth of lighters free, she would have gotten over 120 dollars’ worth of other merchandise completely free without paying a single cent.
I told her that what she was attempting was theft. She got irate and claimed it was not theft because she was not trying to take the items out without purchasing them. I told her that was exactly what she was doing by running what she knew to be a scam.
She then did not want to buy any of it, and wanted me to void off all the items.
That is when I got rather devilish myself. I told her quietly that no, she was going to buy everything rung up, as-is, without the scam, or that I would be calling the police for her to be charged with theft of well over 180 dollars’ worth of merchandise.
Either she got charged with theft, or bought what she wanted to buy at the correct total. But, it was not getting voided.
She bought it all.
I never saw her in the store again. Before that, she had been a semi-regular customer, always holding up the checkout as she constantly scammed coupons for far more than what the coupons were supposed to allow.
can’t do the 15th,” John said. “Can we push it back two weeks?” I looked at my calendar, trying to align the dates with our friend Derrick. Then, after finding a great window, John came back with another complication. I rubbed my temples in frustration.
I’m 40 and most of my friends are married and buried in toddlers. They also live in other cities. I try to arrange a trip each year, but coordinating it feels like pushing a boulder up a mountain. Beyond the scheduling conflicts, I’m in competition for their PTO with grandparents and extended family.
As a kid, it was all so simple. The only prerequisite for new friends was the spirit of play. If the other person was down, and nice, they became friends. In college, it was all about who I partied with and saw the most frequently. Everyone was so social. Then, this blur of obligations pulled us all apart.
As social primates, friendships are central to our health and happiness. Yet so many of us are painfully lonely and it isn’t entirely our fault. Since the 1950s, sociologist have asserted that modern life makes it difficult to meet the three conditions for close friendships: proximity, repeated and unplanned interactions, and an environment that encourages people to confide in each other.
Which is why it feels so forced to be planning hangout trips months in advance. It feels like I’m scrambling to keep legacy friendships on life support. I can scarcely plan to meet for dinner with people without complications.
image 137
In school and college, it was so easy because there was endless time for socializing, and we were all on top of each other in dorms and classrooms. And, we didn’t have real bills and adult problems. So how can we make more friends as adults?
Converting new friends
Per one study, it takes 40–60 hours within the first six weeks of meeting someone to turn them from an acquaintance into a casual friend. It takes another 80 to 100 hours to elevate them to true friend status. Which feels like a ton of time as a career driven person. But these connections can be built up over longer stretches.
The obvious answer for me was work, back when I had an office job. But the people at my office weren’t necessarily the people I wanted to spend my time with. Sometimes, we just have to work with what is in front of us. It can even boost competency. Researchers found that doctor coworkers who became friends, performed better at their job. A personal connection and trust can boost performance in team environments.
In March of 2020, four teens were stuck on a boat in Cuba. They’d intended to fly back to the Netherlands. Then the pandemic struck and they decided to sail home. The intensity of spending weeks on the boat together, working to navigate as a team, turned them all from strangers into close friends. One friend said, “Being around someone 24 hours a day, you tell them everything. You don’t do that when you are home.”
My friend, who went to prison in his early 20s after being caught up with a bad crowd, said the same thing happened during his five year stint. Today, he is doing fine and in his late 40s, but is still friends with his former cellmates.
The challenge is that we apply more filtering mechanisms with age. We often filter people out by political views, social class, and do so without realizing it. It’s useful to be attuned to what you want in a friend, but beware of letting this turn into snobbish gatekeeping.
Getting a grip on potential friends
One study used Christmas cards in Western society to approximate social networks and estimated each of us have around 121 acquaintances. Other studies have found wide variances from this number. But it is exceedingly rare for anyone to have zero acquaintances.
These acquaintances are potential friends and not to be dismissed. Weak ties, as sociologists call it, are still great for mental wellbeing even if it is just a brief conversation. Today, I found out my beloved gym of seven years is closing. The owner, Joe, let me in for a final workout, even though the lights were off and they were cleaning up. We found time to chat about life and his decision to quit. I’ve always enjoyed talking to him so we exchanged phone numbers to potentially hang out. The other option is to reconnect with older friends you haven’t spoken to in years.
Accept that rekindling friendships is just more work in adulthood. Remember when your buddy got their first girlfriend or boyfriend and stopped hanging out? That’s everyone now. If you have a partner, it’s worth thinking through which potential friend has a partner who would vibe with them.
Also, practicing “self-disclosure”, or opening up about your life, is proven to boost connections with people. One study found three great insights about disclosing. One, people who give more intimate disclosures tend to be more liked than those who don’t. Two, people disclose more to those they like. And three, people like you more after you disclose. This comes with a caveat: don’t make it too personal, too soon. Avoid mud slinging from your divorce and giving play-by-plays from the bedroom.
The importance of maximizing time
My buddy has two kids and said he has one hour of total free time each weekday, and that when he finally gets that hour, he is desperate to decompress and have some time alone. Yet he also wishes we hung out more. This is a common theme around the country. People are lonely and crave more connection. Operate with this assumption, rather than starting from the assumption of someone judging or not liking you.
Remember to think about the places you frequent, and the potential friends you could make and maintain through those interactions. List out a few acquaintances and consider upgrading them. The key with any of these people is to also do things outside the place you regularly see them.
If you don’t see people on a regular basis, consider joining a club or taking up a hobby that involves other people. Then, get to work. Initiating doesn’t have to be heavy. Just something as simple as, “We should hang out some time.”
Lastly, be real and have conversations. Don’t spend 45 minutes talking about the weather. Vulnerability has a mutually boosting likability effect. You’ll both be happier in the end.
Don’t say “I am here if you need anything” when being more specific will truly help. “I am coming over tomorrow to drop off some soup” is way better.
Don’t glance over someone’s shoulder when they are in the middle of a story that matters to them.
Don’t look at your phone at all when you are spending time with someone.
On a plane if your seat is tight don’t recline it. Also, let the person squeezed in the middle seat use both arm rests.
Be extra nice if someone is serving you: giving you a manicure, bringing you food, preparing you a drink. Also please don’t hit on them. They are not charmed. They are serving you.
If anyone says “you hurt my feelings” the only correct response is “I am listening.” Not “I didn’t intend that” or “I was joking” or “wow you are sensitive.”
If you can make someone’s day a bit smoother, please do.
People want to feel heard more than they want advice.
People want to feel seen more than they want to be fixed.
People want to be sincerely complimented more than they want constructive criticism.
Say thank you a lot. Say it all the time. Add why you are saying it. “You always get my coffee just right. Thank you.” “You make my day sunnier. Thank you.” Thank you for reading, sharing and commenting on what I write. It encourages me. It makes my day.
American Couple React “America Compared: Why Other Countries Treat Their People So Much Better”
Today is Christmas. We don’t really celebrate it very much here in Southern China, but it still is a reminder of great and grand times that I grew up with as a boy. This included such things as month-long cookie baking, Christmas breads, Christmas meals, Christmas carols, and Pitiza.
Vintage and throwback Mothers Day ideas 300×200 1
Yeah. It goes much further than a Christmas tree and piles of presents and shopping.
0b6a60d8bb53677b17bcfc325201f363
It includes work luncheons. It includes drunk work parties, and long breaks, and card games.
2023 11 21 20 09
The USA has come a long, long way from what it used to be. That saddens me.
My best friend told me once that if I ever moved away from home, she’d stop visiting home and fly to wherever I was.
When I mentioned that I want to move to the UK, her response was “Ooh, that’s not too far from northern Europe! We could take a trip to Norway from there!”
She’s studying abroad right now with a month to go and she told me “I don’t want to leave here, but I can’t wait to hang out with you.”
No matter how far apart we are, she keeps planning herself into my life.
At the same time, though, we can go for days without talking.
She was gone for a month with no internet or phone service and when she finally got back to civilization, she texted me like nothing had ever changed.
We can tell each other anything.
I can say things like “I almost wet the bed last night” and “I think guys with mustaches can be incredibly attractive” and “Want to hear the world’s only placenta joke?”
And I know she won’t judge me… not too harshly, anyway.
We can talk about gossip and neuroscience and our dreams and geology and Hamilton all without pause. There’s nothing we can’t share.
We laugh. We cry. We eat large amounts of Taco Bell.
We stay friends no matter how many time zones apart we are or how many days we go without speaking.
We can be completely honest with one another and there’s no doubt it comes from love.
We keep planning ourselves into each other’s lives.
That, to me, is a true friend. One who isn’t a friend out of convenience but out of devotion.
One who stays your friend even when it’s difficult or when the geography doesn’t line up.
One who wants to be around you, and is willing to do whatever it takes to make it happen.
I’d say I got lucky. I’ve had the same best friend for almost twelve years.
For those who do not keep up with what’s going on in Taiwan, the pro US pro independence DPP is now lower in the polls after a coalition by the opposing blue and white camps
This means that it is now more likely that the status quo will be upheld, which is better for the region and future developments. As i have pointed out before in another comment
Nope there is a third scenario, one i think the Chinese government is aiming for
That is to advance China itself, economically and technologically beyond the level that the US has any chance of holding at the island chains, thus forcing the abandonment of the chains and resulting isolation of Taiwan. This is happening even now but requires time to complete hence tactics are aimed at dragging it out
The US economic power is collapsing which is why one should never be provoked when against a increasingly desperate opponent. Simply let them die off
Economic power (specifically industrial power as financial paper pushing does little) is the lynchpin of military power, so when it goes down, the military goes down with it and that is not even taking into account the corruption such as the $1300 cup.
Taiwan’s DPP talks up a big game but that is predicated on US support. The US has pulled back to the 2nd island chain because trying to hold the first chain is untenable, thus the attempt to pull the Philippines, South Korea and Japan to be the sacrificial pawns while the US tries holding at Hawaii (and standing on the soapbox made by the corpses of their “allies”)
Once US support dies off due to a lack of funds, obvious tech disparity and a numerical disadvantage, the Taiwanese will have 2 possible choices
i) Give up (this is the most likely given the current Taiwanese do not support their children going to war)
ii) Try a “heroic” last stand (which gives the mainland under One China, the legitimacy to launch a full scale attack)
Also do keep in mind that there are the possibility of burner accounts. What are burner accounts? They are accounts that are made with the specific idea of portraying themselves as part of whichever side/camp/group and will then suddenly turn around to support the other side at moments they find critical. The most famous recent one is bellingcat
Catfish Muffuletta is a very tasty sandwich made from one round loaf. Depending upon appetites, it can serve from one to four!
catfish muffeletta
Yield: 1 to 4 servings
Ingredients
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3 U.S. Farm-Raised Catfish fillets
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup giardeniara marinated garden salad, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons pitted olives, sliced
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (8 to 9 inch) round loaf Italian bread
1 medium tomato, thinly sliced
1 bunch arugula
1 pound sliced provolone cheese (optional)
Instructions
Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Season catfish fillets with salt and pepper. Fry fillets in the hot oil, in batches if necessary, for 2 to 3 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Place fillets on a plate to cool and drizzle with lemon juice.
Drain giardeniara and place in a small bowl. Add olives, parsley, garlic and the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and mix until combined.
Slice the bread in half horizontally and pull out most of the soft white part in the middle. Spread half of the giardeniara mixture in the hollow of the bottom piece of bread. Arrange the fillets in a single layer over the vegetables. Top with layers of tomato slices, arugula leaves and provolone slices, if using, and remaining giardeniara mixture. Place the other half of the bread on top, pressing firmly into place.
Using a serrated knife, cut the sandwich into wedges and serve.
Notes
The wedges can be individually wrapped and served at a picnic.
What about apple? They have 95000 patents around the world.
If the US disregards patents so will the rest of the world, so not a single patent is worth the paper it’s written on, that includes ALL US patents around the world.
It looks like the US politicians once again showed us how bright they are, no wonder the country is going down hill fast.
I watched my father care for my mother for six years as she slowly succumbed to the ravages of Alzheimer’s disease.
He gradually took over all the housework and cooking while dealing daily with her hurt, her rage, her confusion and her fear. He protected her from herself. He made sure that she kept the weekly hair and nail appointments that she so loved. He went shopping with her for the pretty clothes she adored.
When he finally acquiesced to his children’s insistence that our mother be placed in a nursing facility (because we were worried that his health was suffering from the strain of her care), he visited her twice every day. He paid aides to apply her makeup and arrange her hair every day. When the facility requested that he take her jewelry from her, including her pins and diamond engagement ring, he had a jeweler make up copies using cubic zirconia so that she never knew that she wasn’t still wearing her own lovely things.
And at her memorial service, the room fragrant with dozens of heavy bouquets of gardenias which were her favorite flower, my stoic father fought to keep his composure as he spoke of his love for the lively, witty, beautiful woman who had spent almost sixty years at his side. He called their time together a privilege, and recounted as though it had happened yesterday the first time he ever spoke with her, on a staircase at their university.
The manifestation of my father’s commitment and devotion to my mother in those unimaginably difficult years is the bravest thing I have ever witnessed.
The best sarcastic response I have ever witnessed was by a colleague. But first, a little background to set it up.
When I worked at a law firm, one of my many functions was to head up the student practicum program. Basically, people studying IT at a local college needed three months of work experience as part of their graduation requirements. So I would interview them and select a few and they’d get an orientation. Once done, I would then take them around and introduce them to the team that they would be working with.
I kept it light and fun, because these students are nervous and I want them to feel comfortable. There was one student I was taking around, and when I got to the network manager’s desk, I said “This is Aaron, the network manager. You have to watch him, because he can be sarcastic.”
The student turned to Aaron and said, “Oh yeah? Say something sarcastic.”
Without missing a beat, Aaron extended his hand and said “Pleased to meet you.”
When I worked for an engineering consulting company as a project engineer, my boss came up to me when I had been there a few months.
He told me that the office rule was that nobody could wear jeans.
As an engineer, I had never been told that jeans were not allowed. Now, if I were management, or met with clients, or worked for a law firm or a finance person, I could see that, but engineering is notorious for being casual to the point of being borderline slovenly because engineers DO go to the field and nobody wears a suit on a construction site. In my position, I didn’t have to meet with clients all that often.
And I wasn’t slovenly—I was wearing a blouse and sweater with the jeans, which weren’t torn and were conservative in appearance (not ripped, not overly tight or had loud design details). The only difference between those jeans and any other pair of pants that would have been acceptable was the fabric.
That same company had a policy of not providing a coffee pot for the employees. Just about every company I’ve worked for at least provided the pot, and sometimes the employees would pitch in for the coffee stuff. The only reason our office got coffee at all was because we shared our office with the construction arm of the company, which DID provide coffee for their people (I dare you not to provide coffee for a field guy). One of our managers, when visiting our office asked why we had a coffee machine, and that’s the answer he got—it wasn’t ours.
The cheapest ass company I ever worked for. The company I work for now, I could probably literally show up in sweats if I wanted to and nobody would say anything. But I’m not going to push that.
Oh, and they provide coffee. And tea and apple cider and hot chocolate, and when we have our monthly office meetings, they kick in for lunch as well.
The straw that broke the camel’s back was when she asked if I was autistic.
“I just wonder if that’s why I’m having a hard time communicating with you.”
She continued that she wasn’t qualified to diagnose me, but I should look into it. No referral to someone who could diagnose me. No recommendations on resources. Just the assertion that I could be autistic because I apparently don’t communicate well.
When I reminded her that I probably have ADHD, which could explain those symptoms, she cut me off.
“They’re totally different.”
But they really aren’t. They have some key differences, but a ton of the symptoms overlap. Trust me. I’ve done my research.
She’s done this a lot—made alarmist statements with basically no course of action. In that same session she also told me I put up a lot of barriers in the therapeutic process.
“Can you give me an example?” I asked.
“I can’t think of any, but I sense it.”
I mentally rolled my eyes.
It’s been several months of frustrations. I told her I wanted to discuss relationships and she said she doesn’t read about relationships so she couldn’t help me. I told her I was struggling to find a place to start with doing inner work and she said “Just pick somewhere.” I told her I didn’t think quitting my job was a good suggestion and she said I was “resistant to getting out of my comfort zone.” (Note that in the last case, I told her I really like my job and didn’t want to do anything else.)
We haven’t clicked since day 1, but I kept going because I was sorely optimistic that maybe it just needed time.
But it didn’t need time. It’s been like six months and I feel as stuck as ever. I dread going to therapy because I feel like I’m going to listen to 50 minutes of her talking about her own life mixed in with advice that doesn’t do anything for me.
I’m stressed about actually pulling the trigger though. I don’t like change. I don’t like potentially hurting others. And I don’t like setting boundaries.
Hence why I’ve let this drag on for 6 months.
Tomorrow’s the day. I’m sending an email to let her know I’m done. I already booked an appointment with a new therapist to motivate me into doing it.
So, y’know. Best of luck to me. Hopefully I can find a therapist who actually helps.
Update: sent the email to end the relationship and booked my appointment with a new therapist!
That is your dream. Not at all a reality. What is really true is that as long as the U.S., Japan and South Korea do this their economy will tanked and they will disintegrate into a bankrupt. China will let you have a long strong rope to hang yourselves.
Also Japan, South Korea and India are polite Asian people who have been living with China 5000 years. And they are still a nation in its own right! The U.S. neighbours Mexico lost half its land to the U.S. in a mere 100 years!
These 3 nations knows that! The saw it with their own eyes. China will do what they always do. Protect Asia for Asians.
Cat learns some Mike Tyson boxing moves…
This is BY FAR the funniest video that I have ever watched!
LOL, when I was 25, I was an experienced herdsman for a pretty large dairy farm in my area.
The boss was too cheap to buy a computer, so I used my own, and often worked at home going through records of the cattle, creating the new lists as needed. Long story short, we had a falling out, and I offered to update the files before I left, which he rejected. A week later, he was at my door demanding I update the files.
I offered for a price, to be paid in advance. he became angry and stormed off.
I’m a very adventurous hiker & sport participant. I flew hang gliders for years, but I also have scuba dived, sky dived, skied double black Diamond runs, winter camped in snow caves, white water canoed, gone on looonng-g-g hiking trips into the back country & spelunked (explored caves). It’s hard to say which sport is the most dangerous BUT for sure no one should do any sport without multiple safeguards & precautions. Dangerous sports are not for risk takers.
I’ve rarely had a close call. I can say when I did, twice, it was because I ignored safety precautions personally because I was with “experts” I put my trust in!
Despite spending a lot of time in the back country, I nearly killed myself when I ignored obvious important basic precautions the first time I went with world class expert spelunkers deep inside (one mile!) a very dangerous cave with steep drops into an unseen abyss or flowing rivers that disappear further into the ground, & cliffs requiring technical climbing expertise. Precaution #1. Don’t split up. We drove up in two cars, my ride wanted to leave early. He led me down a wrong path to the exit & we were lost in a very wrong part of the maze of the cave. We were supposed to lay a string trail from the cave entrance to follow out. My guide was over confident…. He’d been in the cave so often! He left me (!) to try to retrace to where we left the correct route as I lay in a fetal position trying to get warm… Luckily he found the route, luckily he found me, luckily I’m here to write this!!
This incident happened when I was studying in my 10th grade. A male teacher hit my back with a throw ball deliberately. I was quite annoyed with the behavior. I chose to remain quiet. He came near me. I could sense that he was going to do it again. After a certain argument, I gathered my courage to shout at him – “Behave yourself” in front of 50 odd students. Humiliated teacher, stormed out of the place. The next day I was punished in front of my classmates for back-answering my teacher. Note that, none of my teachers knew what had happened behind the scenes and not one student was ready to narrate the incident. I was portrayed as a bad girl.
I did a little secret investigation(Well, I was 16 then, it was a big thing for me) on that teacher. Asked my junior friends, the students who attended his tuition classes. Turns out that, the teacher was lustful and many girls had similar experiences as mine, but no one had dared to speak up. I handed over all the information to the head mistress. The teacher was interrogated and after the certainty of the issue was proved, he was suspended. I felt really proud that I had the guts to stand up for myself.
Franz Kafka wrote, “Most men are not wicked. Men become bad and guilty because they speak and act without foreseeing the results of their words and their deeds. They are sleepwalkers, not evildoers.”
This speaks to an immutable sign of a child masquerading as an adult. Just as a toddler innocently comments about how fat someone is, the immature man litters his remarks with no thought of a world containing feelings besides his own. There callous impulsiveness matches that of a kid snatching candy from a Halloween bowl.
There is profound virtue in choosing restraint in the face of an easy chance to hurt someone’s feelings.
A good and kind person speaks difficult truths with care and love. And they know what should remain unspoken.
They see a world containing many people, all with differing needs and vulnerabilities. This is beauty. This is someone cementing themself as a person who belongs in your life.
Woman EXPOSES The INEVITABLE Problem With Dating Modern Women | TRAINED/GROOMED To Be Masculine
Kara used to earn as much as $20k in a month, but has pulled back on work since becoming a mother—leading to painful identity issues. Her husband Drake has picked up the slack, but gender roles loom large in their at-home dynamic. Modern Dating is confusing for men and women.
Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah reiterated on Sunday Kuwait’s refusal to normalize relations with Israel “unless a future Palestinian state is established in line with international resolutions.”
He made the remarks at a press conference held at the headquarters of the foreign ministry.
The minister added that it is his responsibility to maintain Kuwait’s security and interests abroad by maintaining relations with friendly, brotherly and allied countries.
“The Palestinian issue is our first issue, without any ambiguity … Kuwait has never deviated from the path,” he said, adding that the war Israel waged against Gaza is retaliatory, not defensive.
The Kuwaiti top diplomat called for an immediate cessation of hostilities in Gaza, providing assistance to the besieged enclave and ultimately resolving the Palestinian issue through the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders.
I needed a car in a hurry and spotted a 5 year old Saab 9-5 turbo for sale online at a great price.
Called the owner, lady answered, husbands old car he was working and had a work vehicle so it was up for sale. It all sounded great so a buddy drove me there and i bought the car after a test drive.
Drove the 50 miles home without an issue until i reached the turnoff for my hometown when the car went into limp mode and the Check Engine light came on….. crap….luckily i was near a small industrial park so i pulled in at the front of a newly opened mechanics shop.
I’d met him once before at a friends unit in the same park but didnt know him. Told him what happened and he said leave it with me.
I started googling this model Saab and read many horror stories about failed turbos and blocked oil traps resulting in engine rebuilds… i was worried…..i had no car, it was going to cost me a fortune….
1 hour later i got a call, car is fixed. Shocked i went back out and sure enough it was running perfectly. I asked what was wrong and he said a pin hole in a breather pipe on the turbo caused a sensor malfunction. He replaced it with a new piece of hose and redirected it so it didnt rub on the exposed metal.
I asked what i owed him, he said 20 cents for the part…. He said don’t worry about it its a lovely car and it only took me 5 mins to fix.
Proof that there are gentlemen in the autotrade.
Beauty in China
GF Abandoned Me At An Absolute Lowpoint, Only For Me To Have The Last Laugh When She Was “PUT AWAY”!
“I’ve heard so many stories like this, and it is unbelievable to me. Women who leave their boyfriends after losing their job or suffering some sort of injury; wives who abandon their husbands when they are diagnosed with terminal cancer. It’s absolutely despicable! I thought they were supposed to be the compassionate ones. Why does it seem like they are, actually, the more diabolical ones?”
“My ex called me about a year after our divorce went through. Of course I let it go to voicemail. She was arrested and in a mental hospital. For the next month, I got 2 calls a day. Each one maxing out the voicemail limit, saying the same strange things over and over. And of course, she “didn’t do anything wrong” and the cops framed her. Then the calls tapered off for a few weeks and one day finally, they stopped. Never answered her. Never heard from her again…”
How brutal was Genghis Khan? The guy was a one-man wrecking crew on a continental scale. He and his Mongol horde were responsible for the annihilation of entire empires, like the Khwarazmian Empire, which was wiped off the map in about two years. We’re talking about cities falling one after another, populations being massacred, and cultural legacies destroyed.
The Mongols employed psychological warfare, making sure their atrocities were well-known to instill fear in their enemies. They had a simple policy: “Surrender or face decimation.” And by decimation, we mean the wholesale slaughter, rape, and enslavement of entire populations.
Who says so! The western media? Did you count the body? The U.S. wanted to break up China into 100 bite size nations and chew on it like candy in 1945. The lost miserably. And had to do shit it Taiwan up till now. 74 years later!
Can you trust anything from western media? 15 million? Why not say 150 million. After all it is just another zero in their typing machine! Stop being a fool. Grow some grey matter, it is good for you. You really want gore details?
How many African slaves were tortured, lynched to death? Raped and killed? How many slaves baby were thrown to feed crocodiles? How many American natives were culled like sheep by white Caucasian cowboys? How many Japanese had to die to avenged Pearl Harbour? How many Vietnamese women and children were Agent Orange or Nepalm burnt alive? How many Muslims died from your cowardly Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya carpet bombings? How many Latin and African lives are lost die to US actions by CIA?
10 million? 100 million? The trouble U.S. Chinese are hell of a lot more intelligent than ignorant and naive Yanks. To Chinese and indeed 5–7 billion others Mao did what is right to save China from U.S. becoming USSR, or Yugoslavia or Middle East. Broken into tiny nations with U.S. puppet!
Stray Cat Paws At The Window Every Day Until Lady Adopts Him | The Dodo
Russia has a lot of natural resources such as oil and gas, coal, gold, manganese, uranium, copper, nickel, iron, chromium, graphite and so on.
The European countries to the West need those resources and are constantly expanding NATO eastwards, threatening Russia’s security.
This is why Russia needs a strong military to defend itself.
But Russia is not a poor country as you are trying to imply. In fact, Russia has the fifth largest GDP PPP in the world behind China, US, India and Japan.
Many years ago, my husband was in a terrible car accident and ended up with a broken neck. At the time our two daughters were 13 and 10 years old. My husband had to be transferred to a larger hospital about an hour away. I and my husband both have great families who live nearby. I depended on them to make sure our daughters were taken care of while I was at the hospital with him, along with many of his family members. I came home, after finally getting word that he was going to survive and had a very life threatening surgery to stabilize his neck, which did save his life. When I got home, I found my lawn mowed, brand new pillows and a new phone line installed where my husband would be spending the first part of his recovery downstairs in our home. All was done courtesy of my brother’s best friend who I had always considered to be a second brother to me. I also found out that he had picked up my girls and bought them dinner and just made sure they were well cared for and feeling secure during such a hard time and while our families were busy supporting us at the hospital. Friends like him are too precious to ever take for granted.
When I was almost 50,i reached what for me, was the top goal professionally – becoming the VP of IT in my division. “I made it”! Woo-hoo! After 20y of hard work and risk, I made it to the top.
Just one thing – I categorically, absolutely HATED the job. Plus I worked for a four star Ahole of a boss.
After 7 months I stepped down and took a 70k a year pay cut to go back to being a senior software engineer, a job where I loved the work and was gifted at it. I never even looked at the ladder again let alone climb it. I retired in 2020 as a senior software engineer with no regrets at all.
Do you know why everyone says the 20s are the best years?
Because most people stop living after they turn 30. And many stop living even while they’re in their mid-20s.
Many people graduate college with degrees they didn’t really want. They just got the degree their parents wanted them to get, or the degree they thought they should get in order to find a stable job, or the degree that was easiest to tolerate for four years.
Many people leave college and settle into a job they don’t really enjoy. They pick up the first “good job” that presents itself, get comfortable, and decide to start working their way up the ladder there.
Many people begin living life beyond their means as soon as the opportunity presents itself. They don’t save money, they spend money. They pick up an expensive car payment. They blow it on bar tabs and once a year trips somewhere so they can forget about the other 51 weeks they spend doing something they don’t really enjoy.
Many people get married because they think they have to. Or they get married because nothing else exciting is going on in their lives and they think, “This is what being in your 20s is all about!” They get married because they would rather be with someone else than be alone. Etc. etc. (And if you’re getting married for the right reasons, by the way, congrats.)
Many people start having kids. They want to buy a home. They want to provide for this family-in-progress—and so now there is absolutely no possible way for them to leave their job or career path because they have too much overhead. It becomes a financial no-no.
The reason everyone says your 20s are the best years is because most people create a safe and comfortable lifestyle before they even turn 30.
And then as soon as they turn 30, they’re done. They don’t have any more “goals.” They don’t work on acquiring new skills. They don’t find ways to go outside their comfort zone. They stop reading. They stop learning. They stop, essentially, looking at life as an opportunity for growth, and instead repeat the phrase, “I am so old.”
That is the opposite of how I ever want to live my life.
I realize the above are sweeping generalizations, but the sad part is they are true. In a lot of cases, the majority of people stop. They just stop. They find what’s comfortable and then they’re done. Life becomes a countdown to dusk, instead of a journey toward the sun.
And the worst part?
They look back and say, “Your 20s are the best years of your life!”
Every year has the ability to be the best year of your life.
It’s up to you what you choose to do with it.
Driving in a sports car
Cajun Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
2023 11 11 20 14
Ingredients
4 tablespoons butter, softened
8 slices crusty Italian bread
6 tablespoons pepper jelly
8 slices pepper jack cheese
8 slices Muenster cheese
2 links andouille sausage, grilled, each link cut into quarters and split lengthwise*
Instructions
Spread 2 tablespoons butter on one side of four slices of bread.
Spread pepper jelly on one side of the remaining slices of bread.
On the slices of bread with pepper jelly, place two slices of pepper jack cheese and two pieces of grilled andouille sausage.
Cover the andouille sausage with two slices of Muenster cheese and top with the remaining slices of bread, butter-side out.
Heat a large skillet or griddle over medium heat.
Place sandwiches, butter-side down, in the skillet and spread the remaining 2 tablespoons butter over the tops of the sandwiches.
Cook sandwiches, in batches if necessary, for 2 to 3 minutes per side, or until golden and the cheeses are melted.
Serve immediately.
Notes
* May substitute any other smoked sausage for the andouille
I have been to two mortgage parties. At each, the couple spent about as much as one mortgage payment, to supply food and booze, to maybe 50 friends and family. Everyone was ecstatic for them.
I personally have never held one, but I think they are a great idea. Sometimes it feels like the only time old friends get together is at funerals. This brings everyone together, for happy times.
After my mother died, I spent a few months living in her (our) house and taking care of it, and arranging probate issues. It was a difficult time, as my second wife (the wife from Hell, and BTW…the person who worked for MAJ to “retire” me), demanded that she gets the entire estate “or else”.
So, I’m dealing with all these stressers.
Those in the “know” also know about this point in time. My fate forecast; I am entering my “triple black” inauspicious time, and I lost my job, my wife, my mother… and soon (though I didn’t know it yet) everything else.
But at this moment in time, I was in the house, and my brother came over with a close friend of his (ours).
We were all in the kitchen drinking. My mother had collected all sorts of wine that sat in racks in the kitchen / dining area, and they decided to open them up and start drinking.
And I stepped out to go onto the “sun room”.
After the first bottle, my brother said “corked”.
If a wine is “corked”, it means that it has been tainted by the cork, or rather a chemical compound which can be found in natural corks. This contamination gives off a very distinct smell and taste, which can be described as musty, earthy, wet cardboard, wet newspaper, or even wet dog. The term ‘corked wine’ refers to a wine contaminated with cork taint, which can happen if the wine is bottled with a TCA-infected cork.
Which means that the wine had been sitting too long, and somehow the wine went bad. Now, this might be a term used by aficionados, but for us “regular folk” (and I know, I drink one FUCK of a lot of wine) it was just fine.
I tasted the wine.
It was fine.
I was in the other room, and when I went into the kitchen, imagine my horror when I watched my brother and his friend draining out about 35 bottles of (very expensive) wine down the sink. Claiming that it was “corked”.
wine down the drain
They weren’t “corked”. Not in the least.
Sheech!
…
As a wine lover, and as a wine aficionado, I still remember that moment with aghast horror. Such a pity! Such a waste. And what is really horrific, is that he has no idea… none… not one iota what he did.
Everyone… what ever you do, don’t though out wine unnecessarily. Even if corked, it can still be used for cooking! Sheech!
Don’t know about my “best” friend but I remained close with an ex. She didn’t like my partner for (mostly) racist reasons. But they were civil together when we met up.
I didn’t tell her we were expecting. But at 20 weeks my partner experienced severe pain and was hospitalised for 4 days. This came up in conversation. She deduced that we were expecting.
She pushed me to ask for an abortion.
She then posted it on Facebook to around 2000 followers, asking for advice about persuading someone to get an abortion. To a group I was a member of.
I blocked her on all meeja and we haven’t spoken since.
She did send a message apologising. Not for the sentiment, but for taking it public. That really doesn’t address the core issue, which is that she wanted my beautiful daughter – the love of my life – executed because of her hatred of my partner. It’s going to be difficult to remain friends after that.
Copeland’s of New Orleans Crawfish Etouffee
2023 11 13 06 55
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients
6 cups water
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon lobster base
1 pound fresh crawfish tail meat
Pinch black pepper
Pinch white pepper
Pinch cayenne
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon peanut oil
1 cup chopped yellow onion
4 teaspoons all-purpose flour
Salt to taste
1 cup chopped green onions
1 teaspoon minced garlic
3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
6 cups cooked white rice
Instructions
Prepare a stock by bringing the water to a boil. Add bay leaves and lobster base. Allow to boil for about 20 minutes or until the water has reduced to 5 cups of stock. Hold aside.
In a mixing bowl, combine the crawfish tails with black, white, and cayenne pepper.
Add the paprika and stir together well.
In a medium-size pot, heat the peanut oil at a near high setting. Oil should be hot but not smoking.
Add the chopped yellow onion and stir until translucent.
Add the crawfish tails and stir until they are heated and cooked through and have attained a good bond with their fat.
Add flour and mix well.
Pour in stock gradually, stirring constantly, until sauce achieves a substantial thickness and consistency.
Season with salt to taste.
Add the green onions, garlic, and parsley. Reduce the heat to a medium setting and simmer for about 10 minutes more.
Serve over a bed of cooked white rice.
Notes
If desired, you may stir in 2 to 3 tablespoons of butter to completed etouffee for added richness.
Attribution
Posted by GayleL at Recipe Goldmine 9:17:49pm 4/19/03.
The New Thai Tax Law that EVERYONE is Talking About
Big news in Thailand. This new tax law has everyone talking, and a bit scared. I will detail the rules and how it might affect you. So if you’re ever considering relocating to Bangkok, Phuket, Chiang Mai, Samui or anywhere else in Thailand, there’s lots of information in this video.
Years ago I bought a USB “dongle” for Internet access, through a company called Orange.
It was a pay monthly arrangement.
The bloody thing never worked, their customer services eventually admitted that the area I was in had very poor access and it wasn’t going to improve soon.
I said let’s just cancel.
They said no, you signed up for a year.
I said fine, and cancelled the regular payment, after sending them a letter explaining why, with my contemporaneous notes from a series of calls.
They kept sending demands. I said jyst take me to small claims court, we’ll see what the judge says. My view was, if the thing doesn’t work I ain’t paying for it. Contractual obligations go both ways.
Eventually they gave up, but clearly sold the debt (iirc around £250) to some agency.
The agency got in touch, but their phone number was a premium rate one. I sent a letter explaining my side, inviting them to small claims.
At around 6 month intervals for 2 years, different debt agencies tried- presumably these guys sell debts on?
Eventually, a reslly aggressive debt agency agreed to try it in small claims. They were based in London, I live 180 miles north.
I turned up, they didn’t. Well, not on time- some flustered legal junior arrived as I was leaving, and got a proper bollocking off the judge.
Judge awarded me, and my expenses/lost day’s pay, were to be covered by DebtTwat ltd.
I wasn’t expecting them to ever pay up, but i certainly wasn’t expecting them to send me a demand for flustered legal bloke’s train fare, taxi, and fee.
Obviously i tore this up and sent it back without a stamp.
We once took my son and his family out for a meal. The bill was £150, and I paid it with a card. I asked the waiter if I could add a tip and he proffered the card machine to let me do so. I added £20 and paid and we left.
As we got to the car park I glanced at the receipt and realised I’d actually given him a tip of 20p, clearly defining me as tight-arse, so I proceeded back into the restaurant, spotted our waiter, in a group of two or three of them at the bar, apologised for my mistake and gave him a £20 note. Smiles all round. I’d clearly done the right thing.
However as I left for the second time, I couldn’t resist adding “By the way, I’ll take my 20p back next time I’m here”
This caused a roar of laughter, and on subsequent visits has made us memorable and very well looked after. As I pay – more carefully with the tip – I am asked “Will you take your 20p now, Sir?”
The Standard Female Delusion Chart – a tool to reduce dating drama
Technology has enabled countless millions of desperate and morally bankrupt men to constantly shower mediocre women (there’s nothing wrong with being mediocre — most of us are) with attention. Naturally, women assume that this attention is higher-quality than it actually is, because “why wouldn’t people like me?” It’s an understandable mistake. We all want to believe we are “worth it.”
Simply put, a huge wave of sleazy, short-term, hookup-level interest from men is being mistaken – by the women who receive it — as akin to marriage proposals, and they are subsequently developing deeply emotionally and ego-rooted beliefs that they are all 9s, which is mathematically impossible. They then proceed to reject men who are far more likely to treat them well and pursue men who see them as nothing but cheap conquests, resulting in avoidable emotional damage, which they then take out on men in an intensifying cycle of resentment.
I must stand against this, and all I have is a voice. The only power that a man has to stop this cycle is to stop playing the game of letting women think he wants to be with them for real, when he knows he doesn’t. Shame on you. Stop that.
The only power that a woman has to stop this cycle is by being realistic about her actual value and finding men who are most likely to give her the maximum return for what she offers. Stop letting yourself believe that users love you.
That’s a delusion.
These diagrams are only roughly based on non-scientific data, but they are heavily rooted in real-life experience that proves itself true again and again.
I am confident that if women use them to identify the correct men and get to know them, they will have better luck starting relationships that last, and that will cause much less drama, heartbreak, confusion, and wasted time.
Also, my content does and always will contain humor to clarify and intensify the points that I’m making. Try to not take my content as being in competition with formal science, but rather as evidence-and-experience-based advice to avoid common dating problems. I tripped over a lot of rocks so you don’t have to. Best luck out there.
I had scheduled a young woman for a very long (easily 12+ hour) surgery on a deep-seated brain tumor right next to her brainstem. Having explained the risks and benefits of the surgery at length like I usually do (including significant risks of death, coma and stroke), she was more concerned about how much of her hair I would remove to do the surgery.
The night before surgery, I got a terrible flu – fever to over 103, malaise, joint and muscle pains, the works. In the end, I had no choice but to cancel her surgery and schedule for another day …
… expecting she would understand … I mean, who would want to undergo such a massive and dangerous surgery if the surgeon were that ill?
Well I was wrong. The patient became furious, hostile, angry, blamed me for inflicting emotional distress … demanded that I immediately find another surgeon to do the surgery that morning (not possible) … later lodged complaints up and down the hospital system … filed complaints with the medical staff … threatened to sue me … it took weeks to calm her – and our hospital – down.
It was the first time I had ever canceled a surgery in >20 years.
It’s what you get in a society that demands more than it understands. A society in which people live their lives in imaginary worlds conjured up by media (including doctor stereotypes) far removed from any sense of real humanity.
ADDENDUM:
A few Comments made me realize that not everyone understood my Answer, and I should perhaps clarify a few things:
the tumor was not near any part of the brain that would affect intellect or emotions
this patient was not “dying of a brain tumor;” while the surgery was going to be long and dangerous, it was far from urgent
I gently passed her care on to another neurosurgeon (it’s never a good idea to operate on someone who lacks faith in you), who operated on her a few weeks later; I heard she did well (though her attitude remained problematic)
there are no “back-up surgeons” waiting in the bullpen in case a surgeon gets sick: nowhere in the U.S., nowhere in Europe and nowhere in the world. Not like TV.
this is especially true of small sub-specialties like Neurosurgery
the all too common 60+ hour neurosurgical work week is packed full of patient responsibilities, and it is unrealistic to expect a colleague to abandon their own patients just to fill a gap like that at the last minute
no patient would want to undergo a huge brain surgery by someone they just met that morning – nor would most surgeons want to do a “surprise surgery” at the last minute. Neurosurgeons must do a lot of preparation before embarking on big, complicated cases. It’s not at all like you see on TV.
of course the hospital and its committees understood my situation completely (any reasonable person would understand that doctors can get sick), but they are obliged to investigate every complaint – hence a whole lot of unnecessary time and effort
To be honest, what I found most disconcerting about some of the negative Comments was how easily some people could make major assumptions about this story instead of simply asking me questions to clarify the situation.
Such Comments are just another example of: “demand more than understand.”
Why I’ll Never Move Back To America…
The American Dream… Is it dead or alive? In this video, I share THREE reasons why I don’t foresee myself ever moving back to America and why moving to the Philippines was potentially the best decision my family has ever made. Enjoy!
At the age of fifteen, thirteen days after my fifteenth birthday to be exact, I went out on my first real date. He came to my door and picked me up and we walked to a party. We had so much fun. He walked me home and he kissed me goodnight and he asked me to be his girlfriend. This felt like the greatest night in the whole world. Nothing could bring me down from my giddy and excited teenage crush!
….except for what happened the next morning.
I was awoken by my mother shaking me gently but urgently saying, “Honey? Erin. You need to get up now sweetie. Daddy’s going to die today…”
Those words ripped me out of any dreams I was having and back into the waking nightmare that had become my life for the last two years. I lived in constant fear that I was going to lose the bravest, strongest, most honourable, incredible man this world had to offer, but never really truly believed in my heart that it could happen. For me, to believe that he was really dying would be a betrayal to my hero. I would be giving up on him, and you never give up on your hero, not ever.
I learned that day that no amount of wishful thinking or prayer can change your circumstances.
The hardest thing I’ve ever had to do is to tell my dad that it was okay for him to die. He was hanging on with everything he had but it was time for him to go. I told him out loud that it was okay to let go, that we would be okay. We all told him that he had permission to die and to stop struggling so hard. And as soon as we said those things to him he passed away.
I held his hand as he took his last breath.
I watched my hero lose a terrible battle with cancer and I didn’t really know if I would be okay. I may have just lied to the person I loved most in this world. But I still believe I did the right thing. Setting my dad’s mind at ease was the most important thing to me that day, not wondering whether I’d be okay.
And to tell the truth I’m not sure I ever have been okay since that day. Something inside of me changed forever and I haven’t been able to get the old me back.
But I let my dad believe we would be okay because that was what he needed to move on. And I’d do it for him again in a heartbeat.
I had an uncle who was mildly retarded. It wasn’t Down Syndrome, it was probably lack of oxygen at birth, but people could tell just by looking at him that he was different.
That may be why 3 18 or 19 year old teens thought that they would jump my uncle and my grandmother while they were walking through their neighborhood in Bridgeport, Connecticut. What could an old lady and a 30 year old “retard” do to them?
I haven’t mentioned it yet, but my uncle was the youngest of 11 children. 9 of those kids were boys. So even though his brothers had taken it a little easier on him because of his mental disability, he was still used to playing rough and fighting. A lot. So when these teens threatened him and his mother he snapped. He hospitalized all 3 kids. He wrapped one of the kid’s arms around a tree backwards, the opposite direction of the kid’s elbow.
When the first officers showed up they put my uncle in cuffs, thinking he had initiated the carnage. My grandmother set things straight. My uncle had just defended his mother and himself.
The American Child vs The Chinese Child || 美国孩子 vs 中国孩子.
A student got sassy with a teacher about a grade and the teacher kicked him out of the room. The student grabbed a pencil and stabbed the assistant teacher in the room. Just in the hand, but still.
So the teacher goes rage mode and physically marches the student down to the deans office. Everyone is initially furious at the student, he’ll be expelled for sure. Assistant teacher is shaken but fine.
Daddy was a big donor to the school and the kid was on the state championship bound Football team. Daddy argued with the school, who reverses the expulsion and instead fires the teacher for “laying hands on a student.”
There were walk outs, several other teachers quit, the local news picked it up, the whole nine yards. Nothing changed. The school kept the little asshole to keep Daddy happy and fired a very, very good teacher.
When I was a cocky, long-haired punk and could get girls just by walking up and talking to them, I saw what I thought was two women getting in a car. I went up to the driver’s side and said something to the girl behind the wheel involving the word “ladies”. The long-haired dude in the passenger seat leaned over and said “Ladies?” he was annoyed I had tried to hit on his GF, but we laughed it off.
Entitled Women Make First Date List, And It BACKFIRES
I’m 61. My husband is 69. We can’t figure out how to use the kiosk. This morning, we added what we wanted to our order, but couldn’t figure out how to check out. The only icon that looked like it was a possibility was “Review Order” and it was greyed out. So, we were stuck. We backed out of it and left the restaurant. Also, when we saw the “login” prompt, we thought we might have to create an account which we don’t want to do. It’s just one more login and password we would have to remember. Nobody was at the counter to provide assistance. I’ll be diplomatic here. McDonald’s doesn’t sell weed. They sell shitty fake food. There’s nothing in their stores that I can’t live without…for the rest of my life. So, if they’re not willing to assist an old couple by taking their order, we won’t go into their restaurant(s) anymore. We went home and made a veggie omelet, hash browns, and cantaloupe. It was superior to anything on the McDonald’s menu and cooking it was less stressful than trying to figure out that fucking kiosk. Fast service that’s easy is basically all McDonald’s has going for it these days. And, they won’t even do that anymore. Plus, they’re using these non user friendly machines to phase out workers. Fuck ‘em.
I was going to download my banks, banking app, I always read the fine print. They want control of my camera, and they want permission to edit my contacts list.
I said “No” they said that the app wont work without access. I access my bank over the Internet, through their website directly, without going through the app. It works fine. Yet they don’t have access to my camera or contacts, funny about that.
I was on a subway train in DC. I had my five year old son with me, plus a few bags. I’m sitting on one end of the car, paying attention to the stops because I really don’t want to miss ours. A young black man grabs a seat on the other end of the car. I’m thinking gang member. Bandana. Gold jewelry. Baggy pants. Mind you, there were enough people on the train I certainly wasn’t concerned… that was just the impression I had. Anyway, we’re approaching our stop. My son has fallen asleep. The car isn’t jam-packed but it is kind of full. I’m wondering how I’m going to pick up my son and our stuff and make it to the door before the doors close.
As I struggle to get to my feet and head for the door, I see a foot casually hooked around the door, so it can’t close.
Yep. The black kid with the bandana and jewelry. As I look over, he flashes a smile.
We got off the train with no problem. A few people moved out of our way, but I didn’t see anyone else attempting to actually help.
Was he a gang member? Who knows. Who cares. At that moment, he was kind and helpful to a stranger. That’s all that mattered.
I went to apply for a job one time, and when I got there, the lead hand introduced himself to me while shaking my hand.
I had never been to this place before.
As he was shaking my hand this other guy jumped out from behind a machine, and in a gleeful, boisterous tone yells out to the lead hand, as he’s pointing to me, “There’s the guy! There’s the guy right there, that’s going to show you how to work that machine!”
It was a guy that I worked with at a previous job. He was a helper that was assigned to me whenever necessary.
I couldn’t believe it.
The lead hand looks at me, and that second I knew I was in.
I was in an elevator on a cruise ship. Some wiseacre saw my polka-dot suspenders.
He smirked, “Nice suspenders. You from Wisconsin?”
I replied, “No. Ever since my cancer surgery, I can’t wear a belt.”
His smirk instantly evaporated. The elevator doors opened on my floor, and I got out.
Soft tissue sarcoma caused by Agent Orange in Vietnam, They took out 1–3/4 pounds of me from my groin to my beltline. It left a notch where a belt would sit, so I can’t wear a belt comfortably.
The Legendary Mao in 1954 felt that any party member whose kids studied in Missionary Schools run by Western ideology , could not be trusted
In 1964, he felt such party members were Collaborators and Enemies
Thus every CPC member wisely decided to ensure his kids studied in Local Chinese schools and so the Party built more and more and more and more Schools all across China
Since their own members kids would study in these schools, the quality of these schools were higher and the subjects better
In 1996, Jiang Zemin after 42 years decided to repeal this old rule from Maos time and allow CPC members to send their kids to private schools
Then they discovered something
They discovered that Private School Quality was LOWER than Government School
Nobody wanted to send their kids to Private School.
Math, Science, Physics was of a tougher standard and teachers were the best
Thus even if it was due to fear of being branded a Collaborator, the fact is due to Mao – Chinas Education System became one of the best and it’s Government run schools became top notch
Indias misfortune was India never had a visionary like Mao or Deng
We did have Kamaraj but he was too localized
In India, Children of Politicians studied in the finest schools and later typically in UK Or US or Canada and foreign Universities
As a result there was NO REASON for Politicians to focus on quality education
India is a cesspit democracy
Long term vision was replaced by Short term election strategies
As a result, India focused on the BARE MINIMUM for State Or Centre sponsored Education
China and India were both equally pauper nations in the 1970s , in fact India was a tad bit richer
Yet China spent more on Education due to it’s long term vision , spent more on training teachers, spent more on sending teachers to foreign countries for enhancing their knowledge
India?
Politicians lined up their pockets
They duped the public
They openly stole public money and lined their coffers
Still even in 1992, there was some hope
Reservations destroyed it
The principle that a Moron Dullard was entitled become a Neurosurgeon or Doctor merely because Great Grand Daddy was oppressed a few decades ago
Plus the fact that this system was exploited even further when the genuinely oppressed weren’t at all given the chance
Instead a handful of wealthy persons took advantage of loopholes and drove quality into the Ground
China meanwhile had Crisp, Lovely, Meritocracy
A Son of a Sweeper could become an Engineer if he had merit, or a sweeper if he didn’t. Only Ability mattered.
By 2014, China was at a place India couldn’t reach with a hundred ladders
Then under Modiji, we all hoped things would improve
That at last we would have an AFFORDABLE EDUCATION ACT
That at last Modi would set a National Education Program and do what Mao did in 1954
Didn’t happen
Private Education raping the average Indian family with absurd tuition fees
Modiji focusing on Language policies, Sanskrit, Vedas and changing India to Bharat and removing Chapters on Mughals
The Average Chinese focusing on Python and Technology. The Average Indian on Ram, Laxman and some made up lies about how Modi is a superhero
It’s why, the Top 5% or 10% Chinese and Indians are similar
Yet the Average Chinese can swallow the Average Indian for breakfast, lunch and dinner
The Below Average Chinese os more than a match for the Average Indian
The Below Average ‘Educated’ Indian is on the lowest rung
Plus Indias biggest problem is the AVERAGE INDIAN
He doesn’t realize there is a problem at all
Realizing there is a problem means needing to work on a Solution and needing to recognize failure
Sorry. We are India. We are the best. We have no weaknesses.
Our Education system is flawed
Most refuse to agree. Some who agree make excuses including blaming Manmohan Singh. Some talk ‘Practically’ and say India needs to do nothing but everything will magically happen
Like I said, India is heading to a point where it would end up as a hotch potch, mish mash of uneven growth, a kind of Tumor rather than a crisp engine of growth with a Vision like China or even Vietnam
The $ 10 Trillion India would be a Huge Tumor rather than a nice neat rocket
Unless India buckles up and begins basic structural reform of Education, Healthcare and Liberal Laws
1. Everyone is insecure about something. It’s not just you.
2. You will never be 100% sure about decisions you made. But always make a decision because it’s better to go back and fix it than to never make it at all.
3. There is always someone better than you. So there’s no point to compare.
4. There’s nothing in life you can really control except your own thoughts and actions. So always hope for the best and prepare for the worst.
5. Nothing lasts forever. Things change, people change. And YOU can change anytime too.
6. Life is not a fairy tale. That’s why it’s always exciting and you’ll never be bored.
7. Hard work doesn’t guarantee success. But that’s what makes it challenging.
Going anonymous on this one, sorry about it, I just don’t think I can face being associated with the story I am about to tell. It will be a bit long-winded but one of the weirdest encouters ever happened in my life. And as it happened in a date, so…
Here it goes:
I signed up for a free dating site and started chatting to several guys. One of them, seemed like a nice and decent person.
When we started talking, it was about usual topics, interests. The conversation was flowing, as they say. I gave him my mobile number and he sent me texts every day, just some niceties. One of them was “I think we are on the same wavelength” “I hope so” I responded. I haven’t the slightest known yet, how wrong I was on assuming so…
After a week of talks, we set up a real life date.
He lived around an hour train ride from me and came to the station to pick me up. When I entered his car, he looked up to the sky and said: “do you find those clouds a bit weird?” There were no clouds, only condensation trails from airplanes. I said: “these are not clouds”
To which, he responded: “exactly” and had an expression on his face as if he just had said something really meaningful. Bit of an odd exchange, but I shrugged a shoulder and we did not mention the “not-clouds” again.
To my surprise, the date he set up was not the usual movie or restaurant combo with drinking, instead he took me to the riverside on a boat ride. I was enjoying it a lot, we both did a bit of rowing, it was sunny, we chatted nonchalantly.
We were talking about building styles in the UK (I am a foreigner) and I told him my impressions about buildings and differences to my home country. I also added that my dad is a bricklayer, so I have seen many houses being built.
To this, he said: “I have built something too” I asked: “What did you build?” “It is very unique. You will see it once, I hope.” – he said mysteriously. “What is it, a bunker?” – I joked and we laughed out loud.
The first date was over. I thanked him for the pleasant time and laughs. There was not much chemistry between us but I thought, what the hell, I will give another chance. So, when the next day he asked me for a second date, a dinner in his house, I said yes.
We drove to his house, where he lived alone. A nice and big family home. He had a wine chilled and invited me to look around. Everything was tidy, clean and stylish. I was impressed. We settled and he poured me some wine.
Out of the blue, at one point, he told me to go outside and check his car.
The following conversation happened:
“Do you see the scratches on the side?” – he pointed on the side, where large, faint scratches were running. “Of course I can see them” “What do you think caused them?” – he asked again. “I suppose branches or grass, or other cars, maybe some metal objects, a key maybe?” – I said hesitantly unsure where this conversation is going. “Let me tell you: Satan did these scratches…” – sounded his response. “Pardon?” “Satan scratched my car.” – again that sort of meaningful expression. “You mean figuratively I think, mean people maybe with evil motivation?” – I tried to deter the distrubing turn. “No, literally, the Satan itself.”- he said dead serious.
Uh.ooo….
Do you know the feeling, when suddenly the world seem like upside down and the fear hits you momentarily to make you nausetic and words froze inside you? I had that, combined with one of the biggest WTF moment.
“Is this guy crazy or what?”
We went back inside, my alarm bells were set off after this, I tell you. I was like a hawk, watching for little signs of anything unexpected. Little did I know that the real fun starts later….
He suggested we go to the kitchen and eat dinner. At least something normal, right? Right. You would think that someone inviting you over would prepare something. This was not the case. He suggested we eat soft boiled eggs. I happen to like boiled eggs very much, so ate 4 of them with bread. No problem, I am not fussy. So far so good.
After dinner, we went back to the living room and I relaxed a bit as Satan and scratches, the weird clouds and non of this crap was mentioned again. However, around a half hour later, again without any transition he says:
“Let me blindfold you, so I can show you what I built”
My mind went screaming: NO.F**.WAY! Adrenaline rushed through my blood I could sense it. Right then, I became concerned that this guy wants to kill me. In the same time I decided he won’t have an easy task to do so as I will fight like hell. I am not timid and rather strong and quick, so I was sizing up my options to run to the kitchen, grab a knife and defend myself if it comes to that. At this point, I’m wondering who was crazier, me or him?
Amazingly this is what I responded to him without even thinking:
“You know what? You are not going to blindfold me. Reason is, I think you are plotting to kill me. I know. And I also want you to know that you are not going to succeed. I will fight until my last breath.” – I sounded very calm, which amazed me even further.
His eyes opened wide and seemed genuinely surprised.
“Ok, ok, I can see you are nervous. Calm down, I am not planning anything. Just wanted to surprise you. I can see it backfired, so let’s just go as we are. No blindfold, I promise!” – he said.
Even though I was scared, I was also curious, so I responded:
“Right. I will take a look, under two conditions. First: You go in front of me and Second: I will take a knife from the kitchen and walk behind you. One bad move and you are dead. Did I mention I do martial arts?”
He agreed to my conditions. So, here we are, walking out the backdoor into the dark garden. The wind is blowing, trees and bushes rustle ominously as we walk the path. Him in the front with a light, me behind him, armed with the biggest kitchen knife I have ever seen. Just a perfect picture of two batshit crazy lunatics. As a matter of fact I have never fought in my life, I’m absolutely terrified, I lied about the martial art thing as well, I don’t know what I’m doing here, who is this insane person with me, not a single soul knows I am even here – I think about my life, my family far away, my stupidity.
We reach the shed in the back, well away from the house. There is only me and him, the bushes, and complete silence. Around us and as in front of us, as much as I can tell, just some woody areas and meadows and… a garden shed.
“This is it” – he says standing in front of the shed. Just a normal wooden shed, with 6 locks on the door. “This is what you built? Well, good one, now we can go back” – I am almost relieved. “No, the one I built is inside. Do you allow me to open it?” – I realise he must be scared of me a bit too. I nod.
He removes the locks and opens the door. The first thing I saw is a big ass axe on the floor! I jump away and pull the knife in front of me defensively.
“I knew it! Is this your murder weapon?!” – I shout. I can feel my heart beating so fast.
“Sorry, sorry! This is not meant to be here, I will put it away, ok? There.”-he says quickly.
“Give me that axe. Handle first.” – I order. He did.
“Now, look inside” – he asks and steps aside.
Very slowly, keeping an eye on him, I look inside the shed. Nothing. No rotting corpses, no torture chamber, just a few gym equipment, gardening tools, completely normal. I sigh… maybe I imagine too much into this…until.. from the corner of my eyes I notice something on the floor.
This!!!!!!!!!!!!:
A submarine hatch door. Holy crap, like a bloody rollercoaster! My gut is churning again.
“You really built a bunker…” – this is all I can say. What? How? Why? Words would fail to describe my thinking processes. “Yes” – he says bluntly and asks me to allow him to open the hatch door.
Next thing I know is we are looking down into a hole with concrete stairs, thick concrete walls, going down few meters. A nuclear bunker.
I am thinking, “if he kills me now and closes the door, nobody will ever find me”
Let me tell you the end quickly.
I did went down and looked around in the nuclear bunker of his design. He wanted to know what I think of it. I pointed out that no air filtration, pollution measurement equipment and surveillance system was installed so I was not sure if it is of any use (apart from hiding dead bodies). He agreed it needs improvement.
After the tour, we went back to the house. As you can guess, I was exhausted and weary from the whole evening but a bit calmer as I was still alive.
I thanked him for everything and requested to leave. He cried and told me he never met such a cool person as I am…
I was happy I only met a lunatic and not a serial killer.
TL:DR
A guy took me for a second date and showed me the nuclear bunker he built driven by his ideas on an upcoming doomsday fight between evil and good.
Is refusing to be submissive and subservient to the U.S. threatening the U.S.? To you it may be, but to the rest of the world it is call standing up to their right!
Lets defined threat. If Iran say it will bomb Washington, LA, New York, Miami or Hawaii, that will be considered a threat. Did Iran do that? So far it is the U.S. that funded and supported Saddam Hussein to fight a war with Iran in the 1980’s and murder General Solameini an Iranian scientist by a drone in Iraq! That is threatening. But it is the U.S. threatening Iran!
Seriously unless you are blind, deaf or dumb could you asked such a ludicrous question! Come on man be real. The U.S. ought to know that, Americans must surely know that. And you by asking this question is seen by 7.5 billion out of 8 billion or world inhabitants as a fool to even ask this question.
The U.S. threaten Iran and half the world to be bomb into smitten daily. And anyone that refused to be submissive and subservient to them is their enemy. Such behaviour belongs to Ghengis Khan or Atilla the Hun, or the Vikings not a 21st century nation! Call a spade a spade! Make the world a better place.
In my opinion yes, but not now. I looked at the numbers about this. As I suspected, the main reason why China extracts and processes this much rare earth metals is its industry demands it. It is not because of low labor costs or lax environmental regulations.
Few relevant numbers:
Chinese mine production was 210,000 tonnes in 2022, limited by Chinese law for environmental reasons.
Global mine production was ~300,000 tonnes. Which means the Chinese share of global production was 70%.
China’s share in the processing of rare earth ores was 85%. This means around half of the non-Chinese production was imported to China for processing. We can conclude from here that China processed around 255,000 tonnes of rare earths in 2022.
China’s export volume was 48,000 tonnes in 2022. For the value of this trade, the last data is from 2021. And it is 653 million USD. Completely insignificant for China, especially when you consider that it is coming at an environmental cost. When you look at the volume, you see that China’s exports are barely higher than its imports (in terms of weight after the processing of the imported ores). China’s own industry uses almost as much as China extracts from its own soil. Really, it looks like this monopoly only emerged because the scale caused by domestic demand resulted in much lower prices compared to the rest of the planet.
If this monetarily insignificant trade is this important for countries who are trying to kill entire sectors of the Chinese industry, then China should stop this trade. Let them deal with years of shortages. But it is not a good time to do this now. Export controls should be timed so that non-Chinese shortages should coincide with the emergence of Chinese products that compete with the products of Western companies (primarily US, SK and Japan) suffering from the shortages. This is important because commodities are rarely irreplaceable.
When I moved into my first apartment, it was one of those fancy newer buildings that offered incentives on move-in. In my case, it was a low deposit and a free month of rent! Because I was signing for a mid-month move-in, they pro-rated their amounts. At this stage was when I started eating the big bucks working crypto-forensic analysis and scam tracking jobs for Coinbase.
I wrote my check, moved in, and all was well for about 2 years.
A few weeks after I got tossed a notice about the building’s management being changed, I received a new notice taped to my front door. It told me I owed the front office <insert blank> amount within 3 days or they would begin eviction proceedings.
I’ve paid rent on time my entire life so I couldn’t imagine what on earth I would owe. Then I read the amount typed into the <insert blank>.
$0.01.
Yes. One cent. One one-hundredth of one dollar. One penny, and they wanted it NOW or they were going to evict me. What the hell?!
I went down and talked to the nice people in front of the computers in the leasing office. They looked through the files and told me that the new management was going through the books and making the final debt collections in order to start the new term on solid bookkeeping. They were rounding up all the outstanding fees and demanding payment. My fee, it appears, had been hanging around for two years. Yep: a rounding decision on that pro-rated rent amount.
asked them why they didn’t waive it. They said they couldn’t. I wasn’t about to lose my home over a rounding error, no matter the principle. I dug into my pocket to get the damn coin and hand it over. They held up their hands.
“I’m sorry, we don’t take cash.” I am sure the look on my face was comical but inside I was boiling with baffled rage.
They made me write a check. In order to keep my apartment, I used a $0.10 sheet of specially coded paper to hand over to salaried employees to collect in a deposit bag to go into a bank to cover a rounded calculation that had been irrelevant for 2 years but was now suddenly the difference between shelter and the streets.
Once upon a time, I was a stay at home mother. My home was spotless, my daughter taken care of, dinner was ready when her father walked in the door. I was happy and felt fulfilled. I truly loved giving of myself to my family.
Until I found myself alone and I had to find work. I did what I had to. I work long hours. Some say I work too many hours. But they aren’t responsible for me or my daughter, so their opinion is irrelevant. That responsibility falls on me, and even if I ever did remarry, I would never expect anyone else to be responsible for her, other than myself.
I prefer to do all of the “domestic arts” myself. I enjoy them. But the hours I work and the responsibilities I carry outside of work necessitate that I delegate some things to others. I don’t mind paying someone to clean if it means it’s one less thing for me to worry about.
Well, for this, we have to go back to the closing years of World War II. Although Germany and Japan were still fighting, it was clear they were going to lose, but that meant cleaning up the economic mess that had been created by the war.
Now, historically, the British Pound Sterling had been the most common reserve currency due to its stability and the ability to convert paper money into gold. However, the British government had to go heavily into debt for the war and suspended conversion of paper money into precious metal. However, it hardly mattered as British gold reserves were under pressure as it borrowed more and more money.
Now, the United States was in debt too, but back in 1933 they had already suspended the ability to convert paper currency into gold (you could convert it to silver until 1964) and had made the ownership of gold illegal. They then consolidated all the gold held by the various regional Federal Reserve banks and all the private gold they confiscated (and gave paper money for) into a single depository next to Fort Knox in Kentucky. Moreover, most countries had finance their debt int he United States as their own markets collapsed. In other words, the United States was swimming in gold.
So in July 1944 all 44 allied nations met at a hotel in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire and worked out the new world monetary order. At the top of the agenda was avoiding expensive and potentially destabilizing transfers of large amounts of gold which would allow nations devastated by war to have capital to rebuild.
The scheme essentially took gold entirely out of the market and fixed it to the U.S. dollar, with $35 U.S. being the equivalent of 1 ounce of gold. Nations in the compact, called “Bretton Woods”, would agree to buy all the gold they had at that rate. Each nation would be able to fix the value of their currency against the U.S. dollar (for example, 5 francs to the dollar) but would have to guaranteed that exchange rate for intercountry transfers (i.e. the U.S. could buy all the francs it wanted for dollars at that rate). Countries could change that rate (Canada did in the 1960s when it dropped the rate from $1.00 U.S. for $1.00 Cdn. to $0.975 U.S. to $1.00 Cdn.) but had to stand by it. In other words, gold would not routinely change hands, U.S. dollars would.
There was a catch. Even though people couldn’t exchange dollars for gold, countries could. Most countries held U.S. dollar reserves, which were largely from surplus exports to the U.S. If they wanted to, they could “take delivery” of gold, assuming they wanted to securely transport it from Fort Knox themselves.
As such, the U.S. dollar standard replaced the gold standard, as the U.S. dollar became the common currency for all the countries in the compact.
Of course, this only lasted until 1973 when Richard Nixon pulled the United States out of the agreement. From that point forward, there was no fixed rate between currencies and they traded on the open market. The U.S. also ended the prohibition against owning gold and started selling some or theirs on the open market.
A Golden Eagle, a roughly 1 ounce gold coin that the U.S. government sells at the current market price of gold, plus a small premium.
Most countries still use the U.S. dollar as their “reserve” or “exchange” currency, but that’s changing. For example, Argentina just moved from the dollar to the Chinese yuan, which is also quite stable because the Chinese government manipulates its value
I am 21 years old. When I was in 10th grade there was a girl A in school. Just like typical teenagers she had many rumours surrounding her. I ignored those and went ahead and made friends with her.
In some months we started dating. We were head over heels for each other. We had everything going great so shown in movies. One day when we were on a date, after coming out from washroom she gave me her phone. There she had written something which changed all my views on her. She wrote that she was raped at the age of 14 by a guy who forced her to be his girlfriend so that other people won’t suspect a thing.
Fearing society and her parents, she didn’t tell it to anyone. But had to undergo therapy. Her parents were totally unaware to real reason behind her behaviour. She lost a ton of weight and was living on medicines. This was really shocking for me. Then I had flashback of all the times when she had certain insecurities and why she required so much time to trust a person. She also had intimacy issues because of this. And that person had told her to shut her mouth or he’ll leak the tape which he had recorded. This rumour was spread in our school by her friends isolating her.
But now she’s a healthy person pursuing her career in engineering and I am a proud boyfriend.
America Warns China To Obey As US Debt Auction GOES BAD
I didn’t think I was a poor student until I arrived at USC for my MBA program. I had worked hard and saved up $150K, which was to last me exactly through the $100K in tuition for two years and $50K for basic living expenses. I had a 9 year old Lincoln and thought I was set. My naïveté lasted for about 10 minutes.
As soon as I pulled into the student parking lot, I could see all the late model cars, many of them luxury marks. This was the undergrad parking area. One blond undergrad roared her shiny white Cadillac Escalade down the ramp as I looked for a spot.
During our casual meeting time with fellow students, productively labeled as networking, I heard about the kind of massive homes in exclusive neighborhoods that were the norm. Many of my classmates had gotten new luxury cars just for school and had fancy upscale condos for partying during school. But, that was just stuff. What really blew my mind was their attitude about money on a daily basis.
Many would invariably go to night time parties two or even three times a week, all during some very intense course work. While I looked for ways to stick to my $25 daily food budget, they had no problem splurging a few hundred dollars a night each time they were out. At the same time, I knew they were taking out massive student loans to fund their gratuitous consumption, along with tuition and basic living expenses.
Their lack of concern about repaying an extra $50K just surprised the heck out of me. I wasn’t dead broke and could tag along, but I just didn’t see the benefit of such free spending. Eventually, I settled into a more middle-class normative life-style and was comfortable.
Then I saw how naive I truly was.
One of my classmates had gotten to attend the MBA program on a merit and needs-based scholarship. He didn’t have any money. While his tuition was waived, he still needed to pay for daily expenses.
Instead of a fancy high floor condo or even a modest downtown condo, he lived in one of the roughest neighborhoods just off campus. I lived nearby and can hear the police patrols and random gun fire where he lived. My place wasn’t much but at least it was secure. He lived on a couch in a shared room right in the middle of regular gang and drug activity. Running water wasn’t always available, but it was cheap, just a few hundred bucks a month.
Obviously, he didn’t have a car and relied on brisk walks to get anywhere. He didn’t have many friends as he couldn’t afford to go hang out with anyone. When we hung out, I made sure we didn’t need to spend any money.
He couldn’t even afford food, so he worked part time at university food service to make a few dollars and grab leftovers for meals. While others dined in fancy Beverly Hills and Hollywood hot spots, he was scraping pots for a bite. But, he never complained about the squandered money of our fellow students. He knew his values and was content on focusing on his goals.
He certainly kept me grounded as I felt like a spoiled brat using money so freely and buying myself a burrito whenever I felt hungry.
So, here I was moping ridiculously about my relative paucity; he showed what real determination and pride in the midst of deprivation looked like.
And, even at the MBA level, there’s a bias to spend money. My freespending classmates all got six-figure jobs right out of school from their “networking” efforts and were able to quickly pay off their huge student loans. Meanwhile, my poor friend is still struggling financially.
Cheating Wife Stories, Husband’s Cruel Revenge For Cheating
“It doesn’t matter if she ” started to fall back in love with you “…SHE’S HAD ANOTHER MAN’S BABY !!! …that’s it…its over , no if and or buts it’s over…any man who’d accept that is NOT a man , he’d be a lil bitch , I don’t think I could have been with her the 9 months and not starting IMMEDIATE divorce proceedings could cost him child support…remember some sick states automatically declare a husband the ” father ” …even if you have medical proof and D.N.A proof…you must also have written statements by the mother and possible father…if mother can’t find other guy or he refuses to get involved you owe that affair baby 18 yrs of child support.. ( disgusting they’d punish a innocent man just to save a few percentages of tax rates for business and the rich…yet they have the harshest anti- abortion laws…total scum…but then again any man stupid enough to still marry in those states is criminally ignorant and brings it on himself…so no sympathy for those or this idiot..no one or no law forced him to marry…he put himself into his predicament….so keep lining up to sign up for marriage…I get a kick out of your pain and suffering”
According to CIIE organizers, this year’s expo has attracted a record 289 Global Fortune 500 companies and industry leaders, with over 3,400 exhibitors and 394,000 professional visitors registered for the event.
Now read carefully the name for the expo – it’s an IMPORT EXPO meaning the exhibitors are EXPORTERS from all over the world traveling to China to meet Chinese IMPORTERS to buy from them.
This is not about these people investing in China. This is about exhibitors interested to sell to the world’s largest consumer market.
I received a text addressed to him and asking him to call back the very next day after I activated it.
“Who’s this?”
“Mom.”
“I think you have the wrong number,” I answered. “My mom’s half way across the planet.”
“Sorry.”
“Hope everything is okay with your son/daughter!”
“Thanks! All the best!”
The messages didn’t stop there.
Reminders to pick up his car from the mechanic’s, friends wanting to get beers over the weekend, or talking sports and venting about frustrating relationships.
A woman he used to see asking if they can reconnect.
And I diligently replied saying that it’s no longer his number.
Except the more I replied, the more I felt some inexplicable connection with Michael. As if every message I received made me understand him a bit better. Identify with him. Even root for him as he navigates through the challenges of life.
Then things went quiet and I thought he must have let everyone know about changing his number and I almost forgot about the whole thing.
Until I started getting a different kind of messages.
And then it was spelled out in one message: “I heard your mom got diagnosed with cancer.”
The same mom who sent me my very first message on that phone.
I wrote back to one person saying that even though it’s not his number, I’m deeply sorry about the news and that I’m sending healing prayers.
He/she was so touched they said the kindness of a stranger brightened their day and restored a little bit of faith.
And I felt even closer to Michael.
Like we have something greater in common than just having shared a number. I’ve *been* through shit with him. I’ve thought about his problems and commitments.
And now his mom has cancer.
Michael, I don’t know you and we’ve never spoken, but I want you to know that I *am* there for you. That you *are* in my thoughts. That I *do* care.
That I love you and your mother and I hope you all get through this.
China can do manufacturing and the U.S. cannot. China is the global supply chain hub. China is the one with the perrenial trade surplus with the U.S. Militarily, China has the world’s largest naval fleet while we can’t construct any new naval assets while those “active” assets spent more time in repair than out on duty.
Yesterday in the Charlotte, NC airport I decided to spend my last few dollars on a beer before my flight to Munich.
Before me in line stood a man well into his seventies. He ordered two red wines.
The server asked him for his ID and that of his equally aged wife who was sitting at a table with a cane propped between her knees.
He thought it was a joke. So did I.
It wasn’t. He had to walk back to the table and fetch his wife’s ID.
This was not only strange, it was the stupidest rule I’ve ever seen.
Sixty-year old me was next. And yes, I needed to prove I was twenty one.
Edit: I keep getting comments about how this is normal and the server is just doing their job. I understand and don’t hold it against the server, their management or even the legal system that makes them so careful.
All that said, the rest of the world finds it very strange (and a bit sad perhaps) when 80-year old people must be carded to prove they are 21.
If you are 100% sure you know who did it, and the peaches were all inside the boundaries of your yard, you have several options – none passive.
Coming from compassion – Offer to share some – not all – if they “need” some.
Let “all” neighbors know you have plans for the fruit this year. Request everyone stay out of your yard unless invited.
Put up a Beware of dog sign – even if you don’t have one.
Put up No Tresspassing signs. Warn that anyone caught tresspassing is subject to being arrested.
Get security cameras on your place – yard and front and side areas.
And if they get caught trying to do it again have an estimate for value of the crop and press charges for theft. If it’s over $500 it’s a felony in many or most states. Tresspassing and theft could mean jail time. Those peaches better be worth it to them.
Growing up we had grapes along our back fence. Three different neighbors over 25 years all asked first before taking the grapes poking through to their side. Every year my family told them to take any on their side of the fence.
Point is good neighbors “ask.”
Something is weird with your neighbors.
China’s Growing NAVAL POWER Can Destroy the USA in 30 Seconds
Technological advancement is a cornerstone of China’s naval dominance. From the development of cutting-edge submarines, such as the Type 095 and Type 096, to the deployment of advanced naval aviation capabilities, China has demonstrated an unyielding dedication to innovation. Its naval prowess is complemented by a formidable array of anti-ship missiles, naval defense systems, and electronic warfare capabilities, placing it at the forefront of maritime technology.
I was enjoying a meal of spaghetti with marinara sauce in a pleasant Italian restaurant. I noticed two women, around 40, eating at the other side of the small restaurant, conversing and eating heartily. When they had finished, the waitress came to take their plates, and asked if they wanted anything else. They said no, and she asked “If you are ready, I will bring your bill.” The ladies said, no, they would not pay because the food was very bad. They claimed the spaghetti was undercooked, the sauce was thin and salty, and the rolls were not fit to eat. Their coffee was much too strong, too. They were not rude or really loud, but were adamant they did not think they should pay for such bad food. The waitress said, “Why didn’t you tell me? I would have taken the food and gotten you a better meal. And besides, why did you eat it all and then tell me it was so bad?” The ladies realized the sense of the waitress’ words, accepted the bill, and paid.
Early during my intern year in San Francisco in 1973, I took over care of a comatose alcoholic patient. I discovered her electrolytes and metabolic tests were all out of wack.
I corrected them and she woke up.
The first thing she asked upon awakening was “Who’s taking care of my cats?”.
She was in a panic.
I called her contacts and got a neighbor to get her cats and care for them.
I then told my patient that if she kept drinking, the next time she ended up in the hospital she would surely die and there would be no one to look after her cats. They would die a terrible death of thirst and starvation.
I remember her looking at me with grave concern.
About a week later she was discharged and I didn’t see her again until very near the end of my internship. I saw her walking in the corridor of the hospital going for a clinic visit. She looked like a different person, well dressed and made up.
She told me that she hadn’t had another drink in almost a year because her cats depended on her.
It was one of the most rewarding moments in my long career and one of the rare times I succeeded in getting a hard core alcoholic to get and stay on the wagon.
Cheesecake Factory Cajun Jambalaya Pasta
pasta jambalaya 4 1 of 1 1463×2048 1
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
4 ounces butter
2 teaspoons Cajun spice mix
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into small pieces
1 pound fresh linguini pasta
1/2 cup clam juice
2 ounces green bell peppers, cut into thin strips
2 ounces red bell peppers, cut into thin strips
2 ounces yellow bell peppers, cut into thin strips
4 ounces red onions, cut into thin strips
1/2 pound fresh medium shrimp, peeled, deveined, tails removed
1/2 cup diced tomatoes
Instructions
Place the butter into a sauté pan. Allow the butter to melt slightly. Add the seasoning into the pan and stir together with the melted butter. Add the chicken into the pan and continue to cook until the chicken is about half done.
While the chicken is cooking, carefully place the pasta into boiling water and cook until al dente.
Pour the clam juice into the pan. Add the peppers and onions. Cook for another minute, making sure the vegetables are heated through and the chicken is almost done.
Add the shrimp into the pan. Toss the ingredients together and continue to cook until the shrimp are almost done.
Add the tomatoes into then pan. Continue to cook mixture until both the shrimp and chicken are thoroughly cook through.
Place some pasta into each bowl. Spoon equal portions of the jambalaya mixture into each bowl over the pasta.
My dad was 22 years older than my mom and in his mid-fifties when I was born. He retired while I was in elementary school which meant I essentially had two stay at home parents as my mom didn’t work. My dad never showed his age and was as active and involved as any of my friends dads but more so because he didn’t have work. When I was younger my dad would come to elementary school and eat lunch with me. He helped with boy scouts and came camping with me. He attended all sporting events and school activities. In the summer we would spend full days at museums or going on trips; he was a regular chaperone on school field trips. When my bus stop was far away he’d come pick me up every day.
I was always sadly hyper aware that he was older and losing him was a regular fear; I lucked out and had him with me until he almost hit 97 and I was 42; my mom passed 15 months before him. I just had my first child at 43 and have no idea how my dad managed 4 kids, with my brother and I just two years apart, and not complain or show any signs of age at all. I wouldn’t say I ever wished for younger parents as it is all I ever knew.
My dad was 57 when I was born and my mom 43. My mom passed away 2 days after I was born. My dad was my world. He learned to cook to make me my favorite meals. I was a picky eater as a kid.
He woke me up each morning with fresh squeezed orange juice which I love until this day. As I got older, he would play tennis with me and taught me to play softball. He had played baseball in Cuba and he was a great hitter even in his sixties. I did everything with him.
When I was 5, he was on his way to pick me up at day care when he got into a terrible car accident where an ambulance was called to treat him. He was less than a a tenth of a mile from the day care, he told the ambulance workers he had to pick up his daughter before he could be taken to the hospital. He walked and picked me up with a head injury and took me to a neighbors house before being transported to the hospital. I will always remember this day.
When I was 10 he retired from work and started picking me up from the bus stop every day after school. He always had a snack ready for me and we sat and talked about our day.
At 15 he taught me to drive. He was patient and made sure I knew the rules of the road. For my 16th birthday, he took me to get my drivers license. A few days later he bought me a car. We were poor and I had no expectation of a car. He had put aside money to buy me a 3 year old Toyota Camry. He drove a 13 year old car.
A few months after my 16th birthday he was not feeling well and I thought it was a cold. He passed away 20 days later of a double pneumonia and acute leukemia. My world was shattered. I didn’t know how to pick up the pieces and keep going. To this day, I think about him every day.
Did I wish he was younger? No, I wouldn’t change him but I do wish I had more time with him.
He’s never run any commercials promoting his podcast. Never bought any billboards, any print ads. He never went on any late-night shows to promote his podcast.
I’ve always known about him from watching UFC’s, so I knew he had a podcast.
But eventually – he began popping up more and more on my YouTube suggestions. I figured – can this podcast really be any good? I know he’s a decent comedian and a great fight commentator.
Steadily – over years, he continued plugging away at his podcast, getting more and more guests.
Finally, I gave in – and I’m hooked – along with millions of other people.
The podcast is a blend of funny/smart and is just people having conversations. No acting, no-nonsense.
Just humble, intelligent conversations with a wide variety of people from all walks of life.
Joe now has one of the most popular podcasts in the world and he just did it by being his authentic self and enjoying conversations with people.
He was a Navy SEAL serving in Afghanistan. During a mission in 2007, he went into a room first, leading his team. Unfortunately, it had insurgents in it, waiting with automatic weapons.
He was shot 27 times. While 11 rounds were blocked by his body armor, 16 rounds managed to hit him in the torso, arms and legs. He was also hit by a grenade which exploded and sent shrapnel through his body.
And then, he managed to kill three enemy fighters near him with a pistol and without killing any of the women and children in the room.
His recovery took two long years.
And he later became an advocate for wounded warriors and those living with PTSD—because he had it bad.
Sadly, he was haunted by the things he went through in war. This past March, he couldn’t bear it anymore and was found hanging in his room.
He cheated death narrowly for 16 years, but the demons were the ones Mike couldn’t escape. Rest in Peace warrior.
The Admiral Kuznetsov was and actually still is the flagship of the Russian Navy.
Yes, she’s not seaworthy, but it doesn’t matter. This is really a matter of national pride. If the Russian Navy can’t keep their flagship in service, that does not look great.
As a side-note, the Kuznetsov was built at the Black Sea Shipyard in what is now Ukraine. Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last few years, you’ll know why docking it in Ukraine is not exactly an option. Russia lacks any shipyards large and capable enough to properly service or build something this big, which is why they’re having so much trouble refitting the ship.
It may happen now and then but I have never heard of of a big box company buying out the little guy. They usually just open up a store and drive the little guy out of business – maybe. Read on. Sometimes a smaller chain will be bought out but seldom a single store.
Mom and pop hardware stores tended to do better than, say, grocery stores because of the expertise offered.
In 1976 I got a position in Rochester NH as a bank trust officer and we bought a beautiful cape cod with a center chimney built in 1853.
A neighbor chatted to me and asked me if I had experience with working on houses. Our previous home we had bought brand new so I had to confess that I had not. He told me I should expect this home to require endless work. He suggested to me that I should patronize Warburton’s Hardware just down the road from me. He said I would go in for a dollars worth of nails and come out with ten dollars worth of advice.
He was right on both counts and I took his advice.
Brownie Warburton retired and it was bought by the Boucher family and they are still there. It was a happy day for me when he invited me to call him Brownie. The locals were not usually that accepting of blow ins.
So the mom and pop hardware stores can compete.
Now just about anyone will be familiar with this logo
ACE Hardware
You might think that Ace is a chain but you would be wrong. Ace stores are individually owned or parts of small chains – a bit liked McDonald’s. The big difference is that Ace Corporation is owned by the store owners – it is a cooperative. Ace started up in 1924, long before big box hardware stores and they seem to be thriving. They do so in the same way that Brownie Warburton did: by providing service and expertise. Edit. I did not intend this to be an ad for Ace but it sure resonated with readers. Read the comments.
This is not to say that big box stores have no place; they clearly do but so do smaller, locally owned stores.
I’m a Christian and would change it to God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform “ as an old hymn says.
When I was younger, I was asked at the last minute to delay my holiday as someone else wanted to go to the Henley Regatta and we couldn’t both be away from work at the same time. I was furious!
When I arrived finally on holiday, this vision in a blue dress appeared. She also not only shouldn’t have been there that week, but shouldn’t have been there at all. She had been going to Switzerland earlier but developed appendicitis and couldn’t go and some weeks later was invited to join her sister and some friends and so we met.
We married a year later and remained together for 63 years until her death.
I used to work for a large rehab company. I was a licensed occupational therapist. One year, we had a new girl start there, who was from Europe. She was also also a licensed therapist, but had two years of additional training. She was also on a work visa. At first she was friendly and agreeable, but soon began to show her true colors. She started making snide comments about people behind their backs, and then proceeded to say them to their faces. She told me that where she came from, I wouldn’t be considered a real therapist, because I had only studied for two years.
We had a few Rehab assistants that she proceeded to lord over, because she had a college degree and they did not. But they worked hard and did their jobs. One day she sat with us at lunch; myself, and two rehab assistants. She proceeded to make rude comments about certain ethnic groups in the company, claiming that they had chips on their shoulders. I told her that her remarks could be construed as racism, and that she had better knock it off. She scoffed, and went on making rude comments. When she left the room with a big smirk on her face, one of the aides told me that she had been making unflattering comments behind my back, too. I decided that she needed to be taught a lesson. I contacted our clinical director and reported her behavior, especially the racist comments.
An hour later, she came walking down the hall, smirk replaced by copious tears. She had been warned that if she continued with her behavior, she would be shipped right back to Europe.
When I was five I walked by a toy store with my mother.
I looked in the window, and I saw a plastic model of a car. It was a yellow convertible.
And I well remember myself looking up to my mother, and telling her that she should buy it for me so that I could gift it to my father. I thought, and was absolutely convinced that my father would love the car.
2023 11 11 18 51
I’m sure that both my mother and father thought that it was so cute. And today, I look back at that moment with fond memories. And to this day, whenever I see a model of a convertible, I think of this particular moment.
I graduated college with this misguided idea that a good degree and hard work would make me invincible. Everyone would hire me and I’d get a raise every year.
All it takes is a company downsizing or a manager that doesn’t like you. Our pay and job security are directly tied to how many other people are willing to do our job. This isn’t an opinion. It’s economics.
You either make yourself indispensable to a company. Or pick up skills and qualifications that make other companies want you more. Otherwise, plan on getting yanked around and low-balled.
As an extreme example, my friend skipped college and worked his way up to senior-level tech support with a camera company.
He spent the best years of his life there. Now, he’s older, his company has gone bankrupt, and he’s out of the job with minimally transferrable skills.
Remember that a business cannot feel emotion or empathy. It is a system, designed to learn, evolve, and make money. Don’t drink the Kool-aid and corporate ra-ra.
You are paid by how expensive you are to replace.
Cajun Shrimp Burgers
2023 11 11 18 29
Ingredients
1 pound steamed or boiled shrimp
1/4 cup finely diced onions
1/4 cup finely diced green bell pepper
2 tablespoons chopped celery
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2/3 cup dry bread crumbs
1 beaten egg
Flour
Extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions
Peel and devein shrimp and remove tails. Chop shrimp.
Cook onions, bell pepper and celery in microwave until soft. Drain well.
Yes they can and they should. It makes sense that if the three strongest and most powerful nations find a way to accommodate each others interest and red line. When and if they do the rest of the world are free to move on with their lives and grow their respective economy. I really believed that these 3 powerful nations simply cannot make each other submissive and subservient to the other.
The U.S. tried hard and desperately over the past decade or so without any success at all. Take the U.S. and China trade war. After 5 years straight of tariffs, sanctions and demonisation, if anything China gets stronger and more independent. And the Chinese counter actions. Is hurting the US. And to be fair China prefers to not have this dispute as it slows down Chinese growth too.
The U.S. tried to pinned down Russia militarily and geopolitically too since Biden take office culminating with the Ukraine war. A good 18 months has gone by and Russia is as strong as ever and at best the war is a stalemate with both the U.S. and Russia becomes slightly less strong. But the only thing the U.S. who goaded Russia into this war achieved is to bring world GDP down a notch. What good is it?
China do not mind if the U.S. grow healthily at 3% due to its mature economy and as a result China grow 6% healthily and both nations and the rest of the world pay attention of improving competitiveness and development. I am hopeful that a new U.S. president will see the benefits of collaborating with China and Russia.
The U.S. threw their kitchen sink at China and Russia for the last 2 full years! Has China and Russia been destroyed? Be honest! Nothing substantial happened. And what ever little Russia and China got hurt and harm so does the U.S. at least in the same proportion if not a little more. So what good is it? All the huff, puff and rant for nothing.
Now imagine. All three nations go positive. The world will be healthier, more stable, more peaceful and prosper. That cannot be bad for the world. The U.S. needs a new approach and a new leader that don’t think in hubris but in finding collaboration for mutual good.
Story time. My ex was an irreplaceable worker who needed to leave work 10 minutes early to catch a train that would get her home a good 45 minutes earlier compared to the train she’d get if she left exactly on time. her manager insisted she stay until exactly 17:30. Note that she didn’t do anything worthwhile in that last 10 minutes. Her type of work meant that everything took longer. She also hated crowds, so she got the train to work an hour earlier than strictly necessary, meaning that most days she was 45 minutes early for work (she’d stop somewhere to buy a hot breakfast). Because of the type of conscientious worker she was, and also she was the head of a team of around 10–12 people, and she took pride in her work; she would start working more or less straight away. The boss knew all this, because she was always at work when he came in. He also knew that she was already working because of the dozen or so emails that she had already sent out (to clients, to coworkers with him CCdd, to him directly, etc). When she pointed all of this out to him, he said that “nobody is asking you to do that” and something about any colleague could walk up to her at 17:25 and ask a question or for a task to be done. If you ask me, it was all baloney and the dude was simply on a power trip! (Or maybe someone above him had archaic views and was being unreasonable)
so she gave in her notice and quit to start up on her own (basically to be a freelancer). they couldn’t find anyone else to do the work, and for the first two years of her freelancing career she basically did her old job from home (no commute, working from home, and back in 2015, this was a massive perk, which was unheard of). Hell, the lack of commute alone saved her £3000 per year.
She got paid about 40% more to do the same work she always did, in about 1/2, maybe 2/3 of the time. It took them two years to train someone up to replace her (and stop needing her services as a freelancer).
My Brother was in a car crash and went through the windscreen of the car he was a passenger in.. he managed to get his arms up to protect his face but didn’t manage to completely cover his eyes.. he was cut out of the car and flown by ambulance to Ninewells hospital in Dundee (Scotland) where he spent two years going through in total 35 operations on his eyes. Ninewells had the best Eye Specialists and Dept. in the Country.. After his final operation his Doctor sat down with us his family, and explained that they had tried everything to save his sight but that he would be 100% blind for the rest of his life and that he would need all our help to come to terms with it and to help him adjust to life as a blind man.. after 2 years they released him from Hospital into our care..
I had not prayed for many years. Had stopped going to Mass years before.. but that night I got on my knees and I prayed to God.. I begged him to restore my brothers eyesight and offered to lose mine in his place..
3 days later.. it was a beautiful sunny day and I took him for a walk.. guiding him with my arm.. someone he knew shouted hello from a distance and waved to us. My brother asked who it was and I said the guys name and said that he had waved. My Brother said “I know, I could make out the shadow of his arm in the grass”
I was gobsmacked but didn’t say anything to him about it.. When we got home I told Mum what had happened and She phoned his Doctor who brought my brother in for tests.. the Doctor confirmed his last prognosis.. that he was blind and there was no difference from the last time he was tested.. He sat Mum down and explained that it was his brain playing tricks on him and went into great detail on the damage that had been done and how it was impossible that it could be repaired either naturally or medically..
My brother now has 98% of his vision restored and wears contact lenses.. he actually has better sight than me..
This happened to my best friend. She had left her abusive husband and was living in her own apartment, when he learned where she was, and went ballistic on her. He assaulted her and threatened their one year old. Her new neighbors heard the disturbance and called the police. When the police got there, they asked for his information and he gave a false name. Unfortunately, they believed him. because when they called that name in, they found no record on him. They were about to leave when my friend overheard and gave the police officers her husband’s correct name. Turns out there was an outstanding warrant that she hadn’t known about, and they hauled his ass off to jail.
It gets better. During that time, she got a lawyer and pressed charges, and her neighbors testified in court. His mother and father, who were quite elderly and in poor health died within weeks of each other. Then, when he got out of prison, the city decided to put in a new road and offered his landlord money for the house that my friend’s husband was living in, so he got evicted. He spent the rest of that year couch surfing because nobody would let him stay with them, due to his bad temper.
I was flying out of LA bound for Newark. My flight was leaving at 6am on a Wednesday. My work was finished on Tuesday, around 8pm. I went to a restaurant, had a great meal, dropped off the car and went to check in at around 11pm that Tuesday evening. My plan was to find a comfortable seat, take a short nap, and be ready for my early Wednesday flight.
At the security check point the person checking told me I could not go through because I was a day early for my flight and I’d have to come back the next day to check in. I tried to explain to him that the next day was in one hour and my flight was leaving in six hours. He did not get it and was adamant that I could not enter until the next day.
At that point I asked to see his supervisor. He eventually got the supervisor. When the supervisor listened to me and checked my ticket he told his guy, “Let him in. You need to learn how to tell time. See me later.”
I use to fix street lamps for a living. Once I was about to pull up to a lamp that needed to be fixed when someone pulled into the spot ahead of me. I got out of the truck and explained I was about to pull up to the lamp to fix it and would he please move his car. His response was, “I’m only going to be a few minutes, you can wait “ He then walked onto a store that was right there.
So I pulled up the truck along side his car, and was up in the bucket and started to fix the light. I was still up in the bucket fixing the lamp when he came out of the store and was angry to find my truck was blocking his being able to pull out. He called up to me demanding I move my truck so he could pull out. I shouted down to him, “I’m only going to be a few minutes, you can wait “ and then went back to fixing the light.
Bert was a part of the furniture for many years. He slid silently into his cubicle before most people arrived. The sound of flipping pages and keypad strokes were the only signs of life from his corner.
He evaded unnecessary contact with his colleagues. In meetings and during unavoidable greetings he mumbled and focused his eyes anywhere but on the person talking to him.
Bert drank no coffee and ate a packed lunch at his desk. He evaporated promptly at 4.55 every evening, leaving only an immaculately ordered workspace devoid of any clues as to who he was as a person.
It was impossible to like Bert. His own discomfort with everyone else was awkward and off putting.
At the same time, the only thing to dislike about him was that he didn’t fit in with the rest. Bert’s unseen presence was a low-level annoyance, like a squeaky chair or the smell of an overheated copy machine.
Only two people understood how valuable Bert was. Bert’s boss had known it for years. I learned about his talents when we worked as a team to create technical catalogues. I handled text copy and Bert handled tables, graphs and technical drawings.
We mostly collaborated by e-mail. His PDF markups were always detailed and clear.
When we met in person, I honored his unspoken preference to avoid eye contact. This seemed to comfort him.
For three years we redesigned dozens of catalogs with only rare and minor errors discovered after printing.
I learned to truly appreciate Bert’s talent for finding the needles (errors) in the haystack (multi-hundred-page catalogs). He was quiet, unassuming and provided the company excellent value for his salary.
I eventually moved on, but Bert and others kept producing error-free work. Bert’s methodical proofreading approach guides me still.
When Bert’s boss retired, a new boss found him uncomfortable (like everyone else). He was let go and his job was outsourced to an agency.
One of the agency’s first jobs was updating an existing 800-page catalog. 50,000 copies were printed and some were shipped to customers.
It was only then that the typo was discovered. A technical term had been typed as a sexual one. It was an expensive mistake (mostly covered by the insurance company).
I still have no idea who Bert is as a person. But I know his work reeked of integrity, his written communications were more honest than most people can swallow, and that working together with him was an honor.
Being able to depend on a colleague is more important than liking them. Thanks for the life lesson Bert!
The U.S. used democracy in 2 ways. To elevate the U.S. as the beacon of democracy in the free world, a self declared superlative about themselves by themselves. That no one believes but themselves. Even that is only some white Caucasian, Anglo Saxon, conservative and less travelled and less educated ones.
And to tag countries that refused to be submissive and subservient to them to be “not” democratic. So authoritarian and dictatorial or a host of slurs such as. Communism, Socialism, Regime, Rogue States etc. Simple pea brain people buys that slur over the years to feel good about themselves while looking down and demonising others they did not like after being indoctrinated against for close to a century.
But these are optics or cosmetics. Forcing “U.S. liberal Democracy” is much more sinister. If you are having a political system like the U.S. they can easily manipulate that nation’s political process and place their puppet to do the U.S. bidding for them. Such as align with them and against China or Russia or selling resources to the Yanks at dirt cheap prices! That is what happened to many decades in the Philippines.
US political system is all about popularity and no meritocracy at all. All you need in a poorer developing nation is money to bribed voters. And the U.S. has plenty of printed Green back to throw about. That is the reason they forced nations to failure through the unworkable and inefficient political processes. For the U.S. sake. Not the nation in question sake.
After spending billions it almost always don’t work after a while. Hence Vietnam U.S. still a proud successful socialist nation, Iraq is still a Muslim fundamentalist nation and Taliban Afghanistan became Taliban Afghanistan after tens of trillions spent. Sure Zalensky the U.S. puppet did poke Russia in the eye and see what the U.S. and Ukrainians get for their effort!
Magic Music for Cats – UNBELIEVABLE Results (Tested 2022)
You won’t believe the results of this expert-made calming music for cats! Designed to relax your cat no matter their state of anxiety, aggression stress or depression! Try it now to see why we’re the number 1 natural remedy on youtube!
First of all, many guys do go for an “innocent girl.” I’m not one of them, but there are countless guys who totally look for “innocence,” however variously that may be defined, in women.
Why don’t some guys go for an “innocent” girl?
Speaking only for myself, not for any other man: I don’t go for “innocent” women because I like women who know exactly what they like and how to get it. I strongly prefer women who aren’t meek and aren’t the least bit frightened, women who live their lives out loud, uninhibited and unashamed.
Why?
They’re better partners.
They’re more fun. They’re less timid and more adventurous. They understand themselves better. They sample life with gusto. They embrace life in its joy, unworried about what other people have to say. They live on their own terms, which means they are more likely to explore and embrace new things. They are, not to put too fine a point on it, more courageous and more enjoyable to spend time, or life, with.
Ages ago I used to work at a place that had formerly been a large outlet mall. The company I worked for owned one quadrant of the building but there was plenty of parking available. One guy, Crumb E. Parker, had a very nice car and did not want it damaged but rather than park it far away from the building he parked it close by and took up three spots, almost like so but even more perpendicular to the spot.
Now had he done this in the East Jesus end of the lot where nobody else parked nobody would have cared but he had an early shift and parked as close to the building as he could This happened every day for a month and people were sick of seeing it. A couple of us got together and decided this aggression could not stand, man!
Since he did this right by the handicapped spots we made friends with the person that would park in the handicapped spot closest to his car and got them to swap spots with someone who worked a shift until midnight. Then we did the same with an early bird who would park on the other side of him. We had both cars parked so close to him he’d have needed to make an 87,423-point turn to be able to get out. We waited.
Shortly after Mr. Parker’s shift ended there are announcements and emails going out. Mr. Parker is wandering the halls of the office looking for whomever owned the cars that had him blocked in to move them. Nobody is owning up to it. A threat comes out to have towed the cars blocking him which was followed by a near-immediate retraction when someone pointed out that doing so but not towing the guy who parked like crap all the time could be seen as retaliation against a disabled person which would open up lawsuits. The guy ended up having to take a taxi home and back to work the next day and after that he would still park like crap but way out in the furthest parking spots where nobody cared and all was right with the world again.
Worked at Ford Dealership many years ago. I had 45 techs in seven different departments. Of all the people I had, only two were certified to work on the FORD GT’s.
I don’t recall the reason why the vehicle was in for service, but it was minor and didn’t require a test drive afterwards to verify that it was repaired.
I received the repair order and assigned the ticket/vehicle to one of my GT techs. As mentioned, it was simple repair and after the parts arrived, it only took him an hour so.
My GT tech finished the repair, closed out the ticket, sent me the paperwork (hard copy) then carefully backed the car out and drove it outside towards a special area that we kept all high dollar/high profile customer vehicles at.
I was inside my office at the time and watched the big garage doors open as he drove this wonderful-sounding, sexy vehicle outside.
I go to lunch and get back to my office an hour later.
I checked my email – “Come see me ASAP” it read. It was from my Boss.
This was highly unusual. I mean we sent emails back and forth all the time, but never with the subject matter “Come see me ASAP”.
Nonetheless I marched into my Boss’s office and he shut the door.
He looked at me and was pale as a ghost.
“Mike crashed the GT,” he said.
“He TOTALED it.”
…
I couldn’t believe it. Instead of parking this $250,000+ car like he was required to, Mike decided to take it for a spin around the block. Real quick.
He went around a corner too fast, lost control and took out a tree.
#dumbass
He was unhurt for the most part and walked away from it with just a bruise or two (he said).
:[
“GET INTO THE SYSTEM AND MAKE SURE HE DOESN’T DRAW ANOTHER VEHICLE!” my Boss told me. (he wasn’t much of a systems admin guy and needed me to do it). So I did.
To make a long story short, Mike the GT tech finished out another vehicle (a big truck) that he’d been doing an engine on. It took him a couple of days, but when he finished the ticket, he was fired. I’m sure he saw it coming.
The Dealership paid back the GT Owner what he’d paid for it. He wasn’t happy, of course, but what else ya gonna do?
Judging from the economic events that will occur in 2023, I think one of China’s most successful economic policies is “foreign exchange control.”
…
China’s foreign exchange controls include the following measures:
1. Restrict foreign exchange circulation in China
Any enterprise or retailer in China is not allowed to accept foreign currency and must convert it into RMB before trading. I can’t buy anything in any store in China with US dollars or Singapore dollars.
2. Restrict foreign exchange from being freely convertible into RMB
Any foreigner who visits China needs to convert foreign currency into RMB. There are limits on the amount. For example, foreigners entering China can only exchange US$50,000 in cash each year. The foreign exchange received by Chinese companies operating abroad will also be subject to amount restrictions when they need to convert it into RMB.
Foreign companies also need approval to remit foreign currency into China for investment.
3. Restrict the conversion of RMB into foreign currencies
Any Chinese or foreigner leaving China must exchange RMB cash into foreign currency. Or if you want to remit RMB and convert it into foreign currency, you are also subject to the amount limit.
Not only that, if Chinese companies want to invest in other countries and want to convert RMB into foreign currencies, they also need approval.
Simply put, the conversion of RMB and foreign currencies is subject to limits and controls. This makes large sums of money not freely convertible at all.
China is the world’s largest trading country, and it is the largest trading partner of almost all countries in the world. Therefore, the foreign exchange control policy actually has many negative impacts on the Chinese economy, which brings troubles to cross-border transactions, troubles to Chinese companies operating abroad, and a lot of troubles to foreign companies investing in China.
Even so, China still insists on implementing foreign exchange control strategies.
As an employee of a Singapore investment company, perhaps because of my lack of knowledge, I have not been able to understand China’s approach in the past many years. Because this policy often gives me a headache at work and adds a lot of extra workload to our company. The Chinese want to expand trade so much, why do they impose artificial restrictions on currency flows?
I once believed that if China relaxed its foreign exchange controls, China’s imports and exports would see huge growth.
It wasn’t until 2023, after the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hike, that I realized the reason why China did this: they took financial sovereignty into their own hands.
As we all know, in order to solve the country’s economic problems and curb inflation. In 2023, the Federal Reserve carried out continuous and substantial interest rate increases on the US dollar.
This operation has greatly increased the yield on U.S. dollar deposits, and funds all over the world want to transfer to the United States to obtain high interest rates. Many people even apply for loans in their own country and then transfer the loaned funds to the United States to enjoy the interest rate difference between the two places.
This caused funds from all over the world to begin to gather in the United States. Investors and wealthy people frantically converted their currencies into U.S. dollars and remitted them to the United States.
This resulted in a series of dire consequences for all other countries:
1. Due to the loss of large amounts of funds, investment in various fields in the country has been stopped.
2. The domestic currency was sold off in large quantities (converted into US dollars), causing the domestic currency to depreciate sharply, while the US dollar appreciated sharply.
3. Lack of investment and consumption (all the money is remitted to the United States) has caused the economy to decline, business is sluggish, and companies are gradually closing down.
4. As the U.S. dollar appreciates, American investors can purchase companies and minerals that are about to go bankrupt in their own countries at very low prices.
5. National wealth shrinks (the national currency depreciates), and people no longer trust the national currency and turn to buying U.S. dollars, causing the collapse of the national currency to intensify.
This consequence is like a domino, which is catastrophic for any country, meaning that the wealth created by this country for decades may be completely harvested by the United States.
In order to avoid this disastrous chain reaction, governments can only take one approach: follow the United States in raising interest rates. This can reduce the interest difference between the two countries and reduce capital outflows. You can take a look at the situation in your country in the past six months. Are banks already raising interest rates?
However, raising interest rates is not a panacea. It also has a serious negative impact, which reduces domestic investment willingness. After all, who wants to invest in business when you can earn a high income by depositing your money in the bank? At the same time, some companies that rely on loans, especially the financial industry and large-scale manufacturing industries, will see their capital costs continue to increase. When the chain breaks, businesses go bankrupt. For individuals, the interest pressure on student loans, credit cards, and mortgages will increase, and people’s lives will inevitably be affected.
Therefore, for most countries, not raising interest rates means allowing the United States to harvest their own wealth; raising interest rates means immediately harming the domestic economy and people;
No matter what you choose, you will get hurt. The rate hike is just the one that hurts less.
But in China, the situation is different.
Not only did the Chinese not follow the U.S. in raising interest rates like other countries, they actually kept cutting interest rates in the past few months.
Aren’t they afraid of massive capital outflows and sharp depreciation of the RMB, which will trigger an economic crisis?
Of course not, that’s why they implemented exchange controls.
Since the RMB and the U.S. dollar are not freely convertible, large-scale conversions are simply impossible.
Bank of China: What, you want to convert 50 million yuan into US dollars? what is your purpose? Transfer money to a U.S. bank? Sorry, this is not allowed.
Oh, you changed your story again and said you were going to the United States to do business. Well, please provide your business contract, investment agreement, and lawyer’s certificate!
Therefore, they are not worried about these problems at all, and the outflow of funds is limited to a controllable range. The United States simply cannot harvest China.
In the past few months, the yuan has indeed depreciated against the US dollar, but has appreciated against other major currencies around the world, which shows the effectiveness of China’s foreign exchange control capabilities.
With low interest rates, Chinese companies can obtain very cheap financial support from their banks, which makes them invincible in the global market. Taking the shipbuilding industry with the largest demand for funds as an example, the Chinese have taken 90% of the world’s shipbuilding orders in the third quarter. In the same period last year, their share was only 50%.
In the face of US dollar interest rate hikes and global currency depreciation, inflation has occurred in various countries, but China’s domestic inflation does not exist at all. They have even begun to worry about “deflation.” Many Chinese friends told me that domestic prices in China are actually lower than last year, and people can buy more goods with the same money.
I was assigned to Police Motorcycles for ten years. I was on a traffic stop one winter day writing a citation to a young man. While writing, the young man asked me if I knew Officer Stone. My heavy leather jacket covered my name plate, and as the only Officer Stone on the force, I found this an interesting question, since I had never seen him before. I responded, “Why yes, yes, I do.” I threw in “He’s really a great guy.” The young man agreed, telling me how they were good friends, and that Officer Stone was close with his family. “Officer Stone comes over to my house on most Sundays for dinner and my mama cooks for him”, the young man added. I said “Why that’s real nice of her.” As I handed the kid his citation to sign, I pulled back my jacket to reveal my name plate, and said “Tell your mama I’ll be over for dinner Sunday at 1:00”. The kid’s face froze, and after a few seconds, he simply responded “Yes Sir!”
My career was spent as the Founder and CEO of a very large company. When a woman disrespected my marriage, politeness went out of the window. Ladies, trust me I’m not God’s gift to women, but I have been hit on! I was once told by a 22 year old (I was 40 something) that she could steal me away from my wife. My response was, “you’re fired”!
I’ve now been married to the most incredible woman in the world for 56 years. I still find reasons to fall in love with her each day.
When I was 17 years old, I dropped out of high school to work full time. I never went in to get my GED (which is the equivalent of a high school diploma).
Since then, my parents (especially my mom) have been begging me to get my diploma.
I’ve put it off for years and years, much to their disappointment.
This fall, my friend finally coaxed me into taking the exams. He assured me that I could do it, he encouraged me, and he was a huge support. I wouldn’t have done it if it weren’t for him.
November 30th, I passed my final exam and got my GED!
I printed it out, framed it, and wrapped it up for my parents for Christmas.
Unfortunately, I have no chill, so I went to my parents’ house last night to give them their Christmas present early. My mom unwrapped it, read the diploma and…
Oh. My. God.
That reaction was worth every single minute of studying and exam taking.
I have never seen someone cry out of happiness at a present, but my mom did. My dad got teary eyed! Shit, the boyfriend said he even got blurred vision watching my parents’ reaction!
It was amazing.
My dad was smiling and clapping and my mom hugged me so hard I thought she was going to break a rib.
The dogs started barking because they were freaked out at the sudden mayhem.
At one point my dad yelled, “A ROUND OF WHISKEY IS IN ORDER!” and ran off to the kitchen to pour a round of shots.
It was hilarious.
Hands down, being able to make my parents that excited has been one of my happiest moments.
There’s nothing like making your parents proud.
(Oh, and P.S.: I passed with flying colors. I made those exams my bitch.)
Iran Gets Access To Chinese Satellite To Use For Missile Attack on Israel!
“The US must be isolated or sidelined for the benefits of all free nations of the world.”
What pushed me —a United States Astronaut— into retirement? I’ll tell you exactly what pushed me.
I was summoned into the “corner office.” This is a hallowed place, reserved for the Chief of all astronauts. Seated in a chair in front of the boss’ desk, the discussion would eventually turn to me asking, “What are my chances of flying again?” The boss pulled out a long sheet of paper. A sheet known to wannabe fliers as the A/B line chart. It typically shows potential flight assignments well into the future and is used for NASA JSC management planning purposes. After fidgeting and mumbling for a few moments, I heard the words that would eventually push me into retirement. I heard the head of the astronaut office say —in part— “… I have better choices to fly in space than you,” and then, after a brief pause, the boss followed up by saying that I didn’t “… have the temperament for long-duration spaceflight.”
I was crushed beyond words. The career that I had worked so hard for, and had —after 15 application cycles— been selected to do, was being summarily ended. I left the office of the Chief Astronaut and cried … but not before I wrote down everything that was said.
I did not retire immediately. I hung on … performing as a lowly “management astronaut.” Stripped of most of the “fun” stuff (like flying in the T-38), I was expected to go to meetings. The only saving grace I had was that I was made an IA (instructor astronaut) for spacewalking. Something I was very good at, I apparently did have the temperament for teaching neophyte space walkers. Of course, I took that assignment very seriously.
In all honesty, I was hoping for a change. I tried to wait the boss out, hoping they would step down for a more promising assignment. They did exactly that, hoping —but failing— to be named as the first astronaut to spend a year in space. I would then enter the hallowed corner office once again, only this time I was sitting across from the new Chief… and the new deputy.
When I respectfully asked them for a chance to get back into the “active astronaut” and flight-eligible line, the boss gave me an emphatic “no.” Expecting exactly that response, I asked for a more responsible position in the office hierarchy, one that could challenge me more than meeting attendance and effectively utilize my 30 years of NASA experience (15 as an engineer, 15 as an astronaut). Again, the boss said “no.” The Deputy said nothing. I was being dressed down, by two people who would go on to fly again … just like the previous boss.
I was angry … very angry. So much so, that I was bringing that anger home and inflicting it upon my family. Obviously an unpalatable situation, it took the courage of my then 18-year old son to say, “… Dad, this has to stop.”
And stop it did … sort of. My family will tell you that I am still angry … and it’s something I must deal with every single day. I am working hard to lessen the anger, but it’s going to take some time.
I have now been retired for nearly 6 years. During that 6-year hiatus from government service, I have been writing. I write to share my stories with you and, more importantly, because it’s therapeutic. And it’s really a whole lot of fun! I also enjoy teaching part-time at Iowa State University, entertaining as a motivational speaker, and I consult with various organizations in a number of different capacities (listen for my voice sometime or take a Royal Caribbean cruise!).
My wife and I spent a month in Spain and were scheduled to fly home from Paris, France.
The day before we were to leave my wife tested positive for Covid.
I had to to make arrangements to stay longer at the Airbnb, the host was very kind and helpful.
I had to reschedule a number of appointments that were to take place after we were to return home.
All of this went smoothly but when I tried to get ahold of Air France, it took over six hours of trying before I was able to talk to a human. I was informed that they would not change our tickets because we had booked through America Express. It took about two minutes to get a human at American Express who was able to change our tickets for a flight four days later. We were issued new tickets, but when we were at the airport, Air France informed me that there was a $175 charge for the changed flight. I asked why as we already had new tickets and Air France did not do anything for the changed tickets. It was like I was talking to a brick wall. The Air France person could not (or would not) explain what the charge was for. He was rude and acted like I was being unreasonable, but all I wanted was an explanation as what the extra charge was for.
Rwanda
I finally paid the the fee but I will never fly on Air France again
Rwanda, a tiny country in the eastern central part of Africa Rwanda
When visiting Rwanda, don’t bring any plastic bags as they are prohibited in the country. When you try to bring them, they will be confiscated right at the airport. Same goes with throwing waste in the environment, our country is very clean, and throwing any waste would be a shame for you, and the authorities can punish you for that.
Don’t openly discuss ethnic issues. 22 years ago our country had seen one of the most atrocious tragedies in human history 1994 Genocide Rwandan genocide
you shouldn’t go around asking everyone what? where? how? who are you? The good way to learn this history is to try and visit some memorials which are rich in that history and it’s near the main city, Kigali and almost in every other city across the country.
Don’t try to take pictures of everything you see especially people even young kids in the street without first asking. Yes, our country is still under development, you might see poor neighborhood, young street kids or some funny things you can make out of those pictures – taking photos of those vulnerable people without their permission is a sensitive issue in our culture.
You shouldn’t be annoyed or irritated if someone didn’t make it on time. For many people being late “is just okay” one hour or 4 hours would still be okay 😉 so if you are meeting someone either for business or personal affairs just bear this in mind and be patient.
Restaurant and other service businesses. You will be treated really well, in fact a special treatment will be given to you if you are a foreigner (Rwandans are very welcoming and we are naturally good to our neighbours), but don’t take advantage of it or think that they want something from you (i.e. don’t shout or raise your voice when you are not satisfied with the service, there is a good manner to bring the issue at hand).
Rwanda is very safe and secure. Contrary to the popular belief or some perception of a country which has been in Genocide 22 years ago, you can move around anytime you want; even midnight. Don’t expect anyone to understand what you are talking about, even if you speak English or French, the majority of people only know one language; Kinyarwanda. Taxis, local traders, waiters, service providers, etc. they try hard to understand you but make sure when you are traveling to have a local guide with you (this will also help you pay less for everything, because you will not be overcharged cause you are a foreigner)
Don’t bring cats or dogs to public places or smoke in public. This doesn’t mean Rwandans hate animals, it means they respect other people’s views almost on anything. There are also special places reserved for smokers.
When you are a guest to someone’s home, don’t pay (or contribute) for the food or drinks offered unless asked to, this is rude or in some cases disrespectful.
Don’t get annoyed if you are being called ‘muzungu’ everywhere. Literally muzungu means ‘a traveler’ but it is widely known as ‘white people’, even Asians are called ‘muzungu’ 😉 😉 Don’t think they are being racists or are they trying to insult you.
Welcome to Rwanda! The land of thousand hills.
Man Expose His Girlfriend After DNA Test Proves He’s Not The Father Of Their Son.
Probably not the strangest, but the only one I could prove.
An elderly gentleman came into the shop complaining of a brake squeak. I wrote up the work order and my guys pulled it into the shop. After several minutes passed, I heard an explosion of laughter coming from the break room.
It was kind of obnoxious, so I went to see what was up. A mouse had gotten stuck between the brake pad and the caliper. Sadly the mouse had passed away.
I then approached the customer to come see what was causing the squeak. The customer began to hysterically laugh. To the point where he dropped to one knee. I thought I was going to have to call an ambulance.
A tech released the mouse and the squeak was gone. Rest in peace Mr. Mouse. Thanks for the laugh.
Back in day 70s when I got married, I registered for a lovely ironstone place setting from Mikasa. I got 10 and a half place setting for wedding gifts. I went to Macy’s in Indianapolis to buy the rest to make 12 place settings. About 18 months later, I got a box from Macy’s that contained another place setting plus some serving dishes. Upon speaking to the manager of the department, it turned out they were discontinuing the pattern and as I was the last person to buy any pieces, they sent the display pieces to me. I thought that was very nice of them. 50 years later I still have all the pieces and use them when I have company.
I think it’s a great idea. Singaporeans are very intelligent, and have excellent educational backgrounds. They also have the distinction of being Asian in ethnic identity but having the Western influence that Singapore is known for. They have the best of both worlds, and a unique ability to unite Eastern and Western worldviews in brokering investments for the tech industry.
Singapore is also known to be a haven for those with considerable wealth. They may be willing to invest in tech startups that have potential. Especially if that company is close to home and able to benefit Singapore’s economy.
Singapore is also a major trade hub. Second to Shanghai, they are the largest port for transporting in the world. It’s a prime location for new ventures. It’s proximity to other Southeast Asian countries, India, and China make it a good hub with access to millions of people. All in all, I have a favorable opinion.
This is why men needs to have more sex than women…
Yes. And when they arrived for the “noise complaint” I answered the door in my boxers with my 3 year old slung over my shoulder on one side and a long handled fish net containing a bat (as in a nocturnal flying mammal) on the other.
“Can I help you officer?”
“Is that a bat?!”
“Yes, excuse me for a moment.”
Handed off my kid to the rather confused officer, went about the necessaries of releasing the terrified bat from the net, set it down, and retrieved my kid.
“What can I do for you sir?”
“We had a noise complaint (it was two or three in the morning) but I’m guessing I understand. Have a good night sir.”
And then he left. Chuckling all the way back to his car.
Someone on Quora pointed out that Ireland is good at micro-efficiency. If you need to fill out a form, there will be a pen beside it. The security guy at the door can tell you which desk you need to go to, stuff like that.
So I apply this to my life. My bicycle is in the hall, with the lock, lights and reflectors all attached to it. I can grab it and go out the door, knowing I have everything I need. My bike bag contains a can of instant puncture repair and rain gear.
My keyring has only the keys I actually use, plus a small mirror for problems with contact lenses.
I only buy trousers with pockets with zips that will actually hold my phone and keys.
Every coat has a pair of reading glasses in the pocket.
Beside my passport, I keep a small plastic bag with a toothbrush, contact lens case and mini deodorant. If I have to, I can hit the airport with just those and I’ll manage.
I wash the muddy dog in the road outside the house, not the bathroom. She likes it better, the local kids help, and I don’t have massive cleaning up to do.
There is no one hack that does it all, it’s more about finding the most efficient way to get things done.
I worked for a company in Texas for a number of years. After my immediate supervisor retired, a new person from outside the company was hired to take his position. This guy was a complete sleeze bucket, he was really shady. I was given instructions that I was morally unwilling to do. I was given the choice to do it or pack up and leave.
I typed up a letter of resignation effective the Friday of that week and immediately left to visit my job sites in Louisiana and East Texas. On Friday as I was headed back home I stopped at one of my last job sites. The superintendent of the site informed me the President of my company was trying to get in touch with me and the owner of his company told him that if I showed up and did not contact my President, he would be fired.
I called him and he said when my resignation was delivered to the Senior VP in charge of my division two of my coworkers also turned in their resignations. Between the three of us, it represented 20+ years with his company. He and the SVP went to talk to my former supervisor. He was terminated on the spot and the three of us were asked to reconsider our resignations.
Well, this wasn’t actually a person. But it was the best case of ‘you just picked a fight with the wrong one’ I’ve ever seen.
I was at the park walking my dog with a friend and her dog.
Her dog was a rescue but from her brains, looks and behavior she was an Australian Shepherd. That particular day she was off in the distance chasing birds while my dog (also a rescue and at that point still quite timid) was hanging back with us.
Suddenly a pair of huge Great Danes appeared out of nowhere and decided to make a meal out of the Aussie. They started off far behind her but they were 5 times her size, so they closed on her quickly in a vee formation, with the Aussie at the point of the vee.
As my friend and I watched in horror, they gained on her until they were just inches from her, still closing in at an angle. We were sure she was a goner.
And then, just as they were about to grab her, she reversed on a dime and shot back through the narrow gap still left between them. The train wreck she left in her wake as the two clumsy oafs slammed into each other head first was awesome to behold.
We were still laughing when she reached us, trotting back with a grin just like the one in the picture on her face and her tail waving high.
Today feels heavy. I got up when it was still dark, way before sunrise because I wanted to do some work before my main job. I’m super tired. Coffee is like the juice that keeps me going.
In a few more minutes, I’ll go to work. I’ll be there for a long time. It’s supposed to be from 9 to 5, but I always need to stay longer. My boss says that’s what I should do to be a good employee. But even though I work a lot, my piggy bank isn’t getting any fatter, and everything else, like food and rent, keeps costing more.
Did you have a similar experience when you were my age? To me, this makes no sense!
Very frequently, I feel scared because I don’t think I’ll ever be able to stop working. It bothers me when people suggest we should save for retirement. They make me feel like I can’t manage my finances wisely. This is ridiculous. Savings? Lol, when will it happen?
Meanwhile, everyone seems to be so happy on the Internet. They post pictures with big smiles and seem to be having fun, but I think most are just pretending. Most of my friends are also running this “race” to success. Yet, most of them are also super tired, although nobody wants to say it out loud.
When I get home, I work my side hustle. Why? Because I went to a good college, and now I owe money, a lot of it. So, I work all day long, even when I should be taking a break or hanging out with friends. It feels like I’m on a bike pedaling super hard, but I’m not moving.
I need your help, Hector. How can I make this stop? How can I escape this miserable lifestyle and start making real progress?
Sorry if this was a long email. I hope you have some words of wisdom to open my eyes. I’m hungry for progress. To the best of my knowledge, I’ve done everything I was supposed to do, yet I don’t have the results I expected.
This is a tough one… but this is what I answered:
My friend, reading your email hit me right in the gut. I’ve been there, and let me tell you, it’s a tough spot. But you’re not alone, and you’re not the first to feel this way.
The first thing to understand is that this non-stop hustle culture we live in isn’t sustainable. It’s not healthy. Sure, working hard is important, but there’s a point where you’ve got to step back and look at the bigger picture. Are you working smart? Or just hard?
Here’s my answer thinking as an entrepreneur. I’m not saying this is right, so take this with a grain of salt. This is how I would focus my attention:
Health is the first step to wealth: Drop the caffeine and find a healthier way to stay sharp. If you burn out, you can’t make money. Period.
Forget the 9 to 5 myth: If your current job demands long hours with little reward, it’s time to rethink your career strategy. Maybe your skills are more valuable elsewhere. Ever thought about that?
Your net worth is not your self-worth: Stop comparing yourself to the fake TikTok life. Delete it! Focus on you.
Make time for what matters: You’ve got friends you don’t see because everybody’s “too busy”? Cut the BS. Schedule it as a meeting that you have to attend. Work will always be there. Relationships won’t.
Your side hustle: You’re working a lot and not moving forward? Maybe you’ve got a passion or skill you can monetize on the side. It could be anything. To me, your answer is found there.
Learn to say “NO”: This one’s tough but necessary. Set boundaries. Your time’s the most valuable asset you’ve got.
Get a game plan: Sit down and figure out where you want to be in 5, 10, 15 years. Then, work backward to make a roadmap on how to get there.
Take a break: Burnout is real. Sometimes, you’ve got to take a step back to leap forward.
Keep learning: You say you went to a nice college. Great. But learning never stops. There are a ton of free resources out there. Use them. Learn how to increase your expertise and generate extra income.
You don’t have it all figured out yet, and that’s okay. Most of us struggle with this.
Here’s the good news: It’s great that you’re asking questions. Stay open to change and find new opportunities. Keep searching for answers!
Most importantly, make sure you’re hustling in the right direction. The world has changed. It’s all about working smarter, not harder.
What am I missing?
Xi Jinping’s Global South Red Carpet: China’s WARNING to the Neocons
China has been rolling out the red carpet for Global South leaders maligned by the United States. This video explains why this is a stark warning to the neocons that they’re global order is FINISHED.
It’s the story of a mugger named Bob, who had a lot of money, but wasn’t incredibly happy.
Getting drunk and hiring prostitutes just wasn’t really hitting the spot anymore, he felt a little bit empty, he was having trouble sleeping at night, wondering if he was really doing the right thing, questioning the meaning of life itself.
When he spoke to people about it, many suggested changing his ways, no longer mugging people, and doing something else more productive instead.
Bob didn’t like that idea one bit! It sounded like a lot of work, for one. And it implied he had been doing something wrong?!? How dare they suggest that he was anything less than perfect!? Hearing that kind of stuff made him angry, not happy.
But then one day, Bob talked to one of the PR people working for the thieves’ guild, and it changed his life.
He sat there for hours, listening avidly. For the first time, he was hearing ideas that made sense to him, it was like music to his ears.
Bob the mugger learned that wealth is not a zero sum game. His latent feelings of guilt evaporated as he learned that getting money from someone, was actually the same thing as providing that person with a service. Wealth creation! Of course! That made sense!
He felt a bit like a courageous hero when all the risks he was taking were mentioned.
He had always suspected that if there were any issues caused by muggings, it was just because of over-regulation, and that it would all go much smoother if city guards would just stay out of it.
When he was told that he was an amazing person, superior to everyone else, and that people were just jealous of him, and that was why they didn’t like him… Oh boy! It stroked his ego in just the right way! It was exactly what he wanted to hear.
Bob the mugger walked away feeling GREAT! No more doubts, no more guilt, and no need to change anything either! He could go on mugging people, filled with confidence that he was making the world a better place, by caring only about himself.
And he went on to do great things!
He decided that it was time that he give back to the community, by providing some jobs for other muggers. And he didn’t stop there, he had a growth mindset, and built a huge mugging empire!
Bob the mugger became Bob the risk-taker, Bob the job provider, Bob the creator of wealth!
This unsung hero almost died asking himself that very same question:
Why does nobody understand me and my greatness? Why do they not understand that I’m creating jobs and wealth?!? Why do they keep talking about a zero sum game?!?
But then he remembered: They were probably all just jealous. And he died at peace with himself, soothed by his comforting ideology.
There’s a thing called the gambler’s fallacy that many of us fall for in so many situations.
The most simple example is if you are flipping a coin. You’ve landed on heads 10 times in a row. At that point, you might think that you have higher odds of landing on tails. Obviously, that’s not true — as it is always a 50/50 chance.
It happens during card games, sports betting, and all manner of games that we play. If you are playing cards and get five good hands in a row. It’s easy to start thinking, “You know, I’m actually kind of a good card player.”
Your ego gets involved and that’s when things get dangerous for your wallet.
Cajun Salmon Burgers with Lime Mayonnaise
On the table tonight: Cajun Salmon Burgers seasoned with McCormick® Perfect Pinch® Cajun Seasoning, panko, red bell pepper and onion. Top with Lime Mayonnaise for an extra-delicious Lenten (or any season) dinner.
Quora Prompt Generator, who is the “we” you’re referring to?
Are you referring to the U.S. government? Why be concerned? Biden’s been bitching that Apple should do their manufacturing in the U.S. China is now telling Apple’s producers to stay home in Taiwan. This is a good time to remind Apple to come home.
Or are you referring to Apple stakeholders? You should be very worried. Foxconn and Wistron had to abandon India because they couldn’t transplant and replicate their China production to India and are trying to work their way back to China. Apple has no other country that can produce its premiun models and would be in deep kimchi if Foxconn can’t recoup to build back their capacity in China.
Or are you referring to Apple, the company? Yeah, they should be running scared because Tim Cook knows Apple has no Plan B to fall back on. Why do you think he’s been practically camping in in China these past months?
Or is this the “royal we”, the general public so to speak? This should be taken as a good sign. China is doing their due diligence – not allowing any “sacred cows”. Entities like Foxconn should be audited to ensure that they’re complying with all rules and regulations in order that there is a level playing field and market competition for all.
Oh, sure, it might still happen, but it is increasingly unlikely with each month. The risk and threat level has passed.
The owners of the American “leadership” realize that alternatives to a global conflict with Russia, China and their buddy nations is not going to happen, as the USA would be smashed by catastrophic blows.
We are now is the LONG-SLIDE towards reconstruction surgery of the world’s governance system. The rest of the world are puking out the Western ideals, and governance. This pooling mess of hot blood stained vomit which going to get obvious and very unsightly as time progresses.
Most of the MM readership will be spared for horrific consequences that many of the West will need to endure.
The “news” will present a real mess. But, do not fall for that.
Everything is starting to settle out. It will appear that the world is in one giant blender, but that is not the full story. There is a sorting going on. There will be winners and losers. But it will not be like many fear.
The world War 3, started in 2007 (with the breakdown of American society) and the global war that started in 2014, peaked in 2022. A bit early. Welcome to the reconstruction phase.
…
I would now like to compare what we experienced with what John Titor has to say…
American civil war and breakdown
Titor said 2004, and fought in 2011
I observe / claim it began around 2007
“There is a civil war in the United States that starts in 2005. That conflict flares up and down for 10 years.“
World War 3
Titor said nuclear strikes occurred in 2015
I claim that it began in 2014. No nuclear strikes but a biological assault on china in 2019. NATO hot war with Russia in 2022.
“In 2015, Russia launches a nuclear strike against the major cities in the United States (which is the “other side” of the civil war from my perspective), China and Europe. The United States counter attacks. The US cities are destroyed along with the AFE (American Federal Empire)…thus we (in the country) won. The European Union and China were also destroyed. Russia is now our largest trading partner and the Capitol of the US was moved to Omaha Nebraska.“
I went to Europe early this year. Paris, Rome and Barcelona. I asked my wife “Where do they hide the fat people?” Things I noticed:
I did not see anyplace that was “all you can eat”.
The food I bought in the street was fresh and delicious. The strawberries were the size of grapes but so delicious and were meant to be eaten right away meaning no steroids or preservatives. I had some Brie cheese and I could taste the cow.
Food portions were small but I never left a table hungry.
My Fitbit said I met my goals as far as number of steps taken: at least 10,000 per day. In Positano, Italy it said I climbed the equivalent of 60 floors. In the US, I barely make 3,000.
Refrigerators are small. You don’t buy two weeks worth of food full of preservatives so they still look good after two weeks. We bought everything we needed to eat each day.
You walk everywhere. Burn those calories.
Netanyahoo’s Strategic Dilemma
Israel is a colonial settler state in permanent conflict with the suppressed natives.
It thought it could survive in that state, or even extend its settlements, by deterring opposing forces with its superior military.
Hamas has breached that deterrence myth by inflicting, in one day, more casualties in Israel than it had experienced in any previous wars.
Natanyahoo is under pressure to restore the deterrence, to again provide the Zionists with a feeling of superiority.
He can not do that.
Any land attack in Gaza means urban warfare in an already destroyed city with large underground facilities. During the taking of Bakhmut the Wagener forces had in total some 40,000 casualties (dead and wounded). The other side had more than 70,000. What price would the IDF have to pay to ‘destroy Hamas’?
The other factor is of course Hizbullah and other resistance groups, which may well attack Israel from the north and various other directions. Hizbullah has loudly said it would do so should the IDF enter Gaza. It has some 100,000 missiles – more than enough to exhaust Israel’s air defenses. Its longest reach missiles can attack any major city within Israel. There have already been daily fire exchanges at the norther border.
The 2006 war in Lebanon has shown that Hizbullah is dug in and very able to defend itself. It has since gained more experience by fighting ISIS in Syria. Neither U.S. air force attacks nor a land force invasion can hinder Hizbullah from firing its missiles.
(Syria, as well as Iran, will not intervene in the war unless they are directly attacked.)
Netanyahoo must attack Gaza to restore deterrence. He can not attack Gaza because the urban warfare would cause large Israeli casualties. He can not attack Gaza because Hizbullah would then destroy the myth of the superior settler state even more than Hamas has done so far.
Israel, with the help of the U.S., has tried to push the population of Gaza into Egypt. From Egypt’s standpoint that would be a humanitarian solution, at least as long as others pay for it. But it would cause a serious strategic problem. Resistance by Hamas and others against Israel would continue indefinitely, but Egypt would be held responsible for it. It can not and will not take on that burden.
Netanyahoo’s next idea was to starve Gaza. But the world will not let him do that. At least not beyond a certain point. Even the UN Secretary General has visited the Rafah crossing. Other global organizations, like the WHO and ASEAN, have spoken up. Pictures of starving people will make it impossible for the west to support that ‘solution’.
Meanwhile Hamas fighters will continue to sit in their tunnels, ready to defend their land, and likely with enough provisions to hold out for months.
Israeli settlers, with the support of the IDF, are rampaging through the West Bank. They are killing more Palestinians and further enrage the global public against their deeds. This will escalate.
Israel’s decision making is paralyzed. It will for now continue to talk of a ground invasion but will not launch one. It will also continue to starve Gaza.
But something will soon break. At any minute there might be a new large atrocity in Gaza or a pogrom in the West Bank. Any miscalculation in the north could launch that front into a hot war. Hizbullah could start to ‘preemptively’ invade Israeli proper.
But Israel’s Jewish public is still demanding a war of revenge. It still needs the restoration of its deterrence and superiority.
But what if that turns out to be impossible to achieve?
Well. Then something else must change.
As Adam Shatz summarizes in the London Review of Books:
The inescapable truth is that Israel cannot extinguish Palestinian resistance by violence, any more than the Palestinians can win an Algerian-style liberation war: Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs are stuck with each other, unless Israel, the far stronger party, drives the Palestinians into exile for good. The only thing that can save the people of Israel and Palestine, and prevent another Nakba – a real possibility, while another Holocaust remains a traumatic hallucination – is a political solution that recognises both as equal citizens, and allows them to live in peace and freedom, whether in a single democratic state, two states, or a federation. So long as this solution is avoided, a continuing degradation, and an even greater catastrophe, are all but guaranteed.
The Steel Casings used in 60% of the Missiles on earth comes from China
It’s either Grade 7 Or Grade 8 Customized Light Steel Alloy Plate (LSAP)
It can be used for reinforcing I beams or making missile casings
Likewise the Electronics for basic primitive rockets almost entirely come from China
They can all be purchased retail across the market and can be used for do it yourself drones to basic rockets capable of 40–50 km range depending on the fuel thrust
I know because that’s the justification China gave when the West said Russia was being provided with Chinese weapons
China said – we give the steel, the basic raw materials and chips. How the Russians use them isn’t our business
They can be used to make Deep Freezers or can be used in basic rocketry
The Hamas likely buy their raw materials from China on the open market by playing secondary orders from Saudi or Turkey
Delivery comes through Jordan or Egypt
It’s just basic steel plate and basic electronics, so nobody cares what it’s being used for
Chemicals also flood through Egypt into Gaza from China.
Chemicals that can be used to make explosives but also ball point pen ink
So China never sells Weaponry to Hamas
The Hamas uses Chinese Raw Materials and makes their own primitive, crude but effective weaponry
Advanced guidance electronics come from Iran
Chinese won’t go that far to sell more advanced electronics to Hamas. These have END USER CERTIFICATES and if Jordan or Egypt sell such electronics to Hamas , they will get into a lot of trouble.
You may convince the world Hamas is making ball point pens and cheap electronic stuff
Can’t convince the world, Hamas is building EVs or High Altitude Drones right?
Plus plenty of Drones come from Iran who have a near independent supply chain and some of the finest reverse engineering on earth
Iran also supplies a lot of Missiles but that’s mostly to Hezbollah
Plus a third source is from Ukraine via the BLACK MARKET through the Balkans
A $ 55,000 box of 10,000 Rounds of 9 Ammunition sells for upto $ 400,000 on the black market without an end user certificate
Hence a Ukrainian Unit could remove 50 Boxes and sell them for $ 20 Million and pocket the entire sum
Who will audit or count the rounds every day?
$ 20 Million is CHUMP CHANGE for Saudi Billionaires or Emiratis or Qataris
That’s 500,000 Rounds of 9 mm Ammunition
That can sustain gunfire for 50 days at 10,000 rounds and day and kill at least 400–500 Israelis
A $ 1250 tagged M14 Rifle goes for upto $ 5000 In the black market , so a corrupt Ukrainian unit happily sells 1000 Rifles for $ 5 Million and claims the rifles were damaged
So
A. They buy raw materials from China and build their own rockets and other stuff like chemical explosives
B. They get Drones and Better Chips from Iran
C. They get other stuff from black markets and other war surplus from Europe
Real Texas Chili
This classic Texas chili (no beans, no onion, no tomatoes) was created by native Houstonian Carter Rochelle, a professional fund-raiser. Former New York Times food editor Craig Claiborne once pronounced this chili his favorite and published the recipe in two of his cookbooks.
2023 10 18 17 04
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
Serve with pinto beans and chopped onion on the side to mix in as desired. Serve with crackers, tortilla chips, warmed flour tortillas or corn bread.
Ingredients
3 pounds boneless beef stew meat (chuck or round)
6 ounces beef suet (hard white fat), cut into pieces (see note)
3 or 4 garlic cloves, crushed
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 to 6 tablespoons chili powder, or to taste
8 tablespoons Masa Harina (Mexican corn flour)
6 cups hot water
2 tablespoons vinegar
2 teaspoons instant beef bouillon or beef bouillon cubes
Red chiles, crushed or dried and chopped, to taste (optional)
Instructions
Remove gristle and most of fat from meat; cut into 1/2 inch or smaller cubes (some of the beef should be chipped or flaked).
Place suet in large skillet or heavy kettle and render it (cook until fat melts).
Skim residue off rendered suet; discard residue.
Add meat to hot fat and sauté until lightly browned.
Add garlic, salt, black pepper and chili powder. Mix well and let seasonings permeate meat a few minutes.
Sprinkle in Masa Harina and mix, stirring rapidly until smooth.
Add water, vinegar, bouillon and chilies. Reduce heat and simmer until meat is very tender; some of the meat should virtually dissolve into the chili.
If chili becomes too dry while cooking, add a little water from time to time.
Correct seasonings.
When done, skim fat from surface. (You can refrigerate overnight and scrape hardened fat off before reheating.)
Notes
Because of health concerns, many chili cooks substitute 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup vegetable oil or shortening for rendered beef suet, which is a highly saturated fat.
Originally Answered: If a startup has a great product why don’t people buy it still?
Startup mistake:
“I have a great product. Come and buy it!”
“I have the best business idea. You should invest in it!”
“My product is the best in the market. I deserve your money!”
—
I’ve made this mistake so many times, it’s painful!
It’s probably one of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make when starting their business.
The challenge is to make decisions RATIONALLY, not emotionally.
Entrepreneurship is complex because we act on our emotions, but we should make all decisions with data. Without the proper guidance and discipline, it’s very easy to make mistakes.
Now, there’s no negative judgment of failures, just lessons and growth. You’d be surprised, though, how history repeats itself over and over again down through the ages. The most successful companies and entrepreneurs have learned this the hard way.
Examples:
1957 — Ford Edsel
Ford invested $400 million into the car, but Americans wanted smaller, more economic vehicles. FAILED.
1975 — Sony Betamax
Sony kept Betamax proprietary, meaning that the market for VHS products quickly outpaced Betamax. FAILED.
1985 — New Coke
The “Pepsi Challenge” ads were responsible for Coca-Cola trying to create a product that would taste more like Pepsi. FAILED.
1993 — Apple Newton
Apple’s great idea was ahead of its time. The technology wasn’t there yet. FAILED.
2006 — Microsoft Zune
The Zune was targeted to take over Apple’s iPod. It didn’t. FAILED.
2006 — HD-DVD
HD-DVD was the hi-def replacement to DVD, but Sony led with Blu-ray built into their Playstation console. FAILED.
2009 — The Nook
Amazon’s Kindle is cheaper and syncs up easily with Amazon’s account. FAILED.
2014 — Amazon’s Fire Phone
Amazon’s Fire Phone released in 2014 looked competitive. Amazon discontinued the phone 13 months after its launch. FAILED.
2019 — Google+
“Google+ was one of the most ambitious bets in the company’s history,” Eric Schmidt wrote in his book, How Google Works. It was believed that it would be a Facebook killer. FAILED.
To answer your question, if a startup has a great product, why aren’t people still buying it?
People don’t buy products or services — they buy results, benefits and solutions.
PUSHING your products and services to the consumer is a recipe for failure.
Startups commonly fail because they waste their most scarce resource (cash) on advertising and promotions. The ‘in’ reality is that marketing goes in one ear and right out the other.
Solution?
Figure out your niche in the market; DON’T try to sell to everyone.
Understand their hurts and their frustrations. Why is it that they will buy your product? Example: people don’t buy eyeglasses, they buy vision, the benefit!
Learn to feel like them to a point to deeply understand them.
Communicate their problem in their language. Listen to them, don’t guess what they want — talk to them. What you think they need is very commonly notwhat they want.
He was irritated to come out to a secretary’s desk and find she wasn’t yet seated. She was in the lounge putting away her coat and then fixed herself a cup of coffee, and she sat down at 8:36 — instead of 8:30.
It happened to be a morning of extreme stress and he really needed all hands on deck that morning. Got it, but he was very short-sighted. The 6 minutes didn’t change the course of the day, but his Memo to Staff certainly did.
He circulated a memo to all staff which said something to the effect of:
“The day begins at 8:30. Not 8:36, or 8:40, or when you found a parking space, or when the coffee was ready. If you need more time, plan your day accordingly and make your cup of coffee, and find your spot, and hang up your coat, earlier than normal. 8:30 means in your seat, at your desk, ready for the day’s work to begin. Not coming through the door.”
Okay — we got it. Well, I was a paralegal at the time, and I put in SO many more hours than the 40 hours I was paid for. I arrived early, left late, frequently delayed lunch, often didn’t take breaks on busy days preparing for trial.
His memo so back-fired, that every single employee was grumbling, not just the secretary. As it happened, I was the most affected (in a positive way, actually) by this policy memo because I was the staff member who had the MOST lost-time from working beyond my schedule. I was never late, so he didn’t have a problem with me, but he also abused my time more than anyone else. There were months where I never took so much as a coffee break. Often ate lunch at my desk while working. Seldom left at closing time. Often came in on Saturdays or Sundays to help get ready for Mondays. I just always shrugged it away and took it as “part of the industry.” A trial litigation practice is stressful and schedules need to be fluid.
He didn’t appreciate that, so we responded as a group of 16 employees with total solidarity.
We were AT our desks at 8:30 a.m. We LEFT our desks promptly at 5:30. We took our breaks and our lunch hours exactly on time.
It was a disaster.
I was the first to respond. “Sorry, I can’t help right now. My lunch is 12 to 1, and I have to stand up at 12, and sit back down at 1, so this copy project would make my lunch “12 ish to 1 ish.” I’ll start on this at exactly 1:01 p.m., when I’m back at my desk.”
I also left at exactly 5:30 p.m. I stood up, put the cover on my typewriter, and cleared my desk. He said “Can you just—-” and some paperwork in his hands.
“No, I’m sorry. My day begins promptly at 8:30 and ends exactly at 5:30. I’ll help with that tomorrow.”
I left.
Everyone did the same. All week.
“No I’m sorry, I’m required to take a 10 minute break in this hour.”
“No, I’m sorry, my lunch begins in 15 minutes at 12:00, and that’s 30 minutes of dictation you want transcribed. I’ll begin exactly at 1:00 when I’m IN MY SEAT and AT MY DESK.”
He realized the petty nature of his Memo to Staff within 2 business days, and sent around an apology memo within a week of disastrous results.
He then sent us all out for an extended lunch of 2 hours — on the house. He didn’t come.
His memo said “Go complain about your boss over a 2 hour lunch — on me.”
Oliver Anthony – I’ve Got To Get Sober | REACTION!
I had a friend who I knew smoked Marijuana among other things. I chose not to partake of any of this so he would walk away do his thing then come back. No big deal… well it had a few months since we had been able to hang out and decided to meet up at a local festival. I was having gall bladder issues at that time. The day we were to meet I was in the middle of a very severe “attack” but chose to go anyway because I missed him so much. I told him this when I arrived. After about 2 or so hours he said he wanted to go “smoke” so I sat listening to a band while I waited. And waited… and waited. Over an hour waiting on him while I was very sick and in pain. I finally left. I later found out that he decided to go drop acid instead. He forgot I was there because he was so messed up. That was the last time I saw him. If drugs are more important than our friendship then I don’t need you in my life.
David Cross: Why America Sucks at Everything – US American Reacts
I LOVE YOUR TINY LITTLE VOICE, WHY DON’T YOU SAY IT LOUDER FOR MY FRIEND TO HEAR TOO?
Drill Instructor Sergeant Ferry was the most merciless individual ever known to man. He would punish you for something as simple as not sitting properly and play mind games with recruits just to kill time. Sergeant Ferry had little tolerance for any sort of discretion and was the most hated man out of all the Drill Instructors in our platoon since he was the designated disciplinarian or otherwise known as the Kill Hat.
During Recruit Training, there was one particular class where we were educated on the benefits of knowing a foreign language then told to sign up to take the Defense Language Proficiency Test, if we claimed to be bilingual. I signed up to take the DLPT for Vietnamese and was promptly removed for one entire morning along with a few other recruits from other platoons to take the exam. The Drill Instructor escorting us to the Receiving Building where testing was held, was none other than Drill Instructor Sergeant Ferry.
While we were waiting for the proctors to set up the computer lab, Sergeant Ferry had a few remarks for us.
“If you pass this test, you will earn the chance to get paid extra money every month, and probably go on missions requiring speakers of your language.” he growled.
“Be the one to fail and I will make sure your life is absolutely miserable when you return to your platoons.”
Luckily for me, I passed the DLPT and could not have been happier as I walked back to my platoon’s squad bay alone after a well deserved lunch.
Later on that evening in a rare moment of sanity, Sergeant Ferry was loudly lecturing the platoon on the importance of being a well-rounded Marine. At some point in his speech he said, “IF YOU KNOW A SECOND LANGUAGE LIKE VIETNAMESE, YOU CAN GET PAID FOR IT IF YOU PASS A QUALIFICATION TEST AND GET EXTRA MONEY IN YOUR PAYCHECK EVERY MONTH!!”
While he did not mention my name at all, I felt that was his way of saying “Good job Vu for passing the exam!” without stating the obvious.
After completing the Crucible a month later at Camp Pendleton, the contract Private First Class Marines in the platoon were asked on which Drill Instructor they would like to pin them in the promotion ceremony that was held before our Warrior’s Breakfast. I chose Sergeant Ferry to pin me as a PFC.
As he was pinning on the chevrons onto my collar, Sergeant Ferry said in a hoarse voice, “Getting promoted to Private First Class and getting paid extra for speaking Vietnamese? I’m damn proud of you Vu”.
He shook my hand with an iron grip and I felt humbled as he walked to the next Marine.
Is China’s WhitePaper a global rescue plan or a global threat?
It’s a great question, there is a new White Paper and China is “threatening” to lead the world into a different place – who benefits and how?
I’m a nurse. When I was a mere student (many years ago now), I was doing my stint in A&E (ER for my American friends). It was a Saturday night. I had requested it specifically, as I wanted to see some “exciting” cases. I was put onto triage with a qualified nurse, to see how the system worked.
The department I worked in was in the city center, so a lot of “walk in” patients. About 8pm, in walked 2 young lads in their late teens, early 20’s. One with a broken nose, the other with a possible fractured jaw. They had been “set upon by a group of guys in the city”. They were seated, awaiting X-ray. We also informed the special constable on duty attached to the department (auxiliary police) about a possible assault case.
About an hour or so later, an old guy in his late 70’s to early 80’s walked in. He had what we call a “boxers fracture”.. basically, a fracture of the hand that is normally sustained by punching something. What we found interesting, is that the old guy was not medically trained, but came to us saying “I’ve got a bloody brawlers fracture, haven’t I?”. How did he know? He said he had been “set upon” by two young lads who had tried to mug him.
Well, I finished my shift, went home and on Monday morning heard the rest of the story.
The old man and the two young men had seen each other in the X-ray dept. The old man had started shouting, saying “those are the ones that attacked me”. The police had been called, the two men questioned and arrested.
A week later, I came in for one of my last shifts in the department and, in the staff room, there was a newspaper cutting from the local press saying something along the lines of “Hurricane Harry wins his final bout”.
The old man, at about 84, had only just stopped training local boxers. He was an ex prizefighter, had been an army middleweight champion during the war and devoted his life to boxing. Set upon by two young lads, he decided to teach them a lesson in respecting your elders haha.
China’s First 28nm Lithography Tool to Be Delivered This Year
Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment (SMEE), China’s most successful lithography scanner manufacturer, reiterated plans this week to deliver its first scanner capable of producing chips on a 28nm-class fabrication process by the end of the year, reports TechWire Asia, citing newspaper Securities Daily, which in turn cites an unnamed source.
For SMEE, its SSA/800-10W scanner is a breakthrough since the most advanced scanner that the company has today is only capable of 90nm and thicker fabrication processes. A 28nm-capable lithography tool will over time enable Chinese chipmakers to rely on domestic lithography equipment for a range of mature technologies.
The move is part of China’s broader goal to achieve semiconductor self-sufficiency and reduce its dependence on foreign technology. But the question remains as to whether SMEE can produce this scanner in mass quantities, and when it can make such scanners available to substitute for machines from ASML, Canon, and Nikon.
The latest export regulations from the U.S. government prevent Chinese chipmakers from accessing tools and technologies essential for creating non-planar transistor logic chips under 14nm/16nm dimensions, 3D NAND chips with over 127 active layers, and DRAM ICs with a half-pitch smaller than 18nm. Restrictions from the Netherlands, Japan, and Taiwan that went into effect earlier this fall further isolated Chinese firms like SMIC and YMTC from advanced tools. These limitations impede their ability to produce chips using their newest manufacturing processes, notably SMIC’s 14nm/12nm and 2nd generation 7nm as well as YMTC’s 128-layer and 232-layer 3D NAND.
As a result, China needs advanced domestic lithography tools to ensure that its chipmakers can produce chips on even fairly advanced process technologies, such as 14nm. For now, it looks like Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment is on track to reveal its 28nm-capable SSA/800-10W scanner, which it will ship either to SMIC or a chip research intitute.
After it does this, it will still take some time for the chipmaker to integrate the new scanner into its production flow. However, it will only do this only if SMEE can produce a sufficient number of such tools.
There is a myth that is way popular. It’s not a myth, actually, it is a myth within a myth.
Myth-ception.
You must have heard this statement before: “NASA invested $1,000,000 to develop a pen that works in space, while Russia used a pencil.”
Why did I say this is a “Myth within a Myth” (Myth-ception)?
Here, I’ll explain:
Facts that show that the statement is a myth:
Before a proper Space-Pen was developed, astronauts from both the USA and Russia used pencil in space.
NASA never spent the $1,000,000 to develop a pen that works in zero-gravity of outer space by themselves.
Russia itself, along with the USA, uses a space-pen today.
The fact that busts the myth present within the myth:
A normal pen can work in space!
Who told you that a normal ballpoint pen won’t work in space?
Let me explain it to you properly.
In the initial days of space flight, scientists were unsure about whether or not normal pens would work in the hostile conditions of outer space. And the capsule in which astronauts were sent into space had very little space to send only the essential stuff. So, they couldn’t send some normal pens along with pencils just to try.
They couldn’t risk the situation by sending only pens instead of pencils. What if an astronaut inside the ISS (International Space Station) takes a pen but it doesn’t work? There is no stationery shop floating outside the station to buy another pen or a pencil. If the pen they took wouldn’t have worked, no instruments would be available to write.
Hence, all of the astronauts had to take pencils with them. No pen was given a chance.
In 1967, during the launch rehearsal test of the 1st Apollo mission, a cabin fire took place. This fire killed all of the three astronauts present in that crew.
After this incident, engineers tried eliminating all of the flammable items in any space mission. The pencil was one of them.
But what do you use if a pencil is eliminated?
Then NASA turned towards the man named Paul C. Fisher. This man had patented an “Anti-Gravity” ballpoint pen in 1966.
Fisher was the person, who invested his own $1,000,000 to make a space-pen, independent of any organization. NASA approached his company after the pen was launched.
Now, some people think that the pen itself costs a lot. But the thing is, the cost of a million dollars was spent to make the pen. NASA actually bought the pens for a cheaper price (around $6 per pen).
Now I will come to why we don’t use normal pens in space (even if we can).
What I think is, after reading all of this history, people just assumed that normal pens don’t work in space. But the situation is a bit different.
I did an analysis of the mechanism of all types of pens and came to an amazing conclusion.
For you to understand that, you will have to know how a space pen works. And for you to know how a space pen works, I will have to explain how a normal pen works.
Basically, pens are divided into 5 main categories:
Fountain pen
Rollerball pen
Felt tip pen
Ballpoint pen
Gel pen
Now, I will tell you the mechanism of each type of pen.
Fountain pens
To understand its mechanism, it can be divided into three parts:
The Nib
The Feed
The Reservoir
Structure of a regular Fountain pen
To know how things look in real, I broke my own ink pen:
I’ll explain the function of these three parts, starting with the reservoir.
The reservoir contains a cartridge which holds ink. This part is broad and the ink can move independently under the action of gravity. The job of this section is to hold ink and supply it to the feed.
A pipe starts from the reservoir and it sends ink to the feed.
This pipe has 4 thin channels — 3 for ink and 1 for air.
Now you would ask, “Why a channel for air?”
Well, let me make it clear with an example.
Take a plastic bottle and fill it with water. Make a tiny hole on the cap. Invert the bottle so that the cap is facing down.
Does water start flowing? NO.
That is because of the atmospheric pressure (air stops the flow from below). It is just like pressing the hole with a finger. Water won’t flow out of the hole (even if gravity is supporting you in this case).
You will have to squeeze the bottle to get water out of it.
The reason for the water not flowing out is the absence of air above. If water gets out of the hole, a vacuum will be created above (since the water level has to go down). We know that this is impossible. There must be some way, by which air will be filled in the upper section as the water level keeps moving down.
You can do this by making a hole above (on the base of bottle). Now, water will keep flowing from the hole made on the cap (without squeezing the bottle).
As water moves out from the hole, the water level keeps decreasing from above – this leads to the formation of vacuum – which, in turn, sucks air from the opposite hole.
A similar mechanism is used in the Fountain pen.
The only difference is that – the hole for air is made near the same point, where the three holes for ink flow are made (instead of making one on the opposite).
When you glide the nib on the paper, ink flows out from the three channels and air keeps getting from one channel. This air goes through the feed and reaches the reservoir. (This way, the air is filled in the space emptied by the loss of ink.)
Hence, constant flow is maintained.
Here is the structure of the feed:
Structure of the feed
The feed consists of three parts:
Wings
Fins
Post
I have mentioned the function of each in the image.
Here is the structure of the nib:
Structure of the Nib
I have mentioned the main components, with their functions, in the image.
Now, coming to the main point.
Why did I mention that there are 3 thin channels for ink in the feed?
That is because these channels introduce Capillary Action in the fountain pen. The movement of ink through these channels happen due to capillary action, and not gravity.
See, the two components that drive ink downwards, inside a fountain pen, are:
Gravity — inside the reservoir (Because it is broad, hence, no capillary action can take place).
Capillary action — inside the thin channels of the feed (Because they are way thinner).
When the ink exits the feed, it enters the slit of the nib. The slit is also very thin. Hence, the ink flows from the breather hole to the tip of the nib, by Capillary action, again.
My point here is to explain that if we use this pen in a zero-gravity spaceship, it is bound to work for some time (thanks to the capillary action). But… once the feed is emptied, the pen will stop to work. The ink in the reservoir (cartridge) will keep floating and won’t come down.
Also, there is another big disadvantage of taking a fountain pen to space.
You must remember the role of air in the functioning of an ink pen (as I have mentioned above). We know that a spaceship has an oxygen supply. But, if an astronaut takes a fountain pen outside the spaceship, the absence of the atmosphere will make the pen function-less.
Coming to the Rollerball pens:
This type is said to be invented in 1888.
The most common example of this kind of pen is Trimax.
To understand the internal structure of this pen, I had to break my own pen.
This answer required a high budget. LOL.
The upper section of my Trimax (a rollerball pen). The Feed and The Nib
You can see that this pen has a lot of similarity with the fountain pen.
To show you how all of the parts of this pen look, in detail, I used my simple microscope to zoom at each part of the Feed and Nib:
A detailed structure of a Rollerball pen. The visible parts were zoomed and pictured using my simple microscope.
You can see that the Fins part of the feed is similar to a fountain pen.
The main difference is created by the Post and the Nib.
Instead of having a pipe with four channels, the post of this pen is a porous substance, which transfers ink by suction.
This porous material was inserted in these pens, during their invention period, for easy writing on rough surfaces.
The Nib is the same as the ballpoint pen. I will explain the structure of the ballpoint Nib in the section of how ballpoint pens work.
I removed the ballpoint nib of this pen and this is what I was inside:
Inside the Nib of a rollerball pen. (Imaged under my simple microscope). It is the same extended porous material (that caries ink). Just a metal nib is added over it.
We don’t need a separate channel for air since the refill of the pen is open from above.
Talking about this pen to be used in space:
We can say that the flow of ink can happen in the absence of gravity, through a suction-based cloth type material. But the main issue is the Water-based ink used in this type of pens.
Water-based ink has a very low cohesive force. That is, the molecules in that ink aren’t attracted to each other at a large scale. So, we can’t assure a constant flow of ink. The pen may stop writing at a point.
Coming to the Felt-tip pen:
Common examples are Regular sketch-pens.
The mechanism is way similar to that of rollerball pens. The flow of water-based ink is maintained through suction, using a similar porous material.
The only major difference that I could notice was — they don’t have a ballpoint nib.
I showed you how the nib of a rollerball pen looks when you remove the metal nib. That is exactly how a nib of Felt-tip pen looks. The nib is nothing but the same continued section of porous material.
Why can’t we use these pens in space: Same reason as with the Rollerball pen → the damn water-based non-viscous ink.
Coming to the main contestant — Ballpoint pens.
These pens have a simple structure. There won’t be a need to discuss the mechanism of a refill.
The only complicated part is — the ballpoint metal nib.
The mechanism of the Ballpoint metal Nib. I have labelled all of the parts, with their functions.
In the image, I have also explained the working of the ballpoint pen.
I won’t be discussing the gel pens because they have the same mechanism as that of ballpoint pens. The only difference is in the ink. Gel pens use Water-based ink.
Coming to the main issue:
Why can’t we use a ballpoint pen in space?
Who said that we can’t? We can!
In 2003, an astronaut named Pedro Duque took a normal ballpoint pen with him, to confirm the fact. He found that the ballpoint pen worked pretty fine. He wrote 4–6 paragraphs in his diary and the pen didn’t stop!
According to my analysis, this happened because of the Oil-based ink present in the refill of a ballpoint pen. This ink is highly viscous and sticks itself pretty well. Cohesive forces (among the molecules of this ink) is very high.
So, for the pen to work, we need a small driving force that could maintain the flow of ink. The Capillary action inside the thin nib is enough for it.
See, the refill of a ballpoint pen is thick and it can’t build a capillary action. On earth, this part relies on gravity.
But… when you take this pen to outer space (zero-gravity), the small section near the nib will suck the ink under capillary action. This will drive entire ink because of the “stickiness” of that ink. It will have a continuous flow.
Now you would ask, “Then why don’t we use normal ballpoint pens in space?”
The thing is, zero-gravity is not the only issue. There are other problems like extreme temperatures (cold and hot), UV radiation, lack of atmosphere outside the spaceship.
The issue is the same: If astronauts take normal ballpoint pens with them and they stop working somehow, there is no stationary shop floating outside the spaceship. We can’t risk. Hence, the space-pen was bound to be made.
The Space-Pen:
Paul C. Fisher spent his $1,000,000 to make a pen that overcomes all of the limitations of other pens.
Every pen has some drawbacks, which pose a risk to be dependent upon. I have tried to mention all of these drawbacks from my analysis.
This pen uses refills which contain pressurized nitrogen gas inside them. The pressure forces the ink out of the nib even in the absence of Gravity and Atmosphere.
The ink used in this pen is extremely viscous (like jelly). So, continuous flow is maintained even in zero-gravity.
Also, the materials used while manufacturing is chosen such that the pen can write even in extremely hot and cold temperatures. The shocking part is that this pen can also be used to write underwater.
So, here we are. At the end of the Myth-ception.
I hope that I was able to clear all of the myths, along with the myths present within the myths.
I’ll keep it simple. The US earns 1 trillion a year and spends 2 trillion right, they make up the shortfall by printing a trillion every year – they issue T bills. In the normal course of events printing the equivlent of your yearly GDP would create massive inflation and your economy would collapse.
However. The USD is used for most of the trade on the planet so all of that money gets to share the inflationary pressure – all countries suffer the inflation and so (given that all countries are ‘inflating’) there is no inflation. All of the currencies are inflating at the same rate.
When other countries (BRICS countries and more) move away from the USD that not only takes USD out of circulation (incresing inflationary pressure on what is left) but makes those (BRICS) countries more immune to the inflationary presssure.
So the problem that the US has with it is that it’ll totally fuck the US. Which is as it should be.
My ex-fiance’s mom and I were incredibly close. We used to spend all our time together when she visited, even when her son was at work.
Then, the heart-wrenching day came when I had to break the news about his infidelity. She was nearly as devastated as I was. We had planned our wedding for six months down the road, discussing every tiny detail with excitement. She often expressed how proud she was that I would officially become her daughter-in-law.
However, her son didn’t share her sentiments.
When we split, I never got to say goodbye in person because they lived far away. Within a week, I packed up and moved back to Spain to heal with my family. We exchanged messages, and she confessed that part of her was relieved we hadn’t met to say goodbye because she didn’t know how she would handle it.
Fast forward a year, we still keep in touch on WhatsApp (her son and I definitely do not!). I’m solo traveling in Australia, and she checks on me. She remembered my birthday and even shared what would have been my wedding day with me. She continues to be my mother-in-law in spirit.
This past Christmas, she sent me a message that brought tears to my eyes. In their family, everyone had a special bauble on her Christmas tree. She told me to add one because she considered me family. I bought a simple, beautiful one.
Christmas 2018, I thought about that bauble and how life changes. Two days later, she messaged me, asking about my trip to Bali for Christmas and New Years. She sent a photo of her beautifully decorated tree, saying, “Your bauble is still on my tree, and it will be every year xx.”
I was truly fortunate to have her as my mother-in-law.
Oliver Anthony is Single-Handedly Destroying the Recording Industry
Oliver Antony chose an unconventional path to fame and fortune. In the process, he showed other artists how to break the backs of the recording industry. All you need is strong vocals, a good message, and a Youtube channel to rake in millions of dollars without any censorship of your message.
My last name is not exactly common. Especially in northeast Ohio where I grew up. In the Cleveland area, if you know someone with the last name of Breaux, they are most definitely closely related to me.
So, there I was working for Geek Squad. I arrived at a client’s house to perform some kind of repair on an older guy’s computer. I introduced myself and we made a little small talk on the way back to his office. He pointed me to the office chair and told me a little about the problem. When I booted up the computer, it needed a password so I asked him to type it in.
“I’ll just tell it to you. You look trustworthy. You might want to write it down, though.”
I grabbed my notepad and a pen and nodded to him.
“B”
“R”
“E”
“A”
“U”
“X”
I just stared at him, confused and a little freaked out. Why was this guy’s password my last name?
I must have just looked confused because he chuckled and said “It’s my middle name. Strange, I know, but I was named after a close family friend growing up in Detroit.”
My jaw almost hit the ground. My dad and grandfather were born in Detroit, my Great Grandfather had moved there in the early 1920s. I was pretty sure he was the only Breaux that moved up from Louisiana at that time.
After I collected myself, I showed him my ID badge and his eyes lit up and he got a huge smile on his face. It turns out, it was my great grandfather that he was named after. He remembers my grandfather as a child and used to play with him when their dads would visit each other. After my he and my grandfather joined the military to fight in WWII, they lost contact and never spoke again.
I may have spent much more than my allotted time at that client’s house, but I got to hear stories of my grandfather as a child growing up in Detroit. I wouldn’t have traded those stories for any number of extra clients that day.
My pops was an active duty SEAL for the first 30 years of my life. Many (most?) of his closest friends are former SEALs. Many of my friends and acquaintances were also raised by frogmen.
Note: I’m going to speak in broad strokes here, but I’ll do so with care.
*Understood Incorrectly*
Strictness Speaking generally, yes, they are tough dads. But probably less strict than most Marine fathers or the expectation many of you have. Perhaps family life is a welcome break from a day job that involves being hard.
You learn respect early. Talking back isn’t tolerated. But it isn’t extreme. Most SEAL communities are teamwork oriented, there are levels of compassion and understanding that underlie their tough outer core.
Put simply, they teach their children a lot of lessons that don’t involve kicking the shit out of kids on the playground.
Lineage Most team guys don’t pressure their kids to become SEALs.
In fact, I can’t name a single son who followed in his father’s footsteps.
Why? Well, for one, it is an extreme career path. You need to be near-born with a desire, a calling, a primal urge to pursue it. Anything less isn’t enough.
I’ll further speculate, many fathers may feel the same trepidation that a pro athlete feels when they see their son also pursuing a pro-sports career.
They know that their kid may be setting themselves up for failure. With SEALs as with a pro sports career: most are not cut out out for the task in front of them.
Also, serving screws a lot of guys up. Physically and mentally, SEALs see a lot of bad things and have a lot of bad things happen to them.
Quick tip: when you find out someone’s dad is a SEAL, don’t let your first question be, “Why didn’t you join like him?” The question is beat to death.
*Understood Correctly*
Quiet Warriors They don’t talk about what they do. Never heard anything. And believe me, I’ve asked.
Philosophy Someone who joins the SEALs has an underlying belief that evil exists in this world. And that becoming a SEAL will give them the best opportunity to help rid the world of darkness, help protect the weak from those who would do them harm.
Tangent to that, being allowed to operate with (arguably) the most elite group on Earth, is a privilege. You’re given access to high-level equipment, training, and above all, the most talented peers available. Service is, again, seen as privilege.
Consequently, humility is a strong value among team members. I’ve seen that humility frequently passed down to their children.
Values Driven They tend to pass along a strong sense of values and orientation towards right and wrong (again good vs evil). Most are conservative. Many are also religious (Christian).
Physical Fitness Most SEAL families are indeed athletic. Staying physically fit was always held in high regard, a sign of work ethic and self-discipline.
Overall, it is a great experience. I’ve only lived one life (that I know of) and given the choice, I think I’d repeat.
The Chinese government treated its people way better that the U.S. treated its own people.
Let’s put things in perspective not be foolish to repeat US narratives on CCP, China and the Chinese people.
Freedom. The U.S. has 9 times more per million in jail than China! For a nation calling itself the land of the free, this is simply shameful. US has a law that disallow its people to drink a beer on the streets but allowed lethal military weapons and today the U.S. has more mass random shooting incidents in a week than China has in a decade! Freedom to shoot and kill but not free to drink a beer on the go! China allows you to drink alcohol and beer as long as you don’t disturb the peace but one is not allowed even a 4” blade in your pocket.
Living Standard. The U.S. has stopped growing in real living standards since 1960. Today it is fast deteriorating. Your inflation is 5 times higher than your income growth since 2020! The poor is getting poorer and up to a million live in tents on the streets. And 50 million has joined the poor from the middle class. China grew real standard of living 30 times in 40 years from 1980–2020 alone! China’s inflation is a shade below 2% and its growth is way past 6%! China’s middle class is today close to 700 million or more than twice the entire U.S. population!
Disparity of income. The Rich in the US is filthy rich and the poor is dirt poor. The U.S. has many companies which is too big to fail! Not China, even the richest man will be hold accountable and even the biggest company need to be held responsible. The U.S. 1% owns almost 90% of the wealth and the 99% share the 10%. The rich influence the government and dare I say owns the government! Not in China. People comes first.
Safety. In China one can roam the streets at 3 am in the morning alone! In U.S. chances of you being robbed or rape is very high. Even shot to death is likely. Cops in the U.S. can necked you to death and shoot you all due to the colour of your skin. If the cops don’t get you the racist or the mass random shooter can kill you anytime! If you lose your mobile phone. Chinese cops get it back to you within hours!
So grow up the U.S. government don’t care about you. They take care of big pharmaceutical companies and military industrial complex and National Rifles Association and weapons manufacturers! The U.S. government are put in place by these companies. They owned the government.
Travel and tourism. Chinas has more high speed railway than the entire world put together. US failed to complete 100 kilometres line from LA to San Francisco after 20 years. During this time China put up 120K miles of high speed railway! It is cheaper and more convenient to travel for everyone in China.
Free Medicine. China offers universal health coverage for everyone rich or poor. No one dies because the don’t have health insurance. The Rich pays more and the poor lays little or none. In the U.S. 35% of Americans. Cannot get treatment because they could not afford health insurance.
Free Education. In China if you kids qualify for college. Chinese government provide it free. In the U.S. your kids get into debts just for attending college!
Chinese government is so much better than the U.S. government in China. Admittedly one cannot attack their own capital like Trumps supporters did in Washington in China. But we don’t mind.
The Best Near-Death Experience I’ve Ever Heard
“The best NDE I’ve ever heard.” Rosemary Thornton had a near-death experience (NDE) while undergoing cancer treatment. She instantly found herself on the other side in a white room where she conversed with God and Angels before going to Heaven. Rosemary’s near-death experience (NDE) showed her what happens after death, what angels look like, and that there is life after death. Her near-death experience (NDE) provides more evidence/proof of an afterlife.
It is unconstitutional for the U.S. government not to recognize its debt and pay interest on it. After the Civil War, the Supremacy Clause and the 14th Amendment established an obligation for the federal government to recognize and pay its debts, even those incurred during times of insurrection or rebellion, such as the Civil War. This constitutional principle serves as a foundational element of the nation’s financial stability and credibility. Therefore, the US government must follow its own laws to pay the bonds owned by China.
The United States has not defaulted on the principal or interest payments of its government bonds. The U.S. government has a long-standing reputation for honoring its debt obligations, both to domestic and foreign bondholders. This commitment to debt repayment is a key factor in maintaining the country’s financial stability and credibility in the global financial markets.
To default on the interest payments for bonds held by China, the United States would need to amend the constitution, a process that has not occurred since 1992, and identify which bond is held by China, a task that is impossible to carry out. In addition, these actions carry severe repercussions for the United States, including the potential for substantial economic and financial upheaval, harm to its global standing, and interruptions in government services. China could respond by liquidating its entire bond holdings, causing a crash in the bond market. Given these considerations, it would be less painful for the U.S. to meet its obligations by relying on future inflation and higher interest rates while printing more money.
A new mom boards a city bus, holding her baby in her arms. She deposits her fare, and greets the bus driver.
The bus driver asks her how old her baby is. She turns the baby around so he can see it and says proudly, “Just a week old, sir”.
The bus driver takes a look at the baby and exclaims “Wow, that’s literally the ugliest baby I’ve ever seen!”
Crushed and angry, the woman walks down the aisle of the bus and finds a seat next to a man.
The man notices she’s fuming, and asks her “Ma’am, you seem upset. What’s the matter?”
“The bus driver just insulted me saying really mean things. He was not a very nice person at all.”
The man quickly replies, “Wow, I’m so sorry to hear that! Tell you what, you should go right back up there and give the bus driving jerk a piece of your mind and demand an apology. And while you do that, I’ll hold your monkey for you.”
First Time You Realized America Really Messed You Up – Part 1 – US American Reaction
The old man was walking with his wife at the local shopping mall.
He analyzed the latest Amazon’s Pop-Up Shop and searched for music products and couldn’t find any.
He continued to walk around and has a déjà-vu, “WOW! There’s a huge opportunity here!”
“What do you see, my love?” The old lady asked with eyes of admiration.
“Imagine how many people walk here everyday… everyone loves music, and there’s NO music store in all the shopping mall! I’m going to pushour son Luigi to open a music store here!”
Oh dear, you’re old but still a visionary genius! I’m sure Luigi will love the idea!”
They excitedly hurry home.
“Son! Sit down right now and listen to me! You won’t believe the amazing opportunity I just found. Your future is guaranteed if you follow my wise advice.”
“What are you talking about, Dad? Tell me about it,” Luigi asked, taking a seat.
“I WANT you to open a music store at our local mall!” Old Mario said with authority.
“But Dad… that doesn’t sound like a good business anymore,” Luigi refuted fearfully.
“Don’t you be disrespectful to your father’s wisdom, Luigi! He’s offering you an opportunity of a lifetime!” Mom interrupted.
“But people don’t buy music at a shopping mall any more, Mom. It doesn’t make sense!”
“You listen to and obey the wisdom of your father. All those grey hairs are there for a reason! Your dad has already got a line of credit for you.”
Luigi had a bad feeling about this, but with no other choice he had to trust his parents.
He goes to the bank and takes a 100,000 dollar loan under his name and opens the music shop.
Four years of hard work and no results. Luigi is devastated. The market has changed. People don’t buy music CDs or cassette tapes anymore.
Moral of the story?
Luigi invested 4 years of his life into this venture, lost everything and now has to start all over again, but now with a financial burden of $100,000 that he must repay over time.
Mom and Dad feel deeply disappointed about Luigi’s incompetence.
Devastated and confused about his inability to make a living, Luigi must continue living with his parents while he reinvents himself to find a decent job.
How will Luigi get out of this financial mess?
Now, to answer your question, which famous career advice will be abandoned 10 years from now?
“Go to college and pay with a student loan!”
The story above is obviously a sarcastic story of what’s happening to a whole generation of young adults.
Careers are changing, and parents are still forcing youngsters to study outdated degrees.
Jobs are changing, and parents don’t understand it.
Once graduated, many find themselves jobless and parents blame their child for incompetence.
Young adults need to start all over again to find a real path into the future, but now with a financial load that won’t go away.
At nearly $1.5 trillion, the student debt problem is out of control and will soon become a problem of historic proportions.
Elites ‘are in the grip of a pseudo-ideology of control’: Former CIA analyst
Former CIA analyst and Author Martin Gurri says the world is incrementally moving towards authoritarianism as elites embrace a fragmented “pseudo ideology of control”. Mr Gurri described protests as being “hollow ideologically”. “In the end, it’s the rule of experts, the rule of science, the rule of justice, as defined by the people in charge,” Mr Gurri told Sky News host James Morrow. “You need something to be that something; you can’t be something with nothing. “You’re not going to beat a pseudo ideology of control, until you work out an ideology of freedom.”
Many years ago I drove into NYC to visit a friend for the weekend. Sunday evening I started up my car to drive home and smoke came out of the front end, which is never a good thing. I called AAA and some thingamabob was busted (I don’t remember which part) and needed fixing in order to drive the car. Being a Sunday, not much was open, but I found a car repair place that could do the work, so I had my car towed there. They said yes they could fix the car, but mysteriously all the credit card machines were broken, so I’d have to pay cash. They wouldn’t even take a check. Of course ATMs had a limit to the amount of cash you could take out per day, and the daily amount was less than what was needed, so they said I had to stay in NYC until I had enough cash before they would do the repair. I felt like they were holding my car for ransom, but there was nothing I could do. Fortunately I could stay at my friend’s place, but this meant I had to take Monday off from work. There was something about this place which didn’t seem right, but I don’t know a lot about cars and I didn’t know what else I could do.
By Monday afternoon I had amassed enough cash for the expensive repair, which didn’t take long, and got on the road to drive home. I wasn’t too far from home when the new part stopped working and smoke came out of the car again. Once again AAA towed me, this time to my mechanic. He took one look at the part and told me they had installed an old broken down part instead of the new one I had paid for. He had to pull it out and now install the actual part I had paid for. I was furious. Fortunately he knew what agencies to report this to in the State of NY and said he’d prepare whatever statement was needed to support that I was ripped off.
The next day I started calling and filing reports and claims against this shoddy repair facility in NYC. So the agency that handles such things went there to get their records and while there noticed so many things that were in violation of standards that they ended up revoking their license and shutting them down! Also turns out they had had their eye on this place and my reports were the evidence they needed to put them out of business for good.
For good measure, they also got a certified check from the place not only returning all funds that I had paid, but also including all the costs I paid to my mechanic to actually do the correct repair as punitive damages.
So for ripping off an out-of-state woman, they ended up paying for my repair and getting their business shut down. Sometimes crime doesn’t pay. Revenge is sweet.
How much longer can a group of Nations keep threatening the world and sanctioning them unilaterally?
Of course everyone will take precautions
Russia started from 2014 itself. They bore the worst brunt of the sanctions from 2014 and it cost them almost $ 1 Trillion of GDP growth
That was a much tougher sanction package because Russia was completely unprepared
By Contrast in 2022, Russia was already slowly and surely capable of withstanding fundamental sanctions, had many alternate payment systems and had a very strong trade pact with China
image 167
They had 8 years to ensure their Dollar Assets and Euro Assets were buried cleverly and untraceable. They had 8 years to ensure that every dollar of western assets in Russia was monitored strongly
The present Sanctions package was a Joke without China. If China had stood apart, Russia would be in big trouble because it had no alternate currency buttress or payment system or all those wonderful industrial supplies and components
Luckily China realized that they were next in line and decided this was the time to stand strong with Russia
image 168
Once that happened, the Sanctions became near worthless to Russia but devastating to EU, UK and USA
Simple Example :- Russia refused to export Fertilisers to UK and US and shipped their entire stock to India and China. US immediately Comandeered all of the Canadian surplus and had no issues but UK suffered a 43% shortage and it’s translated in the shelves of supermarkets
image 170
Plus Obama, Merkel, Cameron were intelligent leaders who knew restraint
image 166
Biden, Blinken, Ursula, Scholz and Sunak don’t know their face from their arse.
image 165
Putin and Xi can cook them for breakfast and run rings and rings around them
This is probably the least known fact of World War 2, that you never have heard of, which is a shame because it’s quite interesting.
During WW2 millions of Poles became refugees after Germany’s invasion of Poland in 1939. The Soviet Union deported almost a million Poles and sent to freezing Siberia, where many died.
As a result, hundreds of thousands of Poles decided to flee, and they did this by crossing the Caspian Sea from Russia to no other country than Iran!
Over 116,000 Poles sailed across the Caspian Sea. The majority docked in the port city of Pahlevi, where they were fed and quarantined because many were carrying lethal diseases such as malaria and typhus.
When Polish refugees were loaded on to trucks to relocate from Pahlevi to Tehran, some Iranians threw objects at them. The frightened refugees thought they were being stoned — but they soon noticed that the objects were not rocks, but rather cookies, candies, and food.
They were warmly welcomed by both the Iranian people and government. Hundreds of buildings were built to house them, and Polish schools, businesses, and cultural organizations were established.
These refugees now had clean beds and plenty of food, after they had spent years in freezing and disease-ridden conditions.
Despite Iran being a country under occupation by the British and Soviets, and even though starvation and poverty were widespread, the refugees were warmly welcomed and witnessed the famous Persian hospitality and kindness first-hand.
The Polish refugees were nourished more by the smiles and generosity of the Iranian people than by the food dished out by British and Russian soldiers
– Polish scholar, Ryszard Antolak
After the war, many Poles decided to stay in Iran and build a life for themselves here in Iran.
Tehran also has a Polish cemetery (called Dulab) which houses the graves of more than 2,000 Poles.
I had worked with Frank for many years. we did application support for an IMS based system and Frank knew that system inside and out. when the word came that there was going to be downsizing, Frank was the least likely one to be displaced. He got along with everyone and did the job better than anyone. The manager that had to decide the person to leave picked Frank because he challenged her on some topics and he was not very subtle. So on Friday Frank was let go and got a severance package. then it was announced that they would fill the open slot via a contractor. Frank knew the head of the consulting firm and called him up. the consulting firm hired Frank Friday afternoon and on Monday Frank was back doing his old job, getting paid 30% more, was hourly instead of salaried and worked from home instead of coming to the office. That manager lasted a few more years, but eventually she was let go as well. Frank was legend and everyone loved telling that story of how he was able to turn getting let go into a huge positive.
Taqueria Guacamole
2023 10 18 17 06
Ingredients
2 ripe avocados
1 lemon, juiced
1 plum tomato, seeded and chopped
1 small white onion, finely chopped
1 medium fresh jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
Coarse salt
Instructions
Halve avocados lengthwise around pit. Remove pit with a large spoon, then scoop out flesh into a bowl.
Squeeze the lemon juice into bowl.
Add tomato, onion, and jalapeno.
Mash guacamole with a fork to desired consistency.
Militarily? I would say on par, I know yanks will always say they are, but I don’t think so, a few years ago? Yes, definitely, but theses days,? Not any more, if they went to war? Neither could win, they will both be destroyed, actually in my view, the whole planet would be. Because it would definitely evolve into WW3, and the nukes will start flying.
industrially? Definitely China there is no doubt about that, simply because of numbers, and work ethics, they can build rings around the USA,
in technology? Also close on par, the USA might have a slight edge, but again it comes down to numbers, China just has so many more graduates.
so over all? I guess China gets the gold medal,
that’s the main reason why the USA is so toxic against China to try and keep them down, instead of improving themselves? They prefer to squash any competition, but this time it’s not working, their boot isn’t heavy enough, and the meddlesome bug is to tough.
AMERICAN COUPLE React To Americans Living Abroad: First Time U Realized America Really Messed You Up
In my early days of work whilst on a summer internship. I didn’t actually see anything… I learned about/lived it. A guy in my office was having personality difficulties with our boss. Basically, the guy was older, smarter, more approachable and more helpful to his co-workers and the boss resented it. The writing was clearly on the wall that the boss had it out for him so when the guy was fired it was hardly a surprise to anyone, particularly not a surprise to the guy that was fired. He packed up and left quietly.
Fast forward a week… the office was starting to smell pretty rank. Everyone was checking their desks for a ‘forgotten lunch’ and orders came down from the top that the fridge and break room needed to be cleared out and cleaned or you’d lose whatever it was that you had stored there. Being the summer intern that somehow became my responsibility. Nothing overly offensive was found that could be the cause.
Fast forward two weeks… the office was uninhabitable. Everybody was sent home. I think they were about ready to bring in corpse search dogs to see if they could locate the offensive smell.
At the end of the third week (since the firing… the week after we were told to leave the office) were were notified that we would be returning to the office the following Monday (I’m not sure if it was paid or unpaid… I was an unpaid intern so I just had to do the work I was given from the local university library. Other actual employees did maintenance work from home during this time, but I don’t think a lot of work got done.)
Long story short, the cause of the smell trickled down to everyone — somebody pushed one of the false ceiling panels up and deposited a bag of fresh prawns into the ceiling cavity to sit during that hot summer. Nobody claimed credit for it and no names were given, but the fired employee’s ex-clerk received a card from the fired employee telling the clerk that he’d moved on to another job and would be happy to serve as a reference should the need arise (I think the fired employee was trying to bring his clerk with him). The kicker was the card was one of those nostalgic 1950s cards with a giant photo of a shrimp cocktail on the front of it.
Think about this simple maths. The U.S. is indebted up to 34 trillion dollars now! Within 5 years chances it’s that it’s debt level will exceed 50 trillion dollars! That is almost a certainty.
5% of 50 trillion dollars is 2.5 trillion dollars just to service you loan! That means the entire U.S. government budget by that time goes to paying interest alone!
No more money left for welfare services, infrastructure spending, healthcare services and every war it get into it will need to print and create money without basis. Americans must bear this in mind before you vote in your next president. And before you think the U.S. and fight another perpetual war!
China SHOCKED US! New LW-30 Laser Defense Tech Introduced
As China continues to invest heavily in research and development, its laser defense systems have become increasingly sophisticated, capable of detecting and intercepting a wide array of targets, including drones, missiles, and even low-orbit satellites. Today’s episode will cover China’s laser defense technology.
It was the middle 1990’s and I was living in Shreveport, LA. At that time, I was a principal engineer of the Electrical products group at Poulan Weedeater; a major manufacturer of outdoor appliances. The entire experience was Hellish. Shreveport was the “pits”; a hot crime ridden city well past its prime. The company was a real Hell as well, and my group was led by a rather egotistical tyrant.
I was pretty unhappy there.
The entire experience was all pretty awful. What made it even worse was my mentally ill wife who was just (at that time) entering the worst part of her mental illness. It was pretty horrible living with a mentally ill sick person. She spent most of that time (in our shared lives) going in and out of mental hospitals, and bouts of trying to kill herself.
Today, with that horrible backdrop, I wish to relate my first and hopefully my only serious heart attack. It hit me at a young age. I was in my mid 30’s. My wife was in the hospital in a medical coma as the result of a serious overdose, and I was busy working on a very aggressive design project.
My manager (at that time) was pretty ridiculous and insisted on 12 hour days, and at the end of the day called a meeting where he locked the door and had us endure a “group meeting” that lasted for around two hours. Roll-call was taken during this meeting and if you missed the meeting, you would be penalized. Many lost their jobs as a result for losing too many attendance points. And it was a real concern. After all, I needed the medical plan to pay for my wife’s treatments.
I was in the workshop and busy making a prototype of a electric hedge-trimmer when I noticed that I had two minutes to make the meeting. So I turned off the lathe, took a swig of Pepsi, spun around and then suddenly I had this massive pain. It felt like a big giant grabbed hold of a wire attached to my heart and pulled.
I crumbled to the floor. I really did.
I am not being dramatic. I just fell to the ground clutching my chest. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t do anything, I just gasped for air. And then…
…the event ended.
Somehow, was able to breathe. The shock was still there, but the pain faded away.
I got on my knees, and made it to the door to the meeting, and found that the door was locked.
(Sigh)
The next day, right before I left work to go to the hospital to check on my ill wife, my manager took me in his office and berated me for missing the meeting. He warned me that if I missed the next one that I would just forget about working there any longer.
(Sigh)
Two weeks later. I went to my doctor complaining about a weakness and fatigue that I was experiencing. I also needed to get my anxiety and stress medicines renewed. The doctor took me in and conducted a basic checkup and when listening to my heart had to check, and then check again. And then yet again.
Then she went and ran a check on my heart. Yup, my heart was not sounding right. And that was how I discovered that I had a heart attack, and that my heart was damaged by the attack. I ended up with “extra heart-beats”, from the damage.
Later on, when my wife got out of the hospital and was on the mend, she noted the bills for the extra heart related check ups and procedures that I had to have. She asked me what was going on, and I told her that while she was in a coma, I had a heart attack due to the stress that I was under.
Then the next day, while I was at work, she must have felt guilty and tried to kill herself yet again. Sheech!
Why?
Because I cared for a bat-shit crazy wife? Because I cared and did my best at a terrible job? Because I put others in front of me because they were my responsibilities?
Several months after 9/11, I had a customer come in wearing a shirt that simply said, in big, bold letters, “MUSLIMS SUCK”. So I approached the *cough* gentleman *cough* and explained to him that he couldn’t wear that shirt at our establishment, he would have to wear his jacket over it, go in the bathroom and turn it inside out, or leave. He asked why he couldn’t wear it. I explained that it incited hatred on the basis of religion and we didn’t tolerate that at our establishment. Now, having thrown many people out of a casino I’ve been called many things in my career, but next came the most colorful: “So what are you, a f*cking Muslim-loving, c*nt-ass b*tch?” I replied, “Well, now you just get to go home.” He informed me he would sooner leave in handcuffs than walk out willingly. I assured him I could arrange that for him. And I did.
I had a married couple who were dealers and happened to be Muslim. He came up to me afterward and thanked me profusely; the T-shirt had, unbeknownst to me, made his wife cry. I was more than happy to assure them harassment of their beliefs at work would never be tolerated. They were both wonderful people and just as distraught as the rest of us over the events of 9/11. The other guy was just a jackass.
. It sheds light on the challenges faced by Muslims in the aftermath of the tragedy and highlights the importance of standing up against hatred and discrimination. The story shared in this article perfectly exemplifies the need for understanding and tolerance in our society.
American ships near Israel could become another “Gulf of Tonkin,” Michael Maloof has said
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would like Washington directly involved in the conflict with Hamas because he hopes to expand the war to Lebanon and Iran, a former senior security policy analyst at the US Department of Defense, Michael Maloof, told RT on Wednesday.
the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford and five guided missile destroyers to the Eastern Mediterranean. According to Maloof, this “meets Netanyahu’s wildest dreams.”
“He wanted the US involved in this conflict,” the former Pentagon official told RT.
Netanyahu “wants to open up the war with Lebanon, by attacking Hezbollah” in pursuit of his ultimate objective, “to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities,” Maloof added. For that to happen, “he has to have a Gulf of Tonkin moment, if you will.”
Maloof recalled how US President Lyndon Johnson essentially started the Vietnam War by sending ships to the Gulf of Tonkin in 1964. An alleged North Vietnamese attack on two US destroyers was then used as a pretext for direct involvement.
The US has also pledged to help Israel with deliveries of weapons and ammunition, with the Pentagon insisting
it has enough to do so and continue supplying Ukraine. Maloof is skeptical of that assertion, however.
He also told RT it was “not surprising” that some of the weapons Washington had sent Kiev ended up in the hands of Hamas.
by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. Ukraine’s military intelligence, the GUR, responded on Monday by accusing Russia of sending captured Western weapons to Hamas militants in a “false flag” operation designed to make Kiev look bad to its backers.
Israel has neither confirmed nor denied the weapons claim, but rejected the Ukrainian insinuations of Russian involvement in the Hamas attack as “complete nonsense.”
Baked Beans Supreme
Simply delicious! Baked Beans Supreme can double as either a side dish or a main dish.
2023 10 12 15 43
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients
1/2 pound bacon
1/2 pound ground beef (I use a little more)
1 large can pork and beans
1/2 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon mustard
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2 to 3/4 cup brown sugar, depending on taste
1 small onion, chopped
Instructions
Cut bacon slices into 1 1/2 inch pieces, then cook. Drain grease.
In the same skillet used to cook the bacon, brown ground beef, then drain well.
Add bacon and ground beef to beans.
Mix in remaining ingredients. Bake at 375 degrees F for 1 hour or until brown.
Meanwhile in the USA…
2023 10 12 19 49
The Debt Clock is now quoting verses from Revelation!!
The US Debt Clock, set up in the 1980’s by a Billionaire named Durst, has – for the second time in history – quoted the Book of Revelation and placed religious symbols on the site. The firstt time it did this was on October 3. Why is this bastion of finance quoting End Times Revelation twice in six days?
Debt Clock Full Page 10 08 2023
On Sunday, 8 October 2023, at 9:04 PM EDT, the Debt Clock appeared as shown in the full screen shot below. Note the Biblical citation along the top man banner: “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a Trumpet” (Click image below twice to fully enlarge)
That Scripture, featuring Revelation 1:10 deleted at precisely Midnight.
We can also see a document or piece of art behind the verbiage
Alpha and Omega
7 angels and 7 candles (7+7) ?
Jerusalem and Palestine Maps of Christianity VERA HIEROSOLYMAE VETERIS IMAGO (HERE)
Turns out, It’s a drawing of the map of Jerusalem from Ezekiel’s prophecies.
Revelation Ch 1 vs 1-20 7 lights/candles 7 angels
The “debt clock” has always been a professional thing. It was in New York and then, later, it went online. It is run by a billionaire family . . . the same family since the 1980’s.
What are they trying to tell us? That this is the end of our monetary system?
After all, complete economic collapse is one of the seals in Revelation.
End of financial system?
FIRST TIME – OCTOBER 3
Back on October 3, of this year, the Debt Clock showed — for the very first time — another Biblical verse:
““And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and Overthrew the tablets of the moneychangers”
I have no idea what it all means, except maybe this billionaire family is trying to communicate something to us; and it sounds apocalyptic!
The clock’s first incarnation was installed in 1989 on Sixth Avenue between 42nd and 43rd Streets, one block away from Times Square, in New York City by real estate developer Seymour Durst, who wanted to highlight the rising national debt.
At that time, the national debt was almost $3 trillion and 50% of the gross domestic product (GDP).
Up until the week before his death in May 1995, Durst himself adjusted the tally via modem. After his death, his son Douglas became president of the Durst Organization, which owns and maintains the clock.
As of September 2009, Douglas Durst’s cousin Jonathan “Jody” Durst was taking over the day-to-day operations as president. In an interview with The New York Times, Jonathan said that maintenance of the clock is planned “for years to come.
I don’t know all about Scripture. I’m not a Priest, or a Rabbi, or a Preacher, or a Reverend. Heck, I’m just a Holiday Catholic – went to church on Christmas and Easter. But at the ripe old age of 61, I absolutely believe there is one, Almighty God, whether he is called Jehovah / I am that I am / Yahweh. I also absolutely believe he begot one son Y’Shua / Jesus who I am taught is the Christ / Messiah.
So being as I am Scripturally ignorant, and not any kind of Bible thumper or expert, I am not even remotely qualified to interpret this. But I CAN tell you this looks bad to me. I take this as a harbinger of imminent doom.
Practicing neurosurgery for years I saw many strange things, but one that comes to mind was a young man who had been in a car accident. I had been informed that my 8 o’clock surgery had been delayed because of an emergency. They wheeled the patient down the hall on a gurney. He was conscious and sitting up. Attached to his head was the rear view mirror from a car. The mirror had a small metal sphere on its end, part of the mechanism used to adjust the mirror’s position, and that was inserted into the right frontal bone of his skull. There was no bleeding and inspection at surgery showed it had not penetrated the skull into the brain. I still have mental images of this kid. He looked so silly with a rear view mirror sticking out of his forehead. And then there were the inappropriate thoughts … how could this happen? … was he trying to see what was behind him? There is always a bit of humor in medicine. We laugh or otherwise we cry.
When a good friend, from the Marine Corps, was K.I.A., his eldest brother cracked open the deceased’s apartment, before the funeral had taken place. My friend’s widow, also deployed, hadn’t even been notified, yet. By the time she knew of the situation, their home had been ransacked by nearly twenty members of two families.
I called the brother, and offered him an out, which he blew off. Over the next ten days, I contacted each of the offending parties; only two responded, and not favorably. Then, acting on the widow’s behalf, I hired an attorney and filed police reports. I went to the D.A., who filed 98 separate charges against all of the perpetrators, including the management and owners of the complex.
After sixteen months of legal crap, nine of the family members(one was an attorney, another a university economics professor) were convicted of misdemeanors, spent between thirty and sixty days in jail, and paid both restitution and fines of $500.00–6,000.00. The eldest brother, an electrician and small-business owner, now a felon, spent eight months in jail; the widow sued him and won a $450,000.00 settlement. The apartment complex ended up terminating the managers; and, they paid the widow $2.9M.
Not one of these people had been a criminal, prior to the incident. They were simply ignorant, greedy assholes, who deserved everything they got.
What Do People Think of “Socialized” Medicine? – REACTION
However, the global chip industry has been upended by US machinations and the inevitable Chinese response.
This is a matter of life and death for the Chinese economy, and not just its tech industry, because a small office in the Department of Commerce can hold the Chinese to ransom through liberal application of US IP control, under the guise of “national security”.
The entire global supply chain of advanced materials, design tools/software, manufacturing hardware, control systems and finished chips has already been disrupted by arbitrary American orders to stop doing business with Chinese entities. The Chinese have no choice but to treat all foreign entities as potential risks that can seriously disrupt the downstream economy, because even humble household appliances contain chips today.
This is an existential issue, and makes cost competitiveness irrelevant as a barrier to entry. The Chinese will create completely indigenous chip supply chains at various nodes to satisfy volume demand, down to the tools and materials. This will inevitably lead to a glut in global supply, and create new business models from the ashes of ex-China competition. Given the huge sunk cost for foundries, the bulk of subsidies being doled out aplenty by Joe’s administration to “derisk” will go up in smoke, because there is a finite market and limited application for the cutting edge.
That is, however, merely the best-case scenario.
What if the Chinese make headway in the premium, cutting edge segment? In other words, what if the mainland begin to make the world’s best chips in the next 5–10 years, using original hybrid solutions? Whether it is transistor geometry, material chemistry, logic layout, node shrink dividend, or some other breakthrough, I don’t put it beyond them. My friend in the industry certainly think it is possible, because she knows firsthand the quality and quantity of talent on the mainland side.
That is a scary proposition, China becoming both Mercedes and VW in the chip business.
Expect a hairy ride for the material and tool enablers in the coming years, because their customers will have to critically examine the assumptions baked into obsolete business models. Unfortunately, they will have to navigate an uncertain future, courtesy of Joe’s administration turning on the fog of war through economic coercion. The Chinese are playing among themselves, and this is a walled garden that western intelligence will find hard to penetrate, even if they employ Chinese diaspora.
The chip business will never be the same again.
South Korea Betray U.S and E.U: Invite China Xi Jinping!
One day, my car was hit in a car accident. The police found that it was the other person’s fault and took him to jail for not having insurance. When I went to see what I should do next, I found out that someone bailed him out. Until now, things are okay and I thought that it’s going to be okay. 9 months in, the guy doesn’t answer any calls and claims that I’m the one who should be blamed for the accident. People at the station knew me because I come every few days (don’t blame me as fixing the car is estimated to be $4,000). Anyhow, they advised me to go and escalate to the head of that station and see what can he do. I went there and gave him the entire story. Once I was done, he called someone from his office and told him to help me close the case. I gave this guy everything and he made one call to the guy I’m looking for. I told him he doesn’t answer his phone. But surprisingly, the guy answered and I heard a lot of shouting and the guy on the other end of the line saying nothing at all. The call ended and immediately I got a call saying that my money will be ready tomorrow! I thanked the guy and asked him what caused him to change so dramatically. His answer was:
Chinese wants real freedom. Americans want pretend freedom.
If you cannot go to some parts of the city it is not freedom. If you cannot walk the street at 3 am it is not freedom. If your kids get shot just for going to school, it is not freedom. If U.S. with 4% of world’s population has 25% of world’s prisoner that cannot be freedom.
If you can get necked to death in open daylight due to your skin colour. That cannot be freedom. If you cannot have health care for not buying insurance it is not freedom to stay alive. If you need to get into debts just for going to college, that is not freedom to learn.
If 0.8% decides that you have only 2 choice Trump the greatest liar on earth and Biden a senile ignorant, to choose for president. It is not a freedom to choose.
And if you have to choose only between Democrats and Republicans and they both do shit and nothing change. That is not freedom to choose.
Chinese people don’t want the U.S. type of freedom ever. It is not freedom, yes you can curse your leader but is that such a big deal. We prefer to give polite advice. Not scream obscenities. I think Chinese are smarter. We cannot be easily fooled.
China Warns of Coming WAR as US Diplomacy Fails AGAIN ft. Scott Ritter
After a series of meetings this summer, China-US relations remain at a low point as China sends a warning to the US over its latest escalations in the Pacific.
The Asian Games in Hangzhou, which kicked off on Sept. 25, are not only a showcase of athletic prowess, but also a dazzling display of technological wonders. China has spared no effort to impress the world with its cutting-edge innovations in various domains. Here are some of the most remarkable examples of what I call “black technologies” that have made the games a spectacle to behold:
– Digital torchbearers: This is the first time that the Asian Games have used holograms to create virtual torchbearers who can carry the flame across different locations and interact with real people and surroundings. The digital torchbearers include some of the most famous and influential figures in sports, entertainment, and history, such as Yao Ming, Jackie Chan, and Confucius.
– Electronic identity registration cards: These are smart devices that replace the traditional paper-based accreditation cards for all participants. They can perform multiple functions, such as verifying identity, controlling access, monitoring health, making payments, and providing information. They also support various authentication methods, such as NFC, QR code, and biometrics, making them convenient and secure.
– Digital spectator service platform: This is a comprehensive platform that offers a range of features and services for both online and offline audiences. For example, users can watch live streams, replays, highlights, and VR videos of the games; chat with athletes, coaches, and experts; join quizzes, games, and lucky draws; and access information about venues, transportation, tourism, and culture.
– Intelligent robots: These are robots that can assist in various scenarios and tasks. For example, there are robots for guest reception, patrolling, firefighting, and distribution; robots for public performances, such as dancing and drumming; robots for sports training, such as playing table tennis and badminton; and robots for media coverage, such as interviewing and reporting.
These “black technologies” reflect China’s leadership in digital transformation and innovation. They also add to the cultural significance and social value of the Hangzhou Asian Games. By blending technology and culture, the Hangzhou Asian Games have created a new paradigm of sports events that is more intelligent, interactive, and inclusive.
, and invited famous Chinese actor Andy Lau 刘德华 to make a presentation. At the same time, Huawei was skimpy about specs for all the technologies which Huawei has been showcasing since late August.
The western media wanted meat, and they didn’t get it!
There WAS meat, but as usual, they missed it. Because that is what the western media does.
One common phrase which has become popular for Huawei in China is 遥遥领先， which means “…way way ahead.” This means that the technology, for instance NearLink 星闪, is way way ahead of competing WiFi and Bluetooth technologies, while being compatible with both. Both the WiFi and Bluetooth standards committees are controlled by the west, and because Huawei was sanctioned by the US Commerce Department, Huawei had no choice except to launch NearLink itself in its own Huawei products.
Huawei’s message was clear and simple: western-controlled standards committees would NOT hamper the pace of Huawei’s innovation. It would just deliver the technologies in Huawei’s OWN products.
The US Commerce Department will not set the pace. Western standards committees will not set the pace. Apple will not set the pace.
Huawei will set the pace.
The high entertainment point was the song My Dream 我的梦 which featured a conductor, a 52-piece orchestra, and a chorus. I don’t remember the lyrics, but it delivered a clear message.
“We have a dream and we will take our own path, and no one else will set the terms.”
The message to the US was clear: “We are going to lead in technological development, not because we are better, but because we work the hardest. Our work makes us the best, and we welcome others to come work with us. But no other country or government is going to dictate the pace of our developments, we are the masters of our own destiny. And we are going to launch our products and technologies ALL OVER THE WORLD.”
Dear readers, that was the Declaration of Techno-Independence which China delivered through Huawei today.
I can tell you exactly how we did it fifty years ago. I graduated from high school in 1967. I needed to know my father’s income in order to apply for financial assistance to go to college. Our family of 8 lived in a 4 bedroom, 1 1/2 bath Victorian style home on a quiet, dead end street (street was unofficially named Gooseturd Alley) in a small town in upstate N.Y.
Dad’s income – about $17,000 per year as a sr. technician for N.Y. Bell. Let’s call it $1,400 per month for the sake of this discussion. Considering the size of the family and all, he probably took home at least $1,100 after taxes. Overtime was routine and may have added 15–25% to his base pay. Of course, the job came with medical insurance for the family. I should add that Dad had no post high school education.
He also worked part-time during racing season at the local harness racing track. No idea how much he was paid, but we suspect a night out with the boys was more important than the added income.
Mortgage – $58.00 (yes, we bought the house for $8,500 in 1965 – those were the days). Sold it for $20,000 in 1980.
Cable – $15 [actually, we didn’t have a television until the following year (that’s right, I lived through my teens with no TV), but if we had one, we would get no reception whatsoever due to our rural, mountainous location. The $15 cable bill allowed access to all the N.Y.C. stations.]
Car payments – $0.00 (Dad paid cash for all of our cars up to this time. Current family car is a 1964 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu station wagon which Dad bought, with quite a few miles, a year ago for somewhere around $1,500, give or take a couple hundred)
Car Insurance – Probably about $100 per year — certainly less than $200. I bought my first car around this time and minimum required insurance for an 18 year old driver was about $100 for the year for my $225 car. I doubt Dad had much better coverage than I did.
Utilities – This is just a WAG, but let’s say $200. We paid for gas, electricity, water & sewer, heating oil (probably our biggest utility expense), trash collection and phone (1/2 price due to Dad’s job). Not including the aforementioned cable bill.
Groceries – I’m guessing $600 per month to feed our family of eight.
This comes out to a bit less than $900 per month in expenses.
That leaves about $200 per month for gas, beer money, bowling league or whatever. Our family very seldom ate out. There were no fast food joints. May have visited a restaurant once every other month, but it was probably much less often than that. Also may not have included whole family, because we had jobs/school.
Three of the six children were over the age of 16 and we all had regular jobs. All but oldest brother, who was in college (parents did not contribute to our college back then. Dad said he might be able to help one or two of us, but how can he morally choose which ones?) lived at home but parents had stopped giving any of us money since about the age of twelve.
Dad gave Mom money for groceries and household expenses. Mom packed his lunch. He drove about 25 miles each way for work. Sometimes he would carpool with his co-workers. Gas was around $0.25 per gallon and car delivered 18–20 mpg. Two tankfuls per week would cost $8.00. Family went on a two to three week camping trip every summer (didn’t include those of us who had jobs) and we made at least three trips to N.Y.C. a few years ago for the 1964–65 World’s Fair. All in all, both parents were quite frugal.
Family was very involved in church, school, community events. Dad volunteered his time to help hang Christmas lights downtown, the boys always came along to help. There was a community youth center with a pool, tennis courts, ball field, picnic tables, swings, slides and an events center that had roller skating on weekends and could be used for dinners, dances and other celebrations. Children pretty much lived there during the summer, and also hung about for the rest of the year.
Obviously, after expenses, there wasn’t a whole lot of disposable income left over. Yet, our parents managed to give generously to all the children every Christmas, could afford a modicum of leisure activities and we always had a warm house to live in and plenty of food. I would say we lacked for nothing. There were actually no recognizably rich people within 15 miles of our village. The richest person in town was owner of the local lumberyard and could afford a ’63 Corvette Stingray split window coupe for himself, a ’64 Chrysler 300K (with a 4-speed) for his wife and an Austin Healey Sprite for his son (total cost, perhaps $10,000). They lived in half a duplex across the street from his business.
The teachers at our school seemed to be the ones with the nicest houses and newest cars. They were always better dressed and drove nicer cars than the students. They did a good job, too, as nobody graduated from high school without learning how to read, even if they were held back until they were 20. At least two-thirds of graduating students went on to college and half of them received their undergraduate degrees in 4–5 years.
By the way, I didn’t qualify for financial assistance for college. Dad’s income was too high. I had a regents scholarship that paid tuition and an educational loan to pay for the rest.
My Scariest Cat Rescue – Locked inside with no food for weeks.
My Scariest Cat Rescue – I was so scared of what I would find. I was called to a house, in which the owner had died weeks prior. His cats had been locked inside with no food or water. I took a deep breath before entering.
My mother was a very tiny woman at 5′ and 85 pounds soaking wet. While driving cross country late at night in 1967 we were run off the road by a group of crazy looking hippies in three different cars.
We were in the middle of nowhere with no one else in sight.
They surrounded our car and kept yelling for us to get out. it was just my mom and us kids. My mom got out of the car holding a 22 pistol in the folds of her skirt. She politely told the hippies they should leave in a strong loud voice.
They laughed and one threw a bottle at her, she didn’t even flinch!
Then she said, very nicely, “ Alright then. Who would like to die first? “
They thought that was hilarious.
Then without missing a beat she spun around and shot a guy who was sneaking up to the car!
She shot his ear right off, the spun back and shot the leaders hat off his head.
They all took off running for their cars.
My mom jumped back in our car and took off like a bat out of hell.
She shot out a tire on each of their cars and we sped away.
We were all sitting there with our chins on the floor. Then my little sister, who was just learning to count, said, “ You only got one bullet left!”.
We all started laughing, mom too but then she started crying and cried all the way to our grandparents house.
I never forgot how strong she was or what a good shot she was.
When people talk about bravery and heroes I always think of my mom.
I just read David Swanner’s answer about getting $24,000 for a claim that he would have settled for $10,000. I’ve been there, too.
My small office was broken into. To set the scene, I had a small unit in a small shopping plaza. There was a large glass window across the front, and a standard commercial steel door with two panes of glass, one above the other separated by a steel plate.
The bad guys smashed the lower plate – leaving shards around the edges – and climbed through this small opening. They stole two ridiculously large printers – took two people to carry them out, crawling through the shards – both of which were not being used because of the expense of consumables, long since replaced by a more efficient one. They took 6 diskless work-stations – old has-beens that that had been piled up in a cabinet, long since past their useable lifespan. They took a tape back-up – a machine that, again, hadn’t been used for a few years. And they took my computer and monitor.
All I wanted were my computer and monitor back, and I had replacement-value insurance. So the claim was about $4000. But the company balked. Tried to get me to settle for $1500. This was standard – they knew I needed the stuff to get back up and operating, so they played hardball. Mistake.
I borrowed a computer and monitor, and prepared a revised claim – for 7 computers, two printers, a monitor, and a tape drive, plus full cost of data recovery. $24,000 on a replacement value basis.
Again they balked.
So I served a claim – $24,000 for the equipment, plus $126,000 for bad-faith dealing. I pay for insurance, I need the equipment, nobody denied the break-in, yet they weren’t paying.
The insurers hired a top-flight law firm. Cost them thousands. The matter came up for its hearing.
Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of exobiology, the study of life on planets other than earth!
It’s kind of restrained by the fact that we don’t know of any place in the rest of the universe that has any form of life, apart from our pitiful little light blue watery rock, but that hasn’t stopped people from trying.
image 88
Carl Sagan, working with a collaborator, came up with life forms that could perhaps exist on Jupiter, large “floaters” and fast “hunters” that ate them. This is one stage above “fictional”.
But we do know about chemistry! In fact, there are two entire fields of chemistry that focus on the chemistry of living things: “Organic chemistry” and “biochemistry”.
image 89
Diagram of the chemical reactions that make things “alive”.
Here’s the problem. It appears all this stuff needs liquid water to work. Here’s an example:
image 90
This is the incredibly simplified version of how plants turn carbon dioxide, water and light into sugar and oxygen. Just for the record, here’s how it works in practice.
image 91
Anyway, it won’t work with ice or water vapour.
Liquid water only exists in a very narrow range of temperatures and pressures.
image 92
And, yes, we call places where the temperatures are in that range of 0 to 100 Celsius the “Goldilocks” zone because its where liquid water could exist.
Now, there are lots of liquids that aren’t water that exist at other temperatures.
image 93
Like Mercury
image 94
Or propane
The problem is that these liquids are kind of limited in their abilities when it comes down to “breaking down” and “building up”. Mercury hates combining with other molecules. Propane (C3H8) breaks down rapidly in an oxygen environment but it’s hard to make (most of the earth’s propane is the result of, you guessed it, living things that broke down under heat and pressure).
One of the neat things about water is that other gases, like oxygen and carbon dioxide, can actually get dissolved in it. That’s handy if you’re a fish
image 95
And even better if you’re an aquatic plant
image 96
Now, we do know there are some really strange life forms on our own planet.
image 69
Thermal vents in the ocean are under massive pressure and because of that, water can exceed 100 Celsius near them. They still have a thriving ecosystem and modern hypotheses of the beginning of life on earth think that this is where life on our planet began, even though there’s no light (although thanks to the heat, there is lots of energy). However, these things still have DNA and use the same basic metabolic processes we do – they’re our cousins.
So, although we’re not entirely sure, we’re pretty sure that liquid water is necessary for life. When you start fiddling around with things like ammonia, methane and silicon, the chemistry starts to break down pretty quickly.
Starfleet gave up their search for Voyager 9 years ago.
This is fun.
A remarkable achievement from the mouth piece of Uncle Sam.
TOKYO—Huawei, China’s rival to Apple in smartphones and the world’s leading provider of telecoms infrastructure, is out to prove it isn’t just surviving Washington’s campaign to crush it, but is in the vanguard of Beijing’s drive for self-reliance in technology.
After the buzz around Huawei’s new high-speed smartphones, which appeared to show that China can swerve around U.S. efforts to block its access to cutting-edge technology, the company on Monday unveiled its latest tablets, smartwatches and earphones—supported by a homegrown challenger to Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, global standards in wireless communication.
Initially dubbed “Greentooth,” a moniker ditched as too lighthearted, it was rebranded “NearLink,” a short-range wireless technology that the company says combines the best features of both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi—and works with both. The protocol offers low-power, lightweight connectivity akin to Bluetooth, simultaneously catering to high-speed, large transmission, and high-quality connectivity needs akin to Wi-Fi. NearLink switches between modes based on the situation, Huawei says.
Set against the backdrop of increasing U.S. restrictions, Beijing has doubled down on efforts to achieve self-sufficiency in critical technologies. Chinese Premier Li Qiang visited private firms including Huawei last month, urging them to pursue international excellence and gain a competitive edge in the market through technological and product improvements.
Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are both wireless communication technologies, enabling transmission of photos, documents and other data between compatible devices. Developing wireless communications tech requires expertise in multiple disciplines, including signal processing, wireless communication protocols and software development.
Apple has spent several years and billions of dollars trying, so far without success, to make its own wireless chip. The latest iPhone still depends on Qualcomm for that component.
Huawei holds tens of thousands of patents covering essential technologies for data transmission in phones. To access high-speed networks, handset manufacturers must obtain licenses from or cross-license with companies such as Qualcomm and Huawei.
From June 2021 to May 2023, Huawei trailed only Qualcomm in the number of wireless communication network technology patents it published, holding more than 8,000 more than third-placed Ericson, according to a recent ranking from IPR Daily, a China-based media outlet focused on intellectual property. Ericsson was the inventor of Bluetooth, which is now overseen by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group, or Bluetooth SIG, the standards organization that licenses the technology to manufacturers.
In Huawei’s case, it had its access to several major global technology associations restricted following U.S. sanctions. Without full access, the company’s devices, including phones, tablets and laptops, could face limitations in using vital features such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.
Although it was later reinstated, it decided to develop its own technology, Huawei executive Wang Jun said in a 2021 interview with Chinese media.
Bluetooth SIG declined to comment on issues related to its members’ status. The Wi-Fi Alliance said at the time that it was complying with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s order by restricting Huawei’s involvement in certain activities, but it didn’t revoke its membership.
Huawei says NearLink uses less than half the power of Bluetooth, is six times faster, has 1/30th the latency or the time it takes for data to travel from one point to another, and supports 10 times the number of devices in a network.
NearLink technology was introduced in December 2021, with a focus on applications for cars. In August, Richard Yu, the head of Huawei’s consumer business, announced its integration into the ecosystem of their self-developed operating system for consumer devices. As he delivered that presentation, the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi icons typically seen on smartphones converged on the screen behind him into a green “NearLink” icon.
Yu said on Monday the technology found applications in consumer electronics, electric vehicles, industrial manufacturing and more, providing the interconnectivity for Huawei’s homegrown ecosystem. NearLink may prove vital as Huawei struggles to cope with the impact of sanctions that made it difficult to source the advanced chips needed to power its devices.
Yu didn’t introduce the latest high-speed handsets during Monday’s presentation, saying only that the company is working extra hours to meet demand.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said at last week’s hearing of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee that while she was upset by the announcement of Huawei’s new smartphones, the U.S. couldn’t find evidence that the company is able to produce devices with advanced chips.
A report from Canadian semiconductor-information platform TechInsights said China’s biggest contract chip maker SMIC, made the core chip inside the device, but that it also contained memory components from South Korea’s SK Hynix.
China’s technological rise is intricately tied to its global ambitions, leveraging advancements to expand its geopolitical influence. One example is Beidou, a substitute for the U.S.’s satellite-based Global Positioning System. China has also set a domestic standard for a new way of designing chips, while global chip giants also formed a coalition to create them.
In September 2020, China formed an alliance for the country’s own short-range wireless technologies that now includes more than 300 companies and institutions—mostly domestic—including state-owned telecom carriers and makers of smart devices and cars such as Huawei, Oppo, and BYD.
Huawei remains the world’s largest seller of telecom equipment, according to market research firm Dell’Oro Group. It commands about a third of the global market, with sales about twice those of the second- and third-ranked suppliers, Nokia, and Ericsson, Dell’Oro Group says.
Airstrike on Al-Sousi Mosque in Gaza without warning
At about 4:00 this morning here in the US eastern time zone, Israel conducted an Airstrike on Al-Sousi Mosque in Gaza without warning. Dozens of dead and dozens of wounded are on scene.
Said one long-time observer of situations between Israel and Palestinians “We are very quickly heading toward a Full-Scale War near the Gaza Strip and Southern Israel, this is Totally Out-of-Control.”
Refaat al Areer, a Gaza resident, tells Al Jazeera of what it was spending the night under constant sound of Israeli bombardment in the besieged enclave.
“We have run out of adjectives to describe the Israeli bombing of whole blocks, targeting Palestinian families as they slept, targeting mosques, businesses and residential areas.
“The night was unprecedented. We barely slept. The situation was terrifying.
“I think this is just going to be the beginning because the bombs have not stopped for 10 hours, not even for a minute.”
Hal Turner Opinion
This hit on a Mosque is going to have effects that none of us can anticipate. Emotions are going to run out of control over there.
Other countries in the region are already making known they intend to take military action.
I’m not certain where this thing is going to end up, but I can guess.
The Punishment for exporting a Class A Drug in China is D E A T H.
Today Mexico manufactures Fentanyl
The Precursor chemicals for Fentanyl come from China (60%) but also from India (21%), Vietnam (13%) and Bangladesh (6%)
And Fentanyl is crucial in managing cancer pain and post surgery pain
China sells precursor materials at the lowest rate and they are crucial for pain management
Does US ban the drug?
No
So HOW IS CHINA AT FAULT
That’s like blaming China because a car driver crashed his Tesla and killed a bystander
Sorry but when there is a demand for a substance and a market for the substance, it is the people who are responsible for becoming addicts and it is the Governments responsibility to control the addiction
Where there are buyers, there will always be sellers
I don’t say that
Tony Blair did
He didn’t apologize for the Opium Wars and blamed the Chinese
So now technically one should blame the Americans
They consume 80% of the world’s drugs with 5% of the world’s market
That’s Capitalism 101
So like the great Donald Trump Junior said on Nikki Haley
“SHE REALLY NEEDS TO GET LAID”
Jimmy Kimmel seemed offended but it was hilarious as hell
Having worked with my boss for a few years, we moved into new offices and he was gifted a tree for his office. I told him “do NOT touch the tree… I will take care of it so you don’t kill it.” The weekend before April Fools I went into the woods and got a few sticks the same size of the tree and some fallen leaves. Put the sticks into a jar (with rocks), took it into the office on 4/1, took the live tree out (put in closet out of view), and replaced it with the sticks and with leaves dropped on the floor. Then I went to my office. When he came in he was in a total panic… “I swear I did not touch that tree!!!” I let him suffer for over an hour blaming him for killing the tree before I brought the actual tree out. 30 years later he still talks about that event.
Today the Chinese Economy generates around 126.93 Trillion Yuan a year
However you can’t compare this to other economies because they aren’t based in Yuan
So you decide to see how much the Chinese Economy is valued in US Dollars
This changes from system to system
…
First under present exchange rates,you get 7.30 Yuan to 1 USD
So in US Dollars we get 126.93/7.3 = $ 17.38 Trillion
Thus we can say Chinas Economy generates goods and services valued at $ 17.38 Trillion
However the exchange rate fluctuates too much , too rapidly and thus isn’t a fair indicator of Economic growth value
…
So organizations often use a specific period of time to establish a exchange rate that is fairer
For China, the China Central Bank uses the Average 3 year rate which means 2021–2022, 2022–2023 and 2023–2024 which works out to around 6.64 (6.17+6.45+7.30)
This the GDP of China is estimated to be = 126.93 /6.64 = $ 19.11 Trillion
Another is a variance between the various GDP methods
China computes it’s GDP using the Production method which is how major exporters evaluate their GDP
However since most agencies are Western based, they use the Expenditure and Income methods
Via the Income method – Chinas estimated GDP is calculated at around 92.62% of it’s Production GDP , as reached by the IMF
This comes to $ 17.69 Trillion
This is called the Estimated Rate GDP Or Current Prices GDP
…
Those aren’t the only methods.
Via the Expenditure method – Chinas Expenditure is deemed to be around 7% higher than income and thus around $ 18.92 Trillion
…
Thus you can see four figures
$ 17.38 Trillion – Direct Nominal GDP
$ 19.11 Trillion – Base Rate GDP
$ 17.69 Trillion – Current Prices GDP
$ 18.92 Trillion – Expenditure based GDP
However the 126.93 Trillion Yuan never varies because that’s the real actual economic valuation of China
The Dollar valuation is how the world values Chinas GDP
Its true for all countries
For China they have so many numbers because China uses the Production method to evaluate it’s GDP, a method that the West abandoned many years ago and deems ‘Socialist’
It will be same for Russia or Saudi Arabia or Iran
Because China has 1.4 Billion people and plenty of development, the expenditure and income method also work
If you take Iran, the Production GDP is drastically different from the Income and Expenditure GDP
Let’s take India
Indias GDP is to be ₹272.74 Lakh Crore in April 2024
Thus the Direct Nominal GDP is 272.74/84.12 = $ 3.24 Trillion
Our RBI uses the 7 year Average base rate and arrives at 77.26 = 272.74/77.26= $ 3.53 Trillion
Since we don’t have a Production GDP
We have an expenditure based GDP which is accepted by the world and hence unlike China, there is no need to. Calculate it but accept the numbers India gives
Our Expenditure based GDP is thus EQUAL to the same $ 3.53Trillion
However our Income is around 94.1% of our Expenditure
Thus Income based GDP is $ 3.53*0.941 = $ 3.32Trillion
Russia also computes it’s GDP by Production and it’s GDP is estimated to be 161.11 Trillion Rubles
This comes to 161.11/100.18 = $ 1.608 Trillion
The Base rate is 4 years or estimated to be around 81.74 and so the Base Rate GDP is 161.11/81.74 = $ 1.97 Trillion
Income based GDP is calculated by IMF as 94.77 or $ 1.87Trillion
Expenditure based GDP is around $ 2 Trillion
To avoid this confusion we use PPP
The lower they estimate your nominal GDP, the higher is your PPP GDP
For instance if Chinas Nominal GDP is $ 17.38 Trillion as per the Direct Nominal GDP then PPP GDP = 25.33 * (highest exchange rate /variance of exchange rates) = 25.33 * (7.30/5.67) = $ 32.61 Trillion
So on a relative footing, Chinas PPP GDP is already $ 33 Trillion and higher than US
However China dislikes this system and prefers the nominal system
I prefer using $ 19.11 Trillion as its the fairest method in my opinion
Why America’s Plan to Contain China Will Fail
Thanks Trump and Biden for making China realized the dangers of not being self-sufficiency and self-dependency.
One day I went on my usual 4 mile walk on a trail near my house. About 3/4 mile in, I see a keyring and wriststrap lying on the ground. It contains 2 keys. A car key and a house key. I knew somebody was about to have a very bad day.
So I thought about it for a while and walked back to the beginning of the trail where the parking lots are. It is a fairly large park.
i started looking for a car that I thought the key would unlock. I had a rough idea of the make and age by looking at the key. After the 4th car I tried, I found it. Now the dilemma was what do I do? I wasn’t going to leave the keys anywhere visable. That would be an open invitation to steal it.
So I walked to my car, got pen and paper and wrote a note saying the keys were in the glove box, and placed the note face down on the drivers seat. I left the car unlocked and went back for my walk.
When I finished I was walking back to my car and saw a young woman standing by the car holding the note in her hand while talking on her cell phone. She looked overjoyed. I watched her start her car and drive away.
That was my good deed of the day. I was rewarded with a 5.5 mile walk instead of 4. 🙂
Why I Won’t Move To The USA – American Expat Life
Living abroad for 14 years has given me a unique perspective on the country that I come from.
Even though I’ve been far removed from the goings on I’ve always kept up with what is happening there and have challenged myself on whether expat life is the right life for me, or would moving to the United States be a better choice.
I believe it’s important to take a look at the financial aspects of life abroad and in this episode, I’ll bring up some comparisons specifically in regard to the cost of living in Portugal compared to the US, and the resulting implications for work-life balance.
But as an American abroad, there are some elements I also can’t help but look at such as the American work ethic, credit scores, and opportunities for small business.
Yet while there are positives that are possible to look at, there are approaches to life I feel are more common to find among certain cultures.
One such problem that unfortunately, I find more among many Americans is how material pursuits can overshadow some of life’s most meaningful moments and details that can be missed.
In this expat living abroad podcast episode of Not Your Average Globetrotter hosted by me, Rafael Di Furia, will take a critical exploration of American dynamics from an expat’s perspective.
I’m a huge fan of SAAB and had a number over the years they were in business. I had just purchased a newer one, and it drove perfectly the 100 miles home. The next morning, I went a few blocks and it stalled. I had it towed it to my local dealership, where a person who they said was a “SAAB Master Mechanic” inspected it and said it needed a fuel pump and a series of other items, totaling in the many thousands. The diagnostics alone cost me $400.
Disappointed, I had the car towed back home, and started looking at recalls for that specific model and year. One of them was for the gas tank baffles, which would get loose. Fifteen minutes later, I had the back seat up, unscrewed the gas pump and realized the baffle was indeed loose and had lodged under the fuel tank float, causing it to indicate it was half full, when it was really empty. I broke off the plastic baffle, filled the car up with gas, and drove back to the dealer, and asked for my diagnostic fee back, unsuccessfully, because they insisted the pump and other items still needed to be changed.
I put another 100,000 miles on that same pump and only performed routine maintenance on the vehicle until it met an unfortunate demise with a deer, who unfortunately met an untimely demise with my car.
Why I’m Selling Everything and Leaving America
Money can give you a comfortable life, but it cannot make you happy. I travelled to many different countries while in the military. While experiencing different cultures, I felt peace and enrichment . I met many people who didn’t have much financially but seemed happier than people I knew who were financially sound. Money drives people in the U.S. , whereas, it seemed family, culture, peace of mind and happiness was the driving force of a lot of other countries.
You know, the best con men leave you with the feeling that you haven’t been conned, and Donald Trump is no exception.
In fact, it appears that Trump’s “wealth” is entirely an illusion. He has control over a lot of stuff, but his financial disclosures, even to his banks, the government, and those required under federal election law, have never been transparent.
Let’s start with something he clearly has an ownership interest in, and generates income for him, Trump Tower on 5th Avenue in New York City.
Now you might think “Wow, that’s an incredible building. It must be worth a lot of money and generate a lot of income!” Well, not so fast. It’s commonly known that Trump Tower is a condominium tower. Individual units aren’t owned by what’s loosely called the “Trump Organization”, but by individual owners. That’s the way condos work. What the Trump Organization owns is the retail space at the bottom of the building, and that does generate a lot of rent. The Trump Organization also is the building’s manager and part of the maintenance fees the unit owners pay goes to his organization. This is not like, say, the Empire State Building, where all the rent and the income from the observation deck goes to the building’s owners.
So let’s take another example, this one closer to my home.
This is the Trump International Tower in Toronto. It’s a condo-hotel where you can either live in it or allow the management to rent out your unit for a share of its income. This is hardly the only such building in Toronto – one called the Shangri-La a few blocks away is doing very well. However, despite being named after him, Trump’s involvement was solely getting commissions on the sales of units and collecting a management fee from the building’s unit owners to run it. It is no longer bearing Trump’s name, his management agreement was terminated, and he’s being sued for misrepresenting the cash flow potential of the units. It was taken over by its main lender and is now known as the St. Regis. At no point did Trump put any money into the project (it was all other investors) and at no point did he ever have an equity interest in the property.
So what does the Trump organization own? Well, that’s nearly impossible to determine because it’s not clear what its ownership interest is in any of the properties that bear the Trump name. Yeah, Trump’s dad was rich, but like many property developers he borrowed money for property and construction costs, took out a mortgage on the completed property, then used the cash flow from the property to pay down the loan. Any profit would be realized after the property was sold and the mortgage was repaid.
But from the beginning when Trump did his first major project, the rehabilitation of the Commodore Hotel attached to Grand Central Station, he has always been short of cash when building projects. He was supposed to buy the rights to the land for $250,000, but couldn’t come up with the money, so the project proceeded totally financed by debt. It was a resounding success and gave him the opportunity to develop Trump Tower, but after that it gets really fuzzy.
One of the things that allows Trump to project the image of someone very rich is that he’s picked up a trick invented by his old friend Roy Cohn, one of the worst human beings ever to walk the earth. He claimed he didn’t make an income, but all his personal expenses, including his residence, were paid for by the companies he controlled and were deducted as business expenses against corporate tax. Officially, he wasn’t paid a salary, but everything he wanted was paid for by the companies he controlled.
Trump’s “immense wealth” appears to come from loading up his businesses with debt, making sure he finds enough cash flow to keep the payments covered, uses the rest of the cash flow for his personal purposes, then letting the business fail when he can’t keep up the payments.
He made the mistake once of trying this scheme with a publicly traded company. Naturally, with him at the helm he drove it into the ground. However, he had next to no shares in the company at the end, but had bled it dry. Because his hand picked board approved all the money paid to him, the lawsuit against him found no traction.
So he learned to rip off bondholders instead. People who bought bonds in Trump enterprises and soon found their investments worthless were, during the inevitable lawsuit, pointed to the small print in the prospectus saying how speculative the bonds were.
Lately, Trump’s modus operandi is to hook up with local businessmen and convince them that some project like the Trump International Toronto is a sure fire money maker. All they need to do is put up some investment, the rest will be borrowed, and when the units are sold they will make massive amounts of money in just a few years. That’s how the Toronto project got financed. In order to extend the scam, unsophisticated investors are told that if they buy units they will pay for themselves. In Toronto, buyers were shown projections showing them making huge amounts of money with what would seem to be modest occupancy rates. However, if you’re sophisticated, you would probably ask why the owners of the project wouldn’t just run it as a hotel themselves and keep all that money. Again, if it’s done right it will work (Shangri-La). If it isn’t the whole project collapses (a similar project called 1 King West in an old bank building similarly crashed and burned). As a result, while he was able to keep it going, Trump was bringing in big money from the building, but in the end both the investors and the unit owners lost everything they put into it and more.
But his true genius is realizing banks don’t really do proper due diligence. One of the questions you should ask is why no American bank will lend him money, and why his entire empire secures a loan with just one lender, the German investment bank Deutche Bank. They’ve been his bank for about 30 years and it’s in their best interest to convince people that Trump is rich. However, they’re totally dependent on Trump being able to make his monthly payments.
Now, if you were in a lot of debt, you would probably think about selling one of your properties,. but Trump does not sell properties even when, on their books, they don’t make any money (like some of his golf courses). One of the suspicious things about those is most of the losses are due to “consulting fees” he pays to undisclosed third parties. I will let you speculate why he might be paying huge amounts of money to unknown parties every year.
So, long story short, we have no idea of Donald Trump’s net worth, but he doesn’t act like a billionaire. We know Elon Musk’s net worth because his shareholdings in Tesla and SpaceX are on the public record, as are the loans he took out to buy Twitter. That’s the truth for most “billionaires”. Most billionaires have large holdings of public stock companies, Trump doesn’t. Most billionaires have a large bank account with a fair amount of cash. Neither Trump nor his companies seem to have this. It appears that the Trump organization is, like you or me, dependent on its next paycheck to make ends meet.
An American neighbour of mine liked to BBQ. He insisted on doing everything. He couldn’t BBQ, cook, and never made a drink that was enjoyable. Sauages/hot dogs, store bought burgers, and sundries was the menu.
I had to go to the BBQs because he was a sensitive chap.
One day a Japanese dude, Malaysian, and Congolese chap I hung around with in the library decided we should do BBQ. We had similar schedules and lived nearby so no issues.
Chicken hearts, kidneys, liver, fish with masala, it was exciting just thinking about it. Real good!
We went to my place. Prepped the food, made the drinks, and started BBQing.
My neighbour called his friend and neighbours. What I was doing was a mutiny.
Then he came to my place. He initially complained about the smoke, but it wasn’t anywhere near his home.
Then the noise. My friends are all nerds who call their mothers daily. Nobody made a sound. We were too busy enjoying doing our tasks.
Then it became about the principle. You see it’s fine to BBQ when you want, but it would be best if you checked with your neighbours first.
My BBQ was also ethnic, so it had different parameters of criteria for judgement and discernment. There were smells which were confusing.
Weeks later a relative of my neighbour told me how disappointed they were in me. They thought I was a friend to my neighbour.
If Anglo-America doesn’t control it they assume it’s an attempt to destroy them.
Israeli Defense Minister: “We have abolished all the rules of war. Our soldiers will not be held responsible for anything. There will be no military courts”
Israel’s Minister of Defense Yaov Gallant, told troops massing for a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip “We have abolished all the rules of war. Our soldiers will not be held responsible for anything. There will be no military courts.” Even Adolph Hitler didn’t go that far . . . .
Minister Gallant also told troops “I have released all the restraints, we have [regained] control of the area, and we are moving to a full offense. Hamas wanted a change in Gaza, it will change 180 degrees from what it thought. They will regret this moment, Gaza will never return to what it was.”
For anyone wondering whether or not Israel is planning an actual ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, Minister Gallant also answered that, telling Israeli troops “We started the offensive from the air. Later, we will also come from the ground.”
Confirming Gallant’s point, Israel Minister of National Security says “Invasion of Gaza is now Imminent” He said Israel has now no other option rather then to start the Ground action.
Social media postings show videos of the troops being briefed about the coming ground invasion:
What is taking place in Israel is not happening in a vacuum; other countries and entities are seeing what is going on, and they are making their positions about it very clear.
In next-door Lebanon, the group Hezbollah, with whom Israel went to war in 2005, has warned if Israel launches a ground invasion of Gaza, Hezbollah will enter the war to defend Palestinians.
The United States has sent several back-channel messages via intra-government methods to make certain Hezbollah knows the messages are real, directly warning if Hezbollah enters the war against Israel, the United States will enter against Hezbollah.
After those several direct warnings were delivered, Hezbollah publicly said today that not only will they enter the war, “Our naval fleet with cruise missiles and torpedoes is ready for war with Israel” The Hezbollah “red line” is the entry of the Israeli army into Gaza for ground operation. They even put out a video showing the weaponry they will use:
To drive home their point, Hezbollah then turned around and destroyed two Israeli army armored personnel carriers with Russian Kornet missiles on the Lebanese-Israeli border. So Hezbollah seems to have made clear, They’re in on this fight no matter what the US or Israel say.
In nearby Iran, the message is similar. The Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) publicly stated this morning “IRGC is ready to go to war with Israel as part of any joint operation with Hezbollah” which was reported today by Russia’s Izvestia newspaper.
image 87
Shockingly and hugely troubling on many levels, were remarks made today by Turkish President Recypt Erdogan. He told reporters “The world cannot tolerate the continuation of the humanitarian tragedy in the region.” he went on to say “Israel must not forget that if it acts like an organization (Gang) and not like a state, it will ultimately be treated like an organization (Gang).”
Shockingly this morning, Turkey’s deputy minister of education posted on Social media telling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “You will die.”
The Arab media outlet Al-Mayadeen published a story this morning quoting a source with the Palestinian military chain of command which said “We have information supervision over all enemy (i.e. Israeli) movements, even those that take place inside its military sites. – If the enemy (i.e. Israel) launches a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, he will effectively sacrifice half of his army.”
Elsewhere, other countries and entities continue to chime-in on the conflict. Today, the Pakistani Army Chief threatened Israel: “If Israel launches a ground attack on Gaza, Pakistan will provide ballistic missiles to the Palestinians.”
For its part, Israel seems to be showing it doesn’t care at all what anyone else is saying. This morning, Israel apparently used White Phosphorus munitions against civilian targets in Gaza.
White Phosphorus Gaza
Multiple sources report that both journalists and residents in the Gaza port area experienced distress due to a bombing incident involving white phosphorus.
An Israeli airstrike this morning killed founding member of Hamas Abu Osama and 2 of his sons (they were also Hamas men).
And if there was any question at all about what Israel intends to do inside Gaza once a ground invasion begins, that was answered by Israeli Defense Force Spokesman Jonathan Conricus who vowed that they “would raze every building to the ground in revenge for Hamas.’
Lebanese media states that #Hamas informed Hezbollah and other allies that their missile array is intact and they are capable of lasting long enough. Hamas also confirmed they are ready for any ground invasion by the Zionist army.
With Gaza under total siege, this morning the Gaza power plant ran out of fuel and electricity is off for 2.3 million people in Gaza. The fuel available in the hospital to operate the generators is sufficient for four days at most, and the hospital without electricity will turn into a mass grave.
There is also no running water in Gaza, after Israel shut the water mains yesterday.
Heavy rocket barrages from Gaza are targeting central Israel. Tel Aviv is under attack right now.
Hal Turner Analysis and SPECULATION
When we all see Israel go in on the ground into Gaza… I suspect we will shortly thereafter start to see horrible images of innocent civilian death and atrocities plastered across the news.
Once that starts happening, I suspect we will see basically every Muslim terrorist organization declare official war on Israel.
After that, I suspect we will see Israel become overrun from multiple fronts, and call on the United States for military help.
With the nitwits in the US federal government having no real clue about reality, I suspect we will see the USA start striking targets THROUGHOUT the Muslim world.
At that point (matter of days) I suspect we will see the Muslims declare war on the USA with terror attacks all throughout our country.
It seems very simple to me: Boots on the ground in Gaza and the fuse is lit…”
NOTE: I worked very late last night, and slept-in late this morning. I needed the rest. Updates to follow, below, throughout the day. Check back.
UPDATE 11:29 AM EDT —
The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) has issued an announcement:
The entire area around Gaza Division is now a closed military area. (Map below)
IDF Gaza Map
Entry into the area is strictly prohibited and constitutes a serious security risk.
IDF fighters are conducting combat in the area and entering it endangers lives and harms the activities of the forces.
UPDATE 11:35 AM EDT —
As reported to you last night on the Hal Turner Radio Show, the Pentagon confirms the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier Strike Group will be deployed to the Eastern Mediterranean joining the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group.
In addition, as reported also during the radio show last night, the USS George Washington Aircraft Carrier departed from Norfolk, VA yesterday, destination unknown, as did the HMS Prince of Wales, a Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carrier of the British Navy, also destination unknown.
This is a tremendous amount of firepower all headed . . . somewhere.
Lastly, NATO has deployed vessels from the Greek Navy into the eastern Mediterranean yesterday and announced that NATO Maritime Group Two is deploying to the eastern Mediterranean Sea.
UPDATE 11:56 AM EDT —
A paratrooping operation was carried out by commandos from southern Lebanon into settlements in the occupied northern Palestine. Troops are parachuting into Israel in the north.
Air alert sirens in *EVERY* Settlement in northern Israel near the Lebanon Border:
Paratroopers Entering From Lebanon
MORE:
— Lebanese Major General Abbas Ibrahim: The decision has been made to open all fronts if Israel dares to enter the Gaza Strip by force
— Al-Qassam Brigades rockets raining down on Ben Gurion Airport, all flights disrupted.
UPDATE 12:10 PM EDT —
Speaking from Qatar, the head of Hamas calls for a global Day of Rage on Friday, which will include terror attacks on Jews worldwide: “Funds are important but today we are asking for your blood and souls [to be sacrificed for Palestine].”
Absolutely Massive barrage of Missiles target Northern Israel; SOME SAY it seems Hezbollah have joined the war:
Massive missile barrage
CONFIRMATION: More Paragliders!
Israeli channels are already confirming the landing of 10 to 20 paragliders from Lebanese territory. At the same time, there is artillery fire and kamikaze UAV strikes on Israeli positions in the north of the country.
***** BULLETIN *****
The American Embassy in Lebanon is being evacuated. American citizens are advised to leave the country as soon as possible.
— Galilee, South Golan, North Golan and the conflict line residents ordered into their safe spaces.
— Head of the Upper Galilee Council: “There is an incident, not a possible incident, an actual incident. Infiltration of aircraft from Lebanon into Israel, in a wide area. Paragliders with at least one person on them. All residents of the north should go into their homes.”
— Armed Hezbollah terrorists blow up the Lebanese border fence and enter Israel State from the north. At least 20 Paragliders were seen entering Northern Israel from Lebanon within the last few minutes. IMAGE BELOW!
pARAGLIDERS ENTERING ISRAEL FROM LEBANON
— Situation on the border of Lebanon and Israel is hearing up unconfirmed reports of firefights and possible incursions by hostile forces.
***** FLASH *****
12:20 PM EDT — Drone strike reported at or near Dimona Nuclear Plant
More:
— Armed clashes in Metula, northern Israel. VIDEO:
UPDATE 1:26 PM EDT —
The UK Ministry of Defence has placed the UK Carrier Strike group (including Europe’s most advanced aircraft carrier: HMS Queen Elizabeth) on alert for potential deployment to the Mediterranean.
Unsure if it will be deployed to the region but the UK fleet is cutting short a training exercise with the Norwegian Army.
(HT Remark: I was told the UK Carrier Strike Group is in Norway on maneuvers, and about to join the USS Gerald R. Ford ASAP.)
Worth Listening to . . .
This one too . . .
UPDATE 1:41 PM EDT —
Hezbollah has informed the Lebanese Army and UNIFIL international peacekeepers to immediately evacuate all positions on the border with Israel. The UNIFIL Deployment Map is below:
CLAIM – Unverified . . . .
VERFIED:
5:26 PM EDT — HYSTERIA SPREADING
In the interest of full disclosure, I provide the following clarifications:
Due to panic associated with the situation on the Lebanese-Israeli border.
1. There were reports of the launch of 15 Hezbollah drones. 2. An air raid alert was announced on Israeli territory. 3. They came to the Dimona from Lebanon. 4. Reports of an explosion in Dimona appear. 5. There are reports of the evacuation of US citizens from Lebanon.
BUT . . . 6. It turns out that nothing flew to Dimona and there was some kind of showdown in the industrial zone. 7. It turns out that the drones did not fly anywhere from Lebanon. 8. It turns out the United States says it is not withdrawing the embassy or declaring an evacuation. 9. It turns out Lebanese media say it was possibly birds. 10. It is also reported that Hezbollah may have Hacked Israeli detection systems. 11. The IDF says nothing arrived.
Nerves are on both sides thin and the situation is teetering on the brink of hysteria.
The IDF ruled out an air infiltration from Lebanon, false alerts in the Home Front Command: “a malfunction”
Alarms were activated in dozens of settlements in the north – causing panic. The IDF began scanning following a suspected infiltration of drones from Lebanon – but clarified that it was a “malfunction that is being investigated”: incorrect alerts in the Home Front Command application: “human error.”
Why I QUIT The RAT RACE & The “ American Dream “
“I’m a 54 year old Hispanic male. I got out of the rat race 15 years ago after I was laid off from a bank. I started a contract based IT services business that brings in $180,000 a year for 2-3 hours a day of work and I sold my singly family home for a multi family that earns me $5,000/month after all expenses. No more commuting, no more asking for vacation, none of it. I am happy.”
Creamy Red Beans and Rice with Caramelized Onions
2023 10 12 15 44
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, sliced
3 cups hot cooked rice
1 (16 ounce) can red kidney beans, drained
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup Asiago cheese, grated
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat.
Add onions; cook until onions are caramelized (about 12 minutes).
Add rice, beans, sour cream, cheese and black pepper. Stir until well blended and cheese is melted.
Yes – 20+ years ago I was stationed at a small military base in Wisconsin and I lived in a crappy little house in a nearby town. It was in poor condition when I moved in, so I took pictures of everything. Landlord refused to fix anything (he even had an electrical outlet in the shower). A little less than a year later, I was offered housing on base and I mailed and hand delivered my landlord notice and gave him the required thirty days. He couldn’t be troubled to walk through the house with me on move out, so I again documented it with a lot of pictures. I left it in much better condition than when I found it.
Thirty-five days after move-out, I received a letter from him that not only was my security deposit forfeit based on damages and cleanliness, I also owed two extra months rent for breaking the lease early (it was the remaining time on my lease). I immediately questioned that, as I witnessed someone else moving in not two days after I moved out. He told me it didn’t matter and he would send me to a collection agent. I elected to take it to small claims court and present my case.
A month later, and after many threatening calls from his lawyer, my court date arrived. I had researched every aspect of landlord/tenant law and brought my evidence. While waiting for our turn, the lawyer again took the opportunity to threaten me, this time with the prospect of a counter suit. I refused to back down and when we got into the hearing, the landlord’s lawyer immediately asked for and was granted a continuance for two weeks. More threats came, but I held my ground. The next court date came, and I finally got a chance to present my evidence and defend myself. Ultimately, the judge ruled the landlord was in the wrong by trying to keep my deposit and that I was only liable for one extra day of rent, as the new tenant moved in two days after I moved out. Since the landlord waited 35 days to notify me of what I owed (Wisconsin required it be within 30 days at the time), the judge also ruled he owed me double damages. Rather than pay me in a lump sum, he requested the judge allow him to pay me back in six monthly installments. Unfortunately, the judge granted the request.
Of course, the slumlord was late in paying the first payment by about a week. The second payment was even later and arrived the same day I placed a lien on his properties for non-payment (he owned about 50 houses). A week later, he was trying to sell one and the lien stopped the sale. You guessed it, more threats from his lawyer. First it was they were going to sue me for depriving him of needed income. The lawyer provided a citation that appeared not to apply, so I held fast. Then a cop showed up at my home threatening me with possible arrest (again on a bogus charge). When I mentioned it to the admin assistant for my office, she let me know the cop was a cousin of the landlord, so I called the Chief of Police to find out why they had sent the cop to my house (they hadn’t, he was doing it for his cousin). Coincidentally, the lawyer called me that day and demanded I come to his office that afternoon to get a check for the entire amount and sign paperwork to remove the lien. I told him he could deliver it to me at my office and when the check cleared, I would gladly sign all the paperwork. His assistant showed up at my office an hour later with cash and I signed the paperwork.
I didn’t see him again until a year later. My admin assistant’s son had the same thing happen to him and she asked if I would help him. I agreed and even offered to go with him to small claims court. The same lawyer was there and the slumlord elected to settle, rather than deal with me again. It was extraordinarily satisfying.
On this day
On this day in 1860 thousands of British and French soldiers attacked China’s Gardens of Perfect Brightness (Old Summer Palace).
image 98
This was a brutal episode in Britain’s Opium Wars on China. Many of the treasures stolen from China remain in the British Museum today.
In October 1860 seventeen thousand British and French troops seized Beijing. They went on to unleash an orgy of violence to punish and humiliate China towards the end of the Second Opium War, launched by Britain and France to destroy its sovereignty.
The destruction of the ‘Old Summer Palace’ as it is known in the West marked the end of the Second Opium War started by Britain and France in 1856. A defeated China was forced to sign unequal treaties and accept the legalisation of the opium trade.
Between the 6 and 8 October 1860, the Gardens of Perfect Brightness were looted & torched by around 5,000 French and British troops. The Gardens covered over 860 acres and took two days to destroy. About 1.5 million treasures were stolen. 300 Chinese people died in the inferno.
Robert McGee, chaplain to British forces in China, remarked on the significance of the ‘Old Summer Palace’, stating the gardens were “arguably the greatest concentration of historic treasures in the world, dating and representing a full 5,000 years of an ancient civilisation.”
The Gardens consisted of a group of classical gardens, waterways and thousands of building, containing a vast collection of unique and priceless treasures and art. Many of the looted treasures were given to Queen Victoria and Napoleon III.
image 97
Today, treasures from the ‘Old Summer Palace’ are housed in hundreds of museums across 47 countries, including the British Museum in London.
He came home from work, ate dinner, and said , ““I want you to do something and I don’t want you to fight me on this. I want a divorce.” I was completely blindsided. Then he packed a bag and left for his mother’s house. I made him leave his key. He didn’t understand that, ““how will I get in the house?” I replied that he had no reason to enter the house when I wasn’t home. He didn’t live there anymore. He was shocked.
I started thinking about his infidelity and the micro-aggressions that had recently increased; for Christmas he had given me a bottle of men’s cologne! That’s it. Of course, he kept it for himself. It was evident that he had given my gift absolutely no thought.
So instead of begging him to stay, I emptied out the joint accounts and made an appointment with a family attorney for the next day.
Of course he wanted to drag things out. He came to get his things the same week, and I watched TV while he packed and loaded the car. He actually asked me to help. I said “This is something you want to do, not me.”
Before he left, I told him that I know he is still committing adultery and that my attorney said he should be careful about that. Lots of denying and sputtering but the thing that bothered him most was my getting a lawyer. He actually said “You got a lawyer? You know I will always take care of you. Don’t you trust me?”
By the way, he told me the reason he needed space was “the children are grown now, so I don’t have to pretend anymore. I never wanted a family that I had to hang out with.”
So that was the end. A year later, a judge granted me about a third of his assets and income as alimony until I remarry or die. We were married 32 years, and I was 65 years old. I’m sitting pretty comfortably and very peacefully in a different city. Except for incidental paperwork handled by my attorney, I have no contact. I don’t have to pretend anymore, either.
‘’Edit: I want to say that finally getting a chance to tell my story has been cathartic for me. Thank you all for your support and encouragement. I am much less angry and more resolved to live well after this. Thank you all.”
INTERVIEW: Reaping the whirlwind
Karma is a BITCH. Well said Scott.
Steak over Noodles
0 2
Ingredients
1 (3 pound) round steak, cut into strips
1 can tomatoes and green chiles
1 can sliced mushrooms
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon oregano
Parmesan cheese
1 envelope onion soup mix
1 can tomatoes
2 tablespoons wine vinegar
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 package egg noodles, cooked
Instructions
Cut steak into small strips.
Heat oil in a large skillet. Add steak and brown quickly.
Combine tomatoes and green chiles with onion soup mix. Pour over steak.
Add remaining ingredients, except noodles and cheese. Simmer until steak is tender, approximately 1 to 2 hours.
Cook noodles according to package directions, then drain well.
Serve steak mixture over cooked noodles. Top with parmesan cheese.
Last week I needed to drive to Sheffield for my brother’s funeral. On the morning in question I thought I had better top up the oil so l lifted the bonnet, undid the oil filler cap and placed it on top of the engine. It rolled off and fell down into the body of the engine just below the fan belt and where all the pipes and tubes and things I don’t understand are. I tried reaching it, I tried a magnetic rod, I tried a long reach grabber thingy but couldn’t get it.
I stuffed some paper towels in the oil filler orifice and set off for my local garage. Explained the situation on arrival and they immediately allotted a young lad to retrieve it for me. He got it up on the ramps, undid a few things, removed a panel or two and then there was my oil filler cap.
Then they did the unthinkable – they said there was no charge and they were happy to do it for me.
Needless to say I couldn’t stand for that type of impertinence and gave them £20 and told them to have a drink on me.
China and Iran are still discussing a $400 billion strategic agreement over 25 years.
This agreement has many benefits for both countries.
Since Donald Trump unilaterally denounced the Vienna nuclear agreement that Iran had been respecting, Iran has once again found itself under a very strict embargo.
Iran has realized that the European Union is not in a position to resist the pressure of American sanctions.
Therefore, Iran is looking for partners who can help it resist US economic sanctions. China is the only partner capable of offering this.
China will invest 400 billion dollars in Iran over the next 25 years if this agreement is signed in early 2021.
This agreement provides for the sale of Iranian oil and gas to China at a preferential rate. China could also set up military bases in Iran and have privileged access to all investments in the country.
Iran would join China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
For China, securing its oil and gas supply is essential. For Iran, having a partner as powerful as China will enable it to better resist the United States.
An Iran-Russia-China axis is being formed to better resist the United States.
Two years ago, a surgeon told me my left testicle was malignant and had to be removed. He worked out of a teaching hospital, so he asked if the students could come in. They get very few malignancies like this— a rare form of cancer. I agreed. Every visit, I’d have 5 drop dead gorgeous women in masks and white coats come in and feel my nutsack while the surgeon had his hand in there giving the tour.
One day, while the crew was working my nutsack over, I noticed a woman had come into the room, and was standing back from the crowd huddled around my nether-regions. She seemed hesitant.
“It’s okay.” :I said. “Join the party.”
“No thanks,” she said. “I’m just here to have you sign some forms.”
Look, one thing you’re going to have to get over with this sort of thing is dignity. There’s just no room for it.
When the day came, I drew a big arrow up my left leg with marker and wrote THIS ONE! When I got in the operating theatre, there were over a dozen people. Some were surgical team , while others were student observers. Before they passed me the gas, I sat up on the table and asked for everyone’s attention.
“Just so there’s no confusion here,” I said. “I want everyone here to repeat for me; ‘It’s the left nut!’”
“It’s the left nut!”
“It’s the left nut!”
“It’s the left nut!”
“It’s the left nut!”
I didn’t want any mistakes.
My advice to anyone reading this is as follows. Throw away all notions that what you have under your clothes is private and unique. Whoever is going to see you started working on this with cadavers. The whole point of the exercise is to keep you from ending up as one of those cadavers. Once you embrace it, have fun with it. You might as well. You’re getting cut on anyway— one way or the other.
Just so y’all know, the orchiectomy went well. I was back at work in less than a week. The cancer returned 9 months later. I had to undergo chemo; that darn near killed me, but I pulled through and made it out to my deer stand that November. I’m now cancer-free and there is very little chance of it returning.
Up until the late 1960s, U.S. prisoner populations weren’t much that greater than other similar countries.
However, both the Nixon administration and the Reagan administration decided to use the justice system to fight both the counter-culture movement and, of course, minorities. Many states already had draconian laws in place for marijuana possession (Michigan made it a felony punishable by life imprisonment) but the federal government upped their own penalties for marijuana, treating it as the equivalent of a narcotic (which it wasn’t).
This initiative was, of course, given the name “The War on Drugs” as “The war against hippies and uppity n*ggers” didn’t play out so well in the press. African-Americans and Hispanics were using their newly found “civil rights” to vote for Democrats in droves, pretty much driving Republican mayors and councilmen out of America’s biggest cities, where blacks and Hispanics were quickly becoming the majority.
Naturally, none of the new drug laws were administered equally. Possession by rich white people in the suburbs was pretty much ignored or got a slap on the wrist, while police and the courts came down hard on blacks and the poor living in the big cities.
The effect on these communities were immediate – other crimes related to drugs started to rise in concert as drug dealers stopped being the friendly guy down the street and started to be organized criminal gangs with the wherewithal to bribe cops and the power to eliminate competition. Having most of your young male population serving time in jail devastated black and Hispanic communities, fueled prison and street gangs as prisons became more overcrowded, overwhelmed the courts with drug cases. Cities collapsed as those who could moved out and the people left became more desperate.
With this side effect being crystal clear by 1980 when Reagan was elected, he decided to double down. The new menace was “crack”, cheaper than cocaine, but shorter acting. It was preferred by the poor as a gram of cocaine could set you back $100, but a dose of crack with much less cocaine might only be $10. Nevertheless, even though a gram of crack contained less than .1 gram of cocaine, the penalty for using it was identical. That meant white cokeheads got the same sentences as black crack users for using a more potent drug. That particular issue wasn’t fixed until the Trump administration. (It’s the one thing Trump did right, although he did it for all the wrong reasons and got angry when black people didn’t start voting for him).
Meanwhile the underground drug economy was growing by leaps and bounds. Raw product was available in Mexico for peanuts, but once across the border markups of 1000% weren’t uncommon, and then it was marked up again for retail sale. So much money was flowing to Columbian drug lords that they had more money to spare than the government, and a good chunk of the cash coming out of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing was solely for the purpose of feeding the drug supply chain. I think I estimated at one point that about 10% of the BEP’s output was going solely to Pablo Escobar.
But you know who else was taking advantage of all this free cash and the cars, planes and yachts that came along with it? United States law enforcement agencies. You see, in most civilized counties, if you levy fines or seize ill gotten assets, all that money “excheats” to general revenue, so it becomes part of general government funding to be distributed as politicians see fit. That wasn’t what happened in the United States. In the United States, the agency that seizes the assets, such as the Drug Enforcement.
Agency or the Customs Service, gets to keep them, and they’re added directly to their budget, just like a small community that runs a speed trap on a major highway.
As such, the efforts of federal, state and local law enforcement started to become to seize as much stuff as possible. A single marijuana cigarette on a yacht allowed the Customs Service to seize and sell the entire thing. The practice was so reviled that even the most conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justices railed about its legality, and eventually the Supreme Court forced reform of the system.
So, with many federal, state and local agencies being dependent on drug money for their operations, they got more aggressive and, the more aggressive they got, the bigger they got and the more money they needed.
Naturally, all of this, together with people stealing money for drugs, drug dealers fighting over drug territories, and all the other secondary effects of a prohibition movement (remember alcohol prohibition, remember Al Capone, take that and multiply it by a hundred) the prisons got stuffed full. No problem because it provided a lot of free labour, most of the prisoners were poor, black, or Hispanic, and prison budgets didn’t allow for such luxuries as “enough well trained guards” or “rehabilitation programs”. When many states hit a wall because of the cost of new prisons, they privatized them, paying prison owners a per diem for every prisoner, which the private prisons demanded a new supply of.
Since many drug offences are felonies, it often means that when people are released they’re prohibited from entering lots of fields such as “barber” in New York State (a felony conviction keeps you from being licensed).
Luckily, things are changing on a bipartisan level. Conservatives are noting the cost of running all these prisons as other crimes had longer sentences attached. Drunk driving is a bigger problem than drug use, but it was clogging Texas prisons until they came up with a more effective diversion program to keep people out of jail. The increasing cost of an aging prison population serving time for things that happened when they were 20, and they’re now 70, are stretching prison budgets to the limit. Moreover, the “defund the police” movement notes that many of these initiatives that put people in jail for minor offences turn local populations against the police, making it harder to investigate more serious crimes.
THE GREATEST SPEECH EVER by AN AFRICAN LEADER explaining THE NEW AFRICA-EVERYONE MUST HEAR Historic
Here are 10 laws of manhood that my father taught me:
1.Don’t pay for sex.
You don’t need it that bad, you’re not an animal, you should spend your evening trying out new pick up lines and having a good time with people.
2. Never chase after a woman
Never base your life around one single person that is not a sure thing, instead, you should be chasing your dreams and goals while trying to make a success of yourself.
3. Know when it’s time to fight back
There comes a point in life, where you can no longer expect others to solve a problem for you. If you can’t stand up for yourself, why should you expect others to? A man should know when it’s time to hit back. There’s never a reason to fight — until there is.
4. Your marriage should not always be a choice between your mother and wife
Your mom is definitely the first woman in your life. But your wife is someone to be cherished and respected, too. A clear line should be drawn between the kind of relationship that you share with both of them. In case of a tussle take a neutral, just and impartial stand.
5. Don’t brag about things you’ve done, instead let the things you’ve done speak for itself. Actions will always speak louder than words so keep that in mind.
6. It’s good to talk about the emotions you’re feeling with loved ones as they’ll be there for you. Being a man does not mean that you have to hide your emotions and be a rock.
7. Stay clean, if you have a long beard then take care of it and keep it neat, brush your teeth and shower
8. Failure doesn’t threaten your manhood
A lot of men fear failure in life, career, and relationships. They feel they aren’t “real men” if they fail. But failure is an essential part of life! It’s a reality of life. Accept it!
9. Be able to cook a good meal.
It’s important. You don’t have to be a chef, but know how to make at least one good meal. It doesn’t need to be fancy, a good sloppy joe is perfectly fine, but be able to cook up something and make sure it’s good.
10. Take action because it is right, not because it is popular.
The things that matter are not merely what is popular at the moment. A true man, a gentleman, takes action because it is the right thing to do, and they do the right thing whether or not it feels cool or fun.
Man Dies & is Shocked to be Shown the Future (NDE)
Jeff Tolley shares his Near Death Experience (NDE) after being so distraught after his brother’s death that he took his own life. While on the other side Jeff met up with his brother and three beings that showed him he had more to live for and the state of his energies bodies. He was also shown his future and the future of Earth. Jeff came back from his near-death experience with a renewed sense for life and a new outlook on life and his purpose.
As an Australian who travels to the us a lot , I prefer Australia and New Zealand. I’ve got a business that is growing in the US but I really don’t want to move there so instead endure the 12 hour return flights .
There are some really awesome Americans. But there’s a lot of dicks, and this huge focus on materialism that I just don’t buy. If you drive a $600k super car and look like the Kardashians you are idolised there more than you would be in any other country I know. The American god is the god of material wealth . I find that quite noxious, even though I can afford a $600k car.
what I respect about America is that you can , as a middle class battler, still buy a nice house for USD400k in most cities . America protects its middle class , and that’s cool. Affordable housing is a big tick. I come from humble beginnings and know what it’s like to struggle to get your first house , and I think America does well here .
As a place to live though – naa. Australia and New Zealand far better . And from what I’ve seen Western Europe far better also. Go to downtown LA or San Francisco. It’s vile. Miles and miles of people living on the streets, shooting drugs , littering. It’s some sort of future dystopia ! Who the F would want to live near that depravity. It’s down right depressing and disgusting. It’s what happens when you drive the cost of living beyond what the poor can afford to exist and you offer no support for the cost increases – the bottom 15% of society simply fall out and end up living like animals on the street. Is this the sort of country where you would want your kids to grow up in? Not me , not ever.
America is dangerous, riddled with crime and depravity. They have got it wrong and are paying for it. And it’s gunna get worse.
Don’t take this as all Americans are pricks – they aren’t. But there’s something structurally wrong with that country – not my cuppa!
“The Mandela Effect” These examples will make you question EVERYTHING in your reality
This is fun. And it is a MUST WATCH. Especially for you MM followers.
It wasn’t just a sixth sense. Things had been moved. Curtains were now open, moving as if they’d recently been touched. Things on her table had been moved. She lived alone and she knew where everything belonged.
She walked through the house uneasily looking down hallways. In the kitchen. Moving quietly.
She walked past her bathroom. She turned into her bedroom.
Standing there was a bearded man, holding a hammer. He charged her and swung his hammer, hitting her on the side of the head. She fell down. He got on top of her and kept hitting her.
They then began wrestling.
Susan was a larger woman, who was particularly strong and worked as a nurse in the ER, trained on how to subdue wild patients.
After being hit several times, she managed to get her assassin pinned to the ground in a sleeper hold.
She began choking him. When she released him, his throat had been crushed — he later died (after Susan called an ambulance for him).
The assassin had been sent by her husband.
Their marriage had fallen apart and he wanted her dead. He’d paid the assassin $50,000 to kill her.
She was later treated for injuries and made a full recovery. Her husband was then sent to jail for the remainder of his life (he died in prison).
Her would-be assassin’s last words, during their fight, were “you are strong.”
Girl power.
I Had 0 EXPECTATIONS.. But I LOVED IT | Oliver Anthony – Rich Men North Of Richmond (REACTION!)
My two older sisters, twins, had a long and busy career in fashion modelling. I always thought they would marry the Hollywood hunk type of guy because those were the types they would sometimes go out with.
However, when they did got married, the guys were just your average Joe types; certainly not the Hollywood attractive male type. My parents and I were quite surprised. However both were confident in themselves.
They married good men who always treated them nicely. They didn’t put the girls on pedestals, treat them like starlets or have them as trophy wives. They didn’t ask them to leave modelling. They just treated them as regular women, were loyal, and had a great sense of humour. Of course they loved and cared for them deeply.
Lori and Tracy were the business girls who after modelling, took over dad’s car dealerships when he retired and made them very successful.
Mom was a fashion model who was on her way to Hollywood with a friend when she met dad. Dad was at the time working at a car dealership, which he later bought, but at the time he was a sales manager. “He made me laugh and didn’t fawn all over me like I was a movie star. He treated me as a regular girl and I just fell in love with him,” she said. She was six years younger than dad.
So attractive women don’t always go for the rich, good looking businessman. The smart ones go for the ones that make them happy.
Missile Excerpts from the TV Movie “The Day After”
While not completely accurate in technical approach, the failure of the deterrence mission was shown in the made for ABC TV movie “The Day After” that premiered on 20 Nov 1983. The movie used scenes from the film “First Strike” to show the USAF detection and response to an ICBM attack against the U.S. Presented from the archives of the Association of Air Force Missileers (AAFM).
“I spent 4 years in SAC as a Minuteman II launch crew commander back in the 70s. This depiction of the launch actions is very accurate. Of course, they left out some of the classified details in processing the message, but, all in all, this was very accurate. Several times EVERY DAY we got coded Emergency Action Messages (EAM) that could have been real execution messages for nuclear war. As others have mentioned, we did NOT know whether these were tests/training messages until we had competed decoding and authentication procedures. That was the real test of your nerves. You never knew. I am sometimes asked if the launch crews would obey the execution messages. The answer is an unqualified YES. If the message turned out to be a valid and authentic message, keys would be turned. We believed that the EAMs would not be transmitted unless the U.S. was under attack and the sooner we got our missiles off the ground the sooner we could stop any further incoming attacks. While I count that as a valuable experience in my life, I do not miss the stress.”
The U.S. can win if they compete on who is better in plundering, looting, stealing, abusing nations, regime change, orchestrating demonstrations and coups and unilateral sanctions. That kind of competition the US will win hands down.
Tech war! Are you kidding me. For ever 100 Chinese engineers the U.S. barely produce one! Chinese will eat them for lunch any day. Over the past decade China has registered twice the U.S. registrations of patent in the U.S. patent registration office.
And according to the Neo con funded Australian Strategic Policy Institute ASPI, out of 44 of the most strategic technologies China leads in 37 of them! The U.S. only manage to lead by a whisker in 7 out of the 44 these days.
Try colour revolutions competition I guarantee the U.S. will! Hahahaha.
I was tutoring a young man in HS. He (and several classes of other students) had to take his teacher’s Math Final over the Internet with a non-relative adult as Proctor. He took the Final at the tutoring center with me as Proctor.
About an hour in, he discovered that an entire sentence was missing from a Question rendering it impossible to solve. He asked my help. I refused. He asked my advice. I first looked at the Question and said nothing but knew he was correct — unsolvable because of missing information. “What do YOU think you OUGHT to do?” “EMAIL THE TEACHER, AND THEN DO THE REST OF THE EXAM?” “Then do that.” He did. I watched.
About 20 minutes later the teacher put out an email announcement to all students to skip that question, saying it had a misprint and was missing required information.
Fine. EXCEPT she flunked him saying he was absent from the exam. The problem escalated but the tutoring center did nothing because that teacher had threatened to have our contract with the County terminated (possibly causing massive tutor layoffs and lots of kids screwed….)
At that point I went in to the center’s boss, announced my resignation, and contacted the Principal and the young man’s father’s lawyer. The bitch teacher tried to get support from the Teacher’s Union and got caught in more lies.
The lawyers worked out a compromise. The kid passed and graduated, but the D in a straight A record was kind of a screw job and the bitch teacher accused me of lieing.
Oh well, let it go….
Five years later, my wife and I received a brief note with tickets to a university graduation. The kid not only got in, he was Straight A for four plus years.
US And Western Media’s Dirty Propaganda About China’s Lithography Exposed!
I had a bank customer who was a older gentleman that had recently lost his wife. He came across as a mean person only because he didn’t engage in conversation nor smiled much. Somehow he trusted me and we became good friends. He was the second person I called when my own father died and he explained to me why my father chose to just give up. My friend was 90 at the time and in better health than my dad. Anyhow he made me understand why he was “tired” and just wanted to feel alive again. I teased him telling him he more less became my surrogate father from then on. The day I quit the bank, he cried thinking I was going to forget him. He had two daughter’s who didn’t live in the same state so I continued to check on him taking him home cooked food, to appointments and just to visit. The day came when he moved into a retirement home so helped him get his house ready to sell. I never asked for anything because I never expected anything. He was a friend and I’ve always enjoyed dealing with elderly people. Once he hit 92, he decided to move near his daughter in another state. That’s when it was my turn to cry. Felt like I was losing my father all over again. Kept in touch with him until the day his daughter called and told me he had a massive heart attack. I was devastated. Months went by until out of the blue I got a call saying he left me alittle something in his will. I didn’t want anything and didn’t have a friendship for that purpose. His little something was a check for 20,000. I was blown away but his daughters thanked me as well for being there for him. It never was a duty but it was more of a way to let him know, he wasn’t alone. I work home health now and always keep him in my mind.
People Who Disappeared Because They Knew Too Much
The people you are about to see in this top made discoveries that would have changed humanity. However, unexpectedly, they disappeared from the face of the Earth or ceased to exist. Many theorize that they disappeared because they knew too much.
One big reason the Chinese people don’t want democracy is the USA.
The USA keeps holding itself out as the world’s prime example of democracy. Chinese people take a look and they are horrified.
The US imprisons more citizens than any other country in the world. The police step on black men’s necks to kill them. U.S cops carry weapons designed for war! Then there are the widespread demonstrations that degenerate into rioting, looting and arson. Half the U.S population believes that the last election was “stolen” from them. Then there is an attack on Capitol Hill. Furthermore Americans say that gun ownership is a fundamental liberty. But every week they have mass shootings. People get killed all the time in schools, supermarkets, pubs, parking lots, country music concerts, churches, Independence Day parades etc. The infrastructure is crumbling, the country is mired in an endless drug crisis and they don’t seem to have a healthcare system. The country claims to have freedom of expression but it bans TikTok, which the rest of the world has. Meanwhile fake news is so prevalent in the US that Americans’ trust in U.S media, as proven by survey results, has plunged to a record low. The country claims to have freedom of religion, but clearly Christian nationalism is sweeping across the USA and women can’t even get birth control or abortion. Also, did you know that the U.S violent crime rate is 3 times higher than that in China, and that the U.S homicide rate is 4 times higher? Meanwhile every day, the Dems and Republics are attacking each other for the sake of attacking and they do not appear at all to be interested in working together in any way for the good of the country.
This terrifies the Chinese people.
Then the USA says “Oh, we are the champions of democracy.”
Well, of course the Chinese people don’t want democracy. “Errr, thanks but no thanks!” they say.
The Middle Class Can No Longer Afford Rent In America
All Americans require a nice, secure, and inexpensive place to live in order to prosper. For years, low-income families have battled to find cheap rental properties, but today the middle class is also facing significant difficulties in this area.
Due to the sharp increase in rent prices seen in major American cities since the outbreak, millions of middle-class Americans are unable to pay their rent.
These middle-class households are being excluded from normal middle-class communities without major income increases or government support, which starts a domino effect that results in systemic poverty and enduring inequality. In other words, middle-class Americans are being squeezed to death by housing costs.
Compared to just two years ago, the average home now costs approximately $80,000 more, and the average rent in the US is over $1,000 more than it will be in 2020.
The survey discovered that while middle-class renters’ salaries have decreased 9% over the past ten years, rents are rising on average by 3.5% yearly.
The American middle class has been spending far more on housing than they can afford in the majority of urban areas across the nation, researchers found.
According to the survey, 46.3% of middle-class renters and 21.2% of middle-class homeowners in the US, respectively, are moderately or severely burdened by housing costs, which are defined as spending more than 30% or 50% of one’s salary on housing.
This happened to me when I was a programmer in London, back when coding was done in ANS Cobol. I was sitting in my office at around 9:30 a.m., feet up on the desk and probably snoring. The big boss man came in very quietly, pushed my feet off the desk, and told me I was fired and to leave the company immediately.
Well, I know how to wind people up, so I just shrugged and started to leave. He stopped me, asking if I had anything to say, and the conversation went something like this:
Boss: “Why did I find you sleeping on company time?”
Me: “Where were you at 3 a.m. this morning?”
Boss: “In bed with my wife, of course. Why?”
Me: “Well at 3.a.m. I had already been here for two hours fixing a bug that had interrupted the operation of the mainframe computer at around midnight. It was a bit of a bugger to find, and the system wasn’t up and running again until 7:30 this morning. This means that I get triple pay for the hours I worked, all expenses, a full meal (even though no place was open), and today off work. I’m leaving now, and will be contacting my union to discuss how best to get as much as I can in damages”.
His only choice was to give me a raise, which he did. Tosser.
My parents divorced when I was 4. My mother remarried a man one year later in 1965.
He was a very controlling man about most things—but that’s a different story. In the summer between my 4th and 5th grade, he became “Born Again” at a Billy Graham revival. At his insistence, my mother soon followed, as did my sister. I was the only one in our family of 4 who didn’t want to give up their entire life and become a singularly focused religious fanatic.
My stepfather had never really liked me before that. After that he hated me, and could barely contain his loathsome attitude toward me.
Speeding ahead a few years, when I was entering the 12th grade, my mother took me aside one day and told me that they had no money to help me with college—that I was going to have to figure out my future on my own. (She was quite literal about that. They never even once discussed with me what my options might be.) I said it was ok. I’d figure it out. I did, and after high school, I got a job at a factory.
My sister, who is 4 years older than me, did attend a religious college, and while it crossed my mind as to how she was able to pay for college, I never asked. We weren’t very close.
Fast forward to 1994. I am now successful in my career. I have a large house with a swimming pool and hot tub in the backyard. My family—mother, stepfather, sister and her family—are invited to my house for an afternoon barbecue.
My mother and sister are sitting in my hot tub. I am around the corner of the house tending the barbecue. They don’t realize that I’m there. They are talking loudly, and I can clearly hear them. My sister starts talking about college education for her kids and she asks my mom how she and my stepfather saved up the money for her college education.
My mom immediately started to panic, and began shushing my sister to be quiet. She frantically said, “I don’t want Kent to hear this! We told him we had no money for college.”
I always knew that I was the black sheep in the family, but it was in that moment that I truly realized how much I was excluded. From that point on, my eyes and mind were opened to the lies and deception within my family. It forever altered our relationship.
Update- stepfather died. Felt nothing. My wife thinks that I suffer from PTSD because of him. Maybe with time I can now forget and maybe even forgive. I wonder if he got that gold-plated throne next to God that he obsessed on his entire life. I doubt it.
Update- mother died. I felt almost nothing. I do mourn that she was more interested in keeping her abusive husband happy than having an interest in her son. Such is life.
Why CHINA Will Win The Space Race
China has rapidly advanced its space capabilities, achieving milestones such as landing a rover on the far side of the moon and establishing its own space station, the Tiangong. The Chinese space program’s impressive progress has raised concerns in the United States about the potential erosion of its dominance. Today’s episode is explaining how and why China will win the race to space.
I once was in a very tough situation financially. I worked three jobs at the time to keep up with life.
One day, at the end of the month, my rent was due, my fridge was empty, my paycheck was late, and I got a phone call from my daughter’s teacher reminding me to pay the school fee – my daughter was the only one who hadn’t submitted the payment. I was exhausted and didn’t know what to do, so I called my best friend and just cried. He came to my office, forced me to call in sick that afternoon, then took me to an ice cream shop and bought me an ice cream.
Then he sat me down and told me, ‘Life is tough, so you need to be tougher. In order to do that, you need to be nice to yourself, and don’t beat yourself up. You need a break too. Look, if everything you carry is heavy, you can put it down for a second, take a break, and then pick it up and keep moving. Sometimes, just surviving to the next day can be called a success.’
After that day, I went to the supermarket and bought a package of candy. It’s Korean milk mint candy; it’s really good and I had one every day in the morning to remind me that, no matter how hard life could get, there would be always something sweet, as long as I’m kind to myself. That one candy in the morning was what helped me going strong through life. I don’t remember how many candies I’ve eaten.
I don’t think ‘self-love’ needs to be something big or serious, it can be as small as a candy.
Oh, and I still have that kind of candy around the house:
But of course they won’t publicly. These setback has very severe consequences that cost the US trillions of dollar loss and hundreds of thousand or a million jobs!
The billion of dollars investment in the Chip plant in Arkansas, US is barely in its teething set up stage with painful bickering between the Taiwanese and the U.S. contractors. 3 full years into the most ridiculous day light robbery of Taiwan technology and know how coerce by the U.S. with promises of billions of U.S. taxpayers money as subsidy to produce in a place without the skill and expertise needed and to be made by workers 3 times that if Taiwanese and 10 times benefits to produce half the result.
But the losses that is huge is nothing compared to the loss of respect that the U.S. believes in free market mechanism. And free trade. Forcing a Taiwanese company to shut its operation in their land and uproot to US heartland against their wish is anything but freedom! But what is worst is that it will be the biggest white elephant before even a chip is ever made. And if course destroying the entire livelihood of the very people they said they want to defend.
China has all but proven that every technology the U.S. tried to protect and stop China from having at a humongous cost to the U.S. is now proven to be easily produced in China. Made better, cheaper and faster by China a mere 3 years after this obnoxious and ridiculous attempt to stop China. All in all hundreds of US, and U.S. cronies technology companies simultaneously going obsolete all due to this ridiculous decision. Think about the billions and billions of losses of each company. And think about the workers losing their livelihood.
China whose own market alone is 30% while also producing most products for 60% of this planet’s need now will totally stop using anything from these firms. Just on business losses and profit loss is in the billions. Which fool could have thought it is a good idea losing this customer. But now you lost the entire world’s business.
In Wall Street trillions got wiped off the stock value of these firms. And 90% of these firms will go bankrupt. Mostly insured by the U.S. What an unbelievably daft decision by some neocon politicians and administrators yet 20 odd days after China shock the world not a word by those responsible! Not a whisper not a groan not an apology.
But this is the real irony of the U.S. they screamed so loud of freedom of expression who is talking now. Here in QUORA there are many brain dead Yankees who cheered this on. Where are you now! Don’t be a coward come out and continue your hateful agenda. You let the U.S. and your American friends down. You gave them false hope. Now they lost everything because of your selfish hate. I like to hear what you have to say.
Texas Grilled Cocoa Chile Steak
Bored with burgers and hot dogs? Offer seasoned steak slices in flour tortillas at your next backyard cookout.
2023 10 10 18 53
Prep: 5 min | Refrigerate: 2 hr | Cook: 16 min | Yield: 6 servings
Mix brown sugar, cocoa chile blend, lime juice, oregano and salt until well blended. Rub paste over steak.
Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight for best flavor.
Broil or grill over medium-high heat for 6 to 8 minutes per side or until desired doneness.
Cut steak across the grain into thin slices.
Serve steak slices in warm flour tortillas.
Top with salsa, shredded Cheddar cheese and sour cream, if desired.
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Epic action and mind-blowing effects rock the planet in this thrilling reinvention of the sci-fi classic, THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL. Keanu Reeves portrays Klaatu, an otherworldly being whose arrival on Earth triggers an unstoppable series of events that threaten all of mankind. In a desperate attempt to save humanity, governments and scientists race to unravel the mystery behind the visitor’s appearance. When a woman (Jennifer Connelly) and her young stepson find themselves embroiled in the alien’s plan, they become the world’s only hope to stave off apocalyptic annihilation.
I met Senator Strom “Spermin’” Thurmond not long before he died. He gave me and my young friends this priceless advice:
“Boys I’m going to share with you the most important thing I have learned in my life; Two women in ten that you ask to sleep with you, will. You just have to ask the other eight first!”
For years I was grumpy about the issue this question addresses. I’ve made my peace with the post #MeToo dating regime. You should too.
I’m no longer persuasive. No means no.
If I for some reason wanted to ask a woman out face to face instead of on a dating site like a normal person, it would go like this:
“Would you be interested in being courted? No? OK. You know where to find me if you change your mind.”
That’s one less woman I need to ask to reach my goal of ten. The end.
The old way – sidling up to a woman.after enmeshing yourself in her life, finding a good way to ask, then being persistent (but not too persistent) if she didn’t shut you down hard sucked for men and it sucked for women.
Why would you want to go through that again?
In the early 2000’s back to time immemorial that push-me-pull-you cat and mouse bullshit was simply how courtship worked. I had no complaints because that was all I ever knew.
You might do this dance for weeks, months, or in same cases years with ten women for every two who would eventually consent to date you. In some cases you as a man were making their lives hell and their work/school/social environment hostile in the meantime. In other cases you were feeding their “A Man Is Courting Me” ego at the expense of your dignity.
That’s all gone now. Good riddance to bad rubbish.
Women who liked the game lost. Game players. Flirters. Time wasters.
Women who preferred straight forward yes/no propositions won. Normal women.
Now we don’t have to distress eight women to suss out which two of them really “just want to be pursued”. Now we don’t have to be a creep just because we “can’t read the signals”. No more wasted bouquets of flowers. No more months long pre-courtship. No more of the woman’s friends coming up to you and telling you that you’re making her uncomfortable.
You ask. She answers. The end.
If she tries to play a game, she will lose every time because in this new post #MeToo environment you can’t be persistent. Neither can any other guy. You suffer no competitive disadvantage by accepting the first “no” you get because all other guys must do the same.
It’s liberating really. They only people who lose are the super aggressive men who don’t mind making 100’s of women uncomfortable to get laid once, and the women who want a Disney Princess experience of being chased.
Senator Thurmond would be a happy man… “ask(ing) the other eight first” has never required less effort or risk! We no longer must or may be “persuasive”. We live in Strom’s world now.
If he had done this in America, flag or no flag, there is a high probability he won’t be granted a trial, because he would have been shot dead, one of a thousand killed by American police in a normal year.
He didn’t just chant a slogan and walk the streets as a protester. He drove his vehicle at speed deliberately into a group of police officers who were armed and trained in the use of deadly force. It would have been a justified shooting, because tong ying kit turned his bike into a deadly weapon. The officers used their bodies to stop him. Several were forcefully thrown by the impact. Tong remains wheelchair bound, with a cast on his arm, injuries sustained in the crash.
The sentence is a little harsh but there is no doubt Hong Kong society must make an example of him to warn others what he did is unacceptable.
His notoriety did him in.
He is the perfect index case for the nsl, and an illuminating case law example.
MINDBLOWING NDE: Secrets From the Other Side! You are NOT Who You Think You Are.
For some strange reason, I seemed to bring out the worst in some of the companies where I worked. With this in mind, I will relate an experience that I had when I worked at Essick Air in Little Rock, Arkansas.
As an Engineer / Manager, I would always be hired by contract. Though the duration of contracts isn’t anything like you would find in the rest of the world, an American contract essentially simply specified what benefits the company would give you and what you would give them. Of course, with the stipulation that they could fire you at will with no notice.
Yeah. Certainly the USA could use some labor laws. Duh!
That’s NOTHING like the contracts that I have signed in the rest of the world. I’ll tell you what.
Usually, the American contract would specify…
Salary
Vacation time
Healthcare “benefits”
Educational “benefits”
And much, much more…
Today I want to talk about the “Educational benefits”.
In fact at all the companies where I worked, they would pay my tuition if I made a “B” grade or higher. Some companies would offer me a percentage of the tuition. The type of education, where and when were never specified and for the most part, I studied courses related to MBA, or higher level Engineering courses.
But no one would say NO! to going to school after work.
That is…
Until I worked in Arkansas.
I wanted to take night MBA classes. And they Management said no to that. Their excuse was that it wasn’t part of my job description. Who ever heard of a company saying no to higher education for their white collar professional staff? That was new to me.
Which really pissed me off, I’ll tell you what.
But, I’m a piker.
So I applied and was accepted for a Masters in Engineering program. After all, I am a degreed engineer by education, and a few extra course and certifications under my belt would be a plus. And they said no to that as well. Even though I was an engineer, they felt that it would not benefit me or them to take the class.
Sigh.
No and then no. Ok.
Still more tricks up my sleeve to better myself. Well, I figured, since I was doing a heck of a lot of International Trade at the time, why not something very specific to my current position? Yeah, so I suggested that I take a masters in International Trade.
Guess what? Yup.
They said no, yet again.
…
What the flying fuck? Is this some kind of parody? I pointed out my contract to the HR, and suggested they tell me which classes I could take. And they looked at me blankly and said, they didn’t know.
THEY DIDN’T KNOW?
What the bloody Hell?
…
The key was…
… that “benefit” did not REALLY exist. It was just empty words on a contact that they had no plans on following up on.
Such is the American Industry today.
It is no doubt why there just isn’t any Manufacturing, factories or industries in the United States today. With such a “Wall Street” attitude, no one would ever want to work for them, with them or associate themselves with them.
Gosh am I glad that I am no longer in that hellish place.
China is just ok with me.
You know, I have many…many… many stories of this ilk. But I just want to underline for all you readers to ask the HARD questions when someone slides a contract in front of your face.
Make sure that they will honor their commitments.
Otherwise, just leave. Out the door.
ESPECIALLY if you are dealing with an American company. They do not give a rat’s ass about you, or any contracts that you have signed.
Over the years a few times people would see I was in a little over my head and jump in. The best was about 15 years ago. I had stopped a car on an interstate for speeding and there were 3 guys in the car. Two of the guys got out of the car as soon as it stopped. I asked them to get back in but they did not. I called for back up but it was about 10 to 15 minutes away. I started talking to the driver when the guy in the back seat grabbed me and was pulling me into the car. The other guy who was out of the car jumped on my back and was going for my weapon. Just then I heard a bunch of people yelling and they jumped on the 3 guys. I thought my life was over. It was a bunch of high school kids coming back from a high school football game. There had to be 25 or more of them, and it seemed like they kept coming. By the time my back up got there the kids had beaten the shit out of the 3 guys. All 3 of them needed to go to the hospital as I did. It turned out 2 of the guys had felony warrants and the 3rd was a brother of one. A couple of days later I went to the school and hugged every one of those kids that I could find and I’ve stayed in touch with a lot of them over the years. I sometimes think of what it must have taken for that first car to pull over and for those kids to get out and help me. In my eyes every one of them is a hero, if not for them I never would have made it home that night.
This happened to a friend of a friend. They bought some property in Estacada, Oregon that was in terrible shape. There was a tiny, one bedroom shack on the property that was filled with garbage and blackberries had taken up the rest of the property, so they got it for a good price. Their plan was to clean out the shack and live there for five years or so, while cleaning up the property, then put a nice manufactured home on the property. I’m not sure how long they’d been living there when they were working on clearing one of the pastures and found … another house. A nicer house.
You might be a redneck if you mow your lawn and find a house.
New round of US sanctions started against Huawei! U.S. tech war enters stage 2.0!
Welcome to VOC – Vision of China, In this episode, we dive into the latest updates on the potential second round of sanctions by the United States on Huawei. Huawei, the Chinese tech giant, unveiled its new smartphone, the Mate 60 Pro, sparking intrigue amidst ongoing U.S.-China tech tensions. These cutting-edge smartphones, powered by 7-nanometer chips from China’s SMIC, bring 5G connectivity to the forefront. The implications of this move are significant, causing a reevaluation of the technology blockade against Huawei and even calls for a complete halt to technology exports. We also explore China’s efforts to boost its self-sufficiency in chip production and navigate U.S. export restrictions.
My wife’s Chrysler 300 C has a feature I didn’t know existed until we were trying to replace her key fob. If the correct key fob isn’t in the ignition switch, the engine will start and run for maybe 30 seconds – long enough to burn off whatever residual fuel is in the injectors, then it shuts off and cannot be restarted. Either the fuel pump or ignition system is disabled – it will crank until the battery dies (we didn’t take it that far), but the engine will not fire. Chrysler aptly calls this feature the Immobilizer. I don’t know that it makes her car theft proof, but I’d bet any car thief would abandon it as soon as the engine dies and they can’t restart it.
I interviewed for a job when I was in my early to mid-20’s. I spent hours preparing my presentation and practicing my relevant examples, but I still bombed the interview and it was all my fault.
What wasn’t my fault was the interviewers reaction! This man belittled me, laughed in my face and the rest of his team snickered in support of his unprofessional jokes. At the end, he tossed a paper that I had given him during the interview towards me and said, “Well, I wouldn’t want to get buyers remorse.” Once again they all laughed as I gathered my things to exit the interview.
I went to my car for a long regretful ride home. I parked in my driveway feeling ashamed and defeated, I cried before going into my home to face my family. I mean I cried buckets of tears, because I felt like a complete failure.
That incident motivated me to start teaching myself everything that there was to know about my field. I started watching how to YouTube videos, downloading free trials of software, attending webinars and of course obtaining mastery certifications in my field. My new skills paid off and I was promoted constantly.
Fast forward twelve years, I’m added to an interview and guess who it is? I look at the resume one more time to check to see if he was in fact employed at the place where I had once interviewed and sure enough it was a match. There I was sitting across the table from him in a tailored suit and he was the one unemployed. He’s staring at me and saying he felt like he knew me from somewhere. I smiled back and said maybe you interviewed me before!
The look on this man’s face when I said that was of complete horror, yet still priceless. He had a sunken look on his face like he was caught holding an axe in a crime scene. Lol I don’t think he remembered the incident at all. I do think he knows he was rude to people in interviews without ever thinking of how it could come back to bite him later.
I didn’t actually do anything to hurt him outside of not giving him my recommendation based on the fact I knew he had questionable character. I just cannot help but think Karma is the biggest gangster ever! Moral of the story is be nice to people because you almost always see them again.
It was late one night after a summer rain. I came upon a light truck that had slid off the road and flipped.
I stopped and ran to the truck and found a 16 year old kid impaled on a fence post and bleeding out. He was dying and he knew it. He was crying, calling for his mother and saying I don’t want to die over and over.
I told him I was going for help and he said please don’t let me die alone. I stayed with that kid, held him as he died.
It really messed me up. The cops thought I was a victim too because I had his blood all over me.
The paramedics gave me a shot and took me to hospital. They told me that’s the only way I’d let him go. Maybe I thought if I’d hung onto him he’d be all right.
I’d never met the kid but I would have given my life if he could have lived.
They kept me in the hospital a few days. Cops and paramedics came to see me. We talked a lot. The first time you come across a scene like that is a horror. If you aren’t ready for it, it’ll mess you up. I went down the drain in a haze of booze and drugs.
I had a bad case of PTSD. Every time I closed my eyes, that kid was there. In his eyes was the plea don’t let me die and there was nothing I could do.
Six months later I was in rehab.
I worked with a shrink. For another six months. I haven’t had a drink or drug since.
The nightmares are rare now. I learned how fragile and precious life is and, how quickly that can change in a matter of seconds.
In my professional career, I flew all over the world — to all continents several times, with the notable exclusion of the Antarctic (thankfully). One year I flew 175,000 miles. I enjoyed the travel (even though that’s work) and the chance to immerse myself in various cultures, both for the local populations and the business communities.
Because of my frequent flyer status, I was most always upgraded to first class (domestically) and business class (internationally).
For whatever reason (and that reason was likely determined by a higher spiritual power) I was seated on this flight in the very last row — a window seat, where there is no window. It was uncomfortable.
As the flight began to land, the flight attendant announced about the captain.
After a decades-long career, this was his last and final flight. He was done, and now he was retiring.
Passengers clapped; I sat.
The plane landed; passengers disembarked.
When they all left; I stood. The plane was empty of passengers. I took my overhead and proceeded to the front.
The Captain stood outside the cockpit door.
I introduced myself to him.
We shook hands.
I said, “This is your last flight.”
“Yes.”
“And I am your last passenger.”
“Yes.”
“And so, Sir, I want to thank you for your service, your safety record, and your dedication to your job. You have helped many people.”
“I want to wish you well, and may you enjoy your retirement years.”
The flight attendants and he became obviously emotional.
I nodded my head, and disembarked the aircraft.
I will always remember that flight.
Independent Woman is Desperate to Find a ‘Perfect Man’ | Filipinas Give Hot Comments
It is genuinely something that Kids today would be able to do in a second.
Yet my proudest moment came yesterday evening.
It was something very simple and many guys should be able to do this in their sleep
I wrote a Program in C to solve for Prime Numbers and how to find out the Day given the Date.
Frankly i have never programmed in my life but i have been determined to learn Robotics and IDE and i wanted to start from the basics.
I have struggled and bothered thousands of people all over the world from various online communities (Why should you always include Stdio.H etc)
Then i slowly started adding 2 numbers, multiplying 2 numbers, using IF and FOR and learning the difference.
Then a week ago – a Kid from Japan told me to solve for a Prime Number. Given a number – to find out if it is Prime or Not.
I finally solved it yesterday. I inputted 41 numbers and got the right answer each time
Likewise How to find the Day- given the day – I solved using dayofweek and my new friends in the programming community – blasted me and told me Program dude…..dont use existing functions….assume they dont exist.
I struggled and struggled and finally my exasperated friends gave me a clue – 1 Jan 1900 was Monday. Go from there.
Then i screwed up without accounting for Leap years
Finally Yesterday i finished the code -that can find the day – for any date even Leap years.
These communities have good kids who are very patient and while they do cutting edge programs – they have time for me and guide me – no matter how many ridiculous questions i ask
Yesterday when i pasted the codes for both the programs
The feed back was Good on you Gramps ; Good Logic; See! Anyone can learn.
The moment was prouder than any other moment in my life – because seriously this was something i never thought i could actually do.
We were in Court waiting for a hearing on a quiet title suit. It was a default hearing, so, we were at the end of the docket and got to sit through all of the oddball traffic and civil defaults.
Just before our case was called, a County Deputy came in with a junior Prosecutor and they were having a hearing on a DWI case.
The driver, an old guy who certainly looked like he was capable of DWI lurched up to the Defendant’s table and stood there while the prosecutor led the Deputy through a practiced litany of why he had pulled the man over and the driver’s demeanor upon being stopped.
The Deputy basically said that the Driver was a known prior offender, he witnessed him cross the centerline a few times, so he pulled him over. The driver then, in the Deputy’s opinion, failed, or at least did not pass, the field sobriety test.
The driver quietly stood there silently, and let the Prosecutor put on his dog and pony show. The hearing was to establish that probable cause existed to proceed.
Then, the Prosecutor looked over at the Defendant and in the most haughty and derisive tone I have ever heard, said “Do YOU have any questions?”
The Judge gave the man about a second and was ready to drop his gavel when the old man spoke up. “Yes, I have a few questions. Your Honor, if I may.”
Here’s where it got interesting.
The slouching old man, suddenly drew himself up, cleared his throat, and in a voice that I might best describe as what one might have heard from Moses, intoned, “Deputy, did I hear you state that you pulled the Defendant over because you recognized him as a prior offender, and because he crossed over the center line once or twice?”
The Prosecutor and the Judge suddenly took notice, and you could see just a hint of concern steal across the Prosecutor’s face. The Defendant spoke in the third person, and was obviously able to speak with confidence in front of a Judge.
The Deputy thought for a second, and replied, “Well, yes, I know the Defendant, that would be you Bob (Not his real name), had a DWI conviction two years ago, and that you regularly close down the Dew Drop Inn (Not the Bar’s real name.)”
Bob, nodded his head, and continued. “So, the Defendant’s history of a DWI conviction was a contributing factor in your determination as to whether to pull him over or not?”
The Deputy nodded, and, in a less confident voice replied, “Yes, or course it was.”
Bob nodded, and the Prosecutor croaked out a pointless objection. Judge Dread (Not his real name) smiled and said “Overruled. I want to hear where this is going.”
The Defendant continued, “Since the stop was made in the middle of the day, and by your written report,” here Bob held up his copy of the ticket, “nowhere near the Dew Drop Inn, Deputy, would you say your knowledge or Defendant’s prior conviction was a significant contributor in your decision to pull Defendant over?”
Deputy Dawg, (Not his real name) even a little less confidently now, sputtered out. “I just said it was.”
Bob asked another question, “If you had to quantify the percentage that your knowledge of Defendant’s prior bad behavior contributed to your decision to pull Defendant over, would it be 60%, 70%, 80% or what number?”
The Deputy was almost snarling over being cross-examined by an old rogue like Bob. He looked at the Defendant like something unpleasant that had stuck to the bottom of his boot. “Well, I’ll tell ya, Bob, I figure it as around 90%; everyone knows you are the town drunk.”
At this point the Prosecutor sat down slowly, Bob nodded, and finished. “So, had you not known who the driver was, there was only a 10% probability that you would have pulled the vehicle over based upon the driver’s behavior. Is that a correct characterization?”
Deputy Dawg thought about it for just a moment, and barked out the answer, “Yes.”
Bob turned to Judge Dread and said “Your Honor, I move to dismiss these charges as the State has failed to field a prima facie case. Their witness cannot provide articulable probable cause.”
Before the Prosecutor could say much of anything, Judge Dread nodded his head and spoke. “Bob, your point is well taken. Deputy Dawg would not have pulled you over had he not known you were the driver. There was no probable cause. Case dismissed.”
Bob resumed his old man persona and hobbled out of the Courtroom.
It turns out that before his wife died, and he became an alcoholic, Bob had been a criminal defense attorney of some repute in the State.
What a delusional question. The US has already done that and driven Huawei to be self-sufficient. ditto for SMIC. You saw evidence of that as many investigators tore apart Huawei’s recent Mate 60 Pro to find nary a US part within it. Yes, it did find South Korean Hynix memories but why is that an issue? Both Samsung and Hynix have reentered the China market because without it, they are dead meat.
“According to the transcript of the February speech posted by Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Ren Zhengfei said Huawei had over the past three years replaced the 13,000 components with domestic Chinese substitutes and had redesigned 4,000 circuit boards for its products.” (Reuters)
That was in March of 2023. One can only venture to surmise that Huawei’s goal over the last 4 years is to be self-sustaining with domestic parts and software. Huawei claims that is is self-sufficient in design, EDA tools, production equipment, and production up to and including 14 nm. Obviously with its 7nm chip in its Mate Pro series, it is moving beyond 14nm in conjunction with SMIC. There are reports that Huawei is also producing 5nm chips in the form of newer 9100 and 9200 series chips. The big mystery is how? The western presses say it is impossible using DUV, yet SMIC seems to be capable of doing that, and in production quantities of millions of chips. BTW, Huawei says its 9000s chip was designed over 3 years ago, so we can expect more revelations as newer chips are unveiled. Recently it formed an agreement with Xiaomi and will provide Xiaomi with 9100 series chips for its products, and Qualcomm has made an agreement to use Harmony OS in its CPU’s. So Huawei is not only self-sufficient, but it is being recognized a a leader in both semiconductors, software, and in all its facets of production.
The US has cut off its nose with its sanctions and restrictions. It has caused more harm to its domestic semiconductor companies than to China. There is a rebellion going on today with US tech companies ignoring the US government demands to not use China as a source and market. That rebellion has spread as South Korea has reentered the China market as Samsung has built new fabs in China and Hynix sells its memory chips to the likes of Huawei. TSMC is said to be fabbing 7nm chips for ZTE, Alibaba, and Tencent, the latter two are focused on AI chips.
An aside, the 9000s chip is not only a CPU chip, but it is a SOC (system on a chip), that contains CPU, GPU, and NPU processors.
Can you blame Raimondo? She was just listening to the experts.
Bottomline, we could sum up the critical equation of the U.S. sanctions to ASML and its EUV machine. ASML didn’t invent its technologies. They were the results of decades of work by American and European companies. And by all calls of the experts, if the U.S. also restricts the DUVs, China will be pushed back by at least a decade for them to produce anything from 7nm chips and further.
Visit ASML and tour their facilities needed to produce the $200 million school-bus-size machine and you wouldn’t argue.
But in a little more than 4 years, Huawei has been able to design and produce its Kirin 9000 processor. But this chip is the sum total of an entire ecosystem made up of hundreds of companies developing native expertise from chip design to packaging to make this possible. They’re the Chinese EDA companies producing the tools for Huawei to design their own chips to the chip packaging companies that pioneered chiplet technologies to enable SMIC to advanced its N+2 platform to produce a 7nm chip without need for an EUV machine, a process that experts deem impossible at a commercial scale.
Can you blame Raimondo? She was just listening to the experts.
Bottomline, we could sum up the critical equation of the U.S. sanctions to ASML and its EUV machine. ASML didn’t invent its technologies. They were the results of decades of work by American and European companies. And by all calls of the experts, if the U.S. also restricts the DUVs, China will be pushed back by at least a decade for them to produce anything from 7nm chips and further.
Visit ASML and tour their facilities needed to produce the $200 million school-bus-size machine and you wouldn’t argue.
But in a little more than 4 years, Huawei has been able to design and produce its Kirin 9000 processor. But this chip is the sum total of an entire ecosystem made up of hundreds of companies developing native expertise from chip design to packaging to make this possible. They’re the Chinese EDA companies producing the tools for Huawei to design their own chips to the chip packaging companies that pioneered chiplet technologies to enable SMIC to advanced its N+2 platform to produce a 7nm chip without need for an EUV machine, a process that experts deem impossible at a commercial scale.
And it is SMEE leading the charge to build an SSMB EUV lithography factory in Shanghai, and it claims that it has mastered the core technologies of EUV lithography, such as light source, optics, mask, and stage. SMEE also says that it has successfully developed a prototype of an EUV machine with a resolution of 22 nanometers, and that it will achieve a resolution of 14 nanometers by 2024. SMEE’s goal is to produce EUV machines that can compete with ASML’s products in terms of performance and cost. SMEE expects that its EUV machines will be able to produce chips for applications such as memory, logic, and image sensors.
Nobody expected all these to happen so quickly. But it is happening.
Woke Snow White Actress FIRED from New Movie After DESTROYING Disney Classic
What a nasty and Entitled young woman. Let’s get her “Cancelled” for being so Condescending and Ungrateful.
That’s not a silly mistake. It’s a fundamental lapse. He missed the carry over 1.
It’s a procedural mistake
s = ut + 0.5at
That’s not a silly mistake. It’s a fundamental lapse. He forgot to square the time component in the parabolic equation and ended up making it a linear equation which is fundamentally ENTIRELY WRONG
35 >=17 >= 41
This is not a silly mistake. It’s a fundamental lapse. A simple reversal of the signal nullifies and invalidates an entire inequation
Mistakes are Mistakes
They aren’t Silly!!!!
A Child must never be told his mistakes are silly. He must be taught how his mistakes drastically changed the mathematical interpretation and how he can prevent the mistake
Yes, a Kid who forgets to carry over the one in Class III – gets 1/2 a mark less for his mistake
However someone who debits instead of crediting, ends up jobless or in JAIL. It’s also a simple silly mistake isn’t it
Your Child makes mistakes
A. He isn’t focused enough
B. He doesn’t understand the fundamentals thoroughly
C. He is in a hurry to finish and his timing is a problem
One or maybe ALL of the three
Now when you say
23*4 = ?
You teach the kid to multiply 3 and 4, place the 2 and carry over the 1, then multiply 2 and 4 and get 8, then add 1 and make it 92
W H Y?
Basically you are simply breaking 23 into 20+3 and multiplying both into 4 and adding the terms
Thus (20+3) *4 = (20*4) +(3*4) = 80+12 = 92
You are shortening this by carring over the one and adding it to 8 because both are in TENS PLACE
How many Kids know this?
Very very few
They mechanically do what is told and carry over the one and add the one. When they forget to add the one, they think SO WHAT? It’s just a single mistake
It’s not. They didn’t grasp the fundamentals of the operation.
It’s the same as blindly following instructions without understanding them
Instead first teach a kid (20+3) *4
The teach the kid the shortening form and why you carry over the one (because 8 and 1 are both in tens place, so it’s 80+10 not 8+1 in actuality)
He will NEVER make a mistake again in this
He blindly memorizes
s = ut + 0.5at²
He will make mistakes
He has to know WHY
He has to begin with distance = speed x time
He has to first understand accelaration and why acceleration is (v-u) /t
Then he gets v= u+at
Then he deduces that s = (v+u) /2 as average velocity and WHY THIS ASSUMPTION
Finally he gets (v+u)/2 = (u+u+at) /2 = (2u+at) /2
Thus s = (2u+at/2) *t = ut + 0.5at²
He will never forget because he understands the concepts and derivation now
Plus Focus and Timing
Many kids get pressured when they find they have lesser time Or are pressured by the teacher who demands the kid to be “QUICK”
Time management is key and you have to teach that
A rewards system is useful here
Divide each question into a specific routine and time your kid and try to ensure he has at least 5 minutes to spare
There are no SILLY MISTAKES
Except using your maiden name by mistake instead of married name
US badly needs money. It has no money and is printing money and one day all that printed money will cause chaos
China is flush with money. Choking with money from all those savings post lockdowns with 3 years moolah and nothing to spend on.
China badly needs to LEND this money or this money will cause deflation after 18 months or so
China doesn’t trust the US and believes very firmly that US will renege on its debt one day
In 2009, it was a similar group of senators who flew to China and laid bare the truth about their economy and the global crisis and begged China to keep buying US Debt and not to sell their US Holdings
China Agreed
In 2023, I doubt if China will agree
That’s all this is about
EU, US, UK all want Chinese money to purchase their debt
The US badly want to weaken their USD to make US exports mildly competitive at least and to stimulate the economy with cheap credit
To do this they need to stop printing money and they need someone to buy their debt
In the last 5 years, China, Japan, UAE and Saudi Arabia have all reduced their holdings of US Debt
China by nearly 15%
India, UK and EU have steadily increased their holdings of US Debt
Yet it’s a pittance
China could buy $ 400 Billion of US Debt tomorrow in 30 sessions across maybe 2 weeks
That would put the Yuan back at 6.78
That would bring down inflation by 40% across 5 months from the existing 4% today to around 2.4% by Middle of March
Janet Yellen wanted only $ 250 Billion
Yet US can’t make this public
Thus they pretend to talk of Micron
Why the hell would they?
Micron is a private entity isn’t it?
Micron execs would be the ones going to China to meet top officials not Senators
I foresee another refusal from China
Another interview in CBS about Chinas Collapse
And further deteriorations in the relationship
China successfully processed used cooking oil into plane fuel
We were taking a very nice man, with prostate cancer, to the OR. He was to get an implantation of radioactive beads, into the prostate to treat his cancer. This was done via the rectum.
As you can imagine, this would be pretty painful without anesthesia.
The resident anesthesiologist put him under. The patient seemed pretty relaxed, certainly not uncomfortable.
We draped him and put his feet up into stirrups. It’s the position that is typically used in childbirth.
We had good access. Things were going smoothly UNTIL we inserted the first bead.
Apparently, he was not “out” quite as much as the anesthesiologist thought.
The doctor stuck the sharp rod, carrying the pellet, into the wall of the rectum.
The poor patient came jumping off the table.
I was so intent on helping with the procedure that I didn’t reall notice him coming until I got a foot in the face and he landed in my lap.
We grabbed the guy so that he didn’t hit the floor.
I glanced up at the anesthesiologist. All the blood had drained out of her face. She was frantically trying to push stuff into his IV and dialing up the gas.
The attending physician looked up and barked, “That better, f***ing, not happen again!”
We lifted the man back onto the table. Thank God, he wasn’t injured. We finished the procedure.
The physician snapped off his gloves and stalked out of the OR cussing up a storm.
Later we told the man that there had been an incident. Thankfully he did not remember a thing.
Peace.
Steak Diane
steak diane horz a 1600 26c942f29f6d4d9ca0ee6f4899b12000
Yield: 2 servings
Ingredients
2 (6 ounce) filet mignons, thawed
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard
2 tablespoons shallots, minced
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon fresh chives, minced
1 teaspoon Brandy
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, minced
Instructions
Season both sides of steak with salt and pepper.
Melt butter in a heavy skillet; add mustard and shallots. Sauté over medium heat for 1 minute.
Add steaks and cook for approximately 4 minutes on each side for medium-rare.
Remove steaks to serving plate and keep warm.
Add into pan drippings, 1 tablespoon butter, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce and chives. Cook for 2 minutes.
Add brandy; pour sauce over steaks.
Sprinkle parsley over the top.
China is Preparing for WAR as Neocons Cross Xi’s Red Line in Taiwan
“China has lots patience with the US as the neocons continue to cross its red line in Taiwan, this time moving toward full Ukrainization of the proxy war. I discussed this and more “
Originally Answered: Why are single men with no children sometimes shamed for refusing to date women that have children?
I was watching a dating show once where they filmed couples on a first date, these two people were around 30, had met online and were getting on really well, sparks flying and all that.
They were at a restaurant and the guy had ordered chips, the woman reached across and pinched a chip, then commented that her kids ate nothing but chips. The guys reaction was priceless:
He recovered and they finished their meal, after the date they did a ‘de-brief’ interview with each of them to find out their thoughts, the guy bluntly said he wasn’t interested because she had kids.
He got lambasted for it by the presenter, but all I was thinking was ‘why didn’t she mention it earlier’? Having kids is about as massive a factor as you can have in someone’s life.
I have kids, but I could completely understand why someone would not want to date someone who has kids. One party already having kids causes huuuuge hurdles to the dynamic of a new relationship. Maybe the partner would like to travel? Sorry, not an option. Maybe they want to live somewhere not within 30 minutes of the kids school? Not gonna happen. Maybe they want more than 15–20% of their partners attention? How unrealistic can you be?? Maybe the partner wants to go out drinking with you? No chance, who’s gonna watch the kids? Maybe the partner would rather not have to deal with a potentially volatile relationship with the child’s mother/father/in-laws? Sorry, that’s just part of the deal.
Often, a man declining to date someone who has kids (or vice versa) is portrayed as being shallow or lacking commitment or even of being a misogynist (because they can’t handle the fact that their partner has been with someone else), but the point I’m trying to get across is that someone has to be willing to sacrifice a lot to date someone who has kids, and the fact that they’re not willing to do that doesn’t necessarily make them an arsehole.
*Of course, some people are just arseholes, but I guess that’s true of every situation in life.
The Philippines keep being HATED! Foreigners do not BELIEVE until they visit the Philippines
Caihong is a family of Chinese reconnaissance and strike-class unmanned aerial vehicles. It consists of a dozen models. One of them is the Caihong-5 or CH-5. Iraq recently purchased a batch of these drones.
Here’s What We Know
We first learnt about the CH-5 seven years ago. It was officially presented at the Airshow China 2016 exhibition. In the summer of 2015, the debut open tests of the drone took place. The UAV made a flight lasting 20 minutes.
The maximum take-off weight of the Chinese drone is 3,300kg, of which 1,000kg is for armament. The UAV can carry bombs and missiles. In particular, AR-1 and AR-2 with a range of 8 kilometres.
It has a range of 10,000 kilometres. The Chinese Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics, which is the developer of the drone, wanted to double the range. The CH-5 can fly for 60 hours, which is about four times longer compared to the US MQ-9 Reaper drone (14 hours).
I was manager of a small boutique women’s shoe store. A lady walked in the door dressed in dirty clothes. She had dirt under her fingernails. That us how dirty she was. My sales staff all took a step back when she walked in, so I asked her if I could help her find anything. She said no and just walked around the store looking. When she was ready she asked for a few shoes to try on. No problem. I also brought similar colors and styles in her size. She tried them on and said yes or no rather quickly. While she was trying them on I brought matching handbags to her as well. Her yes pile grew. I pointed out hats and scarves. Added a few of those too. She asked if one of the shoes she liked had other colors in her size. I did, so those where added to her yes pile. $2000 and change later she was packed up and ready to go.
My staff was shocked at that easy sale. They said they had never seen anything like that before. I reminded them that they were not here to judge, but to sell. Since we all earned commission, I had a great day. Turns out she was a chicken farmer and had just dropped off the bank roll in the mall so had some cash to spend when a pair of shoes caught her eye in the window.
Lesson: Never judge a chicken farmer with dirt under her nails.
EDIT It was a boutique store, not payless, so I fitted them on her after giving her stockings. Her feet were clean once her shoes and socks were off. Her clothes were a bit dirty and dirt was only under her nails. Not our usual client. Its not like she farmed barefoot or rolled in the muck. She took most of the items … and the gym ladies who just came to try on shoes and gossip and think about it had comparably dirty/clean feet. She Bought most everything she tried.
The Collapse of The American Dream Explained in Animation
My parents divorced when I was 4. My mother remarried a man one year later in 1965.
He was a very controlling man about most things—but that’s a different story. In the summer between my 4th and 5th grade, he became “Born Again” at a Billy Graham revival. At his insistence, my mother soon followed, as did my sister. I was the only one in our family of 4 who didn’t want to give up their entire life and become a singularly focused religious fanatic.
My stepfather had never really liked me before that. After that he hated me, and could barely contain his loathsome attitude toward me.
Speeding ahead a few years, when I was entering the 12th grade, my mother took me aside one day and told me that they had no money to help me with college—that I was going to have to figure out my future on my own. (She was quite literal about that. They never even once discussed with me what my options might be.) I said it was ok. I’d figure it out. I did, and after high school, I got a job at a factory.
My sister, who is 4 years older than me, did attend a religious college, and while it crossed my mind as to how she was able to pay for college, I never asked. We weren’t very close.
Fast forward to 1994. I am now successful in my career. I have a large house with a swimming pool and hot tub in the backyard. My family—mother, stepfather, sister and her family—are invited to my house for an afternoon barbecue.
My mother and sister are sitting in my hot tub. I am around the corner of the house tending the barbecue. They don’t realize that I’m there. They are talking loudly, and I can clearly hear them. My sister starts talking about college education for her kids and she asks my mom how she and my stepfather saved up the money for her college education.
My mom immediately started to panic, and began shushing my sister to be quiet. She frantically said, “I don’t want Kent to hear this! We told him we had no money for college.”
I always knew that I was the black sheep in the family, but it was in that moment that I truly realized how much I was excluded. From that point on, my eyes and mind were opened to the lies and deception within my family. It forever altered our relationship.
Update- stepfather died. Felt nothing. My wife thinks that I suffer from PTSD because of him. Maybe with time I can now forget and maybe even forgive. I wonder if he got that gold-plated throne next to God that he obsessed on his entire life. I doubt it.
Update- mother died. I felt almost nothing. I do mourn that she was more interested in keeping her abusive husband happy than having an interest in her son. Such is life.
After the accident, she was left on the side of the road, no one stopped the car to help her!
An encounter with approximately 30 burly men and their girlfriends part of a motorcycle gang with the name Outlaws written on their leather jackets.
I was 16 years old at the time and worked part time at Tim Hortons in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada.
The donut shop was right near the bridge going to the US border.
It was a rainy night in early summer in the early 1980’s. I was on the night shift.
It is around 3 a.m. in the dead of night. The place is quiet. The bar people have gone home and I am mopping the floor. I hear the sound of many motorcycles. I mean many many motorcycles. The cook looks out the window and goes in the back to hide.
I am alone in the shop and I see them park their bikes and walk towards the shop. I put the mop back in the bucket. Push it to the side at the back near the wall and they all walk in. I was not really afraid. I admit I was somewhat naive and stupid too. I figured they wanted to rest a bit and I started all the coffee machines.
I just took out all the cups, set them on the counter. We had counters where customers could sit down like a soda shop back then.
Waiting for the coffee to brew, I took the racks of donuts and put them on the counter near the cash.
I tried to serve everyone as fast as I could. To my surprise, three big dudes, walked behind the counter and helped by pouring coffee for their friends while I brewed more coffee.
They took some donuts, had their coffee, talked amongst themselves and I continued with my chores as a server. All the while, the cook is still hiding in the back room. lol
Well, one by one, they walked up to the cash and asked how much they owed. I had no clue. I asked them what they had because I told them I was not sure what they all had. They told me, I rang up the order and keep in mind the prices were different back then but for example, the price for a customer might have been 4 $. Well, the big burly fellow would give me a ten and tell me to keep the change.
They all did that. ALL.OF.THEM.
Not only that, some guys helped me clean up by filling up the dishwasher and putting stuff in the garbage.
I was floored.
They left the place spic and span and I had over 100 $ in tips.
I knew they were a biker gang but in a weird way, I never felt afraid.
Life is like that sometimes.
By the way, I totally lost respect for the cook. lol
A handful of countries from the BRICS alliance are cutting ties with the U.S. Treasury by offloading Treasury bonds. BRICS is increasingly looking to diversify its portfolios with gold, local currencies, and other commodities such as oil and gas. The move is a hedge against U.S. economic policies that will narrow down the dollar’s ability to fund its deficit. Recent data
from the U.S. Treasury Department shows that BRICS dumped $18.9 billion in U.S. Treasury bonds just this month.
In 2023, BRICS offloaded $122.7 billion in U.S. Treasury bonds and is staying away from the government’s debt. BRICS member China is the highest, as it offloaded $117.4 billion worth of U.S. government debt this year. Between June and July, China reduced its holdings from $835.4 billion to $821.8 billion, a decline of $13.6 billion.
Other BRICS member Brazil followed suit and reduced its U.S. Treasury holdings this year. Brazil’s U.S. treasury declined from $227.4 billion in June to $224.7 billion in July, a slump of $2.7 billion.
Another BRICS member, India, followed a similar path and trimmed its holdings by $2.3 billion during the same period. India has also allegedly dumped the U.S. dollar in the forex markets to keep the value of the Rupee from falling.
Similarly, the UAE saw its U.S. treasury holdings fall by $300 million in July. UAE’s holdings slipped from $65.2 billion in June to $64.9 billion the next month. In total, BRICS has removed $122.7 billion worth of U.S. Treasury bonds from its reserves in 2023.
Ukrainian forces quitting by the thousands, refusing to die in NATO’s war
New reports show Ukrainian forces are laying down their Western weapons and surrendering by the thousands using an emergency radio frequency. The surrendered forces are being fed and given medical attention and handing over vital troop movement data to Russian forces. This is the end.
Huawei, not Limited to Phone
Huawei held its Autumn Full-Scene New Product Launch Event at the Shenzhen Bay Sports Center on the afternoon of September 25th. In addition to releasing new products such as tablets, smart screens, and smart watches, Huawei announced that it will release its first sedan, Luxeed S7 EV, in November. Richard Yu, the Executive Director and CEO of Huawei’s Consumer Business Group, as well as the Chairman of Intelligent Automotive Solutions BU, stated that the Smart Selection S7 will surpass the Tesla’s ModelS in all specifications. In addition, Huawei will release the AITO M9 in December, which Yu claims will be the “best SUV under 10 million yuan (about US$1.37 million).”
During the launch event, the new generation of near-distance wireless connection technology, Nearlink, once again became the highlight. Yu stated that the standard of Nearlink is a new standard led and contributed by Huawei. Compared with traditional wireless communication technology, it has lower power consumption, faster connection speed, lower latency, more stable connection ability, wider coverage ability, and more powerful networking ability. It can be used in intelligent manufacturing, smart cars, smart homes, and smart terminals.
Huawei’s Nearlink is targeted at the Bluetooth that we commonly use. However, since Bluetooth is already widely used and familiar to people, why introduce Nearlink?
First of all, it is a technical issue. Traditional near-distance communication technologies such as Bluetooth and WiFi have emerged since 1999. When they are updated and iterated over the years, they inevitably retain some of the characteristics of old versions. In terms of speed, anti-interference performance, and energy consumption performance, they are far from satisfactory. Problems such as insensitive digital key sensing occur from time to time.
Nearlink has no historical baggage. Compared with traditional wireless connections, its power consumption is reduced by 60%, data transmission rate is increased by six times, latency is reduced to 1/30th, and the number of connections is increased by 10 times, according to Huawei’s claims.
In addition to technical reasons, Chinese automakers need Nearlink for another reason: Nearlink is a domestically developed technology. After all, Huawei was once kicked out of the Bluetooth Alliance. Now Huawei has also established the Nearlink Alliance with its own standards and has more than 240 members.
This is just as Huawei’s founder Ren Zhengfei said, “The greatest resistance gives us the greatest motivation.”
“Strange things happened on 9/11”- Robert Kennedy, Jr.
Do you believe the official story about the 9/11 attacks? We’ll you’re not alone because Robert Kennedy Jr. doesn’t believe the official narrative either. During an interview with CNN’s Peter Bergen Kennedy says there were strange things that happened that day. The corporate media has already launched a series of hit pieces on Kennedy reminding us why this is just part of his normal conspiracy rhetoric.
Yes , was it an eye opener. I had known a woman from work who was very efficient, on time and got along well with others. I had heard of family gatherings, holidays and had seen pictures of some. She always spoke very positive and loving about her children.
THEN!!!
One day I happened to be grocery shopping and heard a familiar voice. As I rounded the corner, I realized it was my co-worker. Just as I was about to call out and wave to her, I witnessed her slapping the crap out of her three year old little boy, then her daughter (4) received the same with a jolting jerk as well and because she started crying because her little brother had just been slapped. Both were across the face!!
This WAS NOT the person I thought I knew and respected as a good parent. Much to my dismay, a stranger saved me the awful task of approaching her to tell her to knock the shit off!!! This other woman did.
My co-worker was very nasty mouthed to this other woman.
I was appalled! The entire incident was played out right in front of me and my co-worker never did look past her little world of rage (all the while still saying very cruel and mean things to her little babies) she did not even know I was there. I finished shopping and left the store. A police cruiser was pulling in as I left. I wondered then if they were there for her. They were not apparently.
This was a Saturday. The following Monday came and the day was going as usual….hectic. Before I knew it, it was 10am….time for am break. Sure enough as I entered the small bistro that was in the building, there she sat waving me to join her.
I did.
I then proceeded to tell her how awful I thought she had treated her children and that in my opinion she needed to seek counseling and turn the anger off. I also told her she had no right to treat anyone like that much less the gifts she had been given to raise and cherish.
She tried to offer some stupid fucking excuse which I cut off before it all fell out of her mouth. I told her I felt sorry for her that her abusive actions were now the only thing I could see. We were not going to be spending time together anymore. I also told her I felt immensely sorry for her children and that I hoped she would change her ways. I then ask her if her husband knew how she treated those beautiful little souls!
She replied NO. I thought long and hard over it (for 1 minute). I called her husband (who I knew was a kind person.) that evening and explained to him what I witnessed and what my fears were for his children. He was very quiet and only said two things to me. The first was he wondered, but had no proof. He did not go into detail. The other was a resounding THANK YOU.
Within one week my co-worker gave her notice at work saying that SHE was divorcing her husband and moving three states away. She also said her children would be staying with her husband who would be awarded full custody as she was signing her children to him
She never said anything to me about it. She worked her two weeks and left.
I have not talked with her husband as well. I do know he is raising the children. This was 5 years ago.
The abuse of anyone is something I will not tolerate. Even more so the abuse of a child or an elderly person will send me right over the top.
And NO I was not abused as a child. Thanks for asking the question and to those of you who actually made it to the end of my rant..
The Horrors of Plum Island | Hybrids, Human Experiments and Weaponized Killer Insects
Well this certainly was a disturbing episode. Reckless individuals and secret organizations operating without accountability.
According to a report by Taiwan’s China Times on September 13, 2023, Singapore’s former Foreign Minister George Yeo stated at the Asia-Pacific Forward Forum organized by the Fair Winds Foundation that if a war were to erupt in the Taiwan Strait, it would essentially mean that the United States, if it sends troops, would be directly engaging in conflict with Chinese mainland. Consequently, Taiwan would be nothing more than a sacrificial pawn.
Yeo highlighted that the leaders and people of Taiwan know that US policy on Taiwan is formulated not out of love for the Taiwan people but because Taiwan is an important piece to be used against mainland China. “It is also good business for US armament companies,” Yeo remarked.
The report also mentioned that China and the United States agreed to mutually recognize and establish diplomatic relations starting from January 1, 1979, with the US recognizing the government of the People’s Republic of China as the sole legitimate government of China. Yeo further expressed at the forum, “How long the US can do this depends on the relative military power of the US versus China and the willingness of the Taiwan people to be played as a piece on the geopolitical chessboard of US-China relations.”
ALERT: RUSSIAN CYBERATTACK ON ISRAEL, US SENDS AIRCRAFT CARRIER FOR WAR WITH IRAN/ RUSSIA!
I was fortunate enough to attend a lecture given by the late Prof. Hawking on the campus of the University of Berkeley; I say “given”; Hawking rolled onto the stage, and the lecture he so painstakingly prepared was delivered by the machine he used to speak with. I never heard him repeat this quote, so I will have to take it on faith that this is something he actually said.
I’ll be PC here, and substitute “average” for dumb; average people are not necessarily “dumb”, but the difference between them and very intelligent people is that they are far less intellectually curious, and tend not to question their own beliefs, or look beneath the surface of phenomena they encounter every day. For the average, smart people are not necessarily “crazy”, but they do come across as weird. If I were to tell an average person that they like doughnuts because simple carbohydrates and fat were rare and valuable nutrients on the African savannah 70,000 years ago, they would look at me like I was mad. They would say something like “I enjoy doughnuts because they taste good”; it wouldn’t occur to them to ask the fundamental question of why they taste good to us.
As shown in the graph above, 68.2% of people are in the average range of IQ between 85–115 (using IQ as a proxy for general intelligence. The number of people with an IQ higher than 115 becomes increasingly rare with the increasing level of IQ, so those with 140+ are very rare indeed, so it should not surprising that those who are in this high range will often come across as “odd” to the average majority. There is a qualitative difference in the cognition of the highly gifted, compared to the cognitive style of the average; the more intelligent one is, the less “obvious” things seem to be.
In evolutionary terms, our “purpose” as humans is to survive and reproduce, functions for which the average level of intelligence is sufficient; humans evolved to be as intelligent as they needed to be in order to successfully carry out these biological functions, so it is not surprising that most of us are not smarter than we are. As social animals, we tend not to be too fond of “weirdos” who question the existing social order, and the way things have always been done, hence the existence of terms like “nerd” and “geek” for those whose manner of thought and speech is contrary to the norm. At the same time, it had to have been the prehistoric nerds and geeks who came up with technologies like the bow and arrow, and poison darts, which were beneficial for the survival of humans as a whole, by allowing us to hunt otherwise inaccessible game animals. One can just imagine the jeers of the normies when the first geek smeared some tree sap on a dart, and walked off with his blowpipe, saying “I’m going hunting by myself.”
As someone who has been accused of being smart, I’ve had to learn to self-censor in order to “fit in”, and not be ostracized as a “weirdo” by the general population. “Be yourself” is incredibly stupid advice if one happens to be an intellectual outlier, since “yourself” is likely to be regarded as strange, and even threatening by the majority. Hawking was right, and I reserve my unfiltered self for a select few IRL, plus, of course, anyone who chooses to read my apophenic ravings on Quora.
China Cancels $250 Billion Car Order from USA: Unraveling the Implications
When I was working as an engineer during the 1990’s I spent most of my time living in mobile homes. These flimsy boxes were perfect for my lifestyle of hustle and layoff, and move to another city.
But, gosh, the mobile home complexes that we found ourselves in, were inhabited with some very ill-mannered people.
One time, when I lived in “West Elizabeth, PA” we had a mobile home at the edge of the mobile home community, and there at 9am every weekend, this little 13 year old boy would go around and around and around my home on his dirt bike. Only around my home. No other homes. Just mine.
Those things were noisy, and I couldn’t figure out why he chose my home to endlessly circle.
One day, I met his mother.
She said, “Oh, I thought no one lived there. Do you have a problem with him riding around your home?”
Well yeah.
DUH!
We had a few words and he stopped. But not until I was really upset and angry over the non-stop noise and the endless feeling of living in the God-damn middle of a freeway.
So many people are inconsiderate.
Partly because they are rude, and partly because they are stupid. Though drugs might play a role…
Couple of years back, I was having a conversation with an Indian origin entrepreneur in Silicon Valley who is making quite lot of innovative products. It is an early stage company. So, my conversation was about the possibility of starting his firm’s manufacturing units in India. He said something insightful
“I change my product designs quite often. And I would need rapid prototyping abilities to execute my business effectively as it is an evolving field. I make a circuit design, upload the specs to a firm in Shenzen, pay the money. Within four days the prototype is at my place in Palo Alto. All processes can be done online. Imagine doing this in India. Unless you are a Samsung or LG which has a massive team to handle all these customs, import export stuff with tons of paperwork, you will end up spending ages to do this in India. Shenzen is a one-stop ecosystem for anything electronic in the world. The supply chains and distribution mechanisms are super efficient. I don’t think India will ever reach there”
After this conversation, I’ve had multiple conversations with small and large players. Small players lament about the customs, import – export processes in India. Large firms crib about the absence of supply chain base of input for manufacturing. Our metrics of measuring ease of business is horribly skewed towards the efficiencies of business for a large player like Apple or Samsung or say a Honda. We don’t focus on making things easy for small firms like the one which I mentioned . Unless we crack that part, we’ll never be able to build a true ecosystem like Shenzen thats attractive for the large corporations
Steak in a Bag
steak in a bag
Ingredients
1 cup egg bread crumbs
1 (2 to 3 pound) top sirloin steak, cut 2 1/2 inches thick
4 tablespoons butter, softened
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 teaspoons seasoned salt
2 1/2 teaspoons seasoned pepper
1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
Instructions
Prepare egg bread crumbs; set aside. Remove excess fat from steak.
In a small bowl, mix butter, oil, garlic, seasoned salt and seasoned pepper until blended. Spread on all sides of steak.
Mix bread crumbs and cheese. Press into butter mixture on steak, coating steak well.
Place steak in brown grocery bag. Fold end over and secure with paper clips. At this point steak may be refrigerated several hours.
Before cooking, bring steak to room temperature.
Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Place bag on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes. For medium rare steak, increase oven temperature to 425 degrees F and bake 15 minutes longer, a total of 45 minutes. For medium-well steak, reduce heat from 425 degrees F to 375 degrees F and bake 5 minutes longer before removing from oven, a total of 50 minutes.
Remove steak from bag. Let stand for 5 minutes before carving into thin slices.
NIGER COUP: JUBILATION IN NIGER AS 400 FRENCH SOLDIERS LEFT NIGER IN PEACE THIS WEEK. NOT BY WAR.
I worked in Veterinary medicine for more than 36 years and we always dealt with some real doozies!
We had a lady come in with a chow for regular vaccines and after she signed in, she sat on the bench waiting to be seen. One of my techs walked over to her with a clipboard and pen in her hands to get some information. While she stood there speaking with the woman, her dog came over (he had been straining at the leash trying to get out the door) and with no warning (not even a growl) grabbed hold of her hand with his teeth and began to try and rip her arm off! He shook his head, bit harder and dragged her to the floor!
Instead of trying to get the dog off of her, the woman began screaming at us for abusing her dog as we tried to break the dog free of my tech’s hand and 3 of us were bit trying to get her loose!!
Instead of an apology for owning an aggressive dog and not restraining it when she came in, the woman screamed at us that ‘”You people had no right to attack my dog like that and it’s your own fault for walking up to my dog!”.
My tech ended up with 4 broken bones in her hand and a massive infection that put her in the hospital for 4 days, and in the end, the woman actually had the nerve to file a lawsuit claiming animal abuse against our hospital. She wanted more than $25,000 in emotional distress!
We shut the hospital down on the day of the trial (there was NO WAY we were going to settle) and every staff member who had been involved was there to testify.
In the end, the woman was forced to pay all court costs and lawyer fees, the cost of the medical treatment for every person who was injured, the cost of shutting down the hospital to come to court and was given a fine by Animal Control for having an aggressive dog. She was also told that should the dog ever bite someone again, not only would the dog be put down, but she could be arrested and jailed for having a known aggressive animal in her home and not properly containing it.
I Live Better In Thailand Than I Did In The U.S. – Here’s How Much It Costs | Relocated
To those who say he’s spending too much — not all digital nomads are poor. This guy’s a high earner, and by spending a few thousand he’s living a lifestyle that would typically be accessible to only multi-millionaires in the US or Europe.
A day after reports claimed that Germany was considering a ban on parts made by Chinese manufacturers Huawei and ZTE in its 5G networks, Beijing has responded. The Chinese embassy in Berlin said the country will not stand by idly if the German government goes ahead with the proposal.
“If the German government really decides to move in this direction without proving that Chinese products pose a security threat to Germany, we will not stand by idly,” the embassy was quoted as saying.
“Should Germany unjustifiably exclude Chinese companies, this would not only be a violation of the principle of fair competition but would also harm Chinese companies and Germany itself,” it added.
What has Germany proposed?
Germany’s interior ministry has chalked up a proposal under which the said Chinese companies will be eliminated from the country’s “core network” as part of a “de-risking” strategy. The ministry is expected to submit its proposal to the cabinet next week.
Apart from issuing a full ban on the new parts made by Chinese companies, the German government will also extend the ban on those parts that have already been installed. It wants to start by phasing out parts made by Huawei and ZTE in Germany’s “access and transport network”.
My doctor noticed that I had lost weight. “Are you on a diet?” No. “Having any eating issues? “ Sometimes meat doesn’t go down. “We’d better look.” This was April-may, 2014. Gastroenterologist did an Endoscopy. No warning, “You have Esophagael Cancer, you have an Oncology appointment tomorrow.” Chemo and radiation started almost immediately. They told me not to look on the internet at the statistics, so I did. 95% don’t make it 5 years. The stories were pretty grim. I sold my milling machine, lathe, TIG welder and a couple of old Honda mini bikes, if I was going tits up, I didn’t need some scammers trying to rip off my wife when I was dead and gone. Chemo and radiation were pretty straight forward and I didn’t really have any issues, I continued to work while I was getting treated. CT Scans, PET Scans, Xrays, things improved inside. August 18, 2014, 6am, I went into surgery for a gastroesophagectomy, removal of most of my esophagus and part of my stomach. Up to this point, I had lost 70 lbs in about 5 months. The surgery was really rough, and I couldn’t eat for 3 days after I woke up, then it was cottage cheese and tomato soup for about 2 weeks. I was in the hospital for 15 days, 7 in ICU. I’ve had eating issues since then (coming on 4 years), and it was 3 years before I could eat a steak. I’m back up to about 190 lbs (from 158 at the low), it takes me about 3 hours to eat a meal, but my boss and the people at work, work with me, I’m usually eating all the time. But I can only eat about 1/4 or 1/3 of the amount of food I used to eat, and very little meat, food hangs up. I’m also susceptible to aspirating (inhaling) food into my lungs, which makes me really susceptible to bacterial pnuemonia, which I’ve had at least 1 each year since surgery. All CTScans and PETScans have been negative, my doc says, “Next time if (when) the scan is clear, we’ll call it done.”
But I ain’t dead.
Life has changed considerably. I very seldom eat in restaurants any more. Sometimes I have to eat standing up, something inside seems to get pinched off when I sit down and eat. I don’t sleep as well as I used to. My doctor seems to feel I’m one of the 5% that makes it (she said the actual number is about 15% now, the first numbers I read were old stats). As far as attitude goes, I don’t worry about things any more. I just roll with it and try to enjoy myself. I’ve gotten another lathe and welder, looking for a milling machine, hopefully I’ll be making parts for a good long time.
Chinese Tech Firm’s Groundbreaking Achievement 5nm Chips Made Without Lithography Machines
I recently was released from an Alabama prison. I spent two years in prison. I was sent there when I was 17, I am 19 now. The Alabama prisons are a horrible place. I was a sheltered child growing up. When I was 17 my father forced me to steal from some people because we didn’t have any money. I did not want to do it, my father forced me to. I begged and pleaded with him. I used to love to play video games. I haven’t now played games in years, since I was probably 15. That part inside of me sort of died. I was and am still tall and kind of thin.
The first place I went, was one of the worst places, the juvenile wedge in the Mobile metro jail. A wedge holds eight cells, and is supposed to only hold 2 juveniles per cell/per two bunks. But there were sometimes up to 4 people per cell, forcing kids to sleep on the mats on floor and right near the toilet. The 16 and 17 year olds in Alabama jails are horrible and the most violent of all inmates. I can look back and understand the readers thoughts, they probably are curious to know how age 15-17 year olds could be so violent. But, Alabama, if you have actually visited, is a very rough place, especially the projects. I was in this jail with the teens who were the ones that committed the worst crimes, 1st degree robberies, murders, arson, theft, rape and molestation.
I was the only white boy. They always attempted to steal from me and rob me, and literally terrorize me, throwing piss on me, or spitting in my drinking cup. They let the inmates fill up the other inmates drinking cups. The first week there, I bought a $20 phone card, and when I came back to my cell the black kids were waiting for me in there, predators. They had put a towel over the cell’s only light, to darken the cell, so the guards couldn’t see what was about to happen. And they surrounded me once I had walked back into the cell. I told them I would not give them the phone card, I actually intimidated them. I was grabbed from behind, and put into a choke hold, then I blacked out. I woke up from underneath the steel metal desk with blood dripping down the side of my face. The phone card was gone.
After that, I spent an entire year in a cell by myself, because I had to be separated from them. Throughout that amount of time, I saw over one hundred fights, and was sleep deprived quite a lot. The juveniles would scream and yell and cuss each other out ALL the time. They were animals. They would talk about the most hateful, vile things, and how ‘gangster’ they were, drug dealing, robbing and killing. It was utterly saddening. Especially at night, they would beat on the metal over and over and over, and rap, all of them together. (In no way am I racist. Nor prejudice towards a certain taste of music, I like rap myself sometimes.)
During the time I was in jail, I heard news about my father. Months later, a Correctional Officer actually was the one to give me news that my father had been arrested himself. He had stolen from more people, the same exact way he had made me do it. And was in jail. he would finally pay for what he had done to me. But, there are no laws protecting kids from what their parents force them to do, sadly, Quite a horrible thing for the legal system to do to kids.
The juvenile wedge was located right next to the suicide wedge. The loudest wedge in the entire 2000+ jail. That is where they put the drunks, the crazy psychopaths who had just murdered their whole family, and even more nutjobs. One man gouged his father’s eyes out with a spoon.(I can reference that, as well.) They would beat constantly and scream and moan all night long. I remember specifically the one’s who would never stop beating on the clear plexiglass walls of the suicide cells. They were in there naked, (all of them). At one time I saw my own father in there, after he had gotten jumped in another wedge and his nose broken and both eyes completely blackened. They put him in their for “protection”. I remember hearing the guards running in there and beating the hell out of those people, and hearing the inmates scream. I was right next to those cells. I lost lots of sleep over the constant noise, BANG BANG BANG. BANGING over and over and over, for hours, all night. It was just like a lunatic asylum.
I did read a lot of the christian bible, when I actually believed in that kind of stuff. And other books as well, It was my only solace then. And learning, I yearned to read and learn. I was constantly a target with the black people, because I was a white boy.
I was deeply miserable, and so I got the doctors to finally give me sleep medicine after many months, “Remerons”, which made me feel like I was slow when I took them, but sleepy. They took a very long time to wear off. I started to slide them in the inside of my mouth when the nurse would give them to me, and I would spit them out when I got back to my cell, And hide them in a hole in my inch thick mat. I had no pillow, just a wool blanket. Before I went to prison and was waiting in limbo in jail, I thought there was a chance that I might be sent to prison. So over a long amount of time, I started to collect those sleeping pills just in case. So I could protect myself, if I was given a long amount of time in prison or whatever.
Things got more miserable, I stopped a young black kid from committing suicide in my cell at one point. I turned 18 in jail. After that, I mixed in with the adults. I finally received my time, It was two more years… and I would be going to prison. I couldn’t do it anymore. I was utterly miserable and sad, And I lost the will to want to be alive. I wanted peace, just once in my life. If you call death peace. One night I took all the remerons I had collected, I first waited for my cellmates to begin playing cards, and then I took around 100 of them, and heated up some hot water, and crushed up some of the pills and swallowed them all down.
It was the worst, bitter disgusting taste. I still have a hard time swallowing pills if I ever have to chew them. I wrote a note telling my mother I loved her and wished I could hug her. No one knows the truth or what really happened. No one cares to know. I hadn’t seen her in 8 years. I got up on my top bunk and rolled over on my side on my mat. And laid there. I prayed to God, asking to be with him, I commend to you my spirit “Lord”. I was completely terrified of going to hell, but I still did it, I was in so much misery. 30 minutes later my body was almost paralyzed. And my body was pulsing and throbbing. I began to feel very sick. I tried as hard as I could to hold my stomach in. But I had to get up and go to the toilet to vomit, and my whole body was almost paralyzed, I could not jump off my rack. I couldn’t move. And then I blacked out, into nothingness. Silence. Blackness. There was no bright light.
Over the course of that period, while I was in jail, I had many inmates/criminals try to hurt me.
Later, I woke up in a hospital handcuffed to a stretcher, I was on life support. My cellmates had gotten scared and told the guards, once they had seen me black out. I obviously did not want my cellmates to know what I had done. But I was forced to throw up, and black out.
After my ill recovery, I was thrown into the suicide wedge, right where I remembered all those people.
I soon was shackled and shipped to prison, where there was no A/C at all, there is none in the Alabama prisons. Prison is even worse. You are forced to work all day. And the temperatures inside the dorms get to 100+ degrees. Everyday, all day long, during the hot long Alabama summers. Misery. I remember pools of sweat collecting on my mat, while I tried to lay down. I would have to strip to my underwear to stay cooler. The black men would look at me, and some would masturbate at me, while I would sleep, or do it right in front of me. They call it “gunning you down”. It was a fact that the African american men were specifically like this. A lot of the time when I would try to take a quick shower, they would all watch me, to see when I would go in. And then go in the shower with me and watch me, and ‘gun me down’, while I bathed myself quickly. Quite a dehumanizing thing to have done to you. I wish I could’ve knocked one of the those motherf*ckers heads off. But I knew I had parole coming up, And I might make it, If I never get into any fights, or disciplinaries. Which was even worse. Because, I needed to stand up for myself. It was so crowded in prison, there was no privacy. Nowhere. Showers were completely wide open, toilets were in rows of 30 lined up. No stalls, Those did not exist.
I tried dearly to avoid the showers, and the sick people. I saw a lot of sick stuff in there. The white gay boys were the ones that almost always were on the “receiving” end of the action. Homemade hypodermic needles, and one of the main drugs, called Suboxones, they were these thin sublingual films from a pharmacy that were smuggled in, they are a narcotic analgesic and they dissolve fast. The drug addicts broke up and disolved the film in a spoon and either snorted or injected it. I did none of that. I had never done drugs before.
I was in prison for a long time. After two years of being in there, and finally making parole, I was released and transferred to another state. I was granted immediate release from parole at least three months before, but it took them a very long time to “find” the paperwork. They would not have done it or found it, if a trustee inmate had not given me a special phone number for the parole boards office, that was not “public”, and I got my family to call up there over 50 times over a course of months.
I realized my weaknesses while in prison, my puniness as well. A lot of me died slowly inside, I do not think about girls as much. I was a young kid, I had only ever had one girlfriend in 8th grade. I had to drop out of school after that.
When I was in prison I longed to just touch a girl’s hand, just to have someone love me as friend. I yearned for a companion, I was so lonely. Words could never express. My heart felt like it was literally dying. I also missed listening to music so much, I loved music a lot. I don’t feel things anymore as much, I tried to feel love and compassion, but my heart has died slowly. I still do love people, I have tried to keep that alive, I really try my best. And I love to give people gifts with the money I have now.
Things don’t mean as much at all to me anymore. I am somewhat of a stronger guy now, I fear nothing. I also lift weights and exercise everyday, that is one thing I will always do. I am still trying to find what I am going to do with my life and career. And find meaning in life. I do enjoy computers a lot, evidently. If I had to go through those two years again, I don’t believe I could do it all over again.
Huawei breakthrough is more than the 7nm as widely perceived in the media since the annocement of Huawei mate 60 series.
Huawei had invented and patented a 3D Finfet transistor that enable it to be fabricated using a tweaked or modified DUV machine with mass production. The 7nm Kirin 9000s chip with 3D Finfet transistors consume less power and can achieved equivalent performance of 3nm chip. It can easily be refined and improved with 5 nm or 3nm designs which l believe will be used in Kirin 9100 chips and achieve better performance.
Hisilicon had utilized the Chips and design Kirin 9000, Kirin 9000s Soc using it’s Taishan architectures and system.
The Kirin 9000 series are 8–12 Taishan core CPU working together with GPU and Huawei Balong Modern. They are comparable to Qualcom snapdragon 8-2 chip set and Apple M16 and M17 chip set.
Beside the Kirin Soc the Huawei mate 60 series also used in house indigenous technologies like Ximage, Nearlink and Satellite connectivity technology.
Ximage is Huawei photo taking and processing technology, one of the best in the world.
Huawei breakthrough is far from just handphone technology, Huawei will be the top platforms for AllAI and All Cloud and All IoT. It will be the smart system inventors that empower human leveraging on technology to improve life and productivity.
This is Miss Nigeria Nyekachi Douglas in the Miss World beauty pageant. You must be thinking that she is so happy because she won. No, she didn’t win the Miss World title but rather her friend Miss Jamaica Toni-Ann Singh won Miss World title.
She is being praised for her heartwarming reaction despite losing Miss World After miss Jamaica, Toni-Ann Singh was named miss world, Douglas jumped up and down and did a happy dance as she congratulated and hugged her friend .
Be happy for other people, regardless of what it is for. It will cost you nothing.
I am blown away with her reaction. And she won my heart.
We should learn from her and be happy in the happiness of others.
I’ve dealt with this. For YEARS. My salvation came one day when I was particularly under the gun to get a few real priority tasks around the house and yard done. I was about to leave town and this particular afternoon was my last chance to get things straight before leaving. When said relative showed up, unannounced as per the usual, I said “Great! You’re here” and immediately handed them a lawn bag, went out the door, then hollered back at them to hurry up!
I worked them into the ground…..and kept pressure on with family gossip about THEM as well as promised I’d never turn down their help again….. how I couldn’t wait to get back to town and have them help with winterizing, cleaning gutters, etc.
They never popped in again. That was 17 years ago.
Las Vegas teen expected ‘slap on the wrist’ for hitting, killing cyclist: ‘I’ll be out in 30 days
The teenager who police say intentionally struck and killed a retired police chief in Las Vegas said he would get a “slap on the wrist” after he was taken into custody, the 8 New Now Investigators have learned.
China to build up Huge IC chip factory using a particle accelerator!
Scientists said this unprecedented technology can overstep US sanctions and make China a new leader in semiconductor chip industry
Plans are now in progress to construct a huge particle accelerator to help researchers put into practice the cutting-edge technology
China is exploring new avenues to bypass restrictions on lithography machines, which are used in the production of microchips. Using particle accelerators to create a novel laser source, researchers are laying the foundation for the future of semiconductor fabrication.
China to use EUV in making it’s own IC fab facilities
China is exploring the use of a new extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light source in making its own lithography facility but technology experts said such an ambitious goal may take many years to achieve.
Over the past few days articles and videos have gone viral on the Internet in China claiming that Tsinghua University has made breakthroughs in steady-state microbunching (SSMB) technology, which can create an EUV light source with a power several times higher than that of ASML’s EUV lithography.
They say the future launch of a SSMB accelerator, nicknamed “lithographic cannon ,” will help China bypass the export controls of the United States and the Netherlands.
These came after Huawei Technologies on August 29 commenced the sale of its flagship smartphone Mate60 Pro, which used a 7 nanometer chip produced with Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) N+2 processing technology and ASML deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography.
“We understand that it’s difficult to have more breakthroughs in chip-processing if we follow the current technological path,” a Chongqing-based writer saysin an article published by the Huxiao Business Review on September 16. “It will be more feasible to walk on a new path.”
He says Tsinghua’s suggestion to use the SSMB technology in lithography can help China break the technological blockage of ASML.
He adds that what Tsinghua proposes is not a lithography machine but a huge factory that involves a lot of land and workers – resources that China does not lack.
China beats US in top global scientific ‘hot papers’ — those that receive instant recognition — ranking
with the number of papers published and cited in the world’s most influential journals, a new report has found.
China also ranked first on the international papers citation chart in six major disciplines
– agricultural sciences, chemistry, computer science, engineering, materials science and mathematics. The top spot in mathematics was a new achievement compared with the previous year.
According to the Statistical Data of Chinese S&T Papers released on Wednesday by the Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (ISTIC), Chinese researchers
published 1,929 “hot papers” – papers that receive significant numbers of citations soon after publication, usually in a rapidly evolving field such as molecular biology and materials science – accounting for 46 percent of the global total by July.
My live-in nanny Jennifer moved from Oregon to Yuma, Arizona to attend college and take advantage being near her fiancé, Ryan, stationed at the Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS). Jennifer was energetic and very Mormon, interviewed quite well and had impeccable references. If you are thinking this is all going to turn out bad; you would be 100% wrong. Jennifer was a dream nanny, excellent student, exceptional teacher, my confidant, unapologetically pretty, my foster children loved her and her voice… she could sing like an angel. Jennifer and I are still in touch on social media.
Jennifer moved in with me the fall of 1995 to begin as a nanny. She was so looking forward to caring for Brittney, attending a new semester at Arizona Western College (AWC) and finally spending some time with her fiancé. There was a two-day registration window for her to sign up in January 1996 for the spring semester classes.
On the first day at registration, when she was signing up for a choir class, the teacher informed Jennifer about a music scholarship that would cover all her expenses. Jennifer would have to audition for the scholarship. As I said, Jennifer had the voice of an angel and she easily passed the vocal audition for the scholarship. The kicker; the music scholarship was reserved for Arizona residents (2 years or more) or family members of military personnel only; so, she didn’t qualify. Worse yet, the deadline for qualifying for the scholarship and class registration was the very next day.
Jennifer has never been the type of person to sulk or quit; she was undaunted. She certainly couldn’t qualify for the Arizona resident part; she’d only lived in Arizona for six months. She told her counselor, “If I need to be a military family member, then I will be a military family member by tomorrow.” Jennifer called her fiancé Ryan, told him about the scholarship and announced that they were getting married NOW so she could qualify for the scholarship.
When I came home that day, Jennifer explained about the scholarship and she would need a few hours off to get married. I was absolutely impressed by her resourcefulness. Not once did she address this as a problem; and, she actually reveled in the opportunity the challenge represented.
Ryan, who was still working on converting to Mormonism, was fully on-board with the wedding plan. He and Jennifer could have that big religious wedding for their families later. They just wouldn’t tell them they had gotten married already. Since Ryan was in the Marines, he needed approval from his commanding officer first. Ryan managed to get it done right away and meet Jennifer at Yuma County Clerk’s Office to get their marriage license.
Thank goodness Arizona does not require blood tests; Jennifer is needle-phobic and jokes that a blood test might have been a deal-breaker. Jennifer couldn’t have picked a more perfect town for a quickie marriage. Yuma has quite the reputation for many movie stars flying in from California for a quick marriage; including, Loretta Young, Claudette Colbert, Alice Fay, Mary Astor, Jean Harlow, John Barrymore, Errol Flynn and even cowboy Tom Mix… and more.
The only wedding officiant they could find on such short notice was a judge at City Hall. His docket was full but Jennifer and Ryan somehow convinced that judge to perform the marriage ceremony at 9am the next morning; scholarship and college registration deadline day. I was impressed how quickly Jennifer got it all arranged in a single day. When Jennifer wants to get something done; there is no stopping her.
With no advanced planning for her wedding, Jennifer certainly hadn’t planned for a wedding dress. Ryan could get away with wearing his Marine Corps dress uniform. Jennifer began to go through her everyday-go-to-school outfits and she modeled in front of me, “Do you think this looks wedding-enough?” No matter how resourceful Jennifer had already been; she really had nothing that looked anything like a wedding dress. In my mind; a woman needs a wedding dress on her wedding day. So, I told her I’d buy her a dress as a wedding present. Although it was already late in the day, we immediately went shopping. We stopped near one wedding shop and she motioned for me to keep driving. She insisted, “This is a small event, no need for expensive.” Jennifer got so lucky; she ended up finding the cutest little white lacy wedding dress on a JC Penny’s discount rack for under $40.00. We couldn’t believe it; it was like it was waiting for her and it couldn’t have been more perfect.
On the morning of the 2nd day of college registration, at 9am, she and Ryan stood before the judge at Yuma City Hall and got married. One of Ryan’s friends and I were the witnesses. We took Polaroid insta-print pictures of the ceremony and also a posed-picture with the judge. They had no real wedding rings, but did exchange a couple of Cracker-Jack rings at the ceremony. Ah, such a tribute to young love at its finest.
Now most bright-eyed wedding couples would have a big celebration and then head out for an exciting honeymoon. Well, that’s what’s very different about Ryan and Jennifer. Ryan immediately reported back to duty at the MCAS. Jennifer, still wearing her wedding dress, with a copy of a marriage license in one hand, marriage certificate in the other and backup pictures of the marriage ceremony, drove with all her determination out to AWC to capture her scholarship.
Jennifer’s first stop at the college was the music teacher where she got her scholarship stamped qualified and approved; Victory! Then she stood in line at the registration office, still wearing her wedding dress, and finished registering for her college classes; Victory!
Whenever I hear the expression, “failure is not an option,” it always reminds me of Jennifer. You gotta love Jennifer.
Oh SH*T, NATO just crossed the line and Putin knows it
The year is 1974 and I am the junk dealer’s daughter. My brother has become a teenager; my parents spend half their time watching my father slowly die and striving to save him; the rest struggling to survive.
Our TV is off limits, the days are long — especially for an introverted kid, but I am not alone, for the bookmobile comes every other Thursday at 3 pm.
Three years before my mom had walked me down the street and signed me up for the reading program. Read ten books and get a sticker. Get the stickers and you get a prize.
I had rapidly progressed from the small child’s, to the preteen books and last year the bookmobile lady had sent home a permission slip to allow me to read the adult books. This year she scours the county for good books for me.
Smiling, she hands me a stack of ten books, “there are some new westerns and a couple of scifi as well, if you want them.”
My book a day limit met I struggle home with my treasures. Another two weeks of adventures and stories. I don’t feel as alone and my belly doesn’t rumble as much when I’m reading.
Carefully I open the first page . . . the bookmobile lady has saved me once again.
The year is 1994 and now I have a family to support. Going back to college was a good decision. My hard work and bright mind has been recognized and I have risen from student worker to classified staff.
Painfully shy I stay to myself but then another worker stops by and tells me as a union member I should be attending union meetings.
“I just want to fit in,” I think. “I’ll slip into the back and hopefully no one will take much notice of me.”
“Hey Nancy? Is that you Nancy?”
The bookmobile lady is there, older now but just as nice.
“Sit by me and my friends. Hey everyone this is Nancy. When she was little she used to come down with a wagon full of books to exchange when I ran the bookmobile. She read a book a day. Isn’t that cool?”
One of my guy friends was sucker-punched in the face by a girl outside a club.
We both had left the club with a couple friends, and somehow the girl’s bf was talking shit to us because of some misunderstanding. She couldn’t handle getting shit talked back to her by my guy friend, which he was pretty good at.
Even though he wasn’t directly talking to her, she violently hits him. She was bigger than him, but still hit like a bitch. After she hit him she was still in his face, pulling him around with his t-shirt, yelling her voice out, assaulting with all sorts of shit and going completely ballistic on him.
He grabbed her arms to stop her from punching him, and violently swung her away, causing her to crash on the ground head-first.
That was our opening to escape, and him and I started walking away with our friends. But the security guard briskly chases after him, even though the guard wasn’t outside in time to see what had actually happened. Put his hand on his shoulder and told him to get down on the ground as he shrugged off and said don’t touch me. He later called the cops on him.
They arrested him for assaulting the security. A guy recording everything got arrested for obstruction of justice or something. They put him in an individual cell so they couldn’t talk. Never got his info. He went through an extremely long court battle. The woman who started it was never even mentioned, and he had to do some time in jail for aggravated assault.
It’s absolute bullshit that men are instantly vilified and crucified for assaulting a woman under the right circumstances. I’m sure you can see how differently this story would’ve played out had the roles been reversed.
Oliver Anthony – I Want To Go Home REACTION *TEARS*
People are tired. They are fed up. They want CHANGE.
This is a serious figure; it’s a serious number. It bodes a very bleak fate for Americans, and for any nation that holds on to American stocks, treasuries, and assets.
I suppose I can confuse the reader with bafflegab. Speak thoughtfully and with authority using obscure and technical terms, and repeat the American government narrative that all is well.
But it is NOT well.
The United States has yet again had it’s credit rating downgraded to AA+.
And it sounds “great”, but the naming convention is a distraction. The term “AA+” actually means “Significant credit risk, and looming possibility of default”.
If you all were smart, you would be “bailing” out from the United States as fast as you can get your passport stamped.
…
Go to someplace better.
Like Bangladesh, or Laos, or Bolivia.
Somewhere that will accept you and enable you to live peacefully and calmly, with a roof over your head, has decent medical care, and healthy and cheap food. Oh, and one where criminals and the police won’t shoot at you.
I’d normally advise careful consideration be taken, but given the total collapse of American society, basically ANYWHERE on the face of the planet is an improvement over the United States today.
…
There are few options remaining for the United States movement to stop the rapidly approaching “train wreck”…
Raise taxes on Americans to around 80% of income.
Lift all tariffs, so that there would be some slowing of the rate of inflation.
Re-compensate Russia and re-approach with them to get the fuel / gas prices down.
Not much can be done…
Start charging Americans for the right to breathe air.
Sell off (wholesale) United States assets, property, gold, and land.
A massive war of distraction; perhaps a global thermonuclear war with both Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea simultaneously.
Like I said, all the viable options “on the table” will have catastrophic results.
…
All of this is far too gloomy.
It’s time that I set myself to the other side of the table, and have a shot of whiskey with you. Look into your eyes, and hold your hands. It’s time for straight talk.
American society HAS collapsed.
Like a headless chicken, it is still running around the barnyard, but it is accomplishing nothing.
The “government” is non-functional.
The American citizens are riding in the car, drunk on media lies, and the driver is driving the vehicle right over the cliff.
Freefall will be surreal.
And when you all hit the bottom, it will be really ugly.
And it would be the most stupid thing for our politicians to do because there’s a world of difference between what we have in China than what the Chinese have here.
How U.S. companies do business: It’s hard to accurately quantify how much business assets they have in China. However, considering that between 1982 and 2021, US direct investments abroad grew from $580 billion to more than $6.4 trillion dollars, it would not be too farfetched to assume that they have at least $2 trillion invested in China. China is their supply chain as well as their major market.
How Chinese compaies do business: They stay home to manufacture and profit on their trade with the world. China does have investments in the U.S. but they’re simply “investments” and not core to their operating businesses; they don’t have major companies operating out of the U.S. whose core business is in the U.S. It wiould be hard put to assume that China’s investment is more than $1 trillion in the U.S.
So who would hurt more if these two countries start freezing each other’s assets?
How about China starting off by just freezing Tesla’s and GM’s Chinese assets? Tesla’s mega factories are worth billions but the loss of sales revenue would be exponentially larger.
And how much would Chinese companies lose if the U.S. froze their investments in farmland in the Mid West?
Russia has Officially Deployed the RS-28 Sarmat ICBM
Russia has introduced a formidable weapon that has raised concerns among its rivals. Moscow has officially deployed the RS-28 Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM known as “Satan II,” for active military use.
This announcement was confirmed by Yuri Borisov, the head of Russia’s space agency Roscosmos, as reported by the Russian state news agency Tass.
According to experts, the RS-28 Sarmat missile has the capability to travel over both the North and South Poles and deliver a warhead weighing up to 10 tonnes to any location on Earth.
This development has amplified concerns about Russia’s nuclear capabilities, particularly in the context of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
Steak San Marco
2023 10 09 14 42
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Ingredients
1 (2 pound) chuck steak, cut into serving pieces
1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
Pepper, to taste
2 tablespoon wine vinegar
1 envelope onion soup mix
1 (16 ounce) can peeled tomatoes
Garlic salt, to taste
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Instructions
Arrange meat in a large skillet, cover with onion soup mix and tomatoes.
Sprinkle with oregano, garlic salt, pepper, oil and vinegar.
Simmer covered for 1 1/2 hours or until meat is tender.
I’ve learned this over 17 years with my wife. I’ve learned to pretend to have opinions about decisions we need to make, even when I’ll be perfectly happy with any of the options, because it annoys her when I don’t care one way or the other.
From little things, like what we should have for dinner, to big things, like what we should name our children, the truth is I was perfectly happy with all of our choices. It wasn’t that I didn’t care, but rather that I saw the positive aspects in all of the possible decisions, and she did seem to care a lot, so I just let her make the decision.
I guess that drives women crazy: being with someone that’s just going to agree with their decisions 99% of the time, because that someone doesn’t really have an opinion.
So I’ve learned to fake it a lot. My wife knows I’m faking it, but she recognizes it as an improvement from the way I used to be.
Her: What should we have for dinner tonight?
Old Matt: Whatever you want. It’s all good to me.
New Matt: Let’s go with Mexican food tonight. Enchiladas? Yes. That’s what I want.
In reality, Old Matt and New Matt both had the same opinion, but New Matt has learned to just pick something and pretend he has a preference for it, to make his wife happy.
Vocal Coach reacts Dio – Last In The Line / Holy Diver Live 1986
A tiny man with the voice and charisma of a giant. Dio was truly one of a kind.
In my experience, the “freedoms” that they lack are access to Western (social) media (correction to remove freedoms that they actually have). What they get that westerners don’t, in exchange, is a very safe and modern country.
Safe: In ten years here, I have yet to witness violent crimes. My mother isn’t scared to walk alone at night, and there are no shady people lurking in public places.
Modern: the infrastructure is top notch, 5G is ubiquitous, cheap and really fast (I pay about 50 dollars a year for 40 Gb a month of data on my mobile and crazy download speeds). Cash is a thing of the past, everything related to money is digitized. With the sale app you can unlock a dockless bike (less than 2 rmb per ride), ride a bus, pay utility bills, book tickets, order food… even doing taxes is an easy app.
Many Americans like to quote Benjamin Franklin “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety”.
But actually, that’s the foundation of society.
Besides, if I compare with France, my home country, Chinese people are more free on their daily life. In France, there are norms and rules about everything, usually in the best interests of corporations. You can’t play music in public places, you need to pay royalties, you can’t change a lightbulb in your office because you need a certification for low level electric work and work in high places… things like street food or street vendors couldn’t exist. In France, you are free* (so long as you abide the 300000 rules). Rules prevent many things “for your own good” but really for big companies. I come from the countryside and many people had to stop butchering ducks at home like they had for generations because they need an official slaughterhouse, which is expensive to build at home. It’s not really that butchering at home is unsanitary, it’s that big slaughterhouse need their money.
In China, you enjoy actual freedom: you are free to sell street food, free to eat it even if it’s not always sanitary, and to go to the toilet because of that, etc. The government usually doesn’t care about people’s lives unless it’s very political. One perfect example is the one child policy. When I was a teacher in college, in a time when the policy was still effective, many students actually had siblings, especially in Guangdong. The government was very strict about that with officials, who were supposed to show a good example, but a lot more lenient with regular people, especially in the country.
So in short, Chinese people in general have a very free daily life, and enjoy a very safe, modern and cheap country. If they have to sacrifice Western media for that, it’s a fair price (besides, there are VPN to get around that limit and that’s another rule the government is lenient about). I enjoy Chinese freedom more than I enjoyed the French one!
The US is saying that Huawei cannot make smartphones with advanced chip technology in large-scale production. This comment comes amid rising worries about Huawei’s return and harming iPhone sales in China.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on Tuesday that the U.S. has found no evidence to prove that Huawei can manufacture seven-nanometer chips at scale. Her response draws the attention many of people in the global smartphone industry as everyone is surprised by the return of Huawei’s mysterious chip.
Last month, Huawei unveiled its latest Huawei Mate 60 series in China. The company has not organized any launch event or mega show to introduce this smartphone. Instead, it was sold directly via online and offline sales channels. Aside from its alluring design and camera features, the phone also packs a new Kirin chipset – the Kirin 9000s.
An evaluation from TechInsight shows that the chip is processed with advanced 7nm technology made by China’s SMIC. In some benchmark tests, the chip posts even higher marks than the 5nm Kirin 9000, which is very surprising.
Why all the Ruckus?
In 2019, the US Commerce Department sanctioned Huawei from buying US-made technologies. Therefore, the company can’t purchase or produce new chipsets for smartphones and any of its tech products.
In the early days of sanctions, Huawei stockpiled the chip from various sources. However, the situation became worse as the chip stock declined.
Thereafter, it had to rely on Qualcomm to provide 4G Snapdragon chips for its smartphones. For the past two years, Huawei has been launching phones based on Qualcomm chipsets.
Within the fourth year of sanctions, on August 29, 2023, the Huawei Mate 60 Pro came into play. However, the company does not even mention this chip in promos. But it carries a new Kirin chip, which became a topic of wide discussion.
The return of Kirin also reached the White House and it was previously confirmed that the US is searching for more ‘information’ about the return of the Kirin chip. It seems the US has finally come to the conclusion that Huawei can’t produce advanced chip smartphones and that might be it for the investigations, probably.
Fat TikTok Influencer just said the UNTHINKABLE, wants you to pay for it
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China’s ambitious plan to connect Asia, Europe and Africa through a network of infrastructure projects, has been met with skepticism and criticism by some Western countries. They accuse China of using the BRI as a tool to trap developing countries into debt and expand its influence and interests. However, this accusation is based on a false premise and a misunderstanding of the BRI’s nature and purpose. In this essay, I will argue that the BRI is not a debt trap, but a platform for win-win cooperation that benefits both China and its partners.
First of all, the BRI is not motivated by China’s selfish agenda or geopolitical ambition, but by its vision to promote the development of participating countries through enhancing connectivity. The BRI is a public good that China offers to the world, and a platform for international cooperation that is open, transparent and inclusive. The BRI follows the principles of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, and respects the sovereignty, independence and diversity of each country.
Secondly, the BRI is not a debt trap, but a debt relief for many developing countries that face financing gaps and infrastructure deficits. The BRI could reduce the costs of trade and increase global real income by 2030. The BRI also helps create jobs, improve living standards and foster social development in participating countries. Moreover, China has always been a responsible lender and borrower, and has taken concrete measures to prevent and resolve debt risks. For example, China has signed debt service suspension agreements with 23 African countries under the G20 framework, and has provided debt relief or cancellation to 16 African countries. China has also established mechanisms for debt sustainability analysis, project evaluation and risk management with relevant international organizations and multilateral development banks.
Thirdly, the BRI is not a zero-sum game, but a positive-sum game that creates opportunities for cooperation and mutual benefit for all parties involved. The BRI is not exclusive or competitive, but complementary and synergistic with other regional and global initiatives. The BRI welcomes the participation of third parties, including developed countries and international organizations, to jointly contribute to global development and governance. The BRI also promotes dialogue and exchange among different civilizations and cultures, and fosters mutual understanding and trust among peoples.
In conclusion, the accusation that China’s BRI is a debt trap is based on a false premise and a misunderstanding. The BRI is not a debt trap, but a platform for win-win cooperation that benefits both China and its partners. The BRI is not motivated by China’s selfish agenda or geopolitical ambition, but by its vision to promote the development of participating countries through enhancing connectivity.
The BRI is not a zero-sum game, but a positive-sum game that creates opportunities for cooperation and mutual benefit for all parties involved. Therefore, instead of viewing the BRI with suspicion or hostility, it is more constructive and rational to view it with openness and confidence, and to join hands with China to build a community of shared future for mankind.
The Rise and Fall of America’s Middle Class
America is bleeding out. Slowly, steadily. And it’s a self-inflicted wound. When NAFTA was signed, it set in motion decades of decline that have crippled American industry, gutted American towns, and robbed American citizens of their birthright – the simple dignity of providing for themselves and their families. But there’s a road back. Starting with denim blue jeans.
Man oh man! The Geo-political changes are happening hot and heavy! HEAVY!
My MM articles are now at a 35 post backlog. Shit! Half of you will be reading 1/2 month old articles by the time I get around to posting them.
Do not freak out.
Lots of things going on in the world today. It’s a massive realignment of the world AWAY from the USA dominance. The thing is that the Western peoples, and their “leadership” are clueless as to what is really going on. They still believe that they have some kind of power or ability in these matters.
Nope.
It’s all strategic retreats… for now.
The running away and full-scale, across the board, running and galloping rout comes later.
Maybe this year. Don’t ya know.
Have fun. Enjoy yourself.
Today I am catching up. We have a typhoon raging outside so I have an opportunity to play some catch up. Israel, Ukraine, and all the rest, especially Africa are in states of flux.
I’m not worried. The USA will retreat and the rest of the world will be secure.
The long-term forecasts clearly favor China by every measure.
If American companies fail to use this period of time to invest, they will not be able to “jump on the bandwagon” and take advantage of opportunities that are presenting themselves today.
If the Biden “government” insists that all American (and allied) companies “sit this one out”, then the entire American and Western industry will fall back and will NEVER be able to catch up.
…
China is being kind.
The United States NEEDS to “carefully consider” the long-term ramifications of their current actions.
As China gets stronger, more important, more dominant in all areas, the United States is at risk to not only falling behind, but going absolutely obsolete in the process.
This is not something that China wants.
…
China wants and prefers a vibrant world; one where different regions; nations, societies and people thrive. In the world that China envisions, it is a WIN-WIN for everyone.
However, the path that the United States has embarked on is fraught with danger. And the United States appears to be on fast-track towards becoming a blight; a mawed gouge in an otherwise improved world.
…
So China is being very polite, and very understated.
However, the truth is the truth.
Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers
Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers 1200 7517
Ingredients
1 pound bottom round steak, thinly sliced
2 bell peppers, halved and cored
Avocado oil
Bell peppers, sliced thinly
Red onion, sliced thinly
White onion, sliced thinly
Pickled jalapeños, chopped
1/2 pound Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
Onion salt
Sea salt
Pepper
Instructions
Heat oven 350 degrees F.
Drizzle avocado oil on bell papers. Bake for 17 to 20 minutes.
Heat a large frying pan over medium-high and add a little avocado oil.
Season steak with onion salt, sea salt and pepper. Sear each side of steak for about 1 to 2 minutes and remove to let rest a couple minutes.
Cut steak into small 1/4 to 3/8 inch square pieces.
Heat frying pan over medium heat and add avocado oil when warm.
Add thinly sliced onions and bell peppers to pan and cook while stirring often for about 10 minutes.
Mix steak, cheese, bell peppers, onions and jalapeños in a bowl.
Fill bell peppers, then bake for 10 minutes until cheese is melted.
In 2001, two ancient statues were blown up in Afghanistan on the orders of the Taliban. The monumental statues were called the “Buddhas of Bamiyan,” and they were carved into the side of a cliff in the Bamiyan valley of Afghanistan.
They were destroyed after the Taliban declared the ancient Buddhist statues to be false idols and had them blown up.
image 68
In a crazy twist of luck seven, years after the statues were blown up, an Afghan-led archaeological team discovered a series of hidden caves behind that statues. In the caves, they found oil paintings that dated back to the 5th century. This pre-dates the common perception that oil paintings originated in Europe hundreds of years later.
The Israeli Defense Force has declared they are in “a state of war” after over eight hundred rockets were fired into Israel today. Fighters from HAMAS para-glided into southern Israel using fan gliders to cross over the border, landing and killing everyone they see! Today’s “state of war” declaration has not happened since 1973.
Numerous Israeli civilians are already dead, some shot dead just standing in Bus Stops; many more are injured.
At about 1:17 AM EDT Saturday, the Israeli Defense Force made a public declaration that this is a “State of War.”
The last time Israel announced a “State of War” was in 1973. And the first time Israel was surprised by an attack like today’s was in 1973.
Air Raid Sirens are blaring throughout Israel as the Iron Dome air defense systems engage more incoming missiles.
This is taking place NOW. Live updates to appear below . . .
Casual Observers of the never-ending situation between Israel and Palestinians are commenting publicly right now “This is quickly heading toward a Full-Scale War near the Gaza Strip and Southern Israel, this is Totally Out-of-Control.”
Terrorists from Gaza invaded southern Israeli civilian cities – and they’re shooting whoever they see. This is unprecedented. Israel in under attack. pic.twitter.com/5Ngrjm4uts— נריה קראוס Neria Kraus (@NeriaKraus) October 7, 2023
Fighting is widespread and fierce:
Video below shows the Iron Dome air defense system engaging multiple inbound rockets:
By 1:00 AM eastern US time Saturday, at least sixteen Israelis were confirmed injured and at least ONE was confirmed dead, but there is already ample evidence of MANY dead.
(HT NOTE:I am already reaching out to my former colleagues in the Intelligence Community from during my years working with the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) to get more detailed info and the “Back Story” but things are a bit chaotic right now over there, and it is very early over here, so information is coming very slowly . . . .)
— Hamas military chief calls on armed groups in Lebanon to join the fighting against Israel
— Civilians massacred by Hamas terrorists in Sderot.
— According to Al Jazeera television, Israel has begun bombing Gaza by Air, Sea, and Artillery.
— Israeli Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant has Approved an order to begin the Call-Up of Reservists to Reinforce and Support the Israeli Defense Force.
Below, images of what are reported to be an Israeli “Merkava” tank, burned-out and smashed outside of the GAZA Strip:
image 73image 72
Palestinian Fighters taking Israeli’s Captive:
An IDF soldier has reportedly been Captured . . . Israel calls that “kidnapped.”
Hostage situations reported in Southern Israel.
Palestinian infiltrators have taken over a police station in Sderot and are currently in an active firefight with Israeli police.
Livestreams from Palestinian infiltrators show them executing/ shooting Israeli citizens.
Unconfirmed reports of 10 killed and 2 IDF soldiers captured after clashes on the Gaza border.
Due to rocket salvos throughout Israel, Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv is closed.
— The Government has just declared an “Emergency situation” for an 80km perimeter from Gaza borders
— The Israeli army announces the loss of control of an Israeli military site in the northern Gaza Strip. The soldiers are either captured or dead.
Ashkelon Burning
Map showing Air Raid Alert areas in Israel:
image 71
Heavy rocket barrages on Jerusalem area, rocket alert siren in Wadi Ara in northern Israel; emergency situation declared in entire southern & central Israel.
WARNING – GRAPHIC IMAGES
Below, a man reported to have been an Israeli Soldier, but who is already clearly shot through the head and dead, is dragged from a car and stomped in the street:
WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES
An Israeli soldier has been taken by Palestinian fighters into the Gaza Strip.
The guy circled below is in the last minute of his life.
He and the guy in the vest were talking trash to each other, escalating a situation and having an ego battle.
image 70
What the guy in the red shorts didn’t realize, is that the other guy was armed with a knife. As he goes to tackle the armed man, he is fatally stabbed. The knife severed a major artery and blood poured out of the man’s body. He couldn’t have survived this wound if it happened in a hospital.
All because he wanted to get into a fist fight with someone who disrespected him.
To the men reading this, especially, getting into a fight with a complete stranger is one of the most dangerous things you could ever do. To you, it might be a fist fight. To them, it might be much more.
On March 25, 2022, 17-year-old Michigan teen, Jordan DeMay put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger. His demise came as a huge surprise to his parents, who noticed nothing unusual before the tragedy.
Unknown to them, Jordan had been in an online relationship with a ‘woman’ he met on Instagram. They had exchanged nu*de photographs, but he had no idea he was chatting with two Nigerian men: 22-year-old Samuel and his 20 year-old brother, Samson Ogoshi.
image 62
With Jordan’s nu*des in their possession, they resorted to extortion. They demanded $1000 from him, and although he managed to send $300, it wasn’t enough. They threatened to leak the photos to his Instagram followers if he didn’t send the rest.
After several failed attempts to change their minds, he sent them his final message: ‘I am k-illing myself right now because of you.’ To this, they responded, ‘Good, do that fast, or I will make you do it.’
The brothers have been apprehended in Nigeria and extradited to the US to face trial.
Once I lived across the street from a high school and every day at lunch the students would cross in front of my house on their way to get food. A lot of them crossed through my yard which was annoying but not a big deal. Well one day there was this long hair stoner punk standing in my yard gouging a hole in my lawn with a big stick. I shouted at him to get the fuck off my lawn, he shouted back at me and we got into a low grade shouting match (fuck you! No fuck you! —that sort of thing) as he walked away.
I thought that was the end of it, but then a few days later in the morning I realize my house and truck had been egged. These geniuses had egged me during a rainstorm, however, so all the egg had washed off. The only way I knew was from the eggshells and a little residual yolk in my truck bed that I easily wiped off with a paper towel. Still, the principle of the situation called for vengeance. I was a grad student with a lot of time in my hands, so I got onto myspace (kiddos, myspace was like a proto-facebook popular for a minute in the mid-2000’s) and spent hours clicking through the networks of kids attending that high school until I found his page. Bingo!! This kid was a stoner raver dude and not exactly a genius ( egging in the rain, eg). His myspace page was full of pics of him drinking vodka, smoking blunts, and arranging smalltime drug deals on his and his friends pages, out in the open with no privacy controls!
Next I clicked through all his friends’ pages and happened to stumble on one where he had left his phone number (home phone — this was when only grownups had cells) on a girl’s page. So I paid $5 to reverse-lookup the number and got his parents’ names and address. Then I printed out all his pics and references to drug use and buying/selling along with a handy glossary of drug terms, put it in an envelope and mailed it to his mom. For good measure I emailed a link to his page to the principal and school police officer at his school along with a note expressing how concerned I was that this kid was dealing drugs in school.
I continued to monitor his page to see if I could find out what happened. His activity ceased and his friends were leaving messages on his page saying ‘Dan where are you??’. Apparently he was not in school. After a while his friends began to learn what happened and were discussing it on their pages. Apparently, he got expelled and his parents sent him to reform school!! So delicious. It was great revenge, and hopefully the intervention steered him toward a better path in life. Wish I had a way of finding out what happened to the kid in the long run, as this was 13 years ago.
Once, while in high school, I went to a store in my small town to buy a gallon of milk for my family. I paid the cashier with a $5 bill but she somehow gave me change for a $20.
I didn’t notice her mistake until I was almost home- I had too much money. I told my Mom that I was going to return it to the store. When I walked in the store, the cashier was not at her place so I went to the back and talked to a man in the meat market area (it was a small business not a chain store like we have nowadays).
I told him I had received too much money in change. He looked at me with a look like “WOW”. He then said, “You are an honest young man, aren’t you?”
I told him that I would have felt like I was stealing if I didn’t return the extra money.
Come to find out that he was the owner of the store. He thanked me and said he would not forget about my honesty.
Well, three years passed and I needed a job. I went in to fill out an application for a job at the same store. When I asked for an application at the front counter, the owner came out of the meat market area and asked if he could help me with anything. I asked him for a job application. He said, “You are hired. Can you start tomorrow?”
Now it was my turn to have a “WOW” look on my face. He told me that he remembered me from when I had returned the extra money.
So…by me not keeping $17 three years earlier, I made way more money for three years while I went to work there after high school.
He also trained me to be a butcher, too.
It does pay to be honest.
This is a true story that I told my kids (and every sports player I coached) as they grew up.
This case was famously called the “ Mormon sex in chains case.” In 1977, 17-year-old American Mormon missionary student Kirk Anderson was in the UK when he was kidnapped from the steps of a Mormon church in Surrey.
Kirk Anderson was kidnapped by 24-year-old Keith May after posing as a fake Journalist. He was then driven to a house in Devon, where he was chained to a bed. He was then seduced and raped by Joyce McKinney for three days against his will, while chained to a bed.
image 64
Kirk went straight to the police to report Joyce and her accomplice Keith May. The two were charged and during a committal hearing Joyce, claimed to be in love with the victim. At the time, under the Sexual Offences Act 1956, no crime of rape was deemed to have happened due to the perpetrator being female.
Although Joyce couldn’t be charged with rape, she was charged with kidnapping, along with her accomplice. Joyce McKinney and Keith May absconded to the US under fake names, skipping their trial. They were sentenced to a year in Jail for skipping bail, but extradition orders were never filed by UK authorities.
image 63
She became quiet infamous and even appeared in some raunchy photos for a magazine. She still lives in the US, and to this day, she has never seen a day inside prison for her crimes. She also received a suspended sentence for using a fake ID to enter the US.
BUSTED: Trudeau’s Plane Filled With Cocaine, Psychedelic Drugs!? Diplomat Outs Scumbag Canadian PM
Mr Benny, I’m Canadian and we are not all under Trudeau. I think he should be charged and tried for treason.
Fighter jets from multiple countries played relay
in a reflection of how geopolitics have changed
when President Assad and his family left China after attending the Asian Games and State visit on Air China Special jet B6131. It was escorted by Chinese fighter jets.
as soon as the plane left China and entered Pakistani airspace, fighter jets from Pakistan Air Force escorted the plane
when the Special jet left Pakistani airspace and entered the Arabian Sea, fighter jets from the Iranian Air Force escorted the Special plane along the Persian Gulf
jet fighters from Saudi Arabia subsequently took over and escorted the special plane to Jordan
at the Syrian border, Russian jet fighters took over for the last leg of the journey.
countries that were once bitter foes are now coming together under a BRI Eurasian world
and demonstrating their military coordination
it is now clear that Muslim countries of the Middle East will now COLLECTIVELY provide a powerful and decisive military contingent as part of a BRI Eurasian world in the war that will be fought
triggered by the Angel of Death himself who will once again lead a world wide coalition of countries obsessed with racial superiority, brutality and consumed with hatred against others not like them to complete what he had failed to do in World War 2……to burn the world down
You are not going to exist forever. You’re just a tiny speck in this vast universe and your time in this world is limited.
Anything harsh said to a loved one in anger leaves a permanent scar, no matter how much you try to bandage it.
Health is the most important wealth you can acquire. No matter how much gold you own, it can not quell the torture of an illness.
Every old person was once as old as you are today. Time stops for none.
Things which are most important for you today might be worthless tomorrow. Avoid spending money on urges.
Something as simple as saying sorry first can prevent countless disputes. It is not a sign of weakness.
Who your friends are determine who you become.
To become good at conversation, learn to be a good listener first.
Luck favours those who don’t give up
Be grateful if you have a roof for shelter, clean water for drinking , food on your table and a healthy functioning body. Try to imagine the absence of even one of these in your life.
This Kitten was LEFT FOR DEAD: What Happens Next Will SHOCK YOU
When I still worked for the Forest Service, right after 9/11, the newly created Department of Homeland Security went crazy issuing all kinds of new rules for federal employees. One was knives and sharp objects were no longer allowed in federal buildings. We all shook our heads and muttered “WTF!!! This is the Forest Service. Axes and knives are part our EDC. Tools of the trade.” All field going personnel carried a 4″ folding blade knife, that was mandatory, and most had a favorite tool they carried. Mine was a double bit axe I shaped and filed to my specifications. I did not leave it in my pickup at the end of the day. I carried it to my desk. Most others did too. Walking down the hallway carrying a sharp hand tool was a common sight.
We had a warehouse full of sharp tools and chainsaws. We used incendiary devices and napalm for prescribed burning. We used a scoped rifle to shoot cones out of trees for seed collection I received fire investigation training that showed me how to commit arson without detection. Yet we could not be trusted to carry a knife in the office.
The rule was ignored by everyone, including top management.
You Won’t Believe Who’s The Mastermind Behind Failed Coup Against Ibrahim Traoré!
Stay Strong My Brother, All Africans we need to STAND TOGETHER.
The BRI is a very simple idea on a very grand scale:
China will help to buiid ports, highways and railways in other countries, to facilitate mutual trade and commerce.
If you don’t have enough money, China will lend you some.
That’s about it. Participation is voluntary – China doesn’t force you to have a port or take a loan. And of course, before any country takes any BRI loan, its government, with its Finance Minister and accountants and economics advisers, will think carefully about the pros and cons. Simple as that.
The criticism came about because, well:
… the US government is paying USD 500 million to get the media to criticize the BRI.
The U.S. made more money on trade and business with China than any other nation in the last decade and within a decade it will double.
Think about this for every outlet of McDonald’s, KFC and Starbucks and Coffee Bean open in the U.S. they opened 10 in China! China alone buy more GM than the entire U.S.! Every Apple and Dell sold they make 300 USD due to China’s productivity low cost of production. China’s middle income is now 3 times the size of the U.S. middle income consumer! Most of US brands produced in China is laughing all the way to the bank.
And what did the U.S. do? Yes the fxxk it all up. They pick a fight with their biggest customer and about to be bigger than the next 5 biggest customers put together! The U.S. is now facing an unbearable inflation and an impending recession due to your two 80 year old leader jointly and severally starting a trade war with China! And China have not really retaliated yet.
About the only thing the U.S. is able to make and sell to China. It stupidly ban China from selling! Ok to be fair it bans the 1% of high end Chips. Thinking China will buy the 99% that China could make but thought it let the U.S. share the piece of the pie! But since the U.S. says has evil intentions. China immediately stopped buying the 99%. And the entire U.S. chip industry crashed. Now China has the ability to even take over the 1% high end chips too.
You cannot find a more foolish government on planet earth or perhaps the universe. They even think that China will collapse if the U.S. stop buying or trading with China. China in their mind says if the U.S. wants to have a long rope to hang itself that is their right. China suffers a mosquito bite!
Amidst Laos’ rugged mountainous landscapes, a daily spectacle unfolds as dozens of trains race through, carrying a diverse array of goods, from electronics to cold-chain fruits, bound for destinations in China, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, and beyond. For the people of Laos who had endured the impact of dire transportation for decades, however, these sights have lost their novelty.
Two years have passed since China completed the construction of the China-Laos Railway, which connects the Chinese city of Kunming with Vientiane, the capital of Laos, a route that traverses mountains bearing the scars of unexploded American bombs from the Vietnam War. In this short span, over 19 million passengers and 24 million tons of goods have been transported, and more than 100,000 jobs have been created.
The once treacherous day-long drive from Vientiane to the Chinese border has transformed into a safe and smooth 3.5-hour journey. Today, with an average of seven passenger trains operating daily in Laos’ section, individuals sometimes still struggle for securing a ticket, given that Laos just added another passenger train set to its fleet from China in June. The ample demand for the rail service has surpassed initial expectations.
image 69
Over the past decade, hundreds of railroads and highways like the China-Laos Railway have been constructed from scratch over mountainous terrains and deserts across the Eurasian and African continents. Since the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was proposed in 2013, promoting greater infrastructure connectivity and facilitating cross-border transportation with the aim to strengthen business and cultural exchanges have become a defining aspect of China’s international cooperation. Millions benefit from BRI projects. According to the World Bank, BRI is able to boost trade flows among participating countries by 4.1 percent, cut the cost of global trade by 1.1 percent to 2.2 percent, grow the GDP of East Asian and Pacific developing countries by an average of 2.6 to 3.9 percent, and lift 7.6 million people from extreme poverty.
A trap?
On the global stage, however, China’s overseas infrastructure projects under the BRI have faced significant scrutiny, often being depicted as costly plans that may push participating countries into a “debt trap.” The Bar-Boljare highway is on top of the list. It is the first highway in Montenegro history that connects the country from south to north, which is set to replace the old narrow two-lane expressway built along steep mountains and over deep canyons. Although Vatroslav Belan, former advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister of Montenegro on financial matters, stated in an interview that the project did not impose an excessive debt burden on his country, discussions still revolve around the cost of the highway.
China constructed the Bar-Boljare highway with a cost of around 20 million euros per kilometer, which seems like a high price at first glance. But here is a fair comparison to similar infrastructure projects, such as those in the Alps region. According to World Highways, Germany and Austria, two countries situated along the Alps, spent an average of 28.9 million Euros and 27.8 million euros per kilometer on their highways. Given that the Bar-Boljare highway includes the construction of 16 tunnels and 20 bridges over one of the toughest mountainous terrains in Europe, its cost falls within a more than reasonable range.
image 68
However, it’s important to acknowledge the existing concerns and controversies surrounding the BRI. Debt issues for some participating countries in this case highlight the need for more transparency in BRI projects.
No matter what people’s attitude towards the BRI is, one thing that can be confirmed is that the BRI is pragmatic, prioritizing gains for the sake of mutual prosperity, as seen from the results.
Open for all
The original purpose of BRI was building an “economic belt” along the ancient “silk road” linking China with Europe. Despite this, the BRI does not impose geographical restrictions on participating countries, nor is it limited to developing nations. In fact, among the over 150 countries that have signed up for the Initiative, approximately half of them are categorized as upper-middle or high-income by the World Bank. Examples include countries like Hungary, New Zealand, Poland, and many others.
Several Western corporations have already reaped benefits from the BRI. General Electric secured orders worth $2.3 billion for construction and engineering projects under the BRI, while Siemens collaborated with over 100 Chinese partners on BRI-related energy and mining projects. Citibank and Deutsche Bank have also participated in financing BRI projects. From China’s perspective, the BRI is an inclusive platform open to all stakeholders willing to engage.
image 67
Also, the world welcomes other similar initiatives aimed at promoting cooperation and shared prosperity. The G7’s ‘Build Back Better World’ and the EU’s ‘Global Gateway’ can be promising endeavors, provided that their leaders prioritize meaningful actions over branding.
Cooperation rather than aid
To achieve prosperity, economies not only need modern infrastructure, such as high-quality electricity, fast rail, 5G networks and so forth, but, more importantly, a development path tailored to each country’s unique circumstances.
African countries have been receiving aid for decades. Prior to 2000, developed countries extended one trillion US dollars in aid to Africa, averaging more than 1,000 US dollars per person for its 800 million population at that time. Surprisingly, despite the peak of European and American aid between 1970 and 1998, Africa’s poverty rate soared from 11% to 66%.
(Source: Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is a Better Way for Africa by Dambisa Moyo)
China has actively supported Africa since the 1950s, albeit with a distinct approach. The wisdom of the proverb, “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime,” exactly characterizes China’s intentions in Africa and other developing nations under the BRI.
China’s own economic ascent over recent decades underscores the belief that each nation should chart its development path based on its unique circumstances—harnessing its resources and fostering distinctive industries. The wiser approach lies in dismantling barriers to enable the smooth flow of essential factors for industrialization.
Instead of extending direct financial aid, China focuses on addressing crucial development needs, removing obstacles, and promoting trade, which are pivotal for African countries in breaking free from the control of aid providers and achieving self-reliance in development. The 1,860-kilometer-long Tazara Railway, linking Zambia to the Indian Ocean, has significantly bolstered the development of nations along its route, underscoring the effectiveness of China’s approach of assisting others in helping themselves.
Underlying this philosophy, the Belt and Road Initiative goes beyond merely offering financial assistance to impoverished nations. It revolves around empowering countries to foster their own development in which China gets market access, while BRI participants acquire technology and opportunities. It’s a mutually beneficial, two-way journey with cooperation at its core.
image 67
As reflecting on the past decade of the BRI, it is clear that this initiative has evolved significantly. It has embraced environmental sustainability and has promoted smart industries like telecommunications and cloud computing. While debates about its impact continue, the BRI remains a focal point of global economic development and international cooperation.
The smartest thing I ever saw in a court, and I’ve been in a court more than a few times (no, not as the defendant), wasn’t accomplished by an attorney, but by a 16-year-old girl. I bet she’s a lawyer now, as it was some years ago. If not, she’s surely doing something that requires similar talents and abilities, because she removed a threat and constant victimizer from our community when lawyers couldn’t.
It wasn’t a particularly important case, but she approached it acting as her own attorney and as if she had been arrested for murder. She even brought her own self-produced technicolor slide and video shows.
She had been pulled for speeding and running a stop sign by a county deputy who was the bain of our resort community from which the only way into the city where many of us worked or had other homes was by passed through a small town. Deputy Thug, as we called him, often lay in wait behind huge trees in the darkness, not just for law breakers but for people to harass at night when observers were not about. His favorite victims were minorities and teenagers and younger women of any race. He never pulled mature men, even if they were flying low, or older women, maybe for fear of husbands and sons or maybe they reminded him of his mother.
Almost all of our law enforcement officers were extremely polite and courteous, even if they hauled you off to jail. But people were afraid of this man. Everyone, even other deputies, knew that those he pulled were far more likely to be innocent than guilty and that he threatened violence and set people up, but no one had been able to prove it, with or without lawyers. Deputy Thug was not merely a liar, but a bully with no one controlling him. He was proud of his reputation for the most tickets, the most arrests, the most feared, etc.
He yelled, screamed, called names, demanded people, especially boys, get out of cars so he could shove them around and try to provoke them into something he could arrest for. He threatened, he intimidated. He accused them of serious crimes. I know it was true, because I saw it, and spoke up about it, and later I was also targeted. He was nasty and very threatening until I convinced him I knew my rights and for reasons not worth going into here, he wouldn’t be as likely to win my kind of fight as he would a violent one against a teenage boy.
Miss 16-Year-Old approached the docket like Perry Mason pretending to be Columbo. You would have to see it and hear a lot of detail to get the brilliance of how she set him up, but just to simplify it, she asked him question after question, about what she did, where she was, why that was illegal, where he was, what he saw, what he did, when he did it, on and on. She repeated every important question, asking twice if he were absolutely sure beyond a doubt. Of course, he was, he would answer, arrogant and condescending, tough, counterattacking, apparently not suspecting a trap being laid.
Since she refuted nothing he said, even seemed to be accepting his lies and a bit chagrined at times, the 200 or so of us in the courtroom (a bigger county court in the bigger city, not the small town) felt sorry for her. Deputy Thug was verbally beating her up to the extent the judge would let him, and we were losing hope that she had anything to offer to support her case – until she finished her line of inquiry and turned on the visuals.
She turned from Columbo into a 16-year-old ace prosecutor and proved with the slides and film that every single answer he had given her was a lie.
She had not even been where he claimed and wrote on the ticket that the incident happened. He had not pulled her at the time he said and wrote. There was no stop sign where he said she had run one. The speed limit at the place he cited was higher than he said she was driving, on and on and on.
Then, after she had disproven all his claims beyond a doubt – she proved that both the place she actually was and the place he falsely claimed to have pulled her weren’t even in his jurisdiction! He had no right to pull her or ticket her, let alone threaten to arrest her, as if she had been committing grand theft auto.
And during that process, she handled him as if she had 30 years’ experience in dismantling the defenses of hardened criminals, and he lost control and exploded at her when he realized she had shown him up as a liar and abuser of his authority.
The entire court room erupted in loud cheers and applause as the judge, enraged well before this point, dismissed the case and shredded the deputy, saying that he was a disgrace to his uniform and that he himself was deeply offended by the lies just told, also implying that serious consequences were in order.
Unfortunately, the judge had no control over police personnel, and Deputy Thug was not fired. But he stopped harassing our community and we never saw the swagger and arrogance again. All because a 16-year-old decided to take the time and trouble to prepare carefully a real defense and offense instead of just paying the fine.
I wondered if one of her parents might have been an attorney. Someone close to her could have advised, but the girl did it all. I hope she is fighting for the right somewhere today.
The lesson I learned is that it sometimes does pay to take small cases that seem to have little chance of success to court.
i sold everything & left America
I left my country beginning of 2021 and moved to France. It has been the most healing, spiritual and phenomenal thing I’ve ever done. I had a spiritual awakening, met my husband and started a business and all because I answered the call of my soul. Well done for doing the same. Life is short. Just do it!
I am not sure what what will US become. That is what Americans must decide on its own free will. To me to each it’s own. It will be good if Americans think seriously about the system you have that your media term as exceptional and land of the free and brave, the beacon of democracy and the leader of the free world?
But if Americans are brain dead and take it as what your media and your politicians say it is. Then that is the choice and right for Americans. I can only say what I think and what 7.5 billion out of 8 billion earthlings think about the so called liberal democracy. We know it is anything but democratic, anything but liberal, anything but exceptional!
We want out. Out from the U.S. so called rules based international order. The world knows it should not and will not follow a U.S. or western order or rules set by the west to impoverish the developing world and enriching the western order. That won’t work and we the world reject it wholeheartedly.
The U.S., its dog nations mainly your Anglo Saxon family, your slave vassal states some former colonial powers have reason to want to perpetuate this order so that the loot and the plunder can perpetuate because you are the net beneficiary of this order. So I can understand why this group wants to keep your thieving ways. But this group represents a mere 12% of the world and at most 12–15 nations out of 195 nations on earth. By any definition this is not the majority of the world. It Is a small minority.
We think the U.S. ways are simply barbaric and certainly unsustainable over the long term. It is no wonder that the U.S. share of the world economy evaporated from 52% in 1945 to today a little less than 15% in real purchasing power share today! And dropping very fast. In a decade the U.S. dollar as a reserved will reduce by 80% after all who wants their reserves to be robbed right before their eyes like how you confiscated the Russian reserves or Venezuelan gold in London.
The U.S. can only survived by money printing and credit creation without basis. No different from one humongous Ponzi scheme. 20% of worlds prisoners population is in the U.S., a week of mass random shootings in the U.S. is more than the entire world put together in a whole year! Up to a million Americans live in tents homeless throughout the U.S. Is the U.S.”liberal democracy” good? Or is it even workable?
Because China is a large country with a population of 1.4 billion. In recent years, China has increased its research and development efforts, innovated and made breakthroughs on its own, achieved independence and self-improvement in the fields of military, national defense, finance, economy, high technology, and got rid of external constraints and threats. It has maintained the world’s advanced level in fields such as high-speed railways, aerospace, ocean diving and drones, and has won respect and voice in the world. China is not afraid of provocation by the United States or encirclement by the United States.
image 64
on the contrary，The United States has always regarded itself as the world’s leader and hegemon, and it is unwilling to see any country threaten its status and interests. The United States’ provocation against China is motivated by fear and jealousy of China’s rise. When China has made significant progress in various fields, the United States feels crisis and uneasiness. It fears China will surpass it, or at least be on par with it. It is jealous of China’s achievements and wants to smear and slander China’s image. Therefore, the United States has adopted various means to suppress and contain China’s development in an attempt to maintain its advantages and hegemony.
image 63
In recent years, due to the rising of China, the United States is worried about its hegemonic position, so it tries to suppress China’s rise and contain China in all aspects, such as “trade war”, “freedom of navigation”, pushing allies to give up Huawei equipment, and using the media to convey China’s wrong information to the international community. It has also put pressure on its Allies to do so, for example, by provoking countries such as the Philippines to constantly provoke China over the South China Sea issue.
image 62
In fact, none of these strategies worked. The more the United States oppresses China, the higher and more stable the Asian country will stand. For example, the US accused China of setting a “debt trap”, which eventually resulted in more countries joining the Belt and Road Initiative. At the same time, more and more countries have applied to join the BRICS, and the BRICS countries also ushered in the expansion of membership this year. Diplomatically, despite the United States’ efforts to isolate China around the world, more than 30 foreign leaders and senior officials attended the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics. In short, the US policy of “containing China” has failed miserably. So why can’t the US contain China’s rise?
First, the US cannot afford outright confrontations with China right now. China’s economic growth has been steady, and it has become the world’s second largest economy, with a wide market for US trade exports, and the two economies are highly interdependent, making complete decoupling almost impossible. China and the United States have close ties in trade, investment, and finance. Some US industries and enterprises are too dependent on the Chinese market and will suffer serious losses if the trade war continues. However, China has countermeasures, such as restricting imports of US products and reducing purchases of US bonds. This interdependence makes it difficult for the United States to bear the economic costs of confrontation with China.
image 61
Second, China’s rise on the international stage has deterred the United States from openly acknowledging conflict and confrontation. China is increasingly influential in global affairs, actively participating in global governance and proposing a series of initiatives and programs, such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. The US is aware that open confrontations with China will only lead to its isolation on the global stage, loss of opportunities for international cooperation, and further weakening of its hegemonic position. History is the best proof: Vietnam War and the Iraq War fully illustrate the nature of selfishness of the US. The various failures of the United States have already undermined its diplomatic reputation, but for China, it is a good opportunity to gain more room for growth in the targeted competition.
image 60
The United States needs to face China’s rise correctly and build a more stable and peaceful cooperative relationship with China, rather than adopting a vicious competitive approach. In the era of globalization, international cooperation is an effective way to solve problems. Both China and the US are the world’s largest economies with different strengths and development models. Through mutual respect, equal dialogue, and cooperation, the two countries can jointly address global challenges and promote prosperity and stability in the world.
Spicy Orange Beef
sweet and spicy orange beef.tif
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients
1/4 cup orange juice concentrate
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon finely grated orange peel
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
5 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups broccoli florets
12 scallions, with tops, cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 (1 pound) boneless sirloin steak, cut into thin strips
3 medium oranges, sectioned
Hot cooked rice
Instructions
In a small bowl combine the first six ingredients; set aside.
In a large skillet or wok, heat 3 tablespoons oil over medium heat; sauté garlic for 30 seconds.
Add broccoli, onions, ginger and pepper flakes; stir-fry for 2 minutes or until broccoli is crisp-tender.
Remove vegetables and keep warm.
Heat remaining oil in skillet; add beef. Stir-fry until no longer pink.
Stir orange juice mixture; add to skillet.
Cook and stir for 2 minutes or until sauce is thickened.
Return vegetables to pan. Add oranges and heat through.
You have to understand the Chinese mindset to make sense of High speed rail
Only the Chinese can make it work
In Hongkong, Westerners predicted ferries would go out of business in the late 1950s because they charged 5 cents per person
FIVE CENTS
They were losing almost 150,000 HK a day
Yet they flourished and stayed in business
The reason?
INTRINSIC BENEFITS
More people flocked to Kowloon and the New Territories and more opportunities cropped up and more money was earned and the economy benefited more
So the Loss of 150K a day was compensated by a gain of 800K a day in 4 years time to the HK economy
This kind of mindset is something only a Chinese Mind and by extension a Singaporean Mind can conjure or think up
Factories in China were given tax subsidies in lieu of investing in Rural China
Factories gained an average of 60 Billion Yuan of tax concessions and their investment into the villages was 34 Billion Yuan
So Chinese Governments were losing 26 Billion Yuan a year in Tax
Sounds inefficient? Sounds corrupt?
Yet this 26 Billion Yuan a year, helped make villages self sufficient and within a decade the villagers were saving the Government of China around 100 Billion Yuan a year and earning them around 36–40 Billion Yuan
So the Chinese lost 260 Billion Yuan in Taxes over 10 years but Chinese Economy gained 1.4 Trillion Yuan over the same 10 years
High Speed Rails works in the same way
It costs the Chinese around 600 Billion Yuan a year in Losses
Yet it connects people from 200 miles away and helps prevent ghettos and slums in cities, ensures workplaces tick on time
It brings value to rural outlying areas whose land growth is asset monetization to the Chinese Government
It helps the housing sector as people can build in semi urban or rural areas now and still sell flats and houses due to the fact that cities are 4–6 hours away instead of 18 hours
Thus the intrinsic benefits of this 800 Billion a year is maybe 2–3 Trillion a year to the Chinese Economy
And as you scale the HSR across China (It’s only 45% complete today), you can cut the losses from 800 Billion Yuan a year to maybe 300 Billion Yuan a year and bring a positive intrinsic benefit to China of upto 4 Trillion a year
That’s something purely for the Chinese and maybe the Japanese people to know and understand
Westerners who follow pure capitalist economics won’t understand any other this
Indian leaders sadly are too corrupt and too entrenched in politics to have intrinsic benefits for their people. Thus any intrinsic benefits will be replaced by inefficiency and corruption
Bottom line
You want to understand Chinese actions in business?
First understand how a Chinese thinks
You cannot understand Chinese actions with a Western mindset.
USA is basically what happens when Jean Calvin meets Oliver Cromwell meets Ayn Rand.
I have never seen this kind of squalor in any First World country - and I have travelled a lot.
United States, as a society, is incredibly callous, ruthless, indifferent and negligent as a society. It was like that when Upton Sinclair wrote The Jungle, and it is the same today. United States is a winner-takes-it-all society, where losers are treated with hard hand and where losing in this societal dog-eat-dog struggle of existence is basically your own fault. And in this mindset, for every winner, there must always be a plenitude of losers.
American “freedom” is essentially indifference.
Now opiates are painkillers. They are downers. They numb down pain. Not only physical pain, but also social and societal pain. This is what makes them so dangerous.
Opiates are not party drugs nor protest drugs nor psychedelics. They are essentially loser drugs. They are not used to getting high. They are used to keep the pain away.
Heroin is the ultimate so-what drug. Opiates are used to keep the cruel world away – to keep the pain, the shame, the agony, the knowledge you are bottom dregs of the society, human waste – away.
Opiates are the alternative for committing suicide. For the really downtrodden and broken, the opiates give a reason to live for tomorrow.
The seeds of the opiate crisis were sowed in the 1980s during the era of Ronald Reagan and the Neo-Liberalist economic policy and Neo-Conservative societal politics. They initiated the polarization of the American society into filthy rich and dirth poor, and they initiated the erosion of the middle class. Ever since USA was founded, each generation was wealthier than their parents. This finally ended with the Generation X – it is the first generation which will remain poorer than their parents. The reason is the erosion of the middle class and the polarization of the society into winners and losers, and there is no guarantee any more for social ascension via hard work, education or entrepreneurship.
With the erosion of the middle class came the erosion of the support pillars of the society. The loss of middle class jobs meant erosion of the nuclear family. That came with erosion of the traditional religiosity of the US. That came with the polarization of politics – Dems were overrun by the progressive wokes and Reps by the MAGA folks. I cannot say who are more lunatic, but the pragmaticism and common sense disappeared. Trump is not the cause, he is the symptom.
Generation Y and Z (the Millennials) will remain still even poorer than the Gen X. They are the first American generations with no future. And they realize it. Usually people become more conservative with age – because of gentrification. This has not happened with Gen X, Y nor Z. It is said Gen X is the great so-what generation – totally disillusioned and totally dreamless – and the younger generations are outright Nihilstic about their futures.
This “no future” realization, however, is not enough to create a drug problem – in the UK it created the punk subculture. What is needed is a cheap supply of safe drugs. And that happened with the Purdue Pharma. They developed a process to manufacture oxycodone cheaply from thebaine and a form of compound which releases slowly the oxycodone into metabolism – and named it as Oxycontin.
image 66
Thebaine can easily be converted into just any source of drugs. Mind you heroin is diacetylmorphine, and synthesized from morphine by treating it with acetic acid anhydride. The molecule of oxycodone is dangerously similar as that of heroin.
Purdue Pharma marketed Oxycontin ruthlessly and disregarding its addictiviness. The company got rich – and also a lot of the product went to clandestine hands. The drug addicts realized it was both cheaper than heroin and safer to use – oxycodone eventually pretty much has superseded illicit heroin on the market. Purdue Pharma dug too deep and unleashed the balrog.
image 66
This figure pretty much explains it all. The first wave began with Purdue Pharma unleashing the balrog with Oxycontin in the 1990s. It also coincided with the closure of coal mines and deindustrialization of the Rust Belt and the desperation and hopelessness of the poor people there.
The second wave began with heroin in 2010. It was only a temporary rise – the even stronger and stranger stuffs – emerged. That is, synthetic opioids like fentanyl, tramadol and other similar stuffs. The Russian scourge, krokodil, never got a foothold in the US, though – the American addicts are not that desperate.
Eventually the synthetic opioids bypassed both oxycodone and heroin. The drug misuse problem is greatest where desperation, hopelessness and bleak outlook in the life are hardest – rural America, traditional industrial areas and poor quarters of the cities. In 2020, the age-adjusted rate of drug overdose deaths increased 31% compared to 2019. Adults aged 35-44 (Gen Y) experienced the highest rates of drug overdose deaths while young people aged 15-24 (Gen Z) experienced the greatest percentage increase in deaths.
Fentanyl is both extremely potent painkiller and rather simple to synthesize in a clandestine laboratory. Fentanyl has been synthesized from a simple phenylethylamine by four step sequence. The key part of this synthesis involves an efficient construction of phenylethylpiperidone skeleton via aminomethano desilyltion-cyclization followed by Swern oxidation. This is known as the Gupta method.
image 65
The first step involves treating piperidone in hydrocloric acid solution with aniline and zinc catalyst with acetic acid – this is a simple addition-elimination reaction.
The second step is adding 2-bromoethylbenzene in 50% w/w NaOH (50% hydroxide solution was interpreted for the 100% hydroxide solution stated in the Gupta patent) to yield 4-anilino-N-phenethylpiperidine (4-ANPP).
The third step is adding propionyl chloride to yield fentanyl. It should be noted in all cases that dichloromethane was substituted for 1,2-dichloroethane in the last step (Step-3). Also, the Gupta-patent stops at the isolation of the fentanyl in freebase form, while all samples in this study were converted to the hydrochloride salt form to replicate the salt form of most seized samples (Step-4) with hydrochloric acid.
Unlike Breaking Bad and the red-white-blue synthesis of methamphetamine, the fentanyl synthesis is rather safe, but asks for clandestine, uncommon and not generally available chemicals. The yield is not stoichiometric, and produces a lot of unwanted side products. Mind you also the stereochemistry. A modification of the Gupta “one-pot” route is accomplished starting with piperidone hydrochloride, triethylamine, phenylacetaldehyde, and sodium triacetoxyborohydride (STAB) in dichloromethane. This chemical mixture was stirred at room temperature overnight. On the second day, aniline and additional STAB were added and allowed to stir again overnight at room temperature. The crude 4-ANPP product was isolated after Step-2, which was a deviation from the standard “one-pot” procedure, by adding NaOH solution until basic and extracting the desired product with dichloromethane. The resulting dichloromethane layer was dried over sodium sulfate, decanted into another flask, taken to fentanyl using propionyl chloride and triethylamine, and then isolated as the hydrochloride salt form in Step-4.
The result is now that balrog roams free and there is no simple solution for this problem. United States is slowly decaying and disintegrating, but not with a bang but with a whimper. The current opiate and opioid crisis is a symptom of this decay – including all the social evils connected to it.
Russia has a similar crisis, but with really dangerous stuffs, such as krokodil, which is basically home-cooked very impure desomorphine. The Russian youth experiences the similar hopelessness, lack of opportunities, bleakness and desperation as the Americans, and they have it even worse. Needless to say, Putin’s politics have certainly not eased it. Russia is basically another petrostate with Mongol legacy, and Russian rulers have always treated their peasants as expendable. In Russia, human life has never had any value whatsoever. See ‘Muting The Horrors’: Experts Warn Of Addiction Crisis As Russian Soldiers Return From Ukraine
We here in Europe live with a cold circle under our butts: which will collapse first, USA or Russia – and what will it mean to us?
a shift is happening, keep up
“I needed to hear this so badly today. Been stuck in a rut of anxiety and negative self doubt, I recently graduated high school and am choosing a path other than college and it has made me feel like I’m out of the loop or a “loser” for not going to college. This made me realize I need to stop pitying myself and put the work in to have a better life for myself”
There was a 1979 movie starring Peter Falk titled “The In-laws”, and for some strange reason I just remembered this movie. I tried to download the torrent, but it is taking forever. It is just a goofy and funny comedy, but for some reason… it came to mind.
The premise of this film is really simple: if two families are about to enjoy the union of their children in a marriage, is it not likely that the in-laws involved can come to depend and help each other out in times of need? Most of us would probably say no, or want to know the extent of the help. However, when Vincent J. Ricardo (Peter Falk) asks Dr. Sheldon Kornpett (Alan Arkin) to assist him in retrieving something from a safe in Ricardo’s office, Kornpett is willing (if somewhat suspiciously) to do it.
The reason that Kornpett is suspicious is he is not quite certain what to make of Ricardo. They only met at Kornpett’s house the night before, for a dinner party introducing the families of the bride (Kornpett’s) and groom (Ricardo’s) to each other. Ricardo acted…well oddly. He told tales of his business travels in Central America, including how in one country babies are being carried off by huge bats that are protected by the Guacamole Act of 1917. Kornpett hears this with a blank face, although his eyes do bug out a little in disbelief. Later, when Ricardo gets testy with his son over a comment about the former not being home enough, Kornpett can’t believe the near rage that Ricardo demonstrates at the table. So his suspicions about his future in-law seem well based.
Shortly, after being chased and nearly killed by two men who are after the items that Kornpett picked up, the suspicions seem confirmed. Ricardo explains to him, over pea soup in a restaurant, that he actually is not a successful salesman but a C.I.A. operative (a photo in Ricardo’s office confirms this: it is of President Kennedy, and the autograph refers to the Bay of Pigs Invasion). He is in the middle of a critically important mission in Latin America dealing with international finance and a conspiracy against the richest nations. Kornpett hears him out, and is upset to hear that there is more material that Ricardo hid in Kornpett’s home the night before. He wants no part of it, and leaves to go home – only to find the police there. He flees, and does evade capture – at the cost of having his car repainted in a way he never would have wanted it to look.
Soon Kornpett is forced to join forces with Ricardo, and enters the deadly serious but (here) quite farcical world of international espionage and intrigue. At the end of the road is the ringleader of the conspiracy, General Garcia (Richard Libertini) who has a special little friend that makes Al Pacino’s little friend in SCARFACE lethal but sensible in comparison.
THE IN-LAWS is funny. Arkin with his tight-ass repressive personality works well against the free-wheeling, anything goes Falk. Libertini appears only in the films last twenty minutes, but he does equally nicely as the ultimate in screw-ball dictators. Well supported by a cast including Nancy Dussault, Arlene Golonka, Penny Peyser, Michael Lembeck, and Ed Begley Jr. the film is just a laugh fest until the happy ending. As mentioned elsewhere in these comments Arkin and Falk should have made several films together. They have only done one other movie together since THE IN-LAWS. Pity.
‘If you lose this baby, you could always have another one’. The comment above was made by the doctor who my husband and I had a consultation with. I was roughly 10 weeks pregnant with our first child. I was in my mid 30’s while hubby was in his early 40’s.
An elderly man in his fifties, he barely looked at us, ignored me, said hello to my husband, looked at my file fleetingly, a file with tests and scans which showed I had fibroids, looked directly at my husband and said to him, ‘She will be fine’. I was furious that this man was clearly sexist, ignoring me as if I was invisible. I responded by asking what that meant, what was the cause of the bleeding as he had not told us at this point about the fibroids. ‘You do not need to bother about it. That is why we are here’. This statement was addressed again to my husband who he was still looking at while still ignoring my presence.
At this point, something in me snapped and I snapped at him, ‘Look at me and tell me what is causing this bleeding. It is my body and I need the details’. He then slowly turned to look at me as if seeing me for the first time and emotionlessly said, ‘you have fibroids. They are not massive and do not pose a danger to your baby’. ‘But I am bleeding. Is that not dangerous? ‘ I worriedly asked.
That was when he looked at the file and without lifting his head, retorted ,Not really. However, if you lose this baby, you could always have another one ’. I almost cussed the insensitive idiot out but my husband who knew I was fuming at this point, got up and ushered me out of the office while the doctor was still talking about ante natal visits at their hospital. We had heard enough. I went on to another hospital where I met the amazing doctor who delivered my daughter without complications and went on to have a son after that.
She is now a healthy, happy 10 year old who is pure joy and always a little mama to her 7 year old brother.
London Broil
London Broil is a favorite recipe from the Iowa Beef Industry Council.
delish london broil horizontal 1546553273
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
1 (1 1/4 to 1 3/4 pound) beef flank steak
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
Combine vegetable oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper for marinade.
Place steak in plastic bag and pour marinade over it.
Close bag securely and refrigerate 4 to 6 hours or overnight, turning occasionally.
Pour off and reserve marinade.
Place steak on grill and broil at moderate temperature for 5 minutes.
Turn, brush with marinade and broil 5 minutes or to desired doneness (rare or medium).
To carve, slice diagonally across grain in thin strips.
10 STOIC LESSONS TO HANDLE DISRESEPECT (MUST WATCH) | STOICISM
Learn something important.
ASML
Here is the reason why ASML CEO said a few years ago that if ASML gave China the blueprint for the EUV machine China would not be able to make it.
This is because all of the core technologies is NOT owned by ASML. ASML is the system integrator that was allowed by the US government to participate in the US government project to create an EUV light source.
This project pulled together many US national labs including Lawrence Livermore Labs, Sandia Nation Lab, Brookhaven National Lab, Lawrence Berkely National Lab, IBM, Intel, AMD, etc. And it took over 10 years to create this laser light source.
This was considered a national security project so Japanese companies like Nikon and Canon were not allowed to join.
The difficulty of this light source and the engineering problems that had to be overcome was as difficult as the first atomic bomb.
So I have to admit that I was wrong in my speculation about using a Rube Goldberg device to generate EUV. They didn’t have a choice. This was the best possible source at the time. It took literally the US, Germany, and some other nation’s best experts to create this light source.
The other parts are relatively easy in comparison.
The problem is that China has also created this light source and using another method so it isn’t so Rube Goldberg machine. Not that it was simple to make. But it is more reliable and you don’t have to worry about residue removal that will mess up your mirrors and the inside of the your machine which has to remain at clean room levels.
The Answer is yes. Yes indeed the U.S. and the west has been propagating that only western liberal democracy works. Nothing else. Either be a liberal democracy or die says the US. That is of course simply not true at all. And the real truth is simply that the West wanted to install liberal democracy so that the west can easily manipulate it and install a government that surrender its sovereignty to the west in order to manipulate and steal it’s resources to enrich the former colonials.
Now that China proved beyond reasonable doubts and against all odds that it could grow phenomenally and economically dwarfed every other nation, this fear and worry the U.S. mightily. Failure to contain China means failure to perpetuate this lie!
This is indeed worrisome for the west since they the west in general has essentially collapsed in a huge pile of debts. And law and order disintegrates through the western world. With high inflation and a looming recession with countless millions of homeless people living in the streets while their government finance and orchestrate wars. Based on printing money without basis and rampant money creation.
China U.S. out innovating the U.S., it U.S. out thinking the U.S., out growing the U.S. and out influencing the U.S. growing even its military and wealth and out manipulating the U.S. government everywhere on earth. The U.S. wants to stop the truth from being revealed to the world.
It’s Not Just You: American Jobs Didn’t Used To Be This Terrible
My Dad’s Union IBEW is the reason we went from lower middle class to solid middle class in 10 years. Unions are one of the most important checks for capitalism.
Government promise something. Give it a few years and it happens.
Some bigger projects like Mao wanting to borrow some water from the south took a bit longer.
OTOH governments like the UK one I lived under… they promise shit, then they say haha you sucker you actually believed me? Fuck you!
Gordon Brown’s QC literally said that election pledges and promises were not subject to legitimate expectation.
Here? Here in Hong Kong? The government construction projects shaved 20 minutes off my commute.
25 years ago they shaved an hour off the commute for the villagers by widening the dirt track that lead to my village and paving it. Then offering a bus franchise nearby so it was connected with the world.
Most people my age would either be listening to music, watching some TV show/movie in their smartphones/tablets. A very few would be reading a newspaper or book.
I was one of them. I always had music on. I can’t read/watch anything because of motion sickness while traveling on road.
The older generation- they do nothing. They don’t use phones, they don’t talk, don’t read, nothing. They just sit and look around.
I wanted to try this and coincidentally my earphones broke down.
Now it has been over six months. I travel in the metro for 3 hours everyday and do nothing, just look around. This has helped me so much. I observe people, their behaviours. I look around to see what’s actually happening.
It may sound weird but there’s something weirdly enjoyable about it. It feels like living life the old school way. This has helped me reduce the screen time as well.
I have even started recognising the regular commuters. I am sure they don’t recognise me.
Unbreakable (2000) | *First Time Watching* | Movie Reaction | Asia and BJ
Still one of the top 10 best comic films of all time. Its really the first one that showed what the comic genre could do when taken seriously.
This is one of my top, and most favorite movies. It is so meaningful to me. Seriously people. I can relate to this movie. So very much!
When my daughter was about 9 or 10 years old, whenever she got a scolding from my wife, I would annoy her by doing a chicken dance and do so in a way that ONLY she sees it.
“Mommy! Dad is making fun of me!” she would always complain.
When my wife turned around, I would stop and act normal and go on with my stuff. This went on for a while till it became a game of HER trying to catch me in the act and prove it to her mother.
She would learn to very quickly take out her mobile phone and try to snap a picture of me doing it. I would tease her by dancing until the moment the phone was almost pointing towards me, then I would stop and behave normally.
“I will get you someday,” she said.
“No, you won’t! I am too fast for you,” I replied.
On a particular day, I again did the ridiculous chicken dance, she was rolling her eyes and her hands move slowly towards her phone. I continued dancing and mentally calculating how fast she could key in the pass-code and turn on the camera mode.
Something didn’t feel right, her action was slower than usual, by the time she pointed the camera at me, I had stopped. But she started laughing loudly.
“Guess what daddy? THIS isn’t my phone. I switched the phone cover with mum. MY PHONE is behind you, just above the cupboard, ON VIDEO TAKING MODE.”
Ouch! A full two minutes of myself being ridiculous caught on video!
NOT genius smart, NOT intellectual smart, perhaps a little STREET SMART!
The gay and bisexual men are not as common in China as they are in the West. It is difficult for MPOX to become an epidemic in China.
From June 2 to June 30, 2023, 106 new confirmed cases of monkeypox were reported in mainland China (excluding Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan), including 48 cases reported in Guangdong Province, 45 cases reported in Beijing City, 8 cases reported in Jiangsu Province, 2 cases reported in Hubei Province, 2 cases reported in Shandong Province, and 1 case reported in Zhejiang Province. There were no severe cases or deaths.
The epidemic presents the following characteristics:
One is that the vast majority of cases are mainly transmitted through male homosexual sexual contact.
Secondly, the risk of transmission through other forms of contact is low, and the vast majority of close contacts, except for sexual contact, have not experienced infection.
The third is that most cases were found during medical treatment, while a few cases were found through follow-up screening of close contacts.
The fourth is that the vast majority of cases have typical clinical manifestations, mainly symptoms such as fever, herpes, and lymph node enlargement, with no severe or fatal cases.
An American Reacts to Why America Sucks at Everything – THIS ONE HURT
This is very good. Really.
It is a MUCH watch. This is the real truth about the United States.
“I’m so glad you made this video because my conservative mom watched it and now she’s starting to wake up. I got screwed over by the “in network out of network” bullshit recently. My employer changed our healthcare coverage, and I had to find a new neurologist and start the “prior authorization “ process for a particular drug that I take all over again”
The sheer power of Xi Jingping is the fact that QG has been buried away and cut off in a matter of seconds and China and it’s foreign affairs moves without a single blip
Thats power
Had Xi been weak, a rival faction would have lobbied immediately within the CPC but the fact that China has simply chosen to forget QG and not talk about him shows the power of Xi Jingping
China and CPC knows that today in the hostile atmosphere with the West — Only XJP is the right man to lead China
Hu JINTAO would have kowtowed in seconds
Li Keiqang would have kowtowed in maybe a month
Bo Xilai would have kowtowed in nanoseconds
Xis power is at its peak now
Had QG defected to US and been declared a mole for CIA then yes , Xi would have been finished politically
Yet QG is in China and safe and under the Partys safe hands 😁
My father-in-law did. He was moving some tools around in his garage and suddenly had a strong urge to move one of the cars, a Subaru, out into the driveway. He tried to ignore this feeling, because the car was not in his way and it seemed like a needless waste of time. But he couldn’t shake it, so he went and got his car keys and backed the car out of the garage.
Just as he had done so and was getting out of the car, a speeding Tesla flashed past him a couple of feet away and crashed into the open garage, then burst into flames. If he’d stayed in the garage working, he would most likely have been killed.
The resulting fire destroyed the entire garage and his other car. It was 9 months before he and his wife were able to move back into the house. But he was alive, and they still had their Subaru. There was no good explanation for the “little voice in his head” that told him he needed to get himself and his car out of the garage.
By the way, the Tesla driver, who was pulled out of the burning car by a neighbor, was uninjured but was convicted of DUI and had to pay restitution and perform community service.
He was suffering from pancreatic cancer at the time, but from that moment his desire to oversee the restoration of the house gave him a new determination in life. It was a very busy and stressful time, during which he and his wife lived in rental housing. At last they were able to move back into the house which had been perfectly restored to its original state, including a new garage of course, new roof, new heating & a/c, new paint and flooring, and every item inside the house had been removed, professionally cleaned, and replaced. It was beautiful. However, his condition declined rapidly after that and he passed away in August 2018, not quite a year after the fire.
The US Plan to KILL Second Citizenship
“As a Venezuelan born in the 90s (post oil-golden era for that country), I know first hand what he means when he says it’s important to have options. I saw how my mother and her siblings were unable to get their second citizenship by descent from Trinidad and Tobago, once things got terribly bad in my country. My grandparents had both US residency and Caribbean citizenship, but because things were going so well in Venezuela in the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s, they didn’t work on securing and passing along those other options; and their children never thought things would get this bad. It only took less than 30 years to see things turn around for the worst.”
For many years now, the USA has been classified as a “flawed democracy”. Events such as the Capitol Hill riots – intended to disrupt the inauguration of your elected President – did not help. A significant proportion of Americans themselves believed that the last election was rigged and “stolen” from them. So how can the USA be said to be the “very embodiment of democracy”? This strikes me as an extremely grandiose and indefensible claim.
As for freedom, the USA comprises 5% of the world population but holds about 20% of the world’s prisoners. With so many Americans literally locked up behind bars, how can the USA claim to be a “free” country? Furthermore your 13th amendment legalises the enslavement of prisoners – and the USA heavily exploits these slaves/prisoners in ways that your own civil liberty lawyers have described as an abuse of fundamental human rights. (Eg US prisoners can be forced into hazardous jobs – such as fighting wildfires – for as little as zero to fifty cents per hour of work). Errrr, seriously, you think that the US is the embodiment of freedom?
What hope does the USA bring to the world? In the past 40 years, the USA has dropped more bombs, fired more missiles and killed more people in other countries, than any other country in the world. In the past 40 years, the USA has killed people in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Grenada, Bosnia, Somalia and Uganda. Because of US sanctions, the world was afraid to send even vaccines, masks and ventilators to Iran during the covid–19 pandemic. This is how the US brings death and destruction to the world.
Please stop watching your Hollywood movies where the USA is always the one to save the world from invasions by aliens from outer space. Open your eyes and look at the real world. At least look at your own country. Your people are dying from drug overdose at the highest rate in the world. Your people are getting shot to death at the highest rate among all developed countries. Your policemen are shooting citizens for minor offences. Your cities are littered with homeless people living in tents. Your national literacy rate is collapsing together with your average life expectancy. Medical bills are the biggest cause of personal bankruptcies in the USA; your infrastructure is crumbling and aged water pipes are leaking lead into the drinking water for your public schools. To lead your country, you are choosing between a criminal octagenarian and a senile otagenarian. Your income inequality is vast, with the top 1% controlling more wealth than the middle 60% – let’s not even discuss the sufferrings of your bottom 20%.
The US is the embodiment of … HOPE, you say?! Hopelessness is more like it. The USA is no example for the world – unless we are talking of negative examples.
I used to work for a major mail order company; as tech staff I could be sent out anywhere in the country, for which the company would pre-pay for accommodation and pay 40 pence per mile for fuel costs (which was tight-arsed of them, as other companies paid 65ppm).
They also supposedly insured us for using our private cars this way.
People who regularly went out for long trips had a company card to pay for hotels with.
One day they decide they are cutting the fuel payment to 25ppm, and back-dating it SIX months, and also cancelling the company cards – people would have to pay with their own money and claim it back.
This latter move caught a few out who were already out on trips – one guy was unable to pay his bill at a London conference centre, and the staff there were threatening to call the Police.
We also discovered at the same time, that the company HADN’T been paying for the extra car insurance policy, so we were all using our cars effectively with no insurance.
Next day, everyone parked 1/2 mile away and walked into work. “Sorry, can’t go on that job, no car” was the story from every member of the technical staff.
Every senior manager was made to turn over his company car for us to drive around. Even the CEO’s chauffeured Bentley was pressed into service, but it still wasn’t enough; by the end of the first week the taxi bill was running into the high hundreds, and everyone was refusing overnight jobs on the basis they couldn’t afford to pay for the hotel.
It took a MONTH for the suits to cave, and god only knows how much it cost them, in money, customer relations, and the lost goodwill of the tech staff.
Why the American Dream is a Myth
“It’s expensive to be poor” Just…. damn man!
Mediterranean Steak and Pasta with Tomato-Olive Sauce
Whole-wheat pasta is served with beef Sirloin Tip Center Steaks and a tomato and olive sauce. This one will please the adults and the kids in your family.
2023 09 25 15 07
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
8 ounces uncooked whole grain fettuccine
4 beef Sirloin Tip Center Steaks, cut 3/4 inch thick (about 4 ounces each)
1 (26 ounce) jar pasta sauce with olives*
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves, crushed
1/4 cup finely shredded Italian cheese blend or mozzarella cheese
2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
Cook fettuccine according to package directions; drain and keep warm.
Heat large nonstick skillet over medium heat until hot. Place beef steaks in skillet; cook for 11 to 13 minutes for medium rare (145 degrees F) doneness, turning occasionally. (Do not overcook.) Remove from skillet; keep warm.
Combine pasta sauce and oregano in same skillet; heat until hot. Return steaks to skillet; turn to coat with sauce.
Place steaks on fettuccine; spoon sauce over all.
Sprinkle steaks with cheese, allowing cheese to melt. Sprinkle with parsley.
Notes
* You may substitute 1 (26 ounce) jar pasta sauce with olives for 1 (26 ounce) pasta sauce plus 1/4 cup chopped olives.
US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said she was “upset” when China’s Huawei Technologies released a new phone with an advanced chip during her visit to the country last month but noted that the US has no evidence China can make these components “at scale,” Bloomberg reported. She also said the US is trying to use every single tool at its disposal to deny the Chinese the ability to advance their technology in ways that can hurt the US.
Raimondo’s words are nothing new, but saying that China’s technological advancement “can hurt the US” is a stupid and ridiculous line of thinking. Many American elites refuse to accept that the Chinese have broken through the technological blockade. Radical lawmakers are calling for efforts to strangle Huawei and SMIC, which is not only hegemonic but also an evil way of thinking.
Whether it is ASML, the Dutch manufacturer of lithography machines, or the American chip giants, they do not believe that decoupling can stop China’s progress in semiconductor technology. They believe that China can find alternative methods and its own technological path. However, a large number of American elites are non-technical and refuse to face reality, blindly believing that Huawei’s breakthrough is because the US export controls on technology to China are “still too loose.”
It should be said that Huawei’s breakthrough has to a certain extent undermined the credibility of the US’ technological blockade against China and shattered the collective confidence of the West in this regard. Washington’s current investigation into the origin of Huawei’s chips and attempts to tighten the noose on the blockade against China will only isolate itself.
Because Washington clearly lost the first round, it has to bet even bigger and risk losing the Chinese market for many Western semiconductor companies. Imagine the result of continuing technological restrictions if Huawei makes further breakthroughs – can ASML’s lithography machines still enjoy their current glory? Where will the US-controlled chip production factories find their next market? Just look at the panic faced by Japanese and German automotive giants today in the face of the rise of Chinese electric vehicles. If the current semiconductor leaders are cut off from the Chinese market, who can guarantee that their future situation will be better?
Huawei’s Kirin 9000s is a breakthrough that it was forced to make by the US sanctions. If the US exerts even greater pressure, it will turn this breakthrough into a systemic breach, promoting a highly integrated and strong production chain in the Chinese semiconductor industry. Chips produced in China will also be much cheaper than those produced in the US.
If the US semiconductor industry loses the Chinese market, it will not be as lucky as Google and Facebook. The latter have software advantages that some Chinese internet companies do not have, including the application ecosystem they established by being the first movers. However, semiconductors are hardware, and when Chinese companies like Huawei can provide a cheaper alternative, the situation will be completely different.
A crucial crossroads has been reached. If the US forces China to achieve complete independence in the semiconductor industry, it will have no further cards to play in blocking China’s progress. Moreover, the technological landscape of the world will undergo a rewrite. China now possesses the capital, and we will continue to progress no matter what. It is now the US’ turn to make a choice: continue gambling or change course and resume cooperation?
Expat’s THAI WIFE disappears and so did his fortune $$. Then it got WORSE!
This was in the early days of the internet, and I would find the articles, and then print them out. I ended up with piles of stacks of unsorted articles, (also known as the Rush Limbaugh style “stack of stuff”) and huge expenses for printer ink and boxes of white paper.
2023 09 28 11 09
Towards the end of the 1990’s I just gave up, and simply saved the articles on hard drive. i used something called a “ZIP drive” back then to store the articles. It was a “hoarding” habit. A sign of… coping… perhaps. To a stressful life. And then, oh Lordy was my life stressful.
2023 09 28 11 10
I did this with everything. I was like a big vacuum and magnet that recorded everything that passed my screen. Articles, images, porn, stories, cat pictures and memes. Ugh!
And I would collect these things on disk and then put the discs in boxes, and just store them. I had so many boxes of “my precious archives”.
2023 09 28 11 12
Funny thing though, I never really took the time to go back through them. Not really. They just were vacuumed up, stored, and boxed. Only to be forgotten and ignored over the dust of time.
…
Today, we can put the stuff “in the cloud”.
But you know what?
If you never get around to reading the articles, looking at the pictures, viewing the movies, then why bother with the effort?
You are wasting your time.
STOP.
Just STOP.
Go outside and get drunk… play with your kitties, doggies, or go fishing. How about watching a ball game? Or better yet, playing ball. Spend time with your loved ones.
I live 3 blocks north of my local police station and 3 blocks south of a tiny strip mall. The strip mall has 1 entrance and 1exit so basically it is a 1 way drive and many use it to make a u-turn
I had picked up a moron about a mile from my home because I was only doing 30 in a 25 residential neighborhood – tailgating, honking, etc. There was no shoulder on this road. I was not about to speed up since it was the time that school got out and there were kids walking home.
Even though the moron had a few opportunities to pass me or turn off the road, he stayed on my bumper. I drove into the strip mall and he followed me so I knew I had a serious problem on my hands. While driving, I discreetly called the cops, explained what was happening and headed to the station. Moron kept following me. He was not thrilled when the cops were waiting for him.
While they held him and ticketed him, I drove home and parked my car in my garage. The next day, I dropped off a basket of cookies for the cops and found out that the moron had a couple of outstanding warrants for assault. I’m so glad that I never stopped my car and just kept driving.
Blackstrap Steaks with Caramelized Onions
blackstrap steaks
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
Caramelized Onions
1 1/2 cups sweet onions
3/4 cup red bell pepper
2 tablespoons fresh basil
2 tablespoons pine nuts
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Steak
4 chuck eye steaks (Delmonico)
1/4 cup molasses
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Salt
Fresh basil
Instructions
Caramelized Onions
Spray a medium nonstick skillet with nonstick cooking spray. Heat over medium to medium-high heat until hot. Add onion; cook 5 to 7 minutes, stirring frequently.
If necessary, re-spray skillet with cooking spray. Add bell pepper; continue cooking for 3 to 5 minutes or until onions are browned and bell pepper is crisp-tender, stirring frequently.
Stir in sliced basil, pine nuts, vinegar and black pepper. Season with salt, as desired; keep warm.
Steak
Combine molasses, Worcestershire sauce and vinegar in small bowl.
Heat second large nonstick skillet over medium heat until hot. Season steaks with black pepper. Place steaks in pan; cook 9 to 11 minutes (ranch steaks, 8 to 11 minutes) for medium rare (145 degrees F) to medium (160 degrees F) doneness, turning occasionally and brushing with molasses mixture during last 3 to 4 minutes of cooking.
Season steaks with salt, as desired; serve with caramelized onions. Garnish with basil sprigs, if desired.
Why are SO MANY Americans Retiring in Europe Right Now?
For the U.S. to decide this Chip Act it must have been debated at length by hordes of parties and institutions including dozens of companies in the U.S. and throughout US allies.
Why?
Well simple. The repercussions are simply gigantic and colossal if indeed this act fail. It will cause trillions upon trillions of dollars lost over time. At least a hundred U.S. and its cronies chip firms may simply go out of business all together.
Worst is that this is the last thing the US can do to stop and contained China if this fails, that will be the end of US hegemony in technology. So for the U.S. to take this measure is like putting everything at stake into this one act. Billions has to be spend to build a plants in the U.S. that hinge on China’s failure to counter act. Billions need to be spend to protect and subsidise these hundreds of firms in case it fail.
Countries whose livelihoods depend on this precise technology and business to survive and thrive have to be bribed and coerce to cut out China.
These bribes probably run in the trillions of dollars figures.
…
And all these hinge on one and only one assumption.
That is China will not be able to design, make and manufacture this high end chips for at least a generation! If this assumption fail to materialised then the U.S. will be thoroughly fxxked for a generation and it will forever not able to compete with China.
In other words, there is absolutely no room at all for failure.
Failure means China will now totally controlled every aspect of Chip making technologies from materials, to designing, to developing , to mass producing in the billions. And it will do it at a fraction of the costs of doing it in the U.S. which simply means the total implosion of all the U.S. chip firms!
So after a mere 3 years China did precisely what the U.S. fears most.
Their worst fears has come true.
The Chinese simply do not need a single technology from the U.S. and its cronies to launch this 5NM chip capable of 5G and satellite communications which also means there is zero possibility for the U.S. to hack it. 150 million orders have been placed and 40 million orders has been fulfilled in a mere 20 days from its launch.
This Huawei Mate 60 series including the Mate 5X is such a blow to the U.S.
For a start the U.S. already lost 3 billion in profit had they not banned themselves from selling to China and up to a few trillion dollars have been wiped off the stock values of these chip firms from 27th August till now. The melt down will carry on and on and on till the U.S. economy collapse all together. We in the rest of the world call this Karma.
The US is lagging behind China because the US is a plutocracy, a system where the rich and powerful have a stranglehold on the political and economic spheres. This is not a matter of opinion, but a reality that can be verified by various sources and indicators. In this essay, I will show how the US is a plutocracy, how it affects its performance compared to China, and what are the consequences for the future of both countries.
First, let us understand what a plutocracy is. According to Wikipedia, a plutocracy is “a society that is ruled or controlled by people of great wealth or income”. Plutocracy is not based on any established political philosophy, but rather emerges from the accumulation of money and power in the hands of a few. Plutocracy is often linked to corruption, inequality, social unrest, and environmental degradation.
How can we tell that the US is a plutocracy? There are several indicators that reveal the extent of the influence of money and power in the US political system. One of them is the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. FEC in 2010, which allowed corporations and other entities to spend unlimited amounts of money on political campaigns and advocacy. This decision effectively gave the rich and powerful a disproportionate voice in the electoral process, undermining the principle of one person, one vote. Another indicator is the lobbying industry, which spends billions of dollars every year to influence legislation and policy in favor of their clients’ interests. Lobbyists often have access to lawmakers and regulators that ordinary citizens do not have, and they can shape the agenda and outcomes of public decisions. A third indicator is the revolving door phenomenon, which refers to the movement of personnel between positions of public office and private sector jobs. This creates conflicts of interest and reduces accountability, as public officials may favor their former or future employers over the public interest.
How does plutocracy affect the US performance compared to China? One way to measure performance is to look at the economic growth rate, which reflects the increase in the value of goods and services produced by a country over a period of time. According to World Bank data, China’s GDP growth rate was 2.3% in 2020, while the US GDP growth rate was -3.5% . This means that China’s economy expanded despite the COVID-19 pandemic, while the US economy contracted significantly. One reason for this difference is that China has a more effective and responsive government that can mobilize resources and implement policies to deal with crises and challenges. China also has a more balanced and diversified economy that relies less on consumption and more on investment, innovation, and trade. The US, on the other hand, has a dysfunctional and gridlocked government that is captured by special interests and unable to address the needs and demands of its people. The US also has an unbalanced and fragile economy that depends heavily on consumption and debt, and suffers from low productivity, inequality, and environmental degradation.
What are the implications for the future of both countries? If the current trends continue, China will surpass the US as the world’s largest economy by 2028 . China will also gain more influence and leadership in global affairs, especially in areas such as trade, technology, climate change, and security. The US will face more challenges and difficulties in maintaining its economic competitiveness, social cohesion, democratic legitimacy, and international reputation. The US will also have to deal with more internal conflicts and external threats, as its plutocratic system erodes its trust and stability.
In 1959, the American inventors of the integrated circuit chose silicon as their substrate and gave birth to a new industry. Now other materials, with virtues suited to new applications, are beginning to replace it. Graphene, for example, is a potentially exciting substrate, but it lies years further out on the R&D schedule.
As with silicon, whoever mass produces the new substrate will probably dominate the trillion-dollar industry it spawns.
Gallium oxide is much closer to mass production, and China refines 80% of global gallium and exported 94 metric tons of it last year, up 25% YoY. But only a few companies – one European and the others in Japan and China – can make it at the required purity.
Thanks to their low energy consumption, gallium oxide semiconductors are ideal for communications, aerospace, radar, and maglev. Among ultra-wide band gap materials like diamond, boron nitride and silicon carbide, only gallium oxide forms single crystals at atmospheric pressure after solidification from a melt
While drastically reducing fabrication costs, this requires large amounts of iridium to make crucibles for the melt. But iridium is three times more expensive than gold, and a 4 inch crucible requires 11 lb. (5 kg.) of the stuff. Also, for China, this raises IP concerns since Japan and the US pioneered the method.
Battle of the substrate stars
August 2022 —US government imposes export controls on two substrates of ultra-wide bandgap semiconductors – gallium oxide (Ga2O3), and diamonds – as well as EDA software “designed for the development of integrated circuits with Gate-All-Around Field-Effect Transistor (GAAFET).
July 2023 —China: ‘Gallium and germanium require an export license’.
August 2023 — China: ‘Gallium nitride (GaN) and germanium dioxide (GeO2) exporters must apply for licenses, identify importers and end-users’.
September 2023 — “Chinese researchers cut iridium use 80%, make four-inch gallium dioxide wafers, slash production costs, smooth the path to mass fabrication”. Interesting Engineering.
Why is China releasing a blizzard of new technologies?
It’s committed to development through technology,
It outspends the USA by 400% on R&D,
It has 300,000 researchers with an IQ of 160+ vs. 30,000 in the rest of the world.
China is doing for ICs what it did for railways and renewable energy.
It’s doing the same for EVs and will do for medical care: make them affordable by the 90%. And make a fortune doing so.
I saw a woman wrap a line once, it was fascinating.
We all know those lines, boarding planes, at the store, the Post Office. People arrive too fast, the line grows out of control and takes over the space.
Takes over everything.
It’s an operation crisis, new people arrive faster than they are processed and the system overloads.
Everyone grumbles but no one fixes it.
It’s conformity. Everyone doing the same thing: standing behind the person in front of us.
I used to go to a Dunkin Donuts in Boston. It was just off the North Station T stop so, between 8:20 and 8:30 am, the line grew exponentially. Each commuter stood behind the last and inadvertently created something that consumed the small space and made everyone uncomfortable.
Quickly, the straight line went right out the door, and in winter people near froze, no longer waiting for coffee, but for warmth. To get inside.
It always felt selfish stepping inside, away from that person behind you. Like you were separated, different. But we all did it.
Fact was, it was too early and we were too tired to take responsibility for anyone else.
One day, in February, a day coated with the most vile wintery-mix, a woman with winter boots, two bags, gray face, looked just like me, just like all of us – she just woke up.
Quietly, almost to herself, “This is stupid, those people are freezing.”
And then she did something about it.
She gently pulled arms and pushed backs and said ‘excuse me’ and ‘I’m trying to get those people inside’ and one by one she got strangers to ribbon themselves in such a way that everyone fit, everyone was inside and everyone was still behind the person in front of them.
What an amazing person.
Who steps up and takes responsibility for strangers like that? Especially when it matters so little. And so early in the morning?
What a lady. Fascinating. I’ve wrapped a few lines since then, I always think of her.
“A Revolution Against The Elites!” – WEF’s Klaus Schwab Openly Worries
Huawei Mate 60 Pro may not have shocked the world as much as the news reporting on the Chinese government instructed all its personnel to refrain from bringing any foreign brand phone into government building and subsequently ………
Apple immediately lost US $200B of its market capitalization.
So what is $200B?
Well, that’s 50% of the total Apple revenue generated in 2022. Any ideas how many senators and congressman/women hold much shares in Apple ? 🤭
Isn’t that a sweet revenge for bullying Huawei and for holding hostage of their princess CFO Meng Wenzhou.
I was at a swanky resort hotel in Niagra-on-the-Lake and some obnoxious young women in their early twenties were hanging off a baggage cart for an Instagram shot. I was annoyed because they had been acting all day like they were in their own private reality show, and I suppose since they had two videographers, maybe they were.
I brushed right through them to get through the door they were blocking with the luggage cart, only to hear one yell “Later, Grandpa” as I closed the door. Doing the math, yep I could be their grandpa if had children at age 20. I have no biological children so those kind of “mile markers” are generally not present in my life.
I have to stop myself if I’m at a coffeeshop and there is an attractive young woman. Otherwise paying too much attention makes me a creep. In my mind, and probably many other people, we think of ourselves as mid-20s for a few too many decades.
Modern Women Regretting Feminism Loneliness is Affecting them Badly
The US is not a democratic, it is a die hard interventionist, meaning it interferes with the world Sovereign States’ affairs . Every single year of its existence is spent on warring with others, if not in physical wars then it would be on non physical ones.
But why the the Sovereign State of US alone spent so much time , money and energy on wars while other Sovereign States don’t? The reason is simple, so long as the US government views you as a threat, an enemy to its preeminent *dominance, it will target you , the US government even admitted this themselves , the key words here is “ America’s **adversaries” :—
So based upon the US clampdown on all things China like , the Chinese students study of STEM subjects, the banning of China from the Space technology, space station, the purchase of companies in the US, and recently in year 2023 , the Huawei , and the EVs , we know that the US never stop targeting China for demise even though the US Biden administration said it is derisking the Chinese government. The Derisking of China here is actually to destroy the competitive threat the Chinese is posing to the US economy! So, the US has been all out to stop the *money making opportunities of the Chinese to stop the Chinese from rising economically.
The archives Fantabulastic physical war list of the US:
The signs are written on the walls , the undeniable truth is the money making Chinese companies are the ones being targeted by the US for it’s ‘derisking’ strategy against China!
There was a rule at home when I was in middle school called no questions after 7:00 pm. If I broke that rule I got a lip numbing face smack. Not by the creator of the rule, my mom, but by her boyfriend. Mom actually made the rule to try and curb Dale’s anger. He was only allowed to slap me if I broke a rule. No crying. No talking while the tv was on. No staying up past eight. No complaining. The point is, I got the shit slapped out of me a lot. I watched men abuse my mother and my brother for years. Some would say it’s all I ever knew.
Jessica and I got together three years ago. We live together with her two teenage (16 and 13) sons. I don’t have any children. Their curiosity and love of life can be challenging for me. I don’t know how to be a parent. Here’s an example. The eldest, Corey, likes fire. I caught him flicking a lighter after I took the last one away. If that were me, I’d be bruised for ten days. Being constantly pounded on as a kid made me promise myself I’d never do that.
So, the question I asked myself was, how should I discipline him? How can I get the point across without being that monster that I hated so much? Well, I’m making a light up skateboard and since you enjoy lighting things up, you’re gonna help with soldering the lights for one hour every time I catch you with a lighter.
It’s eight at night, so, we set up our phones to aid with lighting and I taught Corey how to use solder. Once I was confident he could use the iron safely, I strung lights beside him while he soldered for an hour. It ended up being really fun for both of us.
Another point of contention is bedtime. Boy oh boy, getting two teenagers in bed by ten is like trying to hit the Powerball without playing. I’ve told them for two years now to go to bed at ten. So what do I do when I wake up at 3:00 am to use the bathroom and find them sleeping on the couch?
I cover them up, kiss their foreheads and say goodnight.
I’m followed on Quora by five ex-girlfriends, my mother, my current girlfriend, her two children and my ex-wife of 18 years. I don’t know how to be a parent and I can be a shitty boyfriend at times. What I do, when I’ve done all I can do, is anything other that what Dale did to us.
I have never raised my voice or hand to a woman or a child, ever. There is no version of me that finds that acceptable. Eighteen years of marriage, never once did I raise my voice to her. The point is, I’m not sure what to do sometimes. But I know I’d rather Corey remember having to learn how to solder as a punishment over being smacked. Yelling at the people I love is never the answer. My job is to do everything I can to protect my family. Not yell at my girl or smack a kid.
Leon
A Death Row Inmate’s Thoughts, Days Before His Execution
Not many people have seen a real death warrant in person, let alone been issued one with their name on it.
I remember the warden instructing security to escort us in restraints from our cells, one at a time, to a small office where we were surrounded by prison officials. The warden read aloud the information off the warrants, which included our names, our crimes, and the jury’s verdict.
There was silence. My mind remained unaffected, having undergone this very thing before only to later receive a stay of execution. There was a measure of calm, knowing I wasn’t alone, that there were seven others—though, given the love I have for the other guys, I would rather have done it alone.
I was handed the death warrant, a longer-than-usual sheet of paper with the golden seal of the State of Arkansas fixed on it. At the bottom, there was the signature of Gov. Asa Hutchinson.
Death, one step closer. Tick, tick.
When you’re issued a date, you want to be the first to break the news to your family. But often the press gets to them first. For the prisoner, as the fatal day approaches, the hardest part is knowing you’ve condemned your loved ones to a bitter fate. Once you depart, they have to carry on.
It is vital that I reach a place of self-forgiveness, so that I can write to my 21-year-old daughter and break the news to her. I could soon be joining her mother in the afterlife, leaving her parentless. Just writing that letter is enough to make me consider beating the executioner to the punch, but I’ve been stabilized and sustained by the inner peace and forgiveness I’ve received through a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Oh boy, do the letters come pouring in after an execution date has been set! During mail call, I receive more mail than ever before about the well-being of my soul. Do you know God? Have you accepted Jesus Christ as lord of your life? If you don’t repent before you die you will go to hell. They send typed letters, handwritten letters, cards, books, etc.
Most of these materials are destined for the trash. Where were they all those years, when I was sitting on death row, when I might have embraced what they had to offer? I see them as opportunists, who want to brag to their friends about how they tried to win my soul.
At this point, an individual has already made his peace with God, or hasn’t.
Some of the prisoners opted out of petitioning for clemency, knowing the board usually issues a denial. They figured they’d save themselves the disappointment.
I, on the other hand, saw opportunity. I wanted to appear before the board so I could show them I was no longer the person I once was. God has transformed me, and even the worst of us can be reformed and renewed. Revealing these truths meant more to me then being granted clemency. I’m still going to eventually die someday, but to stand up for God in front of man, that’s my victory.
To the families of my victims, to whom I have brought pain, great loss, and suffering, as shallow as “I am sorry for robbing you of your loved one” can sound, I would rather say it, and mean it, than not say it at all.
I was asked by mental health personnel, “Have you been thinking about harming yourself?” I was offended — the train of thought behind the question is to get ahead of anyone thinking of ending their life before the state can do so. They don’t want us to beat them to the punch.After a death row prisoner has received a date, others who have befriended him make their pitch: Let me have those tennis shoes. Leave me that watch. Let me get your radio. The poor guy may feel like he’s being picked apart. Other things he doesn’t want to give to prisoners, like family pictures or old letters, he can send home in a box, shortly before he too is sent home in a box.An officer showed up at my cell door today and asked, “Kenneth, how are you?” Then he asked, “What is your shirt and pant size? What size shoe do you wear? How tall are you? How much do you weigh?”
Talk about the lamb being sized up before the slaughter. I thought: Have they forgotten I am human, or do they just not care? Then I thought: Wasn’t it my disregard for human life that got me in this situation to begin with?
I know that midazolam, one of the drugs used in the cocktail to put prisoners to death, doesn’t always anesthetize the prisoner completely. Since I am one of the last to be executed, there are some people who think that if one of the first executions is botched, it could prolong the lives of the others, including me. But I don’t want to live only because someone else suffers that agony. Others suffering in order that I live for however much longer — that’s no hope at all, not if I have truly learned my lesson to value other people’s lives.
Kenneth Williams was sentenced to death for murdering Cecil Boren during a 1999 escape attempt from the Cummins Unit in Grady, Ark. Williams had just begun a life sentence for the murder of university student Dominique Hurd. He also confessed to a third murder, and was responsible for the death of a fourth victim in a traffic accident during his escape. This essay was derived from Williams’ written correspondence with Deborah Robinson, who is writing a book about the eight men scheduled for execution in Arkansas.
My Mom passed in 1999. My sister and I were cleaning out her home. In her closet were a bag of wigs. My sister said, Toss these, I replied, No let’s give them to a cancer charity. As I was taking them out one by one, to check the condition. Money flew out of the wigs.
A total of 22 thousand dollars. Looking back I should have kept it all. After I went thru her paperwork. All of my older siblings owed my mother thousands of dollars over 10–15 years. She kept emaculent records dates, reasons, payments all in a book.
Not one of my 5 siblings ever paid her back! My oldest brother and wife owed my mother $30,000 with one payment years before of $100. Others were just as bad.
I never owed my mother any money!
Dax – Oliver Anthony “Rich Men North Of Richmond” Remix [Official Video]
Wall Street analysts tore down a Chinese Tesla competitor and found a great Model 3 alternative — for a fraction of the cost.
The Seal, a mid-sized electric sedan made by Chinese EV giant BYD, backed by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, is a close rival to the Tesla Model 3. Analysts at UBS recently investigated to see just how comparable to Elon Musk’s popular model it might be.
Ultimately, tearing down the Seal — “a good example of Chinese EV models’ technological edges and cost optimization” — reinforced the bank’s belief that Chinese auto companies are here to stay and dominate the global electric car market, it said in a note to clients.
The Seal rivals the Model 3 in many ways, according to UBS, and it does so at a “20% lower selling price.”
Analysts noted features such as its larger interior space, 5G connectivity, and rotational central cockpit screen, as well as how it “opts for slower acceleration, lower top speed, slower charging speed” as some of its advantages over Musk’s popular car.
They also noted BYD’s battery technology (coined cell-to-body), allows for more in-vehicle legroom, a unique car shape, improved performance, and — given the tech introduces a more efficient way of integrating the battery — lower manufacturing costs.
“The floor carpet of the passenger cabin is directly above the battery cell stack, and the top cover of the battery pack serves as the floor of the car body, eliminating one more layer of aluminum or steel,” UBS analysts noted. “Such a thin battery pack occupies less floor space than others, allowing the car’s profile to be low, which reduces aerodynamic resistance and creates a more spacious interior for drivers and passengers.”
UBS also said that, when comparing power performance, cost efficiency, and energy density, the BYD Seal’s electric system “is in-line with the competition despite being at the relatively lower end of the range, especially compared to the leading solution provided by Tesla’s Model 3.”
Interestingly, unlike Tesla, BYD seems to be steering clear from autonomous driving technology, and instead, is opting for a standard, Level 2, advanced driver assistance system. The company is also outsourcing this tech instead of developing it in-house.
At a high level, UBS analysts said the BYD Seal is “cost competitive, thanks to its vertical integration, suitable specs, and volume scale.”
And experts suggest it’s not unlikely they’ll find success in the US in the near future, too.
“Chinese carmakers currently have systematic EV cost advantages versus US and European incumbents while offering wider product line-ups than Tesla and covering more segments (especially mass market),” they added.
I sued my general contractor who was also my neighbor.
We hired him because of the great price and he gave us and because he could “squeeze us in right away.” We trusted him because he lived across the street.
Who would screw over his neighbor?
Well. He took our 10k down payment, ripped off our siding and roof, demolished the garage where the new addition was going, and then hit us with sob stories about his grandma dying (seriously) and the expensive adoption of a baby from overseas and the other people in the nieghborhood who weren’t paying on time, etc.
He asked for more money upfront to buy the roofing materials.
And we gave it to him.
He was our neighbor, right?
He was working on another 5 or more homes in the area, surely he was a trustworthy guy.
The roof was finished. Then the asks for more money.
Considerably more that was outside the payment plan we agreed to.
More excuses. And interestingly, more new stuff was showing up at HIS home!
Like a new SUV for his wife.
New siding and windows on HIS home across the street!
Eventually he comes over to say all these other people have stiffed him, and he’s going bankrupt. I have no siding.
It’s Fall. It’s cold.
I have a gaping hole in the side of my house where the addition should be.
So I go out and meet some of these other homeowners whose houses he was working on. And they all have the same story I do.
Excuses.
Lots of money paid upfront.
Broken houses with winter coming.
I go to lawyer after lawyer.
Each one says you lost a lot, save your money. Fix your home. You won’t win. You’ll have to stop his bankruptcy to recover anything.
Not gonna happen.
I dont accept this.
It’s like the perfect crime!
I finally find a lawyer who will take my money and fight the bankruptcy. We need to prove theft by deception.
We get statements from a half dozen angry homeowners.
We get the story in the local papers.
I get Fox News’s consumer reporter to run the story of the neighborhood builder who screwed his neighbors.
They even sent a helicopter to shoot all the half built houses from the air- and his mansion sitting across the street from my tarp covered ranch.
I talk to the prosecutors office too.
They tell me you won’t win in court.
I say wait.
We block the bankruptcy.
We prove theft by deception.
I pitch and get more media coverage.
I go back to the prosecutors. I join up with another hurt family and they finally take our case, and we win.
The judge orders the contractor to pay me damages AND to pay back all the other families who were hurt in a settlement over time.
He also can’t work as a GC anymore.
Plus, our county enacted new law the forced GCs to operate with a license.
By now though I’m dead broke, and my house is still a mess.
We had to pay for so many things 2x.
Once to our criminal GC and again to the suppliers and subcontractors to actually complete the work.
We start getting payments from the settlement, but they come in a little every month.
God blessed my family though, because we won 10k out of the blue in a contest Betty Crocker was running on their fruit roll up boxes!
It paid our legal bills.
Moral of the story, sometimes we need to fight back.
God opened doors for me throughout the whole ordeal.
He needed someone who would be His hands and voice and soldier here on Earth to stop this criminal from hurting so many people.
We found out this guy had run the same scheme in other towns too and had moved around a lot.
Now he’s stopped. Justice is slow. But Justice is done.
President of Turkey Says “may have to part ways with EU”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogansaid on 16 September that Ankara could “part ways” with the EU if necessary, following the release of a European Parliament report rejecting the possibility of Turkiye joining the EU soon.
The report instead suggested the EU explore “a parallel and realistic framework,” such as a customs union, to determine its ties with Ankara.
“The EU is trying to break away from Turkiye,” Erdogan told reporters. “We will make our evaluations against these developments and if necessary, we can part ways with the EU.”
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said the European Parliament report contained unfounded allegations and prejudices and took “a shallow and non-visionary” approach to the country’s ties with the EU.
Visa liberalization, which would give Turkish citizens visa-free travel to the bloc for long periods, is a significant reason Turkiye wishes to join the EU. Many Turkish citizens work in EU states, most notably Germany, and EU membership for Turkiye would free them of the difficult bureaucratic process needed to obtain visas.
The European Parliament report follows renewed Turkish efforts to join the EU. Earlier this summer, President Erdogan sought to link Turkiye’s EU accession to approving Sweden’s bid to join NATO.
However, EU officials balked at linking the two issues, citing human rights abuses and the deterioration of the rule of law in Turkiye under Erdogan.
“We have recently seen a renewed interest from the Turkish government in reviving the EU accession process,” said the lead lawmaker on the file, Spanish Socialist Nacho Sánchez Amor, upon adopting the report on Wednesday.
“This will not happen because of geopolitical bargaining, but only when the Turkish authorities show real interest in stopping the continuing backsliding in fundamental freedoms and rule of law in the country,” Sánchez Amor said.
EU officials accuse Erdogan of stifling the media and imprisoning dissidents, including during a crackdown after a failed coup in 2016, which Erdogan blamed on the Gulen Movement. Turkiye’s occupation of parts of EU-member Cyprus has also led EU officials to criticize Erdogan.
In 2018, the European Council said in a statement that negotiations for Turkiye to join the EU “have come to a standstill.”
Hal Turner Analysis
Erdogan of Turkey keeps trying to burn the candle at both ends between Europe and Russia. He pits one against the other regularly and BOTH sides are growing weary of his antics.
Biden Afraid As U.S Finds Itself In A WEAK Cold War Which Can Turn Into World War III!
How can you have a WAR when there is only one combatant? The world is moving past this, hopefully the US will see their future as a major player amongst all nations and join in as an equal for everyone’s benefit. Everyone should benefit and no-one needs to win.
From afar one gets the impression that Iran’s fortunes are improving. The exchange of prisoners between the U.S. and Iran and the return of $6 billion stolen dollars to Iran is a positive. Iran also has joined BRICS, the Global South is more or less rejecting Western hegemony, Africa is pushing off French colonialism, and U.S. and Western dominance is unraveling some like never before since World War 2.
Europe is sinking into a self-inflicted economic morass and the U.S. is not far behind with its unsustainable debts built up this century especially. The U.S. has all but lost the proxy war on Russia in Ukraine, the Russian economy so far is doing okay, Putin remains popular and Russians in general are united in their own sovereignty with resolve. Apartheid Israel is a divided mess what with the incompetent Netanyahu government staffed with evil clowns, racists, and belligerents.
However, it must be said by this American observer from afar, that Iran could prosper even more than it may in future if it can dispense with any perceived oppression of its own population by its own citizens. Doing so is no threat to Iran’s Islamic orientation.
But at this juncture here’s a few prognostications with commentary.
The worst President this century, senile Joe Biden now facing an impeachment inquiry in the U.S. House, is being pushed by important voices in the U.S. not to run for a second term. The Washington Post confirms this. He is likely to be forced to cancel his candidacy later this autumn or winter.
The bloody, ill-conceived and provoked U.S./NATO proxy war on Russia is likely to end early in 2024 with negotiations. But Russia will never abandon Crimea or the regions it occupies among Russian-speaking and leaning former Ukrainians in the eastern parts of Ukraine. They are Russians now. And a neutral Ukraine is imperative to Russia. The war is unsustainable but if NATO/U.S. enters the conflict directly that could spark a nuclear apocalypse. Russia will NOT permit a threat to its existence.
With respect to China, the U.S. cannot abide competition anywhere. (Huawei, one of China’s leading hi-tech companies, is under attack again given fear of Huawei’s latest 5G consumer mobile phones which have been supplied with a Chinese-made advanced chip after being cut off from buying them elsewhere. The U.S. House of Representatives has proposed sanctions against Huawei and SMIC, not only severing all commercial relations with them but also filing criminal lawsuits against their executives for managing to compete! This is beyond petty.
The U.S. has stationed an alleged 375,000 thousand personnel at 66 military bases in the Indo-Pacific region, and focused the US defense budget for 2024 on China. It is pushing war with China on its gullible Pacific allies, too. This is waste on a gargantuan scale by a U.S. that is virtually bankrupt even without war. The Pentagon, playing war games from time to time, has concluded the U.S. cannot “win” a war with China, not to mention any war with Russia that cannot be won. As long as the U.S. maintains economic wars on competitors and even Europe, it will backfire on the U.S. economy. Expect more erosion of the dollar as a reserve currency.
The “American Century” is dying. Multipolarity is rising. No one can weep about this.
Expect increasing military, social, economic, and political decay in the U.S. and vassal Europe. Ukraine is the last of militant U.S. imperialism on steroids, which is why it’s so dangerous to humanity. Too many psychopaths in Washington remain, fewer in the general populating by the week. One must ask simply: what’s wrong with a more peaceful world, one where competition is acceptable to spur innovation and the U.S. isn’t the hegemonic beast throwing its weight around waging wars of choice, and none of them to date have “won” a thing but dollar profits for the Military Industrial Complex in the U.S. and for politicians. Average Americans also are in desperate need of attention and are suffering relatively. Corrupted Zelensky is coming to the U.S. and will appear at the UN in New York. Would that he were shunned and ridiculed there. He’s coming to beg for another $24 billion atop nearly $200 billion already wasted and he’s likely to get another lame infusion to prolong the bloody proxy war on Russia.
West Africa is likely to avoid a general conflagration and Nigeria probably won’t be able to lead a war on Niger.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has threatened to leave the Democratic Party in his bid for the Presidency in 2024. Biden won’t even give him as a candidate normal Secret Service protection and he faced a distinct threat of assassination last week. He or Vivek Ramaswany could win the 2024 election in a truly free and fair election, which the U.S. will never see again if the so-called Deep State has its way again. The U.S. has not really been a “democracy” of merit for many years.
The “American Century” is dying. Multipolarity is rising. No one can weep about this.
Beef Pepper Steak
instant pot pepper steak 7
Ingredients
1 pound beef top round or top sirloin steak, boneless, cut 3/4 inch thick or flank steak
1/2 cup prepared Italian dressing
Salt and pepper
2 large bell peppers, any color, cut into 1/8 inch strips
1 onion, cut into 1/8 inch wedges
Instructions
Cut beef steak lengthwise in half, then crosswise into 1/8-inch thick strips.
Place beef and 1/3 cup Italian dressing in food-safe plastic bag; turn beef to coat. Reserve remaining dressing for vegetables. Close bag securely and marinate in refrigerator for 30 minutes to 2 hours.
Remove beef from marinade; discard marinade. Heat large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot.
Add 1/2 of beef; stir-fry for 1 to 2 minutes or until outside surface of beef is no longer pink. (Do not overcook.)
Remove from skillet.
Repeat with remaining beef.
Season beef with salt and pepper; keep warm.
Wipe skillet with paper towel.
Heat remaining Italian dressing in same skillet until hot.
Add peppers and onion. Stir-fry for 5 to 6 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender.
Return beef and juices to skillet. Cook and stir for 1 to 2 minutes or until heated through.
Total: 30 to 35 min | Marinade: 30 min to 2 hr | Yield: 4 servings
China’s Luxury Car Is A Threat To Rolls-Royce, Mercedes, BMW, and Bentley
My father was very conservative and extremely protective of me.
When I was little – seven or eight – he often joked I’d have to wait until I was at least forty before I could date anyone.
When I did start dating, the rule was the boy had to pick me up and come inside to meet my father.
Oh oh.
The first time I had someone over, I was nervous. What would my father do? How would he act?
I hoped he wouldn’t scare him off forever.
The boy came in and sat on the living room couch. My father shook his hand cordially, sat down and asked him a couple of questions, mostly logistical. Where are you going? How will you get there? What time are you bringing my daughter back?
That was it.
“That’s it?” I whispered to my dad. “No tests, no threats?”
“Dushka,” said my dad. “You have a very good head on your shoulders. I trust you. If you like him and want to spend time with him, my assumption is the kid is worth spending time with.”
Then he said “One day you will make the wrong choice and get hurt. Getting hurt is how you learn. I am here to keep you safe – not to take away your life experience. So please, be thoughtful and careful about who you choose because beyond that I can’t protect you without causing more damage than good.”
China is looking to hire engineers from other nations to bolster local chip production in the face of crippling US sanctions, with Huawei – one of the country’s largest tech giants – said to be creating a network of covert semiconductor plants across the country.
As Washington tries to curtail China’s access to advanced technology, Beijing continues to seek ways to advance its semiconductor ambitions, including discreetly reviving a past initiative to recruit top foreign-trained scientists to import much-needed expertise.
The new initiative, called Qiming, is overseen by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
Qiming was set up to run in parallel with other recruitment initiatives from local and provincial authorities plus a government-backed hiring drive by Chinese chip companies themselves, which favor applicants trained at elite foreign institutions.
In related news, Huawei is building out a covert network of semiconductor facilities across China to tackle the limitations of US sanctions that have chocked off its supply of chips.
According to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), the trade body for US chipmakers, Huawei has taken possession at least two existing factories and is building a minimum of three others. SIA claims it is doing this under the names of other companies to conceal its involvement.
Doing so may allow Huawei to circumvent restrictions and indirectly purchase chipmaking equipment and other supplies that would otherwise be off-limits to the company. As a reminder, earlier this year, Washington was pushing for an all-out block on any and all US technology export licenses to Huawei.
No wonder that BRICS is spearheaded by China to bring USD’s demise sooner than later. There has to be a tit for every tat and who knows this better than China which started with Gallium and Germanium products, Micron and now Apple card being played.
Just imagine this, with the news of few Apple phones being discouraged to be used in the offices and Apple lost 200 billion dollars (this is akin to GDP of Hungary) of its share value overnight. What happens if there is a official ban a la Micron on Apple? They will lose trillion dollars = 33% of its share value in a single day because China is responsible for 25% of Apple’s revenue.
Its easy to do business with China, yet its tough to do business with China if you arm twist China.
The US is all talking. They don’t have the resources to push for their “comprehensive” plan in blocking China’s development.
Rome is not built in one day. The Belt and Road Initiative started 10 years ago and to date, 147 countries—accounting for two-thirds of the world’s population and 40 percent of global GDP—have signed on to projects or indicated an interest in doing so.
No one, including the US, really wants to cut off their ties with China as they all benefit from the big Chinese market and investment.
The US’ goal of containing China’s rise is evil and despicable.Who do they think they are? The US is working against the trend of history and against the wish of 1.4 billion Chinese pursuing a better life. Their effort in containing China’s growth will prove to be useless and 100% be crushed down to nothing. China’s rise is inevitable, no one can stop.
Qualcomm generates two-thirds of its revenue and profit from China. Instead of manufacturing the chips it designs, the company derives income from licensing fees related to its intellectual property. Following the embargo, Qualcomm has been permitted to supply 14nm and higher Android chips to China to sustain its operations. since most cell phone vendors in China, are converting to Harmony, enabling the chip for Harmony OS enhances Qualcomm’s prospects in China, as it involves minimal expenses to adapt the microcode it possesses
Trouble Ahead! Western Lithography Machines Shutdown En Masse.
The United States has restricted the export of high-end chips to China, but China has made significant progress in mid-to-low-end chips. This has reduced China’s dependence on US chip imports, leading to a decline in integrated circuit imports and Western photolithography machine shutdowns. China’s semiconductor industry has developed rapidly, although there are still technological gaps and market share issues compared to American chip companies. China has provided an opportunity for American chip giants like Qualcomm, Intel, NVIDIA, and AMD to expand their business and generate significant revenue, with over 30% and up to 60% of their revenue coming from the Chinese market. They even develop tailored versions of their chips to comply with export control regulations and continue doing business in China.
When I lived in American Samoa (Pago Pago), there were many unique aspects of it that I have long since forgotten. But today, well something jogged my mind. And you know what came up? Yes.
Turkey-ass sandwiches.
Yupper. Very popular in Samoa. They (for some reason that I do not understand) inherit a large amount of turkey-ass meat. And the locals take this cheap meat, and cook it and make sandwiches out of it.
Two slices of bread; mayonnaise, and turkey ass meat.
It’s not exactly my “cup of tea”, but I had a few sandwiches (back in the day). It fills your stomach. But not as good as you would hope for them to be. I’ll tell you what.
Long post today. Many videos. More than average number of Oliver Anthony reaction videos. Kinda like a mother-load. But overall thoughts on the absolute devastation of Western culture and Western society today.
Krugman initially made such a report based on the Western Model and predicted Chinas collapse in 2005
Krugman wrote a paper where he established that the Banking Crisis of the 1990s would surface by 2005 and displace China
It didn’t happen
Because as I keep saying Repeatedly – the Chinese work and think differently and their economy works as per their own system
Now Americans and the Western systems HATE Saving money. Money is meant to be spent. Money has to keep being spent and drive consumption.
If you don’t have the money – BORROW or avail what is another major driver – CREDIT
image 33
The Chinese on the other land love saving money. They love having money in the bank. They prefer to spend only money from their current earnings or from any PROFIT or INTEREST they earn on those savings
Likewise Americans invest very heavily in paper or non asset backed instruments
It’s very easy to go to New York tomorrow and raise $ 50 Million capital from a small hedge fund who will simply call someone else who will invest the money from an Insurance or Pension Fund
In the 1980s – the Americans loved the free market
Today they are confident of a Federal Bailout ever since the 2009 Crisis
Chinese don’t trust paper instruments
They trust ASSETS
They like Land, Gold, Resources, Buildings, Windmills
In 2002 – The Government of China converted 160 Billion Yuan of Bad Debt ($ 18.3 Billion) by Banks into Units of Land Holdings owned by the Banks
image 32
They offered these units as sale
The Debt was paid off in 8 Days!!!!
A Debt that was 10 years old, paid off in just 8 days
So unless an Economist knows China, Chinese Culture and the Chinese system including the fact that the State owns all the land and resources – they cannot understand China
image 31
They always judge China by the Western Standard and when China thrives and doesn’t collapse like they predicted
They don’t apologize and realize their mistakes
They double down and keep assuming China must have done SOMETHING SHADY
It’s fodder for the MSM Propaganda against China
These Experts, they apply the Western System everywhere
BASEL was fine in Switzerland and developing companiss
However applying it in India destroyed almost our entire enterprise and banking so far
So Krugman, he simply tries applying the Western system to China
He tried this in 2005 and failed badly
Now he is doubling down
Unless he truly understands the Chinese people and the Chinese system – his predictions aren’t worth a damn
Nobel Prize or No Nobel Prize
I Finally Heard the Viral Country Song EVERYONE is Talking About.
Yep you are right – NATO+G7 hold around 65% of the World’s Gold Reserves
They also hold $ 81.79 Trillion in External Debt combined
If you have a Gold Backed currency, it means the NATO and G7, they can’t keep printing notes anymore
Tomorrow every note they print can legally be redeemed against a few micrograms of gold
Their Printing fun is OVER
Now BRICS
BRICS have 20% of the World’s Gold Reserves
Their Cumulative External Debt is only $ 5.105 Trillion
So now YOU DO THE MATH
NATO +G7+ Japan have 3.25 times more gold
They have a whopping 16 times more external Debt
That’s the Big problem here
Low Country Chicken Bog
2023 09 13 15 18
Ingredients
1 (3 pound) whole chicken
6 cups water
1 tablespoon salt
1 onion, chopped
3 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup long-grain white rice
1/2 pound smoked sausage of your choice, sliced
1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
2 cubes chicken bouillon
Instructions
Place chicken, water, salt and onion in a large pot. Bring to a boil; cook until chicken is tender, about 1 hour.
Remove chicken from pot and let cool. Remove skin and bones and chop remaining meat into bite-size pieces.
Skim off fat from cooking liquid and measure 3 1/2 cups of this chicken broth into a 6 quart saucepan.
Add rice, chicken pieces, sausage, herb seasoning and bouillon to the saucepan. Cover the saucepan. Let come to a boil, then reduce heat to low and cook for 30 minutes. If mixture is too watery or juicy, cook over medium low heat, uncovered, until it reaches the desired consistency. Stir often while cooking.
TELL IT LIKE IT IS!!! | Oliver Anthony – Rich Men North of Richmond
All the focus is on the CHIP, the Chip and it’s stacking and it’s revolutionary inhouse design
In reality the real breakthrough by Huawei isn’t the damn Chip.
It’s the FILTER
The Bulk Accoustic wave Filter, the small component that in laymans terms enables those different latent speeds on your smartphone and gives you 5G connectivity
The Chip is great news
Yet that’s nothing amazing or new. Yes China can make 5nm Chips with Foreign DUV equipment
That’s why US sanctioned the equipment which is probably why China now uses stacking to get the same processing power but with higher power consumption
The BAW filter is the BIG BREAKTHROUGH and China is diverting all the attention from this to the CHIP hoping that idiots like Raimondo or Blinken go after the Chips
In reality the BAW Filter made entirely of Chinese Design is the killer here
I bet the Chinese commercially make it at 60% cost
Now China can make it’s entire 5G network spectrum without any dependence on the West
Zero Dependence
They control the raw materials, the equipment, the design and the process entirely in house
Companies that design and make the BAWs are entirely anyway on the US Blacklist so they won’t be affected in the least
Plus now that Huawei has designed a BAW for 5G Latents, it’s only one step for higher latents (6G)
It’s why China and Huawei are diverting everyone’s attention towards the CHIPS again and again
The West will say “They were made using ASML and we have restricted the exports of ASML so this will end”
Nobody will look at the 5G BAW filter designed and made by China from scratch and scaled efficiently
Helping China scale it’s way to 6G without any dependence on the West and KEEPING THEIR LEAD
That’s the big breakthrough Huawei has achieved which they are masking from the world to remain undisturbed for another 2–3 years while the Idiots focus on the Chip again and again
Originally Answered: What does it feel like to go from being wealthy to being poor?
It’s absolutely horrible. I was 50, had recently sold my very successful car washes, had a $1MM in my checking account, the big house, kids in private school and life was grand. I was focused on growing my other business (car wash equipment sales) when the manufacturer we represented lost a client that accounted 1/3 of our business, Hurricane Katrina hit (followed by several other hurricanes), and then the great recession. I had stopped taking a salary and started loaning the company money. I was determined to work through this. I even spent my retirement in a last attempt to turn things around. Fast forward, the company was broke, I was broke, and I couldn’t pay the house mortgage. I had to give up the house and shut down the business. A personal bankruptcy soon followed, and then a separation from my wife of 30 years. The stress was unbearable, and I contemplated suicide. The only thing that stopped me was that my dad had taken his life when I was 26, and I knew first hand the pain that my loved ones would bear for my actions.
The worst part is the loss of self confidence and depression, followed by the loss of “friends”. It’s amazing how quickly they disappear! I will say that two friends stuck by me. One in particular would check on me and take me out to ride his motorcycles to help take my mind off of things. I moved into a friend’s rental property and I started looking for work. I had owned my own companies since college, was a past Entrepreneur of the Year finalist, and had never really worked for anyone. At the worst, I was working at a construction company repairing equipment in their yard, collecting food stamps and living alone.
Fast forward a couple of years. My wife and I got back together, we moved to Texas, and I took a job back in my industry (building car washes). We now rent a nice home, and were recently able to buy a nice used car. It gets better every day. I love my job, and I hope to get back into car wash ownership (with investors), while continuing to do what I do.
In summary, there are a couple of important lessons to take from this:
Good times don’t last; bad times don’t last.
Most of the people who claim to be your friend are only there for the good times.
Business associates that you’ve spent millions of dollars with over decades will instantly turn their back on you when the money stops.
Don’t ever stop taking care of yourself. Exercise is great for relieving the stress.
Face facts. Recognize when you have a losing hand and walk away. And if bankruptcy is inevitable, just do it. Don’t procrastinate and stick your head in the sand.
Do not EVER use your retirement money. I used mine to try and save the company, and I am now 60 years old and starting over.
Never stop believing in yourself.
The Left RAGES Over Oliver Anthony’s “Rich Men North Of Richmond” | Tomi Lahren Is Fearless
China’s core competence is manufacturing and logistic. It has IP independence in numerous areas, and the industrial chain can collaborate to bring complex, world-class projects online in record time.
As I’ve said repeatedly over the years, China class is world class, because the Chinese competition has to beat the world’s best in order to be counted as domestic champions. There are few absentees in the world’s largest single market. Chinese corporations do not compete in sandboxed silos, unlike elsewhere.
The best thing is, the Chinese are among the best informed people when it comes to business intelligence, because of the completeness of the supply chain.
Case in point: Kuo Ming-Chi has been one of the best-informed and accurate Apple “analyst” over the past decade, because he taps the Greater China-centered supply chain directly.
That is also why only Apple is left in the brutal handset business in China, with the Koreans, Japanese, Taiwanese and Europeans all relegated to “others” or complete irrelevance on the mainland. Transsion, a company few have heard of, outsells Samsung in Africa, a market that Chinese handset vendors dominate. The competition that China offers is multidimensional and immense.
We will see entire industries being remade on a global scale as China moves up the tech ladder and redefine the 21st century factory. Today, a journalist who wants to showcase industrial innovation will find the best material in China, and not Germany, Japan and the US. Instead of going wild over AI’s use as a human-like chatbot, China is deploying AI, ML and big data on an industrial scale to run intelligent factories, automating the often tumultuous marriage between lean manufacturing and quality improvement.
What impressed me about the Mate 60 Pro’s soft launch was the order fulfillment. The announcement went live on the webstore around 12pm, and orders were processed for an hour before selling out. Customers received their purchases several hours later. That’s world class, cutting edge logistics, and it is already what the Chinese consumer expect as norm.
China is writing the 21st century future.
Can you imagine a world where Southeaast Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Russia (yes, Russia!) enjoying the same as the Chinese recreate the mainland experience overseas?
The global south leapfrogging the first world, in delivered outcomes.
Makes for interesting times, don’t you think?
My First Reaction to Oliver Anthony | I want to go home | REACTION
Jim Haywood wrote the best answer to these stupid questions I have come across on Quora:
OK, I’ll bite…
In the UK, I’ve never heard it called “free” by anyone except Americans looking for a straw man argument. In the UK we normally just call it “the hospital”, “the doctor”, “the clinic”, “the ambulance”. The exception is “the dentist”, which has a standard charge if you’re registered with the NHS. AND…
BEFORE YOU START YOUR NEXT STRAWMAN PROJECT… the state of people’s teeth is better in the UK than the US.
A personal experience.
Last year, I spent three weeks in hospital for major surgery. I wasn’t well enough for the operation at first and I was pumped full of antibiotics, vitamins and three fuck-off-size bags of amino acids and other nutrients (its called TPN). My biggest fear was the drip stand falling and crushing me, (like suffocating under a cow’s udder!). I took a photo.
The extra nipple is for visitors.
I’m joking, of course; there were no visitors during the covid lockdown.
I had the operation, and some days recovering, at the end of which (the evening before I was due to be discharged), I tested positive for covid (you remember that funny little bug), so had to stay longer.
I had about £2.60 in my pocket. I went home with £2.00 because, one day, I went for a walk in my hospital slippers and bought a Twix at a vending machine.
(The food, btw, was good, and already paid-for, of course, since you asked. Not Michelin starred, but wholesome, tasty, familiar, comfort-food. It was the same as served in the canteen for visitors and staff and cooked on the premises.)
When finally home, I was looked after by “district” nurses visiting me at home to change dressings, and specialist related to the particular procedure I had. This was daily at first, tapering off as I needed less support.
At home, then, I got a pulmonary embolism (a blood clot in the lung, probably as a consequence of covid combined with the op.), I was reticent to go back to hospital (as you might expect), so the GP came out to me, at about 9pm, just to check me over and make sure I went to hospital (a PE can be life-theatening). I was admitted back into hospital via A&E (Emergency Room) for a day of monitoring.
More drugs. Slow recovery over the last year, with regular checkups and blood tests.
Money?
Now, I’m not a rich man, and I have a mortgage, and bills to pay like everyone else.
Not once did I worry about medical bills. Not once. Because there weren’t any. No forms to fill in, other than a simple consent for the operation, no “co-pays” (as I’ve learned you call them), no payments for diagnostic imaging – x-rays, ultrasound scans, and no insurance man checking whether I could have the treatment or the meds (WTF??).
Being that sick is a shitty experience whatever country you live in. But, by God, I was very grateful for the Nation Health Service.
No, it’s not free. We all pay for it based on our ability to pay. If you’re rich, you pay more; if you’re poor you pay less. It’s funded directly from general taxation and comes out of my monthly salary before I see my pay in the bank. (BTW, the tax system is massively more efficient than in the US, too. I haven’t had to complete an annual tax return for 20 years, for example.)
I post my experience, here, not because it was exceptional – it wasn’t – but because it was ORDINARY and EXPECTED.
Oh yeah, “socialised” medicine:
So when I need medical treatment, it’s already paid for, fairly (we’re not bloody savages), by every tax payer in the country.
Just to head off a few other straw men:
If you haven’t paid your taxes, you still get medical treatment, because the doctors don’t care about your tax: it’s none of their business. And we’re not bloody savages.
If you’re terminally ill, you still get treatment. We’re not bloody savages.
There are no such thing as “death panels”, an invention of liars in the US media. We’re not bloody savages.
And the only time you see a shop till is in the cafe in the reception foyer (and that’s staffed by volunteers) or the staff canteen.
What it really costs you, Americans.
Not only do you, in the US, pay more (about double) for a similar quality of service, some of you pay with your lives.
Being scared of medical bills, people put up with pain, put off worries, and sometimes die, unable to afford the most basic medication. Insulin, for example. You don’t pay for insulin in the UK.
How else do you pay? Drug addiction, as “doctors”, cajoled and incentivised by big pharma, look for a quick, affordable (to the patient) fix, and end up hooking the patients onto addictive drugs.
On average, your life expectancy is two years shorter than in the UK. Now, some people might say “ Well, those are two years of pain and decrepitude at the end of my life, so no great loss!” No. They are two years of healthy life that you haven’t had. And all that’s left to you then is some horrible religious drug-addled fatalism as you watch your life and your savings bleed away to be sucked up by big pharma and the bloated, useless “insurance” companies. This is a one-way flow, notice. Once that money is gone from your family it’s gone for good.
Free-rider “problem”? There’s plenty of free riders – you’re already paying for the health plans of all those insurance salesmen, actuaries, marketeers, administrators…
End of rant. Now the really sad part:
You know, I’m sure you’ve noticed a certain sneering from some respondents on Quora towards the USA. Not Americans, I hasten to add: we tend to like Americans. You might put all that negativity down to “hate” (which seems to mean something different to Yanks, but never mind). I tell you though, it’s not hate, it’s not envy, it’s not spite or helpless rage or snobbishness. It’s something much more damning:
Disappointment.
A footnote about prescription charges.
In the UK, there are prescription charges. But you don’t pay if you’re a child or pregnant or over 60 or suffering from one of a number of long-term conditions or on state benefits, or receiving disability allowance, or unemployed, or living in Wales or Scotland (which have slightly different arrangements).
If you do pay, it’s a standard change of £9:30 per prescription, but you can buy a “prepayment certificate” for £112 per year, if that’s better value.
When I collect a prescription, I’m asked “Do you pay for your prescriptions?” I used to answer “Yes”, and pay, or “No, I have a ‘cert’. Now, they rarely even ask, because I look my age, 60. Not once, have I been asked to prove my age or show a certificate. Why? Because its too much bother – if I needed to cheat, I wouldn’t have to because I would get it free anyway (in most cases)!
BTW, if medicines are dispensed in hospital, there is never a prescription charge.
Anything else?
Yes. One more thing that screws American patients: your litigious culture: if something goes wrong you can be awarded punitive damages. Suing a hospital is cheap and the rewards can be very high. This incentivises ultra-precautionary medicine so you go to a doctor (on your sooper-dooper insurance policy) with a simple strep throat. The Doc writes you up for a mountain of almost certainly completely unnecessary tests to de-risk himself (not for your benefit). He has an army of lawyers on stand-by in his own indemnity insurance, which has to be paid for. So his charge are higher, so insurance premiums are higher, and ultimately, the individual pays. The costs are so high, everyone is looking for an opportunity to screw someone else.
In the UK, the system, even today, works more on trust: patients trust the doctors to advise them and diagnose them correctly, and trust that there are check and balances in place that will identify bad doctors and disqualify them. Suing a doctor is still possible, but damages are only to reimburse the failed patient, not to punish the failing medic.
You’re are all paying to keep the ambulance chasers chasing ambulances.
Finally, let’s go back to your question:
Why do some call universal healthcare free when it isn’t since people pay for it through their taxes?
No, matey. It’s not free despite being paid for through our taxes, it’s free because it’s paid for though our taxes:-
Free at the point of use.
Free from the threat of bankruptcy.
Free from co-pays and desperate attemps to claw back money through lawyers (and their fees).
Free from the fear of lawsuits.
Free from drug companies’ profiteering from your illness.
Free from t.v. adverts for life-saving drugs (ask your doctor for what???).
Free to leave your crappy, toxic, wage-slavery dead-end job, yet still receive treatment for your “pre-existing” condition (as opposed to non-existing conditions, presumably).
Free not to have to choose between your home and living out of pain.
Free to hold your newborn baby in hospital (you’ve GOT to be joking!).
Free from Go Fund Me campaigns for your kids’ cancer treatment.
Free from the selfish, vindictive, judgemental, spiteful attitude that Human Being X doesn’t deserve to live because they didn’t buy enough insurance.
Put all that together, folks: what a weird and twisted SICK system you have (accidentally, perhaps) invented! Some of you think it’s normal, even to the point of QUESTIONING another, better system. If you’re happy with it, you’re just as weird and twisted. But probably not sick. Yet.
U.S Lose $1.7 Trillion USD in Trade, After Tariff On China
Welcome back to Innovative Check! Dive deep into the intricacies of the U.S.-China trade dynamics and uncover how tariffs are impacting American manufacturers. As companies like MISCO feel the strain, what does the future hold for U.S. domestic production?
To little to late, the horse has bolted, China have the ability to make their own now, there is no going back. The USA have lost their little chip war, NEVER start a fight you can’t finish, you’ll end up with a bloody nose. The US never seem to learn, block them from the ISS, no problems, China just make their own, block the chip supply? No problems China just make their own, try and block technology? Won’t work, China will end up with better than yours, when are they going to wake up, that it’s better to work with them than against them? If they start a war with China, they might end up with a lot more than just a bloody nose,
I am planning to study Mandarin Chinese, yet I am overwhelmed by what to do, and what online resources there are available, can you please assist?
If you are serious, move to China and immerse yourself in the environment which will force you to learn Putonghua. If you are not serious about learning Putonghua, don’t bother, because the time investment is worth it.
My second son was a toddler and we were on the way to meet friends at a soft play centre. i always stopped off on the way at a local garage and got a large coffee. There was a short zebra crossing from the parking area to the shop and a young girl in a convertible parked across it. Son was walking holding my hand and I said
“Did you have to block the crossing”
“Too bad you fat cow” she flounced off into the shop.
Coffee in cup holder I watched her pull away between a lorry and the bollards at the shop front … and scrape the side of her pale blue car along the side of the lorry. I almost wet myself laughing so hard and loud enough that she heard me. The driver of the lorry who had watched this with amusement looked across at me and said
“No Chinese can say it?” where have you been? Definitely not China.
I worked with uni students in Guangzhou who major in several European languages including English. They translate English to Mandarin articles for me in a few hours, and here we are, speaking English and Mandarin in a Zhongshan cafe.
My China nephew about to graduate from engineering course from Guizhou university listens to old Beatles songs, he likes the group, and we talked in Chinese and English.
Huawei naming of their latest phone is for the international market. In Kuala Lumpur Huawei has a skyscraper HQ and their mobile phones are popular among Malaysians.
The world does not exist only for English speaking people.
In tiny Malaysia, a former British colony, you’d be surprised how many people eat, live, and breathe Mandarin only, they don’t need the English language.
Kasandras Beware – China’s Economy Will Not Hit A Wall
The economist and columnist of the New York Times Paul Krugman wrote about China hitting the wall:
China is in big trouble. We’re not talking about some minor setback along the way, but something more fundamental. The country’s whole way of doing business, the economic system that has driven three decades of incredible growth, has reached its limits. You could say that the Chinese model is about to hit its Great Wall, and the only question now is just how bad the crash will be. … Wages are rising; finally, ordinary Chinese are starting to share in the fruits of growth. But it also means that the Chinese economy is suddenly faced with the need for drastic “rebalancing” — the jargon phrase of the moment. Investment is now running into sharply diminishing returns and is going to drop drastically no matter what the government does; consumer spending must rise dramatically to take its place. The question is whether this can happen fast enough to avoid a nasty slump.
That was written in 2013 when China’s GDP at purchase power parity reached $16.3 trillion. The number has since more than doubled to a projected $33 trillion in 2023. (In the same time span U.S. GDP(ppp) grew from $17 to $26 trillion.) But that hasn’t influenced Krugman’s conclusions. Two week ago he wrote another column that paints the same gloomy picture and prescribes the same false medicine:
Since the late 2000s, however, China seems to have lost a lot of its dynamism. … … China clearly can’t sustain anything like the high growth rates of the past. … At a fundamental level, China is suffering from the paradox of thrift, which says that an economy can suffer if consumers try to save too much. If businesses aren’t willing to borrow and then invest all the money consumers are trying to save, the result is an economic downturn. Such a downturn may well reduce the amount businesses are willing to invest, so an attempt to save more can actually reduce investment. … The obvious answer is to boost consumer spending. Get state-owned enterprises to share more of their profits with workers. Strengthen the safety net. And in the short run, the government could just give people money — sending out checks, the way America has done.
How is giving checks (btw: no Chinese or European citizen uses those antique instruments) to people who are saving instead of consuming supposed to increase their consumption? I would presume that it would rather increase their savings. Giving more income to people who like to save to increase consumption is like pushing on a string.
David Fishman, an economist who lives in China and speaks Mandarin, had an interesting chat with a taxi driver. He concludes:
1. Even after buying a property, long-term considerations still drive Yang to save money, most prominently his daughter and parents. 2. Yang and his wife give up consumption in pursuit of their long-term goals, even working an extra job, to put away extra cash for those goals. 3. He associates loose/free consumption habits with youth and a lack of responsibility. His consumption today is strategic and intentional. 4. He is unperturbed by the prospect of real estate losing value, since he bought his house to live in, and doesn’t intend to resell it.
Now, macro econ punditry is *not* my lane.
But if I hear a pundit talking about Chinese consumers, and how they will/won’t behave in response to some government policy, I will always wonder what their mental model of this generic Chinese consumer’s behavior looks like.
To be credible, that consumer behavior model should probably look like Yang, willing to work an extra job & skip consumption, not out of today’s financial necessity, but in preparation of being a good filial son, and so his 3-year old daughter can take dance lessons someday.
And that is Krugman’s problem with diagnosing China’s economy. People work hard in China. And they like to save instead of consuming all their income. They retire pretty early but live long (though that retirement age is likely to rise). So having a bit of money on the side will make for a nicer living in later years:
The official retirement age for men is 60. Women in managerial positions have a retirement age of 55, while blue-collar female workers can retire at 50.
Chinese people are simply not Americans. But Krugman’s economic models presume that they are and he isn’t willing or capable of looking beyond those.
Still he was onto something when he opened his column with this:
The narrative about China has changed with stunning speed, from unstoppable juggernaut to pitiful, helpless giant.
It is indeed a fact that the narrative about China’s economy has changed way more than China’s economic numbers. But Krugman fails to ask why.
First, the most salient preoccupations of Western commentators reflect the skewed distribution of foreign-owned capital within the Chinese economy. … The second feature relates to the financial industry’s reliance on the art of political-economic storytelling to sell investment options.
But it is probably more a political instrument to support the general U.S. war against China.
Newsweek recently published a rather laughable story which asked if Shanghai (25 million permanent inhabitants) had turned into a ‘ghost town’.
The Global Times editors see political motives behind such ‘bad China’ narratives:
If only Newsweek is doing this, then it is an isolated case, indicating the media outlet’s problematic professional ethics and the negative impact it caused is not significant. However, starting from March or April this year, not only Newsweek but also other US and Western media outlets have been selectively using some specific data from a certain point or in a certain field to generalize, and even fabricate information to undermine, the Chinese economy. This is a coordinated and large-scale campaign, with consistent steps, intense actions, and extensive content, which is rare in recent years. Can we say that this is a coincidence?
The ‘bad China’ narrative is an economic phenomenon but is used for political reasons:
In the field of economics, there is a term called narrative economics, which uses storytelling to influence judgments, even at the cost of creating false information, to undermine the morale and confidence of the target and attempt to deter foreign investment, thereby having a substantial impact on the economy. The US has openly regarded China as its biggest competitor and even treats China as an imaginary enemy in many practical aspects. We cannot expect it to engage in fair competition with China. In order to win this “competition” initiated by itself, the US often resorts to any possible means. This perspective can explain the phenomenon in which the US is badmouthing the Chinese economy in a collective manner and can also roughly predict the US’ future actions toward China, indicating that it aligns with the basic facts.
War propaganda falls apart when a war is lost. Economic propaganda falls apart when the new numbers come in. Krugman’s doom and gloom propaganda from 2013 was defeated by China’s growth. His 2023 propaganda is likely to have the same fate.
Posted by b on September 12, 2023 at 16:39 UTC | Permalink
EXPLOSIVE! New details in the JFK assassination & RFK, JR responds
EXPLOSIVE! New details in the JFK assassination, and now RFK, JR. is responding. On Saturday, 88-year-old former secret service agent Paul Landis gave an exclusive interview with The New York Times where he shared he shared his revelations regarding what happened November 22, 1963. And it turns out he’s the one that picked up the magic bullet from the back of the President’s limo. This completely upends the story around the magic bullet and undermines The Warren Commission.
I’ll tell you a story from my Marines career. Not marine Corp, Royal Marines. I was responsible for intel and let’s just say I was on detachment to some of the better Royal Marines. We had some young gawky junior officer fresh out of training and looking to stamp his authority on us. So one day he decided to make me do 20 I took the piss and did a few extra got back up and stood to attention. A few hours later I got called to the bosses office.
Conversation as follows.
Hayworth did he reprimand you?
Yes sir
Why?
I was laughing at him behind his back
CO to hotshot,
You might want to remember that this guy is the one who’s going to be getting the right intel to your unit, basically when he’s on operations he is the guy making the decisions
Officer Hotshot. Why, I’m in charge.
CO to hotshot, not without fucking intel you’re not. Now get the fuck out of my base and get a transfer. If you think stamping authority around here is going to get you any favors then you are useless to me and my men. There is no rank around here, not even me. That’s the SBS way. We’re all experts at our jobs and I don’t need a fucking junior officer upsetting my teams. I still love that CO.
My Stepdaughter passed away at 22 due to complications from her Type 1 Diabetes. She had massive medical bills. We had insurance, but it only covered parts. So, let’s start by being harassed by a debt collector calling about someone that had passed away.
When the bills started coming I called all the companies. 99% only asked me to send a copy of the death certificate. But, this one company, well, they were total slime balls. The odd part was this was on a bill that was actually paid by the insurance in full. So, on the first call from them I sent them copies of the paid in full notices, and a copy of the death certificate.
A year went by, and I got a call from them again on the same bill. I told them about their error, even sent a copy of the registered mail signed copy. Week later, another call. This time I was hot. Gave them an ear full. A month later, same thing. This time, the asshat actually said they don’t believe she is dead. Wanted to know how to reach her so they can sue her for the money. I gave them the address to the cemetery. A month went by, another call. Same thing: we don’t believe you, etc. So, I said, Do what you got to do.
And believe it or not, they actually sued her. I went to the office of the lawyer, with my lawyer, and a counterclaim on behalf of the estate. The lawyer wanted to drop everything right then. But, we took it to court. We made them play the recording of the agent telling me that they refused to believe she was dead. The Judge dropped the hammer on them. We won a $30,000 donation in her name to the American diabetes Association.
However, back in he 1960s I was one of a group of about 20 new graduates taken on by a large multinational. We were in an enormous site and were all expected to trek across it in order to clock in every morning. We quickly took it in turns for one of us to go and clock in for us all.
One day, one of my colleagues had just finished clocking in for us when he was apprehended by a portly manager for this illegal practice. “Do you know who I am, demanded this august presence?”
“No” my friend replied and listened to the fellow describe his important position in the company. When he had finished, my friend asked him if he knew who my friend was.
“No” replied the manager.
“Thank God!” said my friend and took to his heels. An investigation followed but we were able to hide the miscreant
Shortly after, we decided to go on strike and all refused to clock in. The company relented after we agreed to sign an attendance sheet. The local union rep found about this and made a fuss about it as it was a privilege normally extended to more senior staff than new graduates. The result was we were all promoted to a position where we were ‘legally’ allowed to sign in which carried a pay rise with it.
I don’t know what this proves except that perhaps it pays not to accept being messed about with.
Testimonial: “They Moved a Biological Man into My Dorm Room!”
The #WalkAway Campaign is a true grassroots movement, founded by former liberal, Brandon Straka, dedicated to providing a place to share #WalkAway testimonials and personal journeys to freedom.
I worked at a state park for a few years. The primary sources of income for the park are day-use fees and the seven campgrounds. The main two campgrounds and day-use areas are developed, very nice with running water, showers, and are only accessible through a manned gate. The other five undeveloped campgrounds and day-use areas are self-pay on the honor system, but since that unfortunately means most people don’t pay, one of my main duties was going around and collecting fees.
More often than not, most people were “just about to go pay.” Sometimes they’d been in the park for days, but were inevitably “just about to go pay.” What timing.
One day I stopped by a campsite where I was immediately confronted by a diminutive and very angry camper. He immediately started accusing me of harassment, then started listing an exhaustive series of offenses I had committed against him and his family, even though I’d been there for about a total of 45 seconds. Recognizing that he had a few too many with lunch, I put on a big smile and assured him I was just there to collect the campground fees. He told me to look in his truck, he had his self-pay permit attached to the windshield.
He wasn’t wrong, it was there. The problem is that the window tag is attached to an envelope. You put your money in the envelope, write down your license plate number, and put it in the locked collection box. There’s even a matching number on both in case you didn’t write your license plate number on it. The tag was on his window, but the envelope was still attached.
I calmly explained this to him, and asked for the $8 fee. He swore at me, called me names, threatened me. I asked him if there was someone else I could talk to. That really set him off. He started screaming at me, hitting his own truck, and threatening to call the cops and sue me. I tried my best to keep him calm, then decided to give him some cool down time. I left and started going to the other camp sites, planning on returning on my way out and maybe even catch someone more sober and reasonable.
However, a few minutes later I received a call on my radio. A camper had called 911 to report that a ranger was harassing and threatening them. They wanted me to go talk to him and see what was going on.
This is a unique form of irony.
Seeing the conflict of interests and not wanting to escalate the situation, I asked if a county deputy was really available. One was, and he was there within minutes. I met them both back at the campsite where I found the man yelling at the deputy. I calmly explained that if he just wanted to pay his $8 we would leave and he could enjoy the rest of the night.
Long story short, he spent the night in jail and received over $100 in fines.
TRAVEL FROM GHANA TO KENYA WITH ME | MY SURPRISING FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF NAIROBI
My wife quite possibly saved our lives. We were on our last vacation, a two-week road trip through some western states. At her insistence I booked two nights on the Las Vegas strip. (I love playing poker but I can’t stand Las Vegas. I would have preferred an extra night in Laughlin or at an Indian casino). The moment we arrived, she was on edge. I did all right, and even cashed in a small sit-and-go Hold-Em tournament.
When I got back to the room, she said we are leaving first thing in the morning. We had reserved a nice room on the strip for Thursday and Friday nights, and this was still Thursday. We had already toured the renovations going on “Downtown” and planned to spend Friday on the strip. There was some huge music festival going on Friday night we wanted to check out. Nope. WE. ARE. LEAVING.
Yes, Dear. Some things shall not be questioned. Change some reservations, whatever. Reminder to self: I don’t even like Vegas. Her idea to go there, and her idea to LEAVE. RIGHT. NOW. Yes, Dear.
We had just settled in to a Motel 6 in Bakersfield CA when Stephen Paddock opened fire at that music festival on the Vegas strip.
Didn’t give the judge a laugh but gave others in the court room one. My older cousin was a senior in high school and her social problems class was on a field trip to the local court. We lived in a small county, so cases ranged from traffic tickets to drug offenses to child support cases before one judge.
This was before DNA testing. A 17 yo mother was on the stand testifying that she had only been with one guy and he denied that he was the father. The judge called the one she named as the father and he admitted he had had sex with her, but so had his two friends. The judge believed the mother. He called each of the guy’s friends and they testified that they had each had sex with her and they were winking at each other as if they were fooling everyone. The teen mother was upset but was quiet. The judge looked at the three friends and ruled that each would pay the full amount of child support and he would see them in a month and maybe by then they would have figured out which one was the father before he ruled if all three would pay back child support.
Bet the three friends had an interesting conversation outside the parking lot
Bobby Asks Tony To Give Him Better Jobs – The Sopranos HD
The evolution of Bobby’s character was one of my favorite details from The Sopranos. From a shy, bumbling guy Tony ridiculed and dismissed into Tony’s most trusted soldier.
Yes, because I was the manager when this incident occurred.
For all of an hour and a half or so, I had to fill in as a temp for the Domino’s store I worked at.
Why my manager picked me, a kid who had just turned 18, to be her fill-in is beyond me, but I guess she trusted me more than I thought she did.
Apparently, she had a doctor’s appointment to attend to and the assistant manager was unable to clock in early, so it was up to me to hold down the fort.
Even under unusual circumstances, I was determined to perform well in my new role, even if it was only temporary.
I did perfectly fine for the first hour, as business was going well as usual.
That was, until some kid wearing a Civil Air Patrol (CAP) blues uniform walked in and told me that he had somehow ‘earned’ some free cookie brownies.
The uniform looked similar to Air Force blues, but without the ribbons, the lapels, and the rank.
And how did the kid supposedly earn free brownies?
According to him, he was walking down the street when one of the delivery drivers pulled up next to him and told him he could have some free brownies solely because he was wearing the uniform and the driver wanted to thank him for his “service to the community.”
I knew that was bullshit immediately because I personally knew all the drivers on shift, and none of them would ever hand out free brownies to anyone, no matter who it was.
And they definitely weren’t going to pull up to some kid and tell him to walk to the store for some free brownies.
That sounds really stupid, doesn’t it?
Anyway, I told the kid he had to pay for whatever he wanted or he wasn’t getting anything.
With that, the kid left. Or so I thought.
A couple of minutes later, his mom walked in and demanded that I give her son his free brownies because of his service to the community or whatever.
There was no way in hell I was going to be a pushover for some entitled boy scout and his even more entitled Karen of a mother.
I told her that I wasn’t going to just give anything out for free and that they would have to pay for what they order, or else they had to leave the store.
The lady didn’t seem very pleased with that, so she told me to ‘get’ my manager so that she could further ‘negotiate’ or really just demand.
I told her no because I was the manager at the time, and I then told her to leave or else I would have to call the cops and whoever else I saw fit.
That scared away the mom and her kid, so they left the store, and I told them to have a nice day.
I was shocked to see that two people could have such an irrational sense of entitlement, and it still bothers me that people like them are out there.
TSMC has a large number of resignations;6,000 Tsinghua scientists defect to Huawei
TSMC has a large number of resignations; 6,000 Tsinghua scientists defect to Huawei; Ren Zhengfei personally receives Chinese students.
16. My province, New-Brunswick, is completely bilingual . You can get served in English or French. Everything has to be bilingual as well, including road signs, menus, food labels, etc…
A few years ago, my wife heard what sounded like an animal scratching around in our attic. I figured a squirrel must have made its way inside. The attic access is a little 3 foot by 4 foot opening in the ceiling of one of the closets. It’s a pain to get up there, but I know even a single squirrel can cause a lot of damage so I got the ladder and a flashlight with Intention of trying to chase it out the vent up there.
i climbed up through the opening and turned the flashlight on to see what was happening and I saw about 50 pairs of bat eyes reflecting back at me. I turned the flashlight off, slowly climbed back down the ladder pulling the door cover closed behind me.
My wife, anxiously awaiting my return asked if I had gotten rid of it already. I just said nope and that I wasn’t going back up there.
it ended up being a whole ordeal to get rid of them. They are a protected species, so you can’t have them exterminated. You have the house sealed off to prevent the bats from getting, but they leave a hatch the bats can get out through. Once they all leave in the evening to eat, you are good. Only problem was, it was their mating season so we were told if we sealed the house now, when the mothers left to eat, they would not be able to return to care for their babies, so we had to wait two months until the babies were old enough to go feed on their own.
it was a long two months hearing them moving around up there. Fortunately, homeowners insurance did pay for the removal and cleanup afterwards.
I’ll never forget all of those eyes staring at me though. Still gives me chills.
Buckle Up: This White House MISTAKE Will Hurt Americans
The European Union’s leader has proposed the idea of a Global Digital ID, which would allow governments worldwide to monitor their citizens. While it’s framed as “keeping track,” it raises concerns about potential surveillance and control. The plan involves countries contributing funds to establish this system, overseen by the United Nations. Critics liken it to dystopian scenarios, like the “Mark of the Beast” from religious texts, as it could enable extensive tracking, restricting access to basic necessities for those with dissenting opinions or unvaccinated individuals.
My mate Graham, almost 70 years old. He came out of his house one day and 3 young guys are lounging against his BMW car parked in the street. “Come on guys, off the car, it’s mine”.
Reply was, “ huh, don’t have to, we can do as we want!”
“Oh, so it’s OK for everyone to do what they want? Regardless of the consequences?” “ Really?”. The guy said “Yes!”
Graham hit him with a left hook that sent the guy flying and bleeding into the road. He turned to the others and said, “Hey, this is great, being able to do whatever I want, with no consequences!” They ran for it and the other one picked himself up off the road and followed them.
The moral of the story: don’t fuck with an Ex British Para and ex French Foreign Legionaire, even if he is almost 70!
Oliver Anthony Slams High Ticket Prices, Cancels Show
I just like this guy more and more as I see how he deals with his success. In a world of so many bad leaders and people who are driven by money alone, it’s so refreshing seeing someone who won’t bend his morals to greed.
When he backed down an abusive teacher without saying a single word.
I was in second grade, and my teacher was haranguing me while I waited for my father to pick me up at the office. He walked in, saw me sitting there, bloody and clothes torn, and simply looked at her. She started, then began to shrilly list my supposed faults. Silence, and the “Dad stare”. She started spouting justifications. More silence and one eyebrow raised. She burst into tears and bolted from the room…
US/EU pressure UAE in effort to pick apart BRICS
This just further shows how desperate the US and collective West are getting, their military industrial complex along with the USD’s hegemony are in decline and they know it.
It is stuff like this that kind of annoys and amuses me because it shows that people that are commenting don’t even have a basic idea of how a cell phone works.
SK Hynix is a manufacturer of DRAM and flash memory chips. DRAM is basically a commodity market, and it would have likely been impossible for SK Hynix to prevent Huawei from using its DRAM even it it wanted to. The thing about DRAM is that is it basically interchangeable with other DRAM and flash memory. So unlike other chips which have to be custom designed, Huawei can replace those with local chips if it wanted to.
One thing that kind of really makes my blood boil is that the US seems intent on preventing China from manufacturing top of the line cell phones. Okay, if the US wanted to restrict China from getting atom bomb secrets or manufacturing better missiles, I can sort of deal with that.
But we are talking about a consumer cell phone, and if China can’t manufacture better cell phones then I don’t know what the US expects China to do.
This is hard to watch…
That chick wouldn’t be so bad looking if she didn’t turn herself into a clownish monster.
Absolutely. There was this kid (literally, he was 17) who was pretty much the model recruit. He never complained; did what he was told; helped the rest of us out; and was physically in great shape.
He’d been in competitive martial arts for years. Not YMCA level, but “has to travel to Japan for belt tests,” skilled. (He never, ever bragged about it.)
The only time I can remember him getting yelled at was when we were in the sand pit learning basic unarmed self defense. (The super cheesy kind that makes you think you’re in a World War II training film. I think that they have dramatically improved that portion of the training now.)
The Private was decidedly and obviously half-assing it. Not arrogantly, more like bored out of his skull.
One of the drill sergeants came over and was doing his motivation screaming thing and asked him, “You think you don’t need this? Are you too good for this?” and other variations on the theme.
Pvt Yarberry replied, again, matter-of-factly and not boastfully, that no, he did not actually need that training.
It went about how you’re imagining it.
The only thing that saved him was that he had been such a model recruit. So the drill sergeant eventually says, “Show me.”
Mind you, this was not an angry fight. They assumed ready stances and this recruit did a series of moves that were very fast and almost gentle? Honestly, I can’t really describe what he did because it was so fast. The drill sergeant was basically laid onto the ground in a control position where he could not do anything about it. Nobody tried to hit anybody, but it was clear that the 17 year-old kid could put this 30 something year-old experienced soldier in the pretty muc…
German deindustrialization accelerates
“I spent a lot of time in Germany. I cannot believe that the Germans I knew would follow the Ukrainian mission over the cliff like lemmings.”
Doom and Gloom
On August 24th, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) announced partial suspension of Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines due to low semiconductor demand. Similar challenges are affecting South Korean semiconductor factories due to the loss of a crucial customer, China. South Korean Chip Factories Announce Shutdown of Lithography Machines Due to Lack of Chinese Orders!
This nightmare will hit South Korea in two steps.
Loss of China market as its chip manufacturers enhance technology and ramp up capacity.
Reduction of global prices as China manufacturers enter the international market in 2024 and that would affect the profit of the South Korea chip companies.
The nightmare for South Korean chip companies is only starting. It is too late to reverse the situation.
Huawei is capable of self-reliance, and the US plan to sanction Huawei has failed, but they will not resign themselves to failure, and there will be more madness in the future. ake trouble, fail, make trouble again, fail again . . . till their doom. that is the logic of the American imperialism over in dealing with the rival companys, and they will never go against this logic.
Over the weekend, the United States and South Korea agreed to a five-year deal to increase the military payments, subject to legislative approval in both capitals. Under the agreement, South Korea will pay $1 billion this year, 13.9 percent more than its annual payments in 2019 and 2020, officials said on Wednesday.
IMO there is little chance of a rapprochement between China and SK until the American Pie and Yankee Doodle singer is gone. His hardline towards China will cost not only his job but has affected the future of many South Korea.
What a jerk SK has elected for the Blue House? Now they understand the price they have to pay for Yankee Doodle democracy as per USA.
I Left USA and Moved To Thailand. Why I’ll NEVER Go Back.
As a korean-american who just came back to the US after 3 months stay in Bangkok, I couldn’t agree more with what you said. My quality of life escalated significantly when I was in Thailand. I miss Thailand so much haha.
I’m a truck driver. One day, when I was waiting in line to load at a coffee warehouse, the driver behind me who was an owner-operator asked if he could load before me because he was in a hurry to get to his delivery on time. So I let him pass in front. He then told me that he’d just bought another truck and asked me if I would drive it. He offered me much more money than my current employer, so I accepted. That was 15 years ago. He now has a fleet of 50 semi-trailer trucks and I’m still working for him.
They need the Chinese market to have the revenues to do research and stay relevant.
If they lose the Chinese market they will end up as laggers in technology rather than leaders.
Micron is already projected to lose 50% revenues. And YMTC hasn’t even started production with their second much larger fab yet. That is due to come online next year.
So Micron can expect to lose the entire Chinese market.
Micron will also lose the world market outside of the US, EU, Japan, lapdogs, etc. As those Chinese chips are going to be going into Chinese products shipper worldwide.
Same for Nvidia, Intel, etc. SMIC is building 4 more fabs. As they come online and start making chips, they will displace US, EU, and Japanese chip makers. And we are talking about all types of chips. Everything from power chips to FPGAs to GPUs to CPUs to DRAM to ASICs for everything.
As BCG’s (Boston Consulting Group) paper said. Western companies would lose their leadership position. They thought it would happen in 30 years…I laughed when I read that. Clearly they didn’t understand Chinese progress in tech.
He who controls the market controls the industry.
Hi-Rez – Rich Men North Of Richmond (Rap Remix) – Reaction
During the G20, Xi Jingping spent his time meeting Nicholas Maduro of Venezuela and setting up a Oil Deal to assure the energy security of his nation
He later toured the provinces of China to supervise the Agricultural Areas and talk to the people about Health Insurance and renewed improvements in Agrarian financing
In short he was doing what a Leader should be doing
Visiting his people and discussing their problems and finding solutions
While people like Sunak , Ursula, Scholz and Biden and Macron paraded around pompously, blissfully ignoring the problems their people face
Xi Jingping is doing what’s best for China and the Chinese people
He sent Li Qiang to Delhi as a representative believing that it was enough, having lost any real respect for the alliance and feeling the alliance to be a lackey group for the G7
image 38
As for PM Modi stealing the limelight
Barely 24 hours later Bidens speech in Vietnam included
I met with the Indian PM, Nare..Nare.. Modi and they didn’t allow a Q & A, those Indians. I had a good talk on Human Rights concerns and the importance of a Civil society and raised several pertinent questions
Meaning Modi has been TOLD to respect human rights and follow a Civil Society
Biden doesn’t tell this to Britain or Japan does he?
image 39
Trudeau openly said
Actions of a few don’t represent Canada. Canada respects freedom of speech and peaceful protests and believes it fosters progress
Any idea what he is referring to?
The Farmers protests of course. A Protest that forced Modi to finally back track his farm laws.
Now what has India gained from the Summit?
It’s over now
The AU are happy but that’s it. They go back home now and they need GRAIN and RAILWAYS and JOBS and TRADE
image 37
India can’t give them any of these
US can’t give them any of these except Bradleys and Howitzers and sermons on Democracy
Only China and Russia can give them all of these
300,000 Tonnes Grain Cargo from Russia is worth 500 G20 Summits
$ 16 Billion waiver of interest for 3 years from China and a new Hydro power plant is worth 500 G20 Summits
The AU had their Pindi Chole, Lal Maas etc and now they are gone
They have trouble, they will call Putin and Xi
They won’t call Modi or even remember him unless they meet him again in Rio in 2024
Same for Saudi Arabia
MBS is on a State Visit
He will persuade India to buy Saudi Oil and ask for investment into Refining and Petrochemicals
India will obviously delay and drag and eventually say no
India has inked 3500 MOUs in the past 4 years or so and only 19 have managed to gain ground and proceed to operations
MBS needs Russia for his OPEC Solidarity and China to modernize Saudi Arabia and even maybe to build a nuclear power plant
Once he leaves India, he forgets Modi until he meets him in Kazan in 2024 or Rio in 2024
LEVERAGE!!!!
That’s what China holds and Russia and even the US
No G20 summit is needed to enforce that
India holds near zero leverage today
A Thousand G20 summits and Pindi Chole and Laser Shows and Five Star pandering can’t advance Indias leverage by 1%
How the U.S. is preparing for conflict in Asia: Hynes
The U.S, is building power by creating a dense network of military alliances among Asian countries, says Phill Hynes, a top geopolitical analyst based in Hong Kong. Meanwhile, here’s the answer to the puzzle of why the media tells Australians that an invasion is imminent, but their submarines won’t be ready until the 2040s.
Mississippi Delta Tamales
2023 09 13 15 20
Ingredients
Filling
6 to 8 pounds boneless meat (pork shoulder, chuck roast or chicken)
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup chili powder
2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Wrappers
Corn husks
Corn Meal Dough
8 cups yellow corn meal or masa mix (available in most grocery stores)
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 2/3 cups lard or vegetable shortening
6 to 8 cups warm meat broth (from cooking the meat)
Instructions
Filling: Cut meat into large chunks and place in a large, heavy pot. Cover with cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until meat is very tender, 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Remove meat and reserve cooking liquid.
When meat is cool enough to handle, remove and discard any skin and large chunks of fat. Shred or dice meat into small pieces. There should be about 14 to 16 cups of meat.
Heat the vegetable oil in a large, heavy pot over medium heat. Stir in chili powder, paprika, salt, pepper, cayenne, onion powder, garlic powder and cumin. Add meat and stir to coat with oil and spices. Cook, stirring often, until meat is thoroughly heated, 7 to 10 minutes. Set aside.
Wrappers: While meat is cooking, soak husks in a large bowl of very warm water, until softened and pliable, about 2 hours. Gently separate husks into single leaves, trying not to tear them. Wash off any dust and discard any corn silks. Keep any shucks that split to the side, since two small pieces can be overlapped and used as one.
Corn Meal Dough: Stir corn meal, baking powder, salt and lard together in a large bowl until well blended. Gradually stir in enough warm meat broth to make soft, spongy dough the consistency of thick mashed potatoes. The dough should be quite moist, but not wet. Cover with a damp cloth.
To assemble the tamales, remove a corn husk from water and pat it dry. Lay husk on a work surface. Spread about 1/4 cup of the dough in an even layer across the wide end of husk to within 1 inch of edges. Spoon about 1 tablespoon of meat mixture in a line down the center of dough. Roll husk so that dough surrounds filling and forms a cylinder or package. Fold bottom under to close. Place tamales in a single layer on a baking sheet. Repeat until all dough and filling is used.
Stand tamales upright, closed side down, in a large pot. Place enough tamales in the pot so that they do not fall over or unroll. Carefully fill pot with enough water to come just to the top of the tamales, trying not to pour water directly into the tamales. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until dough is firm and pulls away from the husk easily and cleanly, about 1 hour.
If you prefer to steam tamales, stand tamales upright, closed side down, in a large steamer basket. Cover with a damp towel or additional husks. Steam tamales over simmering water until dough is firm and pulls away from the husk easily and cleanly, 1 to 1 1/4 hours.
Serve tamales warm, in their husks. Remove husks to eat.
Yield: 7 to 8 dozen
American cities are collapsing and democrats are in PANIC mode
Should entire families be deported to solve the migrant crisis? That is what Republican Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy promised to do if elected. This would bring about a Fourteenth Amendment question.
Ramaswamy says that there are “legally contested questions under the 14th Amendment.” This comes as progressive politicians are showing real signs of fear over illegal immigration.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams says that the city is facing a “financial tsunami” because of it and predicted that the rapid influx of immigrants will destroy the city that he knows and loves. What is the solution besides burdening the already-burdened U.S. taxpayer?
An apartment complex in the city of Kramatorsk Ukraine was said to be cursed.
In 1980, an 18-year-old woman living in apartment 85 suddenly died. Two years later, the girl’s 16-year-old brother died, followed by their mother. They had all died of Leukaemia, but doctors couldn’t find the root cause of it.
image 36
Then in 1989, another family took up residence in apartment 85. A father and his two sons had been living there less then a year when both sons fell ill. Rumour began to spread around the city that the apartment was cursed when it turned out the two boys also had leukaemia.
With the apartments history the father knew something other than a curse was the problem. When one of his two sick sons dies he pushed to have to apartment inspected.
In the late 70s workers lost a radiation level gauge in the Karanksy Quarry located in the city. Workers spent a week looking for it, but it never turned up. No more thought was given to the level gauge, and the rocks from the quarry were then used in the construction of apartment 85.
When inspectors came out to check for high levels of radiation they found it radiating from a wall along side one of the kid’s beds. They knocked the wall and found a capsule of Caesium-137 that had broken out of the level gauge. By a stroke of poor bad luck for two families the capsule ended up becoming a part of their apartment. 17 other residents living in the apartment block received large doses of radiation.
Bernini’s “The Abduction of Proserpina” is a mesmerizing sculpture that captures the dramatic moment from Roman mythology when Pluto, the god of the underworld, seizes Proserpina, the daughter of Ceres, to make her his queen. Completed in 1622, this Baroque masterpiece portrays the intense emotions of the characters: Pluto’s powerful grasp and Proserpina’s anguish. The work showcases Bernini’s skill in sculpting marble to convey a sense of motion and realism, making it a celebrated piece in art history and a symbol of Baroque sculpture’s dynamism and emotional depth.
image 34
It currently resides in the Borghese Gallery in Rome.
This year, the Chinese economy has been growing more slowly than expected because of the ongoing real estate crisis, and trade decoupling with the G7 countries led by the US.
But the launch of the Huawei Mate 60 Pro offers a bright spot for Chinese spending. Up until US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo’s China trip, it looked like most Chinese were going to stop spending until things became clearer for the economy. Most Chinese had treated their purchased homes as a major asset and because real estate prices were deflating, they cut back on their spending.
No more.
The US’s demands for Huawei to stop spending on research and development have hit a very nationalist raw nerve among the Chinese. (Huawei spends about US$22B on R&D annually.) Many feel that this is an insult not just to Huawei, but to China, the nation. How do they push back? By buying the Huawei Mate 60 Pro, which sells at 6999 yuan each. Some estimates are that Huawei may sell 35–50M units by year-end.
The Mate 60 Pro is first in a line of tech products developed according to Chinese instead of western standards. While Chinese are careful about their spending, many feel that now is the time to stand up and support Chinese tech companies by buying their products, just as the tech companies are struggling hard for their survival. Some Chinese will do this even though their home values are declining.
This means that it will likewise be a very hard time for foreign tech companies in China such as Apple. Apple has tried very hard to steer clear of the US-China tech dispute and up until now, it has succeeded. At the end of the day though, it is a US tech company which will side with the US government in a crisis.
The friend and enemy lines are being drawn more clearly.
This also means that as the US tries to build new supply chains outside China, in India and Vietnam, they cannot count on support from Chinese suppliers helping to make the switch. The management of some of these suppliers will decide that supporting the Chinese home team is more important than making money.
Some remarkable stories are coming out about the development of the Huawei Mate 60 Pro. Many Chinese component suppliers came together voluntarily, forming cooperative teams across companies which normally were competing against each other. Engineers spent all-nighters in their competitors’ offices developing and testing equipment. Many gave up going home. Some Taiwanese companies in the PRC also joined in. They did this because they felt that the Chinese tech industry was in a life-and-death struggle to survive, and they needed to come up with new standards, components and products which were completely free of western patent claims. This was not normal business, and they needed to fight and survive and set aside the normal profit motive for the time being.
Just to cite one example, they were able to create a 5G wireless modem which went around Qualcomm’s very broad patent claims. Apple has spent the past six years trying to do this, and even buying a business unit from Intel, but so far has failed.
The team around Huawei’s Mate 60 Pro did it in about a year and a half.
Some day, this would make a great movie story.
Oliver Anthony – Rich Men North of Richmond🔥 | WAKE UP AMERICAN
When my daughter was 4 we went into a store. There was a man there that was physically handicapped. His legs were skinny and twisted and he was walking with crutches.
My daughter walked up to him (very confidently) and asked “what’s wrong with your legs?” I wanted to crawl under a rock!!
This man was absolutely AMAZING with her! He looked down at her, smiled and said “God didn’t give me good legs like you have so he gave me these (indicating his crutches).” That was enough to satisfy her curiosity. He looked at me and smiled and said that I had a beautiful child.
He was pleased that she asked instead of being afraid of him because he was different.
I was truly embarrassed when she asked him her question but so amazed at his gracious answer.
This is what really-really AMAZED me
Raimondo was in China where she had hoped that China will return to buying Boeing jets
Given what they had done to Huawei, why would she even think that China would buy Boeing aircrafts
Boeing have forecasted that China would need 8,485 new passenger planes by 2041 and, traditionally Boeing had received half of the Chinese market
but no longer, other than a few immaterial amounts, China has essentially stopped purchasing Boeing aircrafts
image 18
this will now NOT change especially since Huawei had broken the American chip blockade
over one million American aerospace jobs (including related American supply chains) will be/was lost
On a side note, of the industrialized countries that I have travelled in, the United States have one of the poorest telecommunication infrastructure. Because it has locked out Chinese companies, the United States pay a heavier price primarily from non-American/non-Chinese suppliers for a poorer telecommunication product. I won’t discuss what will happen to American semiconductor industry. So Americans are paying what was done to Huawei in MANY ways.
The Americans are SILLY-fied people who are unable to learn and pivot to a better place.
My daughter started talking quite early and was always very curious. Around the time she turned 2 she loved showing off her communication skills by naming things around her. “”Look mommy an apple! Do you like apples? I like apples too!”
It was very cute and she was usually quite loud which garnered much attention and lots of compliments.
On one fine day while driving home from picking up my teenage son from school, he was 13 at the time, she began identifying things around her.. cars, people, buses. Then I heard“”what’s that mommy?” I looked over and saw a dump truck so I responded “”that’s a truck sweetheart.”
Little one can’t pronounce the “t” sound and says ever so innocently “oh… fuck!”
Teenage son loses his mind with laughter which is all the little one needed to know she was on to something. Next thing we hear my 2 year old dropping F-bombs left and right from the back seat.
Wish the story ended there. Couple of weeks and lots of t-phonics practice sessions later, we are in the front yard of my brothers house, when lo and behold a trash truck is driving by. In front of about 15 family members and 5 other kids my sweet little toddler looks at the truck and says very loudly, you guessed it, “FUCK!”
No one was able to hold in their laughter much to my terrible embarrassment.
That eventually some people will be left to pick up the pieces.
Every battle has a clean up just like any other mess. Someone has to make the phone calls to let family know their son or daughter has died.
Someone has to remove the body from the battlefield. It is very common to see soldiers’ bodies with photos of their loved ones, like this Italian soldier in WWII with a picture of his baby in his hand.
image 35
The last thing he did was look at his child before he bled out.
These are the very real sacrifices people make. I grew up on military bases and have been to many military funerals. Families never truly move on from the death of a young loved one like this.
There are often inner conflicting feelings about encouraging their son to join the military (even amongst the most patriotic families). These things are all normal.
War is a terrible thing and anyone who tries to glamorize it as some video game has never truly endured it.
Merkules – Oliver Anthony ”Rich Men North Of Richmond” Remix
Few months ago I was visiting Colorado. While leaving for the airport to go back home, someone hit my rented Tesla from behind. The usual process happened where cops was called, complaint was filed, numbers exchanged, etc.
After this incident, I dropped by at a near-by pizza place with my son. I was tired and somewhat stressed about this accident. Although it wasn’t my car or my fault with the accident but I still felt bad for the person who owned this car. I had a great trip but the last few hours of my trip was something. My son and I walked into the pizza place. The manager asked, “How was your day?” I responded saying, “good” but my son said, “No it wasn’t good. Someone hit our car so my mom is feeling bad.”
We ordered and ate our pizza. I asked the waiter for the bill and he said the manager took care of it ($19). He said, he can sense the stress on my face and wanted me to go home peacefully. In addition, there were two other waiters who constantly checked on us while we were eating to see if we wanted anything else. One of the waiter also entertained my son while I had to take care of some phone calls. In addition, while talking to the waiter, I also learned that the business was suffering during Covid but they’re trying to rise up again slowly. I was so touched by their kindness and willingness to pay for my pizza even though their business was not in the best condition financially. I offered to pay my bill numerous times but the staff wouldn’t let me. So I left a $50 bill with the manager and asked him to split the tip between the three waiters. In addition, I also took the manager’s card and sent him a bottle of wine from my state for their kindness.
This was a small encounter but I’ll never forget this kindness. There are very few people in this world who will think about others even when they have their own problems to worry about. May God bless such people. I hope their business thrives.
Wow, so many upvotes. Thank you for reading this answer. I didn’t expect such a nice a response :).
Update:
Here is picture of the manager, Jonathon. I randomly dropped by Priti’s pizza in Denver and captured a picture of this kind soul 🙂
Dancing around each other in the ring. Throw a punch or two, and the West believes that “it has rigged the game”. I disagree, but what do I know?
I am tried of all this “shadow boxing”, but there are only two directions; two vectors left.
Full scale military HOT war
A subsiding of hostilities
I think that the East (China, Russia, the Global South) are just biding their time in the eventuality that the West will run out of “steam” and slow down on the provocations.
It’s safe and reasonable. And they have systems designed…intentionally designed to force all the steam out of the “mighty beast”.
But I am sure that they are all ready to unleash bloody Hell if need be.
…
Nothing that I can do about it.
So, I’m just gonna drink my coffee and enjoy the day.
Ukrainians Caught Trying to Sabotage Russian Nuke Plant; Putin says “Trained by British” – for whom “There will be consequences”
Putin British trained Ukies Nuke Plant Sabotage large
“Vladimir Putin today warned Britain of ‘serious consequences’ and said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ‘doesn’t understand’ the risks after the UK’s special forces tried to disrupt Russian nuclear power plants.
President Putin said that Britain’s elite forces were training Ukrainian troops on how to damage atomic power plants in Russia.
The Russian President declared dire consequences for the UK while admitting his words would be interpreted as ‘nuclear blackmail.’
Putin claimed during a speech at an economic forum in the far eastern city of Vladivostok, that Russia’s FSB security service had interrogated a Ukrainian team caught operating inside Russia.
‘It turned out to be a sabotage group of Ukrainian special services,’ he said.
‘Interrogation showed they had been tasked to damage one of our nuclear stations by exploding a power line… to damage the work of the power plant. And this is not the first attempt.’
He alleged: ‘During interrogation, they admitted they were trained under supervision of British instructors. Do [the British] understand what they are playing with, or not?
‘Are they provoking our response at Ukrainian nuclear sites, nuclear stations, or what?
‘Does the British leadership, or the Prime Minister [of the United Kingdom. Rishi Sunak] know what their special services are engaged with in Ukraine?
‘Or do they have no clue at all? I assume this is possible, too. I assume it is possible British special services act on the orders of the Americans. Either way, we know the final beneficiary.”
There was a moment after a short firefight when we shared a few thoughts about a dead enemy soldier.
We were on the top of a small hill in the mountains near our Kosovo Liberation Army base and a group of enemy infantry was coming up towards our positions. They didn’t see us, but we could hear them talking to each other. One guy, probably their leader, told his troops: “Stop whining, guys!”
When they were close enough we opened fire. We heard one of them screaming in pain. After we had ceased fire we went down the hill to look at the aftermath. We found the body of a dead soldier and what struck me first was how well this guy was equipped: a US-style Kevlar helmet, combat fatigues, boots; all his gear was of the best quality. One of my comrades searched his pockets and found his documents.
My comrade read out loud what was written in the dead soldier’s papers. This guy had been a sergeant and a professional soldier. He had fought in Bosnia as well and was the member of a Special Forces unit.
Then my comrade told me in a tone of regret: “Look at him! This guy did all the training, fought everywhere and then he gets himself killed by some peasants like us. What a waste!”
That was quite an objective and modest statement and I was honestly surprised. We had very good soldiers who were well trained and highly motivated, but they were no match to the soldier we had just killed. He was better trained and equipped and far more experienced than we were. Still, he was dead and we were alive.
We took the dead soldier’s gun and left the place.
This was the only time that we’ve ever talked about a dead enemy. Usually, we were just interested in the number we had killed: one there, three over there and so on. They were numbers for us, nothing else. We fought for the right cause and they didn’t. No regrets.
Tex-Mex Meatballs
Crushed tortilla chips is the ingredient that sets these Tex-Mex Meatballs apart from the rest!
In a bowl, combine the crushed tortilla chips (they should be the size of large breadcrumbs) with the water or beef broth. Stir to make a thick paste. This helps keep the meatballs moist but also adds a great corn flavor.
In a large bowl, combine ground beef, green chiles, salt, garlic powder, cumin, chipotle powder, onion powder and the tortilla chip mix. Using hands, mix lightly but thoroughly (do not pack).
Form the ground beef mixture into balls, using about 1/3 cup of the mixture per ball. Do not overwork or form the meatballs too tightly.
Place the meatballs in a large skillet, leaving space between them, then bake for 15 minutes.
Pour the enchilada sauce over/around the meatballs, and return to the oven for an additional 7 minutes.
Sprinkle the cheese all over the meatballs, and return to the oven until cheese is melted, about 3-5 minutes.
Serve immediately. Caution, skillet will be extremely hot.
Yield: 8 servings
In Canada
In Canada, they combine orphanages with retirement homes. And it has given new meaning to the lives of older people, who can share their time with children who so desperately need a father or mother figure.
For a few hours, children and elderly people play, discuss and share together.
As for the little ones, they grow up and learn in an atmosphere of respect and admiration, not only between themselves, but also in front of the elders.
And older people have the opportunity to pass on some of their wisdom to children. They no longer feel so alone and isolated and now look forward to getting up in the morning to play and talk with the little ones.
It seems to me that this initiative should be applied everywhere in the world, we would help the elderly to feel less alone and the children to grow better.
The Chinese can’t make domestic chips below 5nm process using their present methods of innovative stacking
The Chinese used the “Necessity is the mother of invention” saying to fullest use and have managed to mass produce 7nm cost effective Chips using DUV and innovative stacking
They will crack 5nm Chips in a year and by 2027 – the Chinese will make 25% of all the 7nm and 5nm Chips on earth
They would have saved their Semiconductor Industry and would be able to make Robots and develop advanced technology
I don’t think the Chinese want more than that
Fact 1:- 3nm Chips are very different. It may look like 5 to 3 is just one step below but in reality 7nm process and 3nm process are two generations (6 years) apart. So if the 3nm is 2024,then 7nm is 2018 and 5nm is 2021.
Without Western Equipment and without the advanced know how that TSMC and Samsung offer – the 3nm Chip is almost 3 generations or even 3.5 generations ahead in commercial manufacture
This means to China, the 3nm Chip is around 10.5 years apart, meaning 2035 at least
It’s not worth it and China knows that
Fact 2:- The West cannot develop 3nm Chips commercially and not sell to China
image 24
China and Hong Kong together consume around 43% of the World’s Chips produced
image 23
China and HK account for 30% of the sales of Advanced Technology and Hardware needed for Advanced Applications
It makes no sense to invest billions into 3 and 2 nm Chips and NOT SELL in a market that today has a 30% demand and could well have 45% demand in the next 15 years
That’s like increasing oil production by 30% and refusing to sell to China or India
That’s like spending crores of rupees on refining Gold jewelry and refusing to sell them to Telugu or Gujarati weddings
It’s UNVIABLE
So the West HAS to sell the 3&2 nm Chips to China if they have to sustain a market.
At present the rest of the World only has a 7% market for these advanced applications of which Saudi and UAE have a 3.4% market share and they certainly can’t create the applications even if they get the equipment for the next 15 years
India has a 0.7% market today for advanced applications ($ 767 Million)
That’s 3% of Chinas market and 2.3% of China and HK market combined
Fact 3:- The 3nm Chips, 2 nm Chips and 1 nm Chips may be redundant advanced technologies
Artificial Sun, Hypersonics, Nanogrid Laser Arrays – these were all areas where good studies were made by the US in the 1980s -1990s , well before China and Russia
Yet they faltered because there was not sufficient necessity for such advanced stuff back then
The assumption that people will use advanced smartphones for the next 30 years would be silly
Today Defence equipment works perfectly with 450 nm Chips and Drones with 150nm -65 nm Chips
Today the most advanced Robotic applications are done without 7/5 nm Chips
The Memory, GPUs and other hardware are more crucial than Chips now
Again these products need China which is a 30% market to them
Otherwise they cannot be viable commercially
They HAVE to sell to China and if the US tries too hard, they will find alternate ways
Like NVDIA which custom made advanced chips and sold $ 5 Billion of these to China just breaking the threshold
If they say China can’t be sold a car that drives at 100 Kph, simply modify your engine a bit and sell them a car that drives at 99 Kph and stay within sanctions guidelines
Fact 4:- If China develops it’s own 7/5 nm Chips using the innovative stacking process and DUV, that alone is a major blow to Global Players
image 22
Today TSMC sells most 14,7 and 5 nm. chips to China
China accounts for 36.5% of TSMC and it’s revenue
Yet now its estimated by the SIA that
image 21
By 2027, SMIC and other Chinese entities will sell most of the 14,7 and 5 nm Chips to China
TSMC and Samsung will lose a lot of sales to China in the next five years and simply be unable to sell anywhere else
By 2027, China will account for 14.6% of the same sales to TSMC and there won’t be market for TSMC to compensate for the loss
Same for Qualcomm, Intel and other players selling Modems and other 5G technology
This means China is a part of a War where it suffers the LEAST
China won’t make 3nm and 2nm Chips. They will buy these Chips if offered by others but won’t waste billions on trying to commercially make these chips with their own equipment
They DON’T NEED these Chips even for their most advanced applications
TSMC and others HAVE TO SELL TO CHINA if they commercially produce 3/2 nm Chips
China likewise knows it will be SOLD equipment and hardware that keep defying sanctions all the time to survive
And in a few years time – China will take away a huge chunk of TSMCs market in the mainland and TSMC cannot replace the Chinese market, even half of it in the next decade
To answer your question
China is never likely to catch up with commercial 3 / 2 nm Chips
China will come out of the Chip war with the least damage and most positive effect for the mainland.
Taiwan, Korea and US will find their players badly mauled by economics
China will deliver a strong blow to TSMC and Samsung by 2027 from which they can’t recover
Unless Biden removes ALL EXPORT CONTROLS today and goes to free market mode
Then Chinese players will start being swamped with aggressive growth.
The Sopranos – Johnny Sack And Paulie
Paulie complains about Tony ruling against him in a sitdown to Johnny Sack, This is the first of many conversations between the two. These conversations lead to major problems down the road.
Fedor Nikiforovich Plevako was one of the most famous Russian defence lawyers of the 19th century. Many of his speeches were recorded and became legendary. I will quote two of them.
Once, he was defending an old Orthodox priest accused of adultery and theft. The jury was very unfavourable. The public prosecutor described the depravity of the vicious priest. Finally, Plevako rose from his seat to say:
– Gentlemen of the jury! The affair is clear. The prosecutor is absolutely right in everything. The accused really perpetrated those crimes and confessed them. Nothing to discuss. But there is something I wish to draw your attention to. You behold a man, who listened to our confessions for thirty years. For thirty years, he absolved us from our sins. Now he is waiting for your decision. Would you absolve his sin?
The priest was acquitted.
In another case, Plevako defended an old townswoman who stole a tin kettle worth 30 kopecks. The prosecutor, knowing that she was going to be defended by Plevako, decided to knock the bottom out of his arguments and took pains to describe the hardness of her life and show that she was worthy of compassion. However, he explained, private property is sacred and if you acquit her, you would have to acquit criminals who are much more dangerous, and this may lead to the destruction of Russia. The jury nodded in agreement. Plevako started to speak:
– Russia has suffered a lot in over 1,000 years of its history. It was invaded by numerous foes. Moscow was taken by Napoleon’s army. Russia overcame all these challenges and not only survived but became stronger. Unfortunately, an old lady stole a tin kettle worth 30 kopecks. This is a heavy blow. Now Russia will perish, that’s for sure.
The old woman was acquitted.
Ukrainian Soldiers REVOLT Against Military Leadership
If only we could send all the Ukraine flag twitter users as conscripts, then we’d have reasonable discourse on the internet. LOL.
Not at all. the two colonies involved in the war, Upper Canada and Lower Canada, both remained colonies after the war. Even if the Americans had succeeded in their objectives, they may have just handed both colonies back to the United Kingdom. The war was started by the Americans, although they felt some of their grievances against the United Kingdom were legitimate. The end of the war essentially put things back exactly as they were before the war, and everyone in Upper Canada and Lower Canada were just fine with that.
However, the war did create a Canadian identity, both tying together people of both Protestant and Catholic backgrounds through the six British Colonies in eastern Canada, and by establishing an identity separate from the United Kingdom for Protestant Canadians.
Prior to the war, you pretty much had five distinct groups of people living in Canada, each of whom identified differently.
Catholics (mostly French speaking) who identified as “Canadien” and not as British. They didn’t see Protestants as “Canadian” but as “British”.
Loyalists, who had been born in the United States prior to the American revolutionary war. They always saw themselves as “British”, but largely spoke and acted like Americans.
British immigrants, who also saw themselves as “British”, but were more diverse than the Loyalists, who tended to be English and Anglican, while the immigrants were English, Irish and Scottish, and were often Methodists, Baptists or Presbyterian. The largely Anglican Loyalists weren’t very welcoming. The immigrants also spoke and acted like the British.
American immigrants, who still saw themselves as “American” and came to Canada looking for opportunity well after the revolutionary war. They didn’t get along well with the Loyalists, and also had a rather diverse set of religious backgrounds.
First Nations, a mix of those who had been in Canada for some time, and some that had fled from the United States because they had supported the British. Most of them didn’t get along well with each other. They got along well with British authorities, but not with the other four groups.
Shortly into the war, and by no later than 1813, all five groups had pretty much put aside their differences and started identifying clearly as “Canadian”. There were two basic reasons for this. The first was that the Americans treated everyone they encountered brutally. They would routinely loot and burn settlements, including York (now Toronto), where they burned the new legislative building (which is why the Ontario legislature isn’t on Parliament Street, but the burned down structure was). Anyone who dealt with the American forces largely found the militia (not so much the professional soldiers) to be undisciplined and arrogant.
The other was the indifference of the United Kingdom to their plight. Yes, the UK was busy with Napoleon, and the professional British forces in Canada were competent, but a lot of the fighting was done by the First Nations with help from the local militia. The militia often complained they had to answer to British leaders who were often indifferent to their suffering. For people in Upper Canada, that often meant that their local forces answered to the British governor in Quebec City.
So, yes, the British did most of the fighting, with some help from Canadians, but the real stars were the First Nations, who terrified the Americans but worked well with the British. When the Mohawks heard the Americans had invaded York, and the British had abandoned the city, they put together a force of 400 warriors (to face an American force at least three times that size) and only turned back when they found the Americans had abandoned the city too. In late 1813, after the American unsuccessfully tried to attack British forces near St. Catharines (where they were ambushed), the natives surrounded the Americans at Fort George and kept them from venturing outside the fort. The Americans withdrew for the winter.
Over in Lower Canada, the Americans found the locals not to be hospitable. Two attempts to invade Montreal were turned back by a mixed force which was largely French-Canadian. That sent morale throughout the country through the roof.
As for the American immigrants, they soon realized they wanted nothing to do with their own country as the American forces looted and burned farms and houses without discrimination. That drove them further towards the British and their fellow residents of Upper Canada.
Meanwhile, over in Nova Scotia,. Halifax became rich as Canadian privateers preyed on American shipping. Once privateer, the Liverpool Packet, took fifty prizes during the war despite being captured once – the Americans sold the ship at auction back to its former owner. Everyone in Canada got involved in the effort.
The events eventually pushed all the colonies towards self-government by the 1840s (governors became figureheads without real power) and a new country by the 1860s (when the Americans went to war with themselves).
Glenn Beck reacts to Oliver Anthony’s POWERFUL testimony on The Joe Rogan Experience
Over the years, there have been several people (suspects, offenders, witnesses, victims, etc.) who have said kind things to me. One that comes to mind is probably the most recent. As a captain, I’m not often out on patrol and I make very few traffic stops. A few weeks ago however, I saw a vehicle traveling the wrong direction in a traffic circle. Given the danger presented, I stopped the motorist and saw that the vehicle was driven by a tiny African American lady of about 65 (I am a not so tiny 55-year-old Caucasian man), and that she was confused and upset by the unfamiliar traffic control device into which she had driven. I helped get her turned around and pulled to the side of the road where we were both safe. Pursuant to Department policy, I asked her for her license, registration and proof of insurance. She paused a moment and then started looking through her purse, center console and glove compartment for the requested documentation. Based on my experience, this suggested to me that she did not have one or more of the documents I had asked her to produce. I asked her if she had a driver’s license and she admitted that her license was suspended. I couldn’t help but notice the tears welling up in her eyes. I had already noticed that her license plate was expired, as was her motor vehicle inspection sticker. I then asked if her automobile was insured, and she told me it was not.
In my jurisdiction, unless there are exigent circumstances, a vehicle found to be uninsured is to be towed and impounded. In addition, a motorist found to be driving under suspension may, at the discretion of the officer, be arrested, and should not be permitted to drive away from the traffic stop absent exigent circumstances which mitigate against preventing the motorist from driving any further. The lady had tears streaming down her cheeks, knowing she had a problem. She was wearing a business outfit, so I asked her where she was going, thinking that I might be able to drop her off if time was a problem. She explained that the previous week, she was hired by a local hospital and that day was to be her first at her new job. She explained that she had lost her home and job in August of 2016 when our area suffered through the worst flood to affect the area in modern history. Approximately 80% of the homes and businesses in our area flooded during the event. Many had never flooded before, were not in flood zones and consequently, many families and businesses were left with nothing, following the inundation. This lady was one of those.
She understood that she was in trouble, and she understood that despite her good intentions, she was breaking the law. But there was no anger or bitterness. In her face, I saw only resolve and determination. She never once suggested that she deserved a break. She didn’t hint at leniency. She expressed no self-pity and did not seek to shift the blame. While I may not have shown it, I was very impressed with the way she was handling the experience.
I told the lady, whom I’ll call Ms. Smith, to have a seat in her car, turn on her air conditioner (it was about 95), and that I would be back with her as quickly as possible. I then returned to my unit and checked her registration and driver’s license. I determined that her license was suspended due to her inability to honor a payment plan with the DMV that she had reached in order to resolve the fines assessed to her when her insurance lapsed. She was uninsured; her history showed that over the last several years, her insurance lapsed several times, She always managed to have her insurance reinstated but the administrative fees had built up over time. Her registration had expired two months earlier. However, with a suspended driver’s license, she could not renew her registration or obtain an updated motor vehicle inspection sticker. Clearly, she was in a vicious spiral and putting her in jail or doing anything to cost her the new job would not be helpful.
I carefully considered my options, recognizing that my obligation to protect and serve includes keeping people without the mandatory liability insurance off of the road. Her failure to have the required insurance presented a problem for me. Under our law, were she to have an at-fault accident and it was discovered that I had stopped her and failed to take the appropriate action, I could be held responsible. If I towed her car, she would likely lose her new job which was going to pay her enough to get the required insurance, take care of her suspended driver’s license and generally make her life better for the first time in two years. As I sat there considering what to do, I suddenly remembered something. I got out of my unit, walked up to car and looked in the back seat. There, behind the front passenger seat was a rear-facing baby seat, buckled snuggly into place. “I meant to ask you about the baby seat,” I told her. “Oh,” she replied. “That’s for my grand baby,” she told me. “I take her to day care each morning so that my daughter can make it to nursing school on time. This is our only car.” “Do they live with you all the time.” I asked. “Yes, sir! They’re my best friends,” she said with a smile.
I thanked her and returned to my unit. I smiled too and thought to myself, “Exigent circumstances! Can’t tow that car if there are exigent circumstances.” I prepared the lady a citation for driving under suspension. I hated to do it, but the only discretion we have in such cases is jail or a misdemeanor summons. I did, however, exercise my discretion and prepared a warning for the expired driver’s license and expired vehicle inspection sticker. I then made a quick phone call before walking back to her car, ticket book in hand. As the little lady waited to hear her fate, I began. “OK, Ms. Smith, here is where we are,” I told her. “I have to issue you a citation for driving under suspension. I have no choice. However, you’re not being arrested, only fined.” She asked me how much the fine would be and I told her that I did not know, but that I had called the Clerk of Court, asked that they let her pay over a period of six months, and that they had agreed. I then handed her the citation and asked her to sign where indicated. She signed and then remembered the other charges. “Is there another ticket,” she asked? “No Ma’am,” I told her. “Apparently, I am out of tickets and don’t have time to go and get some more.” She seemed confused and asked, “I know you have to tow my car, Captain. I was just wondering if there is any way that you can let me get to work first. I can park it around back where nobody will see it and you can tow it from there, if it’s not too much trouble.”
“Well, Ms Smith, it looks like your car isn’t going to be towed today. As it turns out, there are exigent circumstances that allow me to let you keep your car. But you have to get insurance within 30 days.” She didn’t understand, so I explained that since there is an infant in their house, since they had only one car, and since that car was the child’s sole means of transportation to day care, such a situation created exigent circumstances which allowed me to decline to tow the car, provided that I had a reasonable belief that the required insurance would be obtained within 30 days. She assured me that they would get the insurance they needed.
I wished her good luck and told her to be safe and I turned around to walk back to my unit as the tears started rolling down her cheeks again. Before I could walk away, however, Ms. Smith called out to me, “Captain Sharp!” I turned back to her. “I don’t know if you’re allowed or not, but would it be OK if I gave you a hug?” I told her I would love a hug, and it was the best hug of the day.
I’m sorry that it took so long to answer your question, but, “Would it be OK if I gave you a hug?” was one of the kindest things that a suspect ever said to me. Thank you for your question!
Nearly ALL of America FEELS This | Oliver Anthony “Rich Men North of Richmond” | Just Jen Reacts
Americans are crying out! And not one Senator is addressing this!
Covert Intel: Another “Gulf of Tonkin” Incident Planned? Black Sea. Next Week.
This content is for Subscribers Only — In order to get the United States involved in the Vietnam War, the “Gulf of Tonkin Incident” was staged by the United States, to claim one of its ships was attacked by the North Vietnamese (Viet Cong) and thus, the US had to enter the war.
Years later, it was revealed the entire incident was staged by the US to provide an EXCUSE to enter the war.
First and foremost you should worry. Feeling eating is a chore is not healthy at all. Meals are one of the core moments of socialization, our whole human identity is tied to eating collectively and many paleoanthropologists believe that the practice of sharing meals is what pushed us to develop the linguistic skills. This is how important are meals. Your refusal to eat may be a symptom of something extremely serious and you should see a psychologist about it.
‘The Purge’ would cause a massive shift of capital to the rich, causing society to essentially collapse.
What would be incredibly rare is private citizens going out hunting and killing each other for sport. People would naturally band together in groups of those they trust and heavily arm themselves. Neighbourhoods would become fortresses. Rich people would hire extremely well paid private security for the night. If you had a murderous grudge against someone, Purge night would be the dumbest night of the year to actually try and carry out that grudge. It is the only night where it should be literally impossible to find your victim unarmed, unaware and alone.
It would also be unlikely to be an opportunity to rob banks or stock up on luxury goods or cars via looting – people who run banks or supercar showrooms know a thing or two about security, for purge night those places would be patrolled by heavily armed private security with orders to drop anyone who comes within a 100m radius of the place.
What would take place is massive amounts of corporate, financial and environmental crime, mostly by rich people.
Say you have a factory which produces gigantic amounts of toxic waste. Treating and properly disposing of that waste is damn expensive, so how about instead of doing that, you just store it all up in a giant vat through the whole year and dump it all into the sea on purge day! Millions in overheads saved, and your company isn’t on the hook for the cleanup. You could probably even get away with claiming that your company has produced zero toxic emissions that year and claim environmental subsidies as a result.
Say you are a hedge fund manager responsible for managing a multi billion dollar portfolio of assets mostly made up of people’s pensions. There are strict rules about how you manage pension funds, however on purge day, you simply transfer all of the money into your own account and become a billionaire overnight.
Say you are a major property developer who has big plans to demolish a poor neighbourhood to make way for luxury condos. There’s no way you can get away with doing something like this in normal times, but on purge day? Shit you could hire goons to put the whole place to the torch.
The premise of ‘The Purge’ is that it is supposed to act as an outlet to enable people to express their frustrations with life for one day, allowing them to live the rest of the year normally. What would actually happen if this law was passed is that normal people would spend the night huddled together in fear whilst rich people systematically rape and pillage the rest of society with zero repercussions.
The World WON’T Believe How SAFE China is! (Americans Shocked)
“I live in Los Angeles. It’s true that I will not go out walking around after dark by myself. It’s definitely not safe. I don’t understand why the government cannot do anything effectively about homeless people, zero-dollar shopping, and all sorts of hate crimes. I hope Chinese people continue to enjoy the freedom of walking around in the cities day and night without worrying about safety.”
My friend is a police officer and what he told me was surprising: the thing that gets most criminals caught is often simple stuff—usually with their car.
Speeding. Expired license. Broken brake light. Turning without using your signal.
Stupid stuff.
Officers need probable cause to pull you over. So at night, when many criminals are out, they just look for these little things.
Once you are pulled over, the officer runs your name in their database and asks you questions. He notices you acting weird while you churn out lies while darting your eyes around nervously. He notices the slight smell of crack coming from your car because you couldn’t leave it at home. But just to be sure, he has a drug dog come and sniff the car.
It all starts with something as simple as that license plate tag you were too lazy to update, which has a new color cycled in each year, to immediately call you out.
I see it happen over and over again on bodycam videos on YouTube.
Most criminals aren’t these genius conniving psychopaths you see on TV. They are generally quite stupid.
In March of 2022, former US Army Soldier Jericho Skye, made the decision to leave his young child and family behind, and go fight for the Ukrainian government.
An avid mass-media consumer, he was convinced that Russia’s “unprovoked” war was merely the start of a bloodthirsty campaign for global conquest.
The photogenic Californian was killed in battle yesterday, along with NINETEEN other “volunteers.”
I am not sure about you but I don’t think any military background would have helped Huawei’s founder in any way to survive and fight the most powerful nation in the world, because he does not lead an army, but a private company.
I would think it is his engineering background that’s behind his success,which translates to a single-minded purpose to transform factual information and physics into something that benefit Huawei’s customers more cost effectively and efficiently. This is the true cornerstone of Huawei’s success.
Even when his daughter was detained/kidnapped by Canadian authorities to blackmail him into submission,he did not immediately confront the unfairness of the detention, as what all hot-blooded military folks would do, but instead make him want to motivate his company to continue producing high quality products for the consumers. He took three years to reorg and rally his staff to launch the Mate 60 Pro and Mate X foldable smartphones recently, despite U.S. sanctions.
He probably foresee what’s coming, as he had wanted to sell Huawei to Motorola back in 2003, knowing Huawei will one day challenge America’s high tech Infocomms hegemony … but Motorola was not keen at that time and the deal was called off. After that he held an after-event-review and asked his employees if they wanted to sell the company again and the majority gave a no-vote.
Thus he decided so be it, and warned his employees they will one day battle the most powerful nation on Earth.
He’d never looked back since. The rest is history.
A woman found three kittens running right up to her, and knew they needed her help.
My sister asked me right before my father’s funeral as she was processing his final arrangements if I wanted to be buried next to him when I pass away myself. I felt that question was a self-serving, insulting slap in the face to me. My father and I had a very toxic relationship. We didn’t speak to each other the last 2 years of his life, although I was gultt-tripped by the family to attend his deathbed and funeral. Going all the way back to my early childhood, my sister, mother, stepmother, grandmother, and everyone else in the family have made it clear my dad matters more than me. Once he was gone, I couldn’t even enjoy the quiet relief from his emotional abuse of me in peace without having yet another female made on me, although I told my sister to go to Hell.
With Huawei Mate 60 Pro, the writing on the wall is clear: China’s chip ecosystem can make the chips to power the 5G technologies to meet current market needs. . . .and producing its own high end lithography machines can be achieved in as short as 5 years.
ASML should be shitting in their pants right now.
If Huawei can make do with 7nm node and work with chiplet technology in packaging to boost power and utility for the next few years, this means that U.S. chips will not be needed by China. And when the U.S. chip companies are decimated in their prime market and bankrupt, where else can ASML sell their machines to?
Weak or even the collapse of the EUV machine market will mean choking off the large capital funding needed for their even more expensive NA EUV machines. All these can collapse on its own immense weight within these 5 year period. ASML does not have the luxury of time.
‘To hell with spinelessness!’ | Neil Oliver
Neil Oliver shares his thoughts on the climate agenda.
Africa is an imaginary place to most people. A lot of commentary about Africa is a fictional genre that reveals more about the writer than the subject of their analysis.
If Europe was written about like Africa, it’d be a place that Arabs and Turks colonised, then an Austrian and Corsican did evil stuff before Uncle Sam saved them from themselves. They’d best watch out for dreadful Chinese and Russian propaganda! Europeans are a bit childlike, you see.
With that out of the way, countries can’t help each other. They can trade, but that is mutually beneficial. By sheer proximity European countries have paid more for African products than China has.
Even now, my country sells more to Spain than we do to China. It’s their dollars that funds our imports of Chinese widgets. Last I checked, Britain was also our largest source of foreign investment.
Much is made about infrastructure, but it’s one of those topics where people have more opinions than facts. The infrastructure explosion across many African countries is downstream of their increased prosperity and the expansion of global financial and industrial capacity.
China Civil Engineering is one of many foreign and domestic contractors vying for construction contracts from the Nigerian government. But it is ultimately Nigerian taxpayers financing the construction. I bet it’s no different in other African countries.
Infrastructure is also an investment. For example, a consortium of American internet firms have built out the underwater internet infrastructure linking Africa to the world. They’ll recoup their investment from increased usage and selling access to their property.
Similarly, a Chinese firm granted a port concession will recoup their investment through port management fees.
There is richer, more informative story waiting to be told once people drop their caricatures and deal with reality.
Dell’s Revenue Collapses After Losing Chinese Market Share De risking Became Destruction
Dell has lost China as its market share plunged posing an existential challenge as Lenovo, a Chinese company, has about 3x higher market share in China and growing. Dell is moving out of China as it cannot survive against the competition against China’s local companies due to the usa’s de-risking policy. Without components from China however makes Dell uncompetitive against China’s local companies. Going out from China Dell loses the huge China’s market forever. The de-risking policy shoot Dell in its foot as it struggles for survival.
Back in the 80s, I lived alone in a cheesy one-bedroom apartment in a building full of apartments rented to gay guys. I developed significant friendships with these men; one of them eventually became my “maid” of honor at my wedding, and we are all still in contact to this day. I was alone in the city and these men became my family. We were always hanging out in one apartment or another and I rarely ate dinner alone.
image 25
Back in the 80s, our 24-hour Walmart was still a fun place to hang out. If we were bored, we’d all pile in my car and go to Walmart; half a dozen gay men and me.
One December weekend afternoon we were just hanging at Walmart. Some of us were picking up Christmas gifts but mostly we were just enjoying the Christmas displays and each other’s company, cutting up amongst ourselves. We landed in the Christmas toy aisle.
Oh, lo, and behold, hey guys come check out the fire truck!
It was metal, and heavy, and fully as long as my arm. Bright red, it was built to resemble a real fire truck, not a cartoon truck. And it was covered with buttons labeled “Try me!”
By God, it was the coolest thing. One button sounded the siren. Another button and we heard water gushing out of the hose. Another button and we could hear the fireman admonishing the driver to go faster. Sound effects for everything: a 911 call reporting a fire, tires screeching around the corner, firemen calling out to rescue the cat. Probably two dozen buttons worth of sound effects. By God, it was the coolest thing.
The seven of us crowded around this fire truck; for five minutes we repeatedly punched buttons, crowing with delight.
Finally, the old lady standing behind us asked to be excused and pushed between us to grab three of the fire trucks. “If it keeps seven adults that amused, it might work for my grandsons.”
I was tearing down my old house, and building a new house. I got some outrageous estimates for tearing it down. I live 80 km from the nearest waste transfer station that would take this kind of material, so the hauling was expensive.. It was surrounded by trees, that I wanted to keep, so I couldn’t burn it down. I was talking to a neighbor about how much it cost to tear it down, but that looked like my only option. He talked to my other neighbors, and then on my birthday, the whole neighborhood showed up and helped tear down the house. One guy worked construction, and brought out a 40 foot dumpster container for the waste. We kept a fire like a large bonfire going, small enough to not be a threat, but big enough to burn a lot of tinder dry 80 year old wood . We filled the dumpster with the crushed shingled roof, windows, hot water heater, insulation, and kept burning as much wood as the fire would take. One neighbor brought over a Bobcat to pack everything into the dumpster. Others had sawzalls, cutting the walls into manageable chunks. My wife was BBQing up a storm. One neighbor who was disabled brought over 10 pizzas for the crew. Others hooked their winches to the walls and brought it down.
Some people hauled stuff away, my refrigerator became someone’s beer fridge, etc.
One neighbor stored all my furniture in his garage.
One neighbor let me plug an extension cord into her house, so we didn’t overload the little generator I had.
Another neighbors leant me in his bigger generator.
It took one day, a lot of burgers and pizzas, and my neighbors had saved me a small fortune.
Would your neighbors do this for you? I couldn’t believe my neighbors would do it for me.
BRICS: Bank of China opens branch in Saudi Arabia, New World Order
If you are dumb to asked this question you should take my advise. First open up every product to ensure 100% nothing is made in China. Check the materials. And every single parts need to be sent to a laboratory to check.
Any part of any items with even a small oration or materials made in China as throw it away. Yes you should absolutely not buy anything made in China. China don’t need you. You can throw everything you have and China still has 7 billion customer.
You and your six racist friends can keep buying and keep throwing everything away for all we care. You can burnt down your home because chances is the materials. Are China made, the wall paper U.S. Chinese made, your paint is made in China. Stop asking redundant questions no one gives a shit of your hate.
We don’t gives a shit if you think Chinese products is bad, inferior, trash or dangerous 175 out of 195 nations has China as their biggest trading partner and 7 billion out of 8 billion use a Chinese product 23 out of 24 hours a day. You are as insignificant to China as a one of the germ on planet earth. Get it through your thick skull.
why am I speaking out for China part.1
Once you get past his accent, it’s a very nice perspective.
Huawei is taking up the leadership in various tech fields, from autonomous vehicles to semiconductors. Huawei is moving so fast, the US has little chance to catch up, let alone compete. Huawei has gone beyond its original mandate of telecom gear and is now a strong voice in the EV sector, cloud computing, semiconductor design, production and all the attendant software and hardware items needed for the complete supply chain to produce semiconductors.
Huawei’ unannounced sales of its Mate 60 Pro with its Kirin 9000s chip during US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo’s visit to China stole the show. Not only is the chip self designed and produced in China, but it features no US parts. In fact, the messaging in the semiconductor sector is continuous and fast moving. Not only did SMIC produce 7nm chips, but TSMC is now taking orders from the mainland for 7nm chips.
Further, Samsung is set to rebuild its China semiconductor factories, Micron is expanding its Xian plant, Intel and Qualcomm have created ‘ innovation centers’ in China, and TSMC is expanding its Nanjing fab. Rumor has it that TSMC may acquire or build a couple more fabs in China. A rebellion is taking place to flaunt Biden’s bullying and destroying any effort to quiet the rise of the semiconductor sector in China.
Mission accomplished
Love this!
Tex-Mex Ravioli Casserole
This dish is good as is, but for an extra pop, serve with a dollop of sour cream and a few jalapeno slices.
21db8a7579330a52b6afb804232b4161
Ingredients
1 (16 ounce) jar mild salsa
1 (10.75 ounce) can tomato puree
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 (28 ounce) bag frozen cheese ravioli, unthawed
2 (19 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
Instructions
Combine salsa, puree and cumin.
Pour 1/2 cup of sauce mixture on bottom of a lightly greased 2-quart baking dish.
Top evenly with frozen cheese ravioli. Layer with black beans, chopped cilantro, green onions, and remaining sauce mixture; top evenly with cheeses.
Bake, covered with aluminum foil, at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes or until bubbly.
Remove foil, and bake 5 more minutes. Let stand 5 minutes.
Right now the Chinese government and companies are striving to make tech breakthroughs in all areas: the most recent example is the launch of the Huawei Mate 60 Pro 5G mobile phone, which was made completely without using any US technologies.
As a result, share prices in tech companies have gone up.
The current trend is to let the air go out of the real estate balloon, while building up the tech sector.
China is also welcoming investment money from Saudi Arabia and UAE, while the US is forcing US tech companies to cut back on their sales and investment to the Chinese market.
Niger France Uranium Operations Shutdown As US Ambassador Is Given 48hr Ultimatum To Leave
Why would you send an ambassador to or insist on being in a country you don’t recognise the regime? The US and France definitely have something under their sleeves.
The State Department said on Friday that the US government had seized the vessel and its cargo of 980,000 barrels of crude oil, alleging it was transporting Iranian oil to China in violation of Washington’s sanctions against Tehran.
It further claimed that the US government obtained a warrant earlier this year for its seizure.
On April 19, around the time of the seizure, the vessel’s owner, Suez Rajan Ltd, pleaded guilty to sanctions violations and was fined $2.5 million.
Subsequently, the Greek vessel’s operator, Empire Navigation, agreed to cooperate with US authorities and ordered the ship, located in Southeast Asia at the time, to take its load of oil to the United States.
The commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy warned on July 20 that any oil company unloading hundreds of thousands of barrels of seized Iranian oil sitting in a Greek tanker off the coast of Texas would be held accountable.
Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri’s remarks came on the anniversary of Iran’s confiscation of a British-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz in 2019 after Britain seized an Iranian oil tanker off Gibraltar.
A few days after the seizure of the M/T Suez Rajan, Iran’s Navy seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Sea of Oman, which was carrying Kuwaiti oil for the second-largest energy company in the US.
The oil tanker, named Advantage Sweet, had been involved in a maritime accident with an Iranian fishing craft, which resulted in the injury and missing of a number of its crew.
After the collision, the oil tanker attempted to flee the scene in serious breach of international laws and regulations, which require the provision of medical treatment and supply of proper and sufficient medicine to seamen in case of sickness or injury.
After sitting off the Texas coast for months, the Suez Rajan began the hours-long ship-to-ship transfer of its oil to another tanker, the MR Euphrates, on August 21.
The newly released court documents confirm the US government then seized the oil.
Speaking to reporters at a press conference on August 21, spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry Nasser Kan’ani emphasized that the Islamic Republic won’t remain silent on any violation of the Iranian nation’s rights, will show an appropriate reaction, and will “cut off the hands of violators.”
He reminded the parties that have plans to confiscate Iran’s oil to review the history of Iran’s actions in similar cases.
“Measures that involve attacking oil tankers carrying Iranian oil are a brazen example of piracy,” Kan’ani stated.
The United States and its allies have been seizing Iranian oil cargoes since the previous US administration of Donald Trump withdrew unilaterally from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal in May 2018.
In the early 1970s I was at a cocktail party. There was lots of standing about in small groups making small talk about nothing consequential. I was introduced to one particular person who was from Canada.
When in other countries myself, I have often been asked by strangers, when they discovered I was Scottish, if I knew their aunt, or uncle, or cousin or some other random relatives. No one seemed to realise that Scotland has a population of 5 millions and it was impossible for me to know everyone who lived in the same country as myself.
With the above in mind while chatting with this Canadian visitor, I made a joke saying “I won’t ask you if you know my friend Billy who lives in Canada”. We both laughed at that and talked about other things. A couple of hours later we had both circulated through various other groups and came across each other again. We had both run out of meaningless Smalltalk and simply smilled at each other.
Our Canadian guest then broke the ice by saying “Aren’t you the one who has a friend living in Canada? “
I responded yes, in Toronto.
He asked where in Toronto.
I replied, Missauguia.
He asked, where in Missauguia.
I replied, 26 High Cliff Drive.
He looked surprised and said, “Do you mean Billy Skinner. I live next door at number 24.”
On the night of August 23rd 1987, 16-year-old Don Henry and 17-year-old Kevin Ives decided to go hunting in Alexander Arkansas. It was believed, at 4 am the two boys were in a horrific accident when they were hit by a train.
It was determined to be a horrific and tragic accident by the state medical examiner, who said the boys were sleeping on the tracks due to marijuana intoxication from smoking 20 Joints. Those were his words, and the authorities closed the case.
Anyone that knows anything about weed would see that as a major red flag. The parents didn’t accept this finding and had a second autopsy done which showed the boys only smoked one joint and they were already dead when they were placed on the tracks. Don Henry’s shirt showed evidence of a stab wound and Kevin Ives had his head smashed in with his own rifle.
The theory is the boys stumbled upon a drug smuggling operation that was run by crooked cops and town officials. Several witnesses that came forward with information died under mysterious circumstances with each of the victim’s bodies examined by the same guy who first examined the two boys.
The prosecutor for the case Dan Herman, was arrested for drug dealing and was implicated as one of the murderers. Keith McCaskill was another man implicated but died when he was stabbed to death by an unknown attacker.
Phil And Tony Sitdown With Carmine Lupertazzi Jr – The Sopranos HD
Phil Leotardo And Tony Soprano Sitdown With Carmine Lupertazzi Jr.
Of course. China is the cause of all of the USA’s problems.
See how the white cops keep killing black people in the USA – this surely is China’s doing.
Observe the mass shootings that plague the whole of the USA – at schools, malls, supermarkets, churches, pubs, cinemas, workplaces – this too must be China’s doing.
Did you know that the USA’s literacy rate has plunged t0 78%? (Developed countries usually have a literacy rate between 95 to 100%). China must have caused this.
Look at the ever-increasing number of homeless people living in tents in the streets of the USA. We know that this is China’s fault.
US engineers say that many of the bridges and roads and other public infrastructure in the USA are “crumbling”. Why didn’t China take steps to stop this?
In the USA, even the water pipes are leaking lead into the supply of drinking water at public schools, poisoning the children. China must be blamed!
Look at how Americans hate each other! Even families stop talking to each other, because some are Democrats and some are Republicans. Once again, China is guilty.
The average life expectancy in the USA keeps dropping! Americans keep dying at a younger age. Becauae they are more and more obese these days and; their healthcare system is too expensive. Surely China had something to do with this.
Women in the USA even have problems getting birth control and abortions! The infant mortality rate AND the maternal mortality rate in the USA have fallen to the levels typically found in developing countries. Let’s blame China for this too.
But not to worry. The USA still has more gender pronouns than China. So the USA will prevail.
I served as an infantryman in the army…. I don’t usually share this kind of thing, but I do have one “confirmed kill” to my name that I’m sure of. I think this an important topic, so I’m going to explain a little about my service.
My unit had many enemy KIA’s, and I’m sure my bullets were in many of them, but I’m happy not to know for sure. My one “confirmed” was from less than 3 feet away, and I wish like hell I could pretend there was a way to spread that out over my fire team.
I’m proud of my service. I’m proud of the men I served with. I’m proud of a lot of things I did when I served…. I’m not “proud” I had to shoot someone. I’m not proud of any of the potential “kills” I may or may not have had. …I’m happy the men I served with came home. I’m happy that my wife doesn’t understand my nightmares or my anger, or my need for hyper-vigilence (i.e. paranoia). But one thing that will live with me forever is searching through the possessions of a young man I KNEW beyond a shadow of a doubt I killed…
I still am angry at the situation. I still shake and feel nauseous. At the time I got a reputation for being cold because I DID search his body when we got the all clear. The reality was that I didn’t want someone else to have to do it. I took “Intel search” duty for the rest of the deployment. Most of my battle buddies looked relieved they didn’t have to. Some were angry at themselves for feeling that way. None of them were going to go home and brag to a friend about it. Let me repeat that…
NONE OF THEM WERE GOING TO GO HOME AND BRAG ABOUT IT!
We didn’t talk about killing others amongst ourselves. We actively avoided such topics.
Some of us started waking up in the middle of the night. I definitely did. I went for walks. I went to another room. I made something to eat. By the end of the deployment, we’d have midnight card games. We weren’t sleeping anyways, and it was something else to think about. We told inappropriate jokes, we complained about the heat, we talked about women and home. We never talked about what woke us up.
Your friend could be a psychopath that truly didn’t feel anything when someone else died. He could be claiming every kill his unit got, and never losing any sleep over any of them because they were never personal. He could be a sadist, and truly enjoyed killing the people he did.
Or he could be lying.
I have to be honest, I hope it’s the last one. For his sake, I honestly hope it’s that.
It has been years, and I still don’t want to talk about some of the things I had to do so I could come home. Writing it here is the closest I’ve ever come. Even if no one reads this, I do feel a lot better for having written this down.
BRICS is an economic organization where all nations are treated as equals.
How does that make BRICS dependent on China?
China and India have border disputes, and Chinese companies have repeatedly been sanctioned and fined by the Indian government, but they still manage to work together for BRICS.
If BRICS were too dependent on China in any way, India would be the first to complain, but that has not happened.
The US has changed completely in the last 30 years
Their Motto in the 1990s was
I want to Win
Their Motto today is
I don’t want to Lose
2022
image 26
This reflects the Chinese Semiconductor Market today
China still imports more 28 nm, 14 nm, 7 nm and 5 nm Chips than it makes domestically
Yet it makes most of the 45–450 nm Chips on Earth
2015
image 27
This is the same market in 2015
See the Difference?
China was importing a lot of 45 nm Chips , a good amount of 90–260 nm. chips and almost 96% of it’s 28 nm Chips
In a mere 7 years, China developed advantage in 45 nm Chips, a near monopoly in 90–260 nm Chips and 40% of it’s 28 nm Chips, up from 8% in 2015
Directly proportional to the Anti China Rhetoric from the West
The Moral of the story is
You don’t provoke such people by cutting them off
You keep giving them best chips which are far better than their home made chips so that THEIR CHIP INDUSTRY NEVER GROWS BEYOND THE 28 NM CHIP
If TSMC keeps giving their best Chips to China, China would never have their own Chip Industry
Sure Huawei may be developing it’s own Chips but others won’t cooperate because they would get better chips easily available
Instead by throttling access, you allowed China to innovate and slowly they managed to crack cost efficient stacking to make the 7 nm Chip domestically
Plus the 5G Modem
If you keep doing this, they innovate faster and harder
It’s inevitable
So the US should end export controls on Huawei and flood China with 5 nm Chips and ensure that it makes no economic sense to invest billions into semiconductor chips
All restrictions must be removed and free market competition must ve established
If that happens, US has a 50–60% Chance for continuing their tech dominance for a few more decades
If they keep doubling down and imposing more stupid restrictions, China will take over in a decade or 15 years tops
Today, while driving, I saw an accident on the road.
A “garbage granny” (one of those old ladies that are in their 90s or so that collect garbage for coins) was “hit” by a truck in the middle of a busy intersection. Now, you all must know that these folk have a reputation of driving and waking in busy highways with the intention of getting hit, and then being awarded free medical care, and financial reimbursement.
Now, this particular granny looked fine. But she just sat there in the road next to her pile of garbage with this expression… “I’m waiting. Come get me and give me my money”.
Meaning; “Everyone knows what is going on, and why I meander in the middle of six lanes of traffic. This driver was the fool that hit me. He will now fund my life, and there isn’t a damn thing anyone can do about it.”
Ah. I shit you not.
China.
Love it, or hate it. But it is 100% unique, that’s fer sure.
The mother left her 1-year-old child in an abandoned house, but after 10 years she returns there and discovers something that makes her cry
Residents of the Russian city of Yaroslavl will never forget an incident that took place more than 10 years ago.
However, it started when a neighbor heard a baby, crying in a nearby house. He didn’t think much about it and continued with the things he had to do that day. But the next day, the baby kept crying.
No neighbor didn’t see anyone in the house where the crying came from, and the lights were never on, not even in the evening.
But at that point, the neighbors started to worry and called the police.
They came and when they entered the house, it was completely empty inside. Those who had lived there had taken everything and disappeared. The only thing they had left behind was their own child!
The one-year-old girl was found on the dirty floor and it was clear she had been there for several days.
An investigation showed that the girl’s name was Liza Verbitskaya, and her parents seemed to have entered the ground, no one could find them.
Liza was taken to hospital, where she recovered in a few days. In the same hospital was a woman, Inna Nika, who was taking care of her sick son, her mother was sitting at his head day and night, but one day she heard a scream from the next room and went to see what it was all about.
She saw Liza and her motherly instincts asked her to protect and take care of her. From that day on, Inna visited Liza daily and brought her clothes, toys, food.
One day, Inna visited the little one and noticed that she was no longer in her hospital room, then found out that she had been taken to an orphanage. She also went to the orphanage to see her, but then it was clear to her that she had to adopt her!
When the adoption documents were completed, Liza was two years old and still had problems with chewing and was traumatized, she could not stand the loud noises. While growing up, Liza had darker skin than her relatives, but now she is beautiful. She became a model and, thanks to her story and modeling career, she became known throughout Russia. People who laughed at the way she looked bit her tongue when they saw her win, as a teenager, more talent contests.
Now that she has become famous, her biological mother tried to contact her but was not allowed. Liza received the woman’s phone number, but she’s still wondering if she wants to meet the one who left her. Our respect goes to Inna, an adoptive mother who turned out to be the hero in the life of this abandoned child, but with such a special destiny!
Well seeing that they’ve built their own bank, for transactions without using the dollar, using concrete, bricks, steel and glass, that looks fairly concrete to me,
main qimg 5f48a3622daf54d74eacbba6e40f6f08
It’s certainly big enough for every member to have a representative office in the building, you can see even the building next door is connected. So it’s very big,certainly plenty of concrete,
First Time Reaction to Oliver Anthony – I Want To Go Home
In this video, TNT reacts to Oliver Anthony – I Want To Go HomeOliver Anthony – I Want To Go HomeOliver Anthony – I Want To Go HomeOliver Anthony – I Want To Go HomeOliver Anthony – I Want To Go HomeOliver Anthony – I Want To Go HomeOliver Anthony – I Want To Go HomeOliver Anthony – I Want To Go HomeOliver Anthony – I Want To Go HomeOliver Anthony – I Want To Go HomeOliver Anthony – I Want To Go Home
What is actually happening in California is actually an interesting case study.
First, the state of California is enormous – close to 40 million people. Most of them are pretty urban, concentrated around the coastal cities (Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, San Diego), with a growing number of large and mid-sized suburban and exurban areas (especially spreading east and north of Los Angeles).
For the first time in its history as a state, California lost a US House seat in the 2020 census, and has actually seen a net-net decline in its population. Many of those leaving are middle class people who, despite the plentiful jobs here, find the cost of living too daunting. I live in San Francisco, where the median price of a house recently got close to two million dollars. And for that money, you are not going to get one of the picturesque Victorian homes overlooking Alamo Square. You are going to get (most likely) a 1300–1500 square foot house that was pretty cheaply constructed in the 1940s or 1950s with three small bedrooms and a bathroom, maybe a half bath.
If you have kids, then you are most likely going to have to choose between putting them in a poor to terrible public school or shelling our more for private school (we were lucky – our son scored high enough on the tests to be admitted to Lowell High School, a ‘magnet’ school which is among the best in the state).
It’s a city where a family of four with an annual income of $150,000 qualifies for low income housing. If they can get on the list.
People are not leaving California because of the liberal politics (we could of course argue the role that those politics play in the current situation) or the taxes. They are leaving because the cost to live here – including the ambient and rising crime – is not worth it.
Some (the largest share) are actually leaving the cities for other parts of California – Sacramento, the central valley, the deserts east of LA – where a family that is solidly middle class can still (sort of) afford a traditional, middle class life. Still more are going to Oregon or Washington or Texas. Recently, many more have moved to Florida, to the glee of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
(NB: One of the answers incredibly remarks that Californians are not going to move to “Cleveland or St Louis or other MAGA strongholds,” which of course is true. The comment is laughably wrong because, of course, few Californians are moving to the midwest, because they are moving to places that economically are growing; they are not moving due to politics. And Cleveland and Saint Louis are not “MAGA strongholds.”)
They are not taking “their jobs” with them, mind you. They are taking their tax dollars and the electoral power.
But here is the hidden truth:
this is not really “new.” In fact, for close to 30 years, net domestic migration in the state has been negative.
Net-net, there are more than a million more people who have left California for other states than the other way round. Most are going (as stated) to Texas or Arizona. The outflow of middle income Californians (and Californians with families) has been hidden for two decades by waves of foreign immigration. So despite the gap of (in some years) more than 100,000 people, the state continued to grow.
Due to COVID and other factors (the growing economies of Asia, for example), this is no longer the case.
Without foreign immigration, California is going to see a significant drop in population.
What does it all mean?
First, if trends continue, what we are going to see is growth in the top (many people moving to California are doing so chasing high-end jobs, like AI engineers or medical researchers) and at the bottom (a large number are also low and unskilled workers coming to take entry-level jobs). That is going to make California’s already terribly skewed wealth inequality even worse. There will be more wealthy enclaves that can afford private security, private schools, privately funded infrastructure. There will also be more crowded sub-standard housing, crowded, poorly-performing schools, and deteriorating public infrastructure.
It’s not really too much of an exaggeration to say that the economy in California more and more looks like a third-world country, with a few super wealthy people, a lot of poor people barely hanging on, and a small number of people in the middle who struggle to justify staying here.
With such wealth and capital inequalities, I strongly suspect that the social fabric here is going to fray. The wealthy, insulated from the problems of the poor, will carry on thinking that everything is fine. Crime – especially property crime like car break-ins and home robberies – will grow, but will not really affect the rich and powerful.
The “Hollywood elite” (and other super-wealthy) will be just fine.
The other truth is, life in California is very nice if you can afford it. The weather in the coastal cities is close to perfect. The geography – coastal mountains, beaches, redwood forests – is beautiful. The diversity of people gives us incredible choices in food and culture. The state is home to the UC system (the best public schools in the country) as well as Stanford and CalTech. The knowledge industry is driven out of Silicon Valley, and the entertainment capital of the world is in Southern California.
Originally Answered: What are things you shouldn't do in life?
Don’t abandon someone suddenly after giving them attention. It kills them.
Don’t waste your time by stalking your ex on fb or checking people’s ‘last seen’ on WhatsApp. If they want to talk to you, they will. If they don’t, they won’t, even in a hundred years.
Don’t compare yourself with anyone. You and the rest are so different, that when you realize it, a comparison won’t even be possible.
Don’t ignore your body and health.
Don’t miss out on important engagements – Birthdays, weddings, your child’s first performance, your dad’s retirement party, reunions – its these events that make the fondest memories.
Don’t take things personally. Even if you know its personal, don’t take it personally. Then you win.
Don’t be rude to your parents. Or siblings. When everyone else will run for cover, its your family that will stand with you as you drench in your storm.
Don’t force someone to be in your life. Let them go, if they want to.
Don’t find reasons to be unhappy. It doesn’t pay to be sad. It pays to be joyous.
Don’t underestimate the power of people. Network.
Don’t let anyone make you feel badly about yourself. Always know your good things and your flaws. Accept them. Correct them. Or don’t correct them. But don’t let anyone else capitalize on them.
My fiance suddenly stopped breathing, went into a coma and remained that way for 10 days; after numerous hospital tests we found out there was no blood flow to his brain. We removed his life support and donated his organs.
Since he was only 35 years old when he died, and a former DJ popular in the Chicago and Detroit areas, the funeral home was packed full of people for his wake. One of his childhood friends, we’ll call him “Jack,” was in need of a kidney transplant and VERY sick, and we were able to directly donate his kidney to Jack. Due to the organ donations, autopsy and other things that had to happen prior to the funeral, the wake was scheduled a week after my fiance passed away. During that week Jack received the transplant and was able to make it to the wake.
He stood in front of my fiance’s red casket and spoke of his health issues and how he had given up hope, believing he wouldn’t be around much longer. Now, my fiance had given him another chance at life and Jack would be able to watch his 4-year-old son grow up. Jack’s son was there too, and walked up to him and held his hand during the speech.
I was already an emotional wreck, but through my tears I glanced around long enough to see that there was not a single dry eye in the funeral home at that moment. Though I questioned how I would go on living without my best friend and my lover, Jack provided a ray of sunshine during the wake that day and reminded us all that my fiance would live on in all the people he helped save with his organs.
Awesome Beef Stroganoff
classic beef stroganoff 3051443 Final 5bacdeb4c9e77c0025142dc9
Ingredients
6 cups uncooked egg noodles
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 pounds beef sirloin steak, cut into thin strips
1 package onion or roasted garlic gravy mix for steak
8 ounces fresh mushrooms, quartered
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 (10 ounce) can beef broth
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (for garnish)
Instructions
Cook noodles according to package directions-keep warm.
In a large heavy bottom pot, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add meat and brown.
Sprinkle gravy mix over meat.
Add mushrooms; sauté for 5 minutes.
Stir in tomato paste and broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes, or until thickened, stirring occasionally.
Remove from heat, and stir in sour cream.
Top with parsley and serve over hot cooked noodles.
I remember my grandfather telling me the story of buying his first home, and how stressful it was. He was working as a teacher making $2,500 per year, and was trying to figure out how to budget so he could afford to make the payments on the $5,500 house he just bought.
If he had managed to get his hands on $50,000 back then, he probably would have thought he was set for life — a mere 5% return would have matched his annual salary, and he would never have to work another day.
Obviously that plan wouldn’t have worked out — what he made in a year back then is less than most people make in a month today.
Right now, $1 million is about equivalent to what $50,000 was in his day, where a 5% return would put you right at the median income. And, just like in his day, that won’t be enough for someone in their early 20’s to make it to retirement age. In another 50–60 years, one million dollars will be the median household income. Minimum wage will be $200k a year, and it still won’t be enough to support a family.
The only way $1 million will be enough to retire on is if you don’t plan on living that long.
If you think that’s impossible, just remember the story about a how a teacher from Massachusetts once mortgaged a $5,500 house on a $2,500 annual salary — a house that today would fetch about $950,000.
AMERICAN RAPPER REACTS TO -Oliver Anthony – Rich Men North Of Richmond
By “see around them,” I’m literally talking about the people I see here in Chicago. I’m not talking about global poverty or people I don’t literally see with my own eyes.
Compared to the majority of people in my city (Chicago), my family is doing very well for ourselves. Yet there are entire zip codes in this city where practically everyone lives in poverty.
My wealth and their poverty are unrelated. I didn’t steal my wealth from them. I’m not the one failing them. Their political leaders—none of whom I’ve ever supported or voted for—have been failing them for generations now. The concentrated poverty in parts of Chicago is the completely predictable result of political policies enacted by politicians who get almost universal support from those same areas.
There’s been a huge increase in the number of homeless people, beggars, and refugees in the parts of Chicago I travel through on a regular basis. I am actually about to run my Sunday morning errands, and I already know which intersections will have which beggars. I’m not exaggerating when I say that literally every single major intersection (where two two-lane roads meet) has at least one beggar now. Some of one at all four stops at the intersection.
Again, my relative wealth and their poverty are unrelated. The system has failed them. I am not the system.
One intersection near me has a man who begs on the street, while his wife and child sit nearby on the sidewalk. According to his sign, he is a refugee from Guatemala. Assuming he got here via the normal refugee channels, his family has been failed by the governments of at least three countries (Guatemala, Mexico, the USA), two states (Texas and Illinois), and now one city (Chicago). I did not fail this man and his family. Several dozen politicians did. My wealth, or lack of it, would not have changed anything for this man.
I give food to the homeless sometimes. I donate to my church’s food pantry on a regular basis. I never give cash directly to the homeless.
I also have A LOT of money taken from me via taxes which, in theory, should be used to help those in need. The problem is, of course, that, unlike when I give food to the homeless directly, the taxes which are taken from me go through the hands of politicians on its way to help the needy. Shockingly, very little of it ends up helping the needy.
And a lot of the “help” the needy get from the government is designed in such a way as to create dependence on that help. I’m not saying that’s intentional. I’m not saying it’s not intentional, either.
I’m just saying that when I see this:
2023 08 21 09 31
But I also see scenes like this increasing all around Chicago:
main qimg e35c3fee03b03e90b86956599cecfa05
And I think about how much the government takes from me in income, property, and sales taxes every year, I realize pretty quickly that I’m not the problem here. I should feel no shame for my lifestyle.
Taking all of my family’s wealth away wouldn’t help poorer people at all. In fact, it would likely make things worse for them, at least here in Chicago. Chicago needs all of the upper-middle class taxpayers it can get. The single worst thing that can happen to a city is for it to lose most of its wealthiest citizens.
Just ask the citizen of, say, Gary, Indiana, or Detroit how well that worked out for them, when anyone who could afford to leave town did so.
This house went viral last year. The highway was located in Zhuhai in Guangdong province. It seems the government had offered the owner 8 million RMB (around 1.4 million USD) to move. The owner refused. Rumor had it the owner thought the government would give him 10 million. But the moving cost has actually exceeded the cost of the (section of the) highway itself. So the designers revised the design to build the highway around this house.
It seems that the owner had eventually moved out of this house to a government-provided location. But the highway was already built.
My First time hearing Oliver Anthony – Rich Men North Of Richmond
2023 08 21 07 36
Chinese mainland suspends mango imports from Taiwan
main qimg 2ed2adec156c72a0413b4e7986bdc31a
The Chinese mainland has decided to suspend the entry of mangoes from Taiwan starting Monday, according to a mainland spokesperson.
In accordance with relevant laws, regulations and standards on the mainland, the decision by the General Administration of Customs was taken as a scientific and reasonable biosecurity precaution, said Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council on Monday.
The mainland had informed the Taiwan side of the decision, Zhu said, adding that Taiwan is urged to further improve its phytosanitary quarantine management system.
Since 2023, customs authorities on the mainland have detected Planococcus minor, a quarantine pest, in mangoes from Taiwan. This pest could pose a serious threat to agricultural production and ecological security on the mainland.
This is Cobalt-60, the most emissive radioactive isotope currently known. As far as I know, it’s also the only one with a label that says “Drop and Run.” It’s used to sterilize medical equipment and can quite easily sterilize you within just a minute or 2 if you held it in your hand.
There is a stand-up sketch by Ricky Gervais, in which he overhears two morbidly obese American women sitting in a plane. One of them is eating a bucket of KFC chicken, and tells the other:
“This is the best chicken I had all day.”
main qimg 95f6548b1c236e3fe0ac469ba45e0186
We just spent some time in the US, and on one of the last days, we grabbed a movie in a dine-in movie theatre in Las Vegas. (The Meg 2 — don’t ask.) When a waitress came to take our order, we asked for the smallest size of popcorn they had. She had a hard time understanding the question (“why order the smallest size ?”).
She kindly explained that they only had one size, and that was a bucket.
With the three of us, we managed to eat about a quarter of the bucket, but we saw other people finish an entire bucket on their own.
I think this is one of the main reasons of America’s obesity problem: Americans eat by the buckets. In many restaurants, the portions of the food are so grossly exaggerated that it is hardly a mystery why so many Americans are (morbidly) obese. Same for soda drinks and the like.
And besides that, American food is in general much less healthier than your average European or Asian food, due to less strict food regulations and the enormous amounts of added sugar in virtually everything.
Add to that the fact that Americans stopped walking altogether (so to speak), and that more and more, the obesity pandemic is embraced instead of fought. In the places I have lived in mainland Europe, I have never seen a morbidly obese person ride around in a trolley (such as in the picture), but you see them on a daily basis in the US.
Instead of actively losing some weight, such people simply step into a trolley because walking has become too hard. The woman in the image is twenty-three, by the way.
So there you have it: Buckets, Trolleys and Sugar.
The problem is BTS.
For the People! Oliver Anthony – Rich Men North Of Richmond- Reaction
China hopes to do so, China is trying to do so, but it’s no longer an easy task for China to do so now.
There is an old Chinese saying, 树欲静而风不止, which means “the trees may prefer calm but the wind will not subside”, or “the trees long for peace but the wind will never cease”.
main qimg 9fc02bbea780b3ca08accff68a465b0d pjlq
Just like the picture I took in the Summer Palace in a windy day, if the wind is too strong, how could the tree stay calm? Just impossible.
The smear campaigns initiated by the US and followed by some other Westeren nations, are the wind, getting stronger recently as Joe Biden has indeed rallied them once again.
China is the tree. Its roots are still stable in the soil, its major branches are still steadfast, but it really can’t hold all its smaller branches and leaves still. And sometimes, it has to even sacrifice some of its smaller branches and leaves if the winds are way too strong and turn into storms.
But, as long as the roots and main branches are still healthy, strong and steadfast, new branches will sprout out next year!
My grandma passed in 2022, my father had passed in 2020. In her will she had it to where my 2 brothers and I inherited my dad’s 3rd. We were also to be included in any decisions on her property. My 2 uncles thought since they were co executors that everything was now theirs and they didn’t have to say anything to us. They gave away and took a lot of her belongings before I found out. I went to a lawyer and told him what was going on. I then called my uncles and told them they HAD to include us. They said “well, our lawyer says we don’t have to.” I called their lawyer and told him what they said. He immediately went and called them and said they were wrong. My 1 uncle gave his stepchildren first dibs over us and any of the actual grandchildren. The stepchildren who wanted NOTHING to do with my grandma or our family got first dibs. Then they tried to auction off my grandma’s house and 200 acres without telling us. I found out and called lawyers, everyone knew I wanted the house and 10 acres. They were trying to sell it behind my back. Grandma did not have any debt. So they were just being stupid. In the end, they were granted to sell 190 acres. We bought the house. 114 years of family history in this house. I have not heard an apology from any of them. Our trust in them was broken. At this time, they are not allowed at my house.
A man in China has been using a club as a nutcracker for 25 years, until he realised what it was actually used for. A man living in the Shaanxi Province in China was given a gift by a friend and for 25 years he didn’t know what it was.
The mans favourite treat was Wallnuts and the gift was perfect for cracking open the shells. He figured his friend know off his love for nuts so gifted him a club to crack them open, and for 25 years he used the club thinking that’s what it was intended for.
main qimg 82f9cab4c71db1a1045cf5bb81d0da6f
It wasn’t until he seen the nutcracker on a Government flyer identifying dangerous, prohibited explosives when he realised the club wasn’t in fact a nutcracker, but a Chinese type 67 hand grenade. The grenade which was a nicknamed the Potato masher, was invented by the German Army during World War 1.
The hand grenade had a explosive device at the top with a pulling string running through it to a cap at the bottom. Pulling the string lights the fuse before being thrown at the enemy, but in this case it was used as a nut cracker for a quarter of a century.
The Man Who Discovered a Lost Ancient City In His Basement
A man from Derinkuyu, in the Nevsehir province of Turkey was renovating his basement. Using only a sledgehammer, he broke through one of his walls; and felt cool air coming in from the other side. Inside he found a small room-sized cave. This area of Turkey has complex cave systems so he thought he accidentally stumbled into one. He didn’t. That first small room — was only the beginning.
I was 17 years old. I was driving drunk, with five other kids in my car. It was 1970. We had bought two cases of beer (illegally, of course) and it was pretty much all gone. It was about 1 AM.
We came to the main intersection in the small city nearest to where I lived. There wasn’t a single car in sight. Oddly, there was a cop in the intersection, presumably directing whatever traffic there was. Perhaps the stoplight was not working; I have no recollection.
I stopped at the light (working or not). At which point my friend Ralph, who was 15, leaned out the back seat window, yelled out “Fucking cop,” and threw an empty beer bottle at the policeman. It landed at his feet, where it smashed into pieces.
The policeman calmly walked over to our car, at which point Ralph started yelling “I didn’t do it,” which was rather obviously a lie. The policeman had me pull over. He told all of us to get out of the car. As he did this, one of the passengers, Denise, started explaining to him that she was from another planet. The cop ignored her. He told us to take all the beer bottles out of the car and place them on the hood of the car. When we ran out of room there, we put them on the roof. There were 46 empty bottles and one full one. Ralph asked if he could please drink the full one. The cop said no. Then he had us take them all to a nearby garbage can and dispose of them.
Then came the truly amazing part. He talked to us. For about five minutes. He explained that when he was our age, he also did stupid things. But he never drove drunk. He explained how dangerous that was. He did not tell us to swear we would never drive drunk. He simply told us that he was going to let us go. He did not even say how much trouble we could be in for underage drinking and drunk driving. He did not have to.
Finally he asked if there was anyone among us who was sober and had a driver’s license. My older brother did. He had us get back in the car, handed my brother the keys (which he had taken away when he first stopped us), and told my brother to take us home.
And that was all.
Even then, I realized the officer was an exceptional cop. He gave us a second chance when he could have ruined our lives. I never properly thanked him. So if, by some miracle, Officer Roger Strickland of the Freehold, New Jersey police force is still out there—thank you from the bottom of my heart. I think you would be proud of how my brother and I ended up (I have not seen any of the others in my car that night for over 50 years). All the best to one of the best.
Bacon-Wrapped Filet Steaks Topped with Roasted Garlic Butter
4cbe9402d282a4029e0135e868cf0c9f
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
12 large garlic cloves, peeled
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small chunks
Kosher salt
3 1/2 teaspoons chopped chives
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
4 (6 to 7 ounce) filet steaks, about 1 inch thick
4 very thin slices of lean bacon
6 inch wooden skewers or toothpicks, soaked in water for 10 minutes and patted dry
Instructions
Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
Place peeled garlic and olive oil in 1-cup, ovenproof ramekin, soufflé dish or custard cup. Cover dish tightly with aluminum foil and place in oven. Roast on center rack until garlic is golden and very tender and soft when pierced with knife, about 30 minutes (start checking cloves after 20 minutes and then every 5 minutes until done).
With slotted spoon, remove garlic from bowl and reserve oil. Place garlic, 1 1/2 teaspoons of the reserved oil, butter and 1/8 teaspoon salt in food processor or blender and process, pulsing machine on and off for 30 seconds or less until garlic is coarsely chopped and blended with butter and oil. Transfer garlic butter to small bowl and stir in 2 teaspoons of the chives. (Garlic butter can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature 30 minutes before ready to use.)
When ready to cook steaks, oil a grill rack and prepare grill.
In small bowl, stir together 1 teaspoon kosher salt, coarsely ground black pepper and thyme. Rub both sides of each filet with some of this seasoning. Then wrap each steak around its sides with 1 slice of bacon. Skewer bacon in place with wooden skewer or with 2 to 3 wooden picks.
Grill steaks until lightly charred on the outside and until bacon is cooked, about 5 minutes per side for medium-rare.
When done, remove steaks from fire and place on warm serving plate. Remove toothpicks.
Top each steak with 1 generous pat of roasted garlic butter and sprinkle with some of remaining chives. Butter will start to melt and season the steaks.
I am from India and recently visited China. In india we use to blame the population for all our problems. But China had no issues of it. Atleast not in its urban areas. The people there respected rules and have high value about their culture. They take care of their health and have a proper diet. I don’t know what you mean by uncivilized. But if there are uncivilized Chinese I am sure it’s because they are exposed to western culture and those who embraced west including Indians are certainly uncivilized.
OLIVER WHAT THE F**K!!!!! | First Time Reacting To Oliver Anthony – Rich Men North Of Richmond!
I put in an order for tools for work. The order was for myself and two coworkers. Hundreds of dollars worth of tools, including getting one of our newbies set up with good kit so he didn’t have to scrounge for tools like myself and the other senior tech.
Toolup split the order into two shipments, which is fine I guess. The first package arrive with one wire stripper and one screwdriver. For weeks the other shipment showed “in processing”. Finally I called asking where the hell my tools were. They had no idea. After several days of calls they figured out that six weeks prior the shipper had been unable to locate a fucking Air Force base and sent the order back. Toolup refunded the purchase, but made absolutely zero meaningful contact with me about it. I’d been deluged with promotional crap, but I double checked. The last contact I had about my order was “in processing”. This meant that I missed the purchase window and funding got pulled so I can’t reorder my tools for at least a year.
So in the end they literally tripled the amount of paperwork I had to do by forcing me to amend all my prior paperwork and also process the return credit, and I still don’t have my fucking tools because they utterly failed to do any sort of meaningful follow up communication.
Personally or professionally I’m never doing business with them again.
My ex boyfriend and I dated for three years through college. He had been abusive, emotionally, physically and sexually. We had broken up many times. We finally broke up for the final time when he punched me and the RA had found out and told the college officials. It was his last year of college. I was brought into the deans office. It was up to me if he should be kicked out of college. This was a private college and in the early 90’s.
I told them not to kick him out of college. I knew if I had, he would have killed me. He graduated. One morning I woke up to find that someone had broken into my house, and my earrings that he had given to me were gone. Nothing else was touched. Then the phone calls started. Mind you he had supposedly left town to move back with his parents until he left for grad school. “Hey, I liked that flowery dress you were wearing last night.” Yes, I was wearing a flowery dress the night before. Or .”I can see you wherever you are at all times of the day.” Or “ I am sorry to hear about your cat.” Wait, what?? Only to find out my cat at my parents house was missing. And never found.
I started dating someone else. Then it was, “please tell ____ that I know all about him, and I am watching.”. We found out from friends that he would be coming to the area to fly out of LAX to go to grad school at Harvard. By this time the police had been notified of everything that had happened, and they told me that bc he hadn’t harmed me physically, there was nothing I could do, but it would be a good time to get out of town for the weekend. This is how I met my new boyfriends family. I was in hiding. They lived in Northern California.
We came back to school. The phone calls stopped and then the letters started. The anger, was now put into writing. How dare I hide away from him .He went out and bought a gun and he was looking for away to use it, etc..
I started to work as a nanny that fall. One time as I was getting the kids ready for school on a Monday, the kids went outside to wait so I could walk them to school, I had to get something for the baby inside. I came outside and as we were all walking to school the little girl who was in the 4th grade said, oh your friend says hi. I was like what friend, who knows I work here. I said oh, did this person have a name, no, he just said a friend. I immediately went into that place of panic. I kept my cool, and I asked what he looked like, and yes it was him, he had found me.
Not a lot happened to me after that. I did find out that he had gotten kicked out of grad school for raping someone, and he had been fired from a few jobs. Karma?
Oliver Anthony Rich Men North of Richmond Reaction Video
Not only one time, but every time all of my children are over for a family get together. I don’t consider myself dumb, I graduated high school with honors, I have worked hard all of my life so far, was taught to use common sense by my parents and married a wonderful, smart, and hard-working lady, and we have four children. As they grew up and progressed through school, they have each chosen their own path.
Our oldest son is an I.T. computer “nurd” and works from his home running the I.T. help line for a division of Sony helping any embedded I.T. techs solve problems they cannot solve themselves.
Our oldest daughter just received her Doctorate in Nuro-psychology from Yale University and is proving to be an innovator in the field with her front-line work to advance innovations in Alzheimer’s research.
The youngest Son is a 2018 honors graduate from The United States Military Academy at West Point, Captain, and Company Commander, in the U.S. Army, Working on his master’s degree in military history.
Any our youngest daughter just graduated with honors with a degree in teaching drama and starts her first teaching position next week.
All four are extremely intelligent and found vastly different careers, and when they are together the conversations are so far above my head I can only sit there and smile.
I smile because I look around and think to myself “How in the world did I get so lucky?” And then I realize “it is all thanks to my wife, and God.”
A few months ago I was in the Liaoning province in northeastern China. We met the CEO of a smart city there who was offering us rent-free premises for 3 years, a low interest loan [2%] and cheap electricity if we choose to build our robots there.
Chinese governments really believe that industrialization is crucial to mass employment and need to woo not just large companies but SMEs too.
In contrast, Indian general public attitude towards industrialization is often poisonous. The bureaucrats are too slow to move, the politicians often careless and the common public think “industrialists” make a lot of profits, who just needs to be taxed high.
It is far harder to start a factory in India and the interest rates are substantially high. Land prices near major cities are through the roof and the infrastructure abysmal. Thus, industrialists are not able to fully tap into India’s lower wages.
Indians often moan about the low rate of innovation in India. We moan that very few things are made in India. To really make in India, the society has to put industrialization at the highest priority. It cannot be seen as lower priority compared to agriculture and other sectors.
WHAT IN SOULFUL PAIN IS THIS?! (ADHD Reaction) | OLIVER ANTHONY – RICH MEN NORTH OF RICHMOND
We begin today with a discussion on what the United States actually is.
It is a bully, and a liar, that is based on a system of deception; a shadow play of puppets. All supported by the largest propaganda system in history. And all of it; MM included has (up until very recently) believed it all lock, stock and barrel.
So it is fitting to begin with today’s brilliant podcast by Neil Oliver.
Who knows what will come next for the West…
HEXAGON
In April 1972, when a “data package” sank into the Pacific Ocean, the U.S. Navy dispatched the Trieste II Deep Sea Vehicle I (DSV-1), its most advanced deep sea submersible at the time, to recover the item. In reality, it was “part of a film capsule from an American photoreconnaissance [spy] satellite codenamed HEXAGON.”
According to the Freedom of Information Act Electronic Reading Room, a malfunction was responsible for the incident. A parachute was supposed to deploy once the film capsule, or “bucket,” having reentered the atmosphere, was over the primary reentry zone near the Hawaiian Islands. Instead, the parachute broke off, and the bucket fell into the ocean, sinking on impact to a depth of about 16,400 feet (5,000 meters).
NO ONE HIT WONDER HERE!!! OLIVER ANTHONY – I WANT TO GO HOME (REACTION)
I think people are getting upset because he’s waking people up and they don’t want to be woken. It’s time guys. We can’t keep living like this and accepting it. It’s happening around the world and we need to make a change.
IMF Just Shocked The World And The U.S With This Move!
It wants to overtake and dominate the Chip industry within a decade and it will. No perhaps, not may be, not hopefully. It will. Meanwhile it will take over the low and medium end market for chips in 3–5 years and totally bankrupt the U.S. and its cronies chip outfit.
Let me give you 2 perfect example of never ever doubting and never try to cut China out act by the U.S.
One, The U.S. the congress in the most childish and hubris behaviour, decided to bar China and Chinese on its U.S. space station in the 90’s. In that in one single racist act it motivated China to build its own space station and it did within 15 years.
And today the Chinese space station is a fully functional and well developed space station that is better, build faster and using far less resources. It uses better and more advance technologies and it is open for the entire world including the US for the betterment of humanity. For me shame on the US. The US coincidentally will retire the US space station within 5 years leaving the Chinese Space Station as the only one for the coming decade.
Two, The GPS. The US threaten the US that it can and will cut out nation that refuse to be submissive and subservient to the US in not too many words. That statement and threat itself motivated China enough to developed its own GPS within a decade of the US threat. Today the Chinese Beidou has way higher resolution, and accuracy up to a meter compared to the GPS functional up to only 10 meter! Today 150 out of 195 nations use Beidou. Instead or with the GPS. All within a decade.
Marked my word. Within a decade the US will lose so much in Chip business, market share and profits that it will forever regret the nonsense and ludicrous Chip policy under President Biden. To me China was willing to share a loaf of bread with the US but it is the US that wants to deprived China. So China should say fine, they will dominate. The entire Chip industry. In a decade. I will bet every cent I have on China winning.
I had a boss who was a narcissistic D-bag. Everyone knew it.
I finally had enough after yet another useless meeting set up just to stoke his ego. At that point somebody decided to jack him up a bit.
Somebody hung around his office until they saw him leave for a meeting with the company president. They knew it would take a while and he would leave his precious laptop open on his desk.
No they didn’t hack into it or delete any files. They did one better.
They had a firecracker set aside for this specific opportunity.
Somebody cut the firecracker open and sprinkled a bit of gunpowder lightly on his vowel keys and between the keys on his keyboard. They then lightly wiped it clean to hide the evidence.
I heard that the next time he took a flight he was flagged by TSA screening. Something about explosives in his laptop.
He missed his flight and had to replace his laptop.
I have always wondered who that “somebody” might have been. Certainly not me writing on an open forum like Quora.
OLIVER ANTHONY – I WANT TO GO HOME (REACTION)
He’s so authentic with angst, pain, confusion and he’s fed up like soooo many of us!!
Brisket in Coffee-Barbecue Sauce
867f0f8a8b65b137dcca1c34ce969057
Yield: 10 to 12 servings
Ingredients
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 large Spanish onion, minced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon tomato paste
7 tablespoons light brown sugar
5 cups brewed coffee
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1 (28 ounce) can peeled, chopped tomatoes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 (4 pound) brisket
Instructions
In a medium pot, heat 1/4 cup of the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until soft and golden brown, about 7 minutes.
Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the red pepper. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring frequently, about 1 minute. Stir in the brown sugar. Pour in the coffee, vinegar, and tomatoes; bring to a boil; and then lower to a simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Working in small batches, transfer the tomato-coffee mixture to a blender and puree. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
Heat the oven to 275 degrees F.
Season the brisket with salt and pepper. In a Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid, heat the remaining 1/2 cup oil. Brown the brisket on both sides. Drain off the oil, leaving the brisket in the Dutch oven. Turn the brisket so that the fat side is facing up and then coat it with the pureed tomato-coffee mixture. Cover the Dutch oven and place it in the oven. Bake for 3 hours, basting frequently.
Remove the lid and bake uncovered until the brisket is glazed and very tender, about an hour and a half more.
Remove the brisket and set it aside to rest for 10 minutes, covered with foil, before slicing thinly across the grain.
Compilation of the #1 Song in America!!! Oliver Anthony – Rich Men North Of Richmond
Post a harsh criticism against a political leader, any leader not just Modi
Compare him to some clownish character or demand that he step down
Under your real name
I am a very ordinary lawyer, yet I promise that unless you are an MP, MLA, Civil Servant, Minister or Wealthy Industrialist/Businessman, Military Man or Senior Cop :-
I can get a simple complaint with some influence filed through a specific lawyer and you will be arrested and you will be humiliated in front of your family and workplace
I guarantee it
All I need is a friendly cop and once he knows you are an ordinary commoner – he will happily file an FIR
He then writes to the passport office and you don’t get a passport
He can place you on the blacklist through a friendly SP Or State Home Secretary and you can’t get a US Visa or Schengen Visa or Singapore Visa for life
You would spend the next 6 months to 3 years in horror before a High Court quashes the case
I will come and look sheepish and say I got emotional while giving the PCR and the judge will admonish me and fine me ₹10K
You would have spent ₹3–6 Lakhs, maybe more
And I am an ordinary enrolled lawyer who doesn’t even actively practice
Imagine a powerful practising lawyer or a powerful cop if you antagonize one
Imagine if this is done in Begusarai Or some random place in Kerala
Imagine working in Infosys and two cops arrive and haul you out in front of your friends and drag you into a waiting jeep
Their response if questioned will be
We got a complaint we followed it up
So a simple malicious connected official can destroy your life if you are a commoner even if you earn ₹20 or ₹30 LPA
Your company will drop you like a hot potato
NOT IN CHINA
No Malicious officer or lawyer can try anything like this
The law is black and white
Evidence is specific and very strictly specific
So even if a case is registered, it will be dismissed in seconds if it doesn’t violate the laws
The official or lawyer would be roasted
So you understand?
In India the Law reads fairer
The System is utterly and totally loaded against the innocent average man
In China the Law is harsher
Yet the System protects the innocent average man
So the next time someone on Quora says he can post criticism freely in India
Ask him to do it under his own name and ask him if he is willing to test the fairness of the Indian system against a malicious prosecutor or entity
In China – the Law is very fair
It’s very harsh yes but very fair
No malicious person except high ranking CPC officials can come after you or spoil your life with lies
Evidence counts for a lot
1:45 / 14:42
‘We’ve all been watching the longest-running show of modern times. But it might soon be all over’
Neil Oliver: We’ve all been watching the longest-running show of modern times. But soon the show might soon be over, as more and more of the audience, especially in the cheap seats, are becoming restless, aware of how uncomfortable their seats are.
The US spends way too much time and effort looking out into the world, not nearly as much looking in the mirror at what the US has become.
The result: hard outside, rotten core
No longer able to keep running the marathon while the tank is on ‘E’.
Americans are far more focused on countering the other major political party in America whenever we are looking in.
We want our team—our little tribe—to be victorious.
Countering China’s rise?
We failed at rebuilding Iraq and Afghanistan…after more than 10 years and how many billions upon billions dollars spent? thousands of lives lost?
Americans are so disconnected from reality that even that experience hasn’t shaken us from our delusions of grandeur.
What will? who knows—maybe the next great Recession will offer a bitter dose of reality.
But even then perhaps we will still go on believing in our triumphalism, with all our rags, evictions, foreclosures, abandoned properties, and pink slips
America today is more divided than I have ever seen it.
Individuals and companies and our own government are swimming in an ocean of debt with—until recently—out of control inflation.
Countering China’s rise?
Maybe we should check the plumbing and wiring in our own house first?
This is why this hit a nerve… Oliver Anthony – Rich Men North Of Richmond (Reaction)
I have a cousin who was passioned by Japan since a very early age. He subsequently studied Japanese culture and language at university, and then decided he had to go after his big dream — live in Japan and become a part of Japanese culture.
But my cousin was used to living in The Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and France — the Western Burgundian world in a nutshell. And that also translated into the fact that he loved to enjoy life, far above enjoying work, and succeeding in it.
In fact: he even enjoyed to be unemployed when it suited him back in those Western days.
In the big city in Japan though, that kind of non-philosophy did not work out.
Although he was embraced in the very beginning, his way of “interpreting life” was spit out and on by his Japanese company, because he simply could not follow the exuberant pace by which Japanese people were living — are rather: working.
And after a while, he was excluded from the city society as an outcast.
In the old Western world he came from, he would have been helped, but now he was considered as a lost case, as if he was diseased, and no one would touch him — afraid to be infected.
In the end — in the most embarrassing episode of my cousin’s life — his dad and younger brother travelled to Japan, and got him out of there. By then, he was living in an almost depraved way in an apartment the size of a closet.
He suffered from a major depression when back, and had to leave his Japanese dream for good.
Because now he understood, that he didn’t understand.
Neocons CRUMBLE as China DESTROYS the US-led Unipolar Order
I remember I once opened the mail box and saw the electricity bill and the first thing I noticed was the paper was a different color.
Not the envelope, the bill. And poor people know what the means…notice of disconnect.
main qimg e6c06b18dc1d51de356c6f6c67b485bd lq
(Google)
As I held the bill in my hand, I could feel my anxiety ramping up as I frantically searched my mind and counted backwards to the last time I paid. I could swear I just paid it.
But it’s a bill, we always feel like we just paid it! Because we did! Right?! Then there’s the fear of checking your account to find, not only do you have no money, but less than no money. Your account is negative and you haven’t paid that particular bill in months.
It wasn’t purposeful. You just spaced it.
I sit the bill on the bar and pace back and forth, for hours before I finally get the nerve to open it.
Then I snatch it up and rip it open like a present. Very unlike my normal polite, trimming of one end and shaking the letter out.
And I was right!! The bill is red! Not just red numbers on a white page. A red sheet of paper! I just about have heart palpitations.
I unfold it through half squinted eyes and read.. “Happy Holidays to you and yours! From our team and we would like to Thank You for being a valued customer for all these years.”
After years of abuse, poverty, homelessness and then stability. Christmas Greetings can send me spiraling at the hint of a different color inside the envelope.
Poverty traumatizes on so many different levels.
BRICS DEFEATS The WEST
2023 08 23 15 38
https://youtu.be/0jKQcw-b0-I
British Guy Reacts to Oliver Anthony “Rich Men North Of Richmond” REACTION!
Adolphe Sax had earned the nickname “Little Sax the Ghost” due to the abnormal amount of accidents he was in. Even his mother believed he wasn’t meant to live, and all she foresaw was a tragic end to his life.
2023 08 21 08 53
He was plagued by an unusual amount of misfortune from a very early age. At just three years old, he drank a mixture of white lead, copper oxide, and arsenic, believing it to be milk. A few months later, he fell down three flights of concrete stairs and hit his head on a stone below, both times he was lucky to walk away.
Then he swallowed a very sharp needle that he was able to pass without puncturing any vital parts. As he got a bit older, he fell onto a red hot stove and suffered third-degree burns down one side of his body.
When he was ten, he fell into a river and barely escaped drowning. When a container of gunpowder exploded in his father’s workshop, he was blown across the room.
On several occasions, he nearly died from accidental poisoning and asphyxiation due to sleeping in a room where varnished furniture was drying.
His last known brush with death happened when a tile fell from a roof, hitting him in the head and causing him to fall into a coma.
main qimg 96741f761c9f604400b6b987323a9b80
Despite all this misfortune, Adolphe went on to invent some notable musical instruments, the most famous being the Saxophone.
HE’S SPEAKING TO US! Oliver Anthony – Rich Men North Of Richmond
2023 08 21 08 46
Mustard Glazed Brisket
Starts on the stove top, finishes in the oven for tender Mustard Glazed Brisket every time.
2023 08 21 09 00
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients
1 (3 to 4 pound) boneless beef brisket
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 large onion, sliced
2 stalks celery
8 black peppercorns
4 whole allspice
1 bay leaf
3/4 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons prepared mustard
Instructions
Place brisket, garlic, onion, celery, peppercorns, allspice and bay leaf in a large soup pot. Cover with water. Simmer covered 3 to 3 1/2 hours until tender, adding water as necessary.
Remove brisket and place in a roasting pan with 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid.
Combine brown sugar and prepared mustard. Salt and pepper brisket and spread with the mustard glaze.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes at 350 degrees F until glaze bubbles and is browned.
Pegasus spyware
According to declassified documents, Alejandro Encinas, Mexico’s Undersecretary for Human Rights, advised President Lopez Obrador that Pegasus spyware had been found on Encinas’s own cellphone and those of two others in his office. Encinas had been investigating the mysterious “disappearances of hundreds of people,” a New York Times article explains, which occurred during the “Dirty War” that the Mexican military conducted in the 1960s and 1970s against a left-wing insurgency.
Initially, U.S. officials considered the Mexican crackdown to be understandable, Kate Doyle reports in her 2003 article “Human Rights and the Dirty War in Mexico.” And the U.S. assured Mexico that it “had no intention of pressing [Mexican President Luis] Echeverría about it.”
However, this stance changed in 1978, when U.S. President Jimmy Carter ordered the White House to conduct a sweeping review of U.S.-Mexican relations and learned that “the White Brigade and other security force elements… sometimes ignored [both] the human rights of [terrorist] suspects and Mexican judicial procedures,” torturing and executing such individuals, with the results that “200-300 persons [had disappeared] over the last decade.”
Only now, three decades later, is Mexico beginning to come to grips with the fact that the government was responsible for “torturing and murdering its own people.”
Chris Webby – North Of Richmond (Remix)
What Makes Certain Wine Unbelievably Expensive?
The price gap is supply and demand, for certain prestigious brands.
So first of all, wine comes from grapes; and grape quality is dependent on many factors. Weather of course, but also soil, water, light, heat, and grower skill/decisions. AND of course, the actual grape vine.
Old vines produce less fruit – thus, smaller production, BUT generally more concentrated and intense. Younger vines produce more fruit, but you have to prune them – the amount of pruning affects the concentration and quality of the juice you get. If your options are ‘n’ cases of wine at $60/case (wholesale) or ‘n/3’ cases at $120, you’re probably going to prune sparingly to get as much juice and wine as possible, without creating garbage. On the other hand, if you can make truly great wine and have a name for yourself, then the options are ‘n/3’ cases at $1000, or ‘n’ cases at $1000 – for a year or two, and then the price per case drops down to $100 because nobody trusts you anymore.
Then you factor in the slope of your land and composition of the soil (acidity, water retention or runoff), the light, the use of pesticides, mulch, etc..
So now you have some amount of good-quality grapes. How do you make wine? Do you make wine that’s going to mature over 10-50 years, or wine that’s going to be drinkable about the time it hits the market, late next year (like about 90% of the wine sold)? The former leads to more expensive wine, and is harder to sell – BUT if done well, can establish you over time as a top-notch winemaker. Or drive you into bankruptcy even sooner.
So this pretty much determines the pricing for most wines between $8 and $80. Above that, things get…complicated.
If you’re in Bordeaux for instance, your vinyard is likely ranked by the government. Your wine has to meet certain standards of quality and composition, and much of it is historical. There are, for instance, only five first-growth houses, and only one of them was not defined as such in 1855. (Chateau Mouton-Rothschild, which got promoted in 1973). If you’re one off those, or one of a limited few others who have a similar cachet, you can pretty much name your price. The thing is, most of their wine is sold on futures at auction, so basically it’s “as much as someone is willing to pay.”
HE DONE DID IT AGAIN!! | OLIVER ANTHONY – I WANT TO GO HOME
About the image above: The Quora "profile" of a troll that attacked one of my posts.
Notice that he used a revolving profile set up back in 2013. Never used before. No activity at all.
He's a human. Not a bot, and spent a considerable amount of time attacking me personally, my comments, and China.
Ne is gone now.
If you post anything on Social Media, you must be serious about troll, and bot removal.
We are “in the change”.
It is HAPPENING.
Over the next few weeks I will include many reaction videos regarding the various songs by Oliver Anthony. I am placing them here because they are such a MAJOR catalyst to the change that is starting to ignite. Listen to what the people have to say.
He has a number of songs, but Americans have gotten a voice.
But…
It is going to get far, far, FAR worse economically for Americans in the upcoming years. You see, the world is dropping the USD, and with each drop, American USD inflation rises.
At some point it will go into hyper-inflation.
And REAL change is going to be forced upon the reluctant American government. Brace yourself, no matter where you live.
DC says its “little bads” , with a possibility of “middle bads”. But… it is going to be a bumpy ride. Strap yourselves in. You all will come out of the storm clouds intact, but everything will be changed.
Meanwhile, the USA government is going full-on clown show…
The USA government clamps down HARD on “independent reporting”
2023 08 24 09 57
Independent Women CRAWLS Back To Men For Help After Being Fooled Into Feminism
2023 08 19 16 45
Coca-Cola Glazed Kielbasa
Coca Cola Kielbasa
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1 green bell pepper, thinly sliced
2 rosemary sprigs
1/3 cup honey
1 tablespoon yellow mustard seed
2 pounds Polish kielbasa sausage
1 (12 ounce) can Coca-Cola Classic
Rosemary sprigs for garnish
Instructions
In a 5 1/2 quart Dutch oven over medium-high heat, heat the oil until hot. Add the onions, green bell pepper and two rosemary sprigs. Lower the heat to medium and cook until the onions are nearly translucent, about 3-5 minutes.
Stir in honey, mustard seed, and sausage. Pour the Coca-Cola over the sausage and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, uncovered, until the liquid is absorbed and glazes the sausage. This will take about 30 to 40 minutes. Stir frequently to prevent the sausage from sticking.
Remove the rosemary sprigs from the Dutch oven and transfer the sausage slices to serving platter. Garnish with fresh rosemary sprigs.
Notes
Variation: Substitute red wine or dark beer for the Coca-Cola Classic; chorizo or andouille sausage for the kielbasa.
I would like to answer for a friend who is not on Quora. She overheard a conversation, and solved a crime.
She found a lost wallet with a couple hundred dollars in cash, as well as credit cards and ID. She also found the owner’s address in a nearby town to mail the wallet back.
We worked together in a company that had a mailroom, so she packed up the wallet, with everything intact, and explained the situation to Sal the mailroom guy, asking him to send it out with the days mail.
A week later, my friend was sitting in the bleachers at her daughters baseball game in that same neighboring town. The woman behind her was telling a friend how she had lost her wallet, and this nice guy Sal had found it. Although the all money was gone, she was happy to pay him the $25 he asked as a finders fee.
Incensed, my friend spun around and asked- “Excuse me are you Mrs. X?”
When she said she was, my friend told her the real story. My friend found the wallet, and packed it with all the contents intact. Sal, the mailroom guy, opened the package, took the cash, then called the woman and asked for $25 to bring her the wallet.
What are the odds of a crime being discovered by eavesdropping?
The wallet owner didn’t want him to be fired, so Monday morning my friend called Sal into her office. She told him that he had until noon that day to come up with the stolen cash as well as his $25 “finders fee”. He did, and my friend returned it to the wallet owner.
My friend did inform Sal’s supervisor, so he could keep a closer eye on him, and sure enough, within a month he was caught doing something else shady and was fired.
Another good reason not to steal, you never know who is listening.
Does Australia Want To Be A U.S Pawn In Aggression Against China
Surprisingly, we don’t know exactly how they copulate. They do this in flight, at several hundred feet altitude. Scientists can’t exactly go up there in some sort of light aircraft, fly around looking for ants on the nuptial flight, say “Oh there’s one!,” and fly up close to film them. It
seems almost unimaginable to study much insect behavior in high-altitude flight.
All we know is that winged virgin females and drones (alates) take flight—easy to observe at an ant colony—and within a couple of hours, they fall to ground, easy to collect if you know where and how. A fire ant specialist who was on my doctoral committee collected just-mated queen fire ants from city parking lots on weekends when the stores were closed. Myrmecologists (ant scientists) can examine these females and find sperm in them, so they know they mated on the nuptial flight. After falling, the queens shed their wings, searchfor suitable ground, and the few successful ones excavate the first burrow to lay their first few eggs. The males that fall from the nuptial flight simply die.
But no one has ever observed the actual mating.
Song Starts Global Movement; People WORLDWIDE “Get” What The Man Sings About . . .
As you read this, today is Friday, August 18, 2023. Two nights ago, on my worldwide TALK Radio show, I played a new song by Oliver Anthony called “Rich Men North of Richmond” and reported to my global audience that this song has struck a chord with common, everyday, working people throughout America. The next day, the song topped Apple Music Charts for GLOBAL distribution.
I take no credit at all for the song reaching the top of the GLOBAL chart, but I certainly hope and pray that I helped.
This song speaks to the real life, everyday struggle that you, and me, and every other common, working-class person, lives. It speaks to the reason for such struggle: The rich men north of Richmond (Virginia) – that is to say, Washington, DC.
The song has real global appeal and a user on Twitter, now called “X,” edited together a video of Podcasters around the world, all listening to the song together, online. Some of them actually had tears in their eyes.
I think it’s because they finally came to realize, we are ALL hit by the situations created by these “Rich Men north of Richmond.” NONE of us is immune. It is a struggle for ALL of us common folk. THe song brings to the forefront the realization that ALL these troubles, all the strife, all the fighting, all the division – pitting groups against each other – is ALL being done by the “Rich men north of Richmond.”
Below is that video of the Podcasters worldwide, of all ages, races, shapes, and sizes, listening to the song. Watch the reactions. It is soooooooo powerful. In those reactions, there are real tears from folk who KNOW how hard it is nowadays just to live. In their faces there is almost relief that THEY are not alone in this struggle; the realization that all of us are being affected, badly. And moreover, we are ALL so very tired of this bullshit.
Pepe Escobar: BRICS Summit DESTROYS Neocons as New Currency and Expansion Top Agenda
Pepe Escobar gives his assessment of the BRICS Summit and the prospects of an alternative financial system and expanded membership coming out of the historic meeting beginning August 22nd in South Africa.
I woke up early(well, that’s not true, I didn’t really sleep at all… lets say I got up) and met my replacement at the office at 630 the next morning to update him on several projects that i was working on at the time, including a $12k grant for technology for the department.
After getting him up to speed, I packed all of my personal effects and left before anyone else showed up at 8am.
By 9am I was at the workforce center signing up for my unemployment. By 11am I had applied for my first job. By 1pm I had my last paycheck from the city. By 2pm I was on the road to my PREVIOUS employer’s office to work on some consultation work for them.
In four months I got the job I am in now.
And overall… I am happier here than I can imagine I would have ever been there.
I let that agency and the ill-advised city council to struggle with their issues as I made the place I am a great place to serve while ensuring good service to everyone.
U.K on the RUN : China Takes Over as U.K exit Zambia Mines!
This is a real thing going on right now.
South Korea To Run “NUCLEAR ATTACK” Evacuation Drill August 23
The entire country of South Korea will stage a NUCLEAR ATTACK EVACUATION DRILL on August 23. Fifty-one Million (51,000,000) citizens are REQUIRED to participate to practice evacuating to shelters or underground safe spaces during the 20-minute exercise.
The drill, scheduled for 2:00 PM on Wednesday, August 23, will see many drivers required to pull over to the side of roads and the exits to subway stations closed with commuters required to remain inside, a statement from the South Korean Interior Ministry said.
“We expect to strengthen the response capacity of the nation through a practical drill reflecting the aspects of provocations of North Korea,” Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said in a news release this week.
The release said the 20-minute drill is part of a larger exercise to test the South Korean government’s response to potential threats including “advanced nuclear missile threats, cyber attacks, drone terrors, etc.”
The prime minister also called on South Koreans to take the drills seriously, something that hasn’t always been the case.
The Interior Ministry said 17,000 shelters would be open nationwide, and locations are searchable in popular Korean online apps.
The South Korean prime minister said the civil defense drill would be held in conjunction with large-scale US-South Korea military exercises that have drawn sharp criticism from Pyongyang in the past.
It will also come less than a week after South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol travels to the United States for a trilateral meeting with US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, where “the continued threat posed by” North Korea will be on the agenda, according to a White House statement.
Hal Turner Opinion
HMMMMM. Having a nuclear evacuation “drill” of 51 Million people into 17,000 shelters at THE SAME TIME as a large-scale US-South Korea military “exercise???????????”
Gee, it occurs to me that maybe that military “exercise” isn’t an “exercise” at all. What if they first-strike North Korea?
With 51 Million South Koreans already inside Shelters, and US-South Korean Troops already on-station and fully armed – seems to me it would be a perfect opportunity for the US to first-strike North Korea.
What better conditions would exist than the ones described above?
Young Women Are Furious They Were Fooled Into Feminism
This is surprisingly good. Go traditional marriage. All will be good.
My first real job was working as a Marketing Assistant for a Fortune 500 corporation (that you all have at least one of their products in your house).
The holiday bonus for everyone below a Director was to be invited to the cafeteria, in groups, to hear the “company” choir sing 3 Xmas songs and to have 3 cookies. And then you were rushed back to your desk/office…
This is the reality…
Meanwhile, in Washington DC.
2023 08 20 10 33
Neither Biden Nor Trump Americans Will Choose This Pro China President in New Election
This could very well happen. But most of the viewers of the video have doubts. You can see their disbelief in the comment section.
Yes, and I think about it often. After Hurricane Ike in September 2008 in Texas, none of us in the neighborhood had electricity of course. Our electric pole near our house was pulled backwards and we were told that when the power company came to fix their issues and reconnect, that it would need to be standing upright. I asked my grown nephew and brother in law to help us pull it straight. We couldn’t while the wires were attached, so they said we had to cut them. Scary thought, but we didn’t have power right? The voltage tester said we didn’t also.
I got the cutters and my nephew reached up and cut through the thick wires. At that moment, my sister drove up and said “Hey, the power is back!” She lives across the street. We were stunned. Somehow my nephew was still standing. It turned out that our wire was disconnected from the pole at the street as well, but we didn’t know that. And what if it hadn’t been?
I have a good answer. I hope it is helpful to you. So, the question is, what’s the biggest oopsie-daisy as we age?
Sitting on the couch and consuming crappy food like it’s your full-time job! An inactive lifestyle might seem cozy, but it’s a shortcut to health troubles. As the years pile on, a couple of surprise health hiccups can make getting active even harder. Next thing you know, you’re at risk for slips, trips, and yikes – even broken bones. All this can fast-track us to losing our mojo and independence. So, trade that remote for some walking shoes, and let’s keep the fun in our golden years!
Oh, I have even a piece of better advice; walk every day and lift some weights! It is the key to having decent health while aging. It is no guarantee to increase your lifespan, but as I have experienced the journey, it will create a decent life quality as we get older.
Took our VW Rabbit to a VW dealer for warranty work, When picking up the car I was told that it wouldn’t start and that the fuel injectors were replaced ($400). I refused to pay as this work was not authorized. Dealership said they had a mechanics lien on the car and would not release it without payment. I said I had a spare key and would leave. The dealer called the police. When the cops arrived, I asked the dealer to give me the old parts. He said that the trash had already been picked up. I then asked the dealer to show me (and the police) where the new injectors were under the hood (they should be clean, right?) After a few minutes the dealer emerged from under the hood with a puzzled look on his face. I then told the Cops that the car had a carburetor and not fuel injectors. I went home. The VW dealer went out of business some time later. It pays to know a little bit about your car!
First Time Hearing Oliver Anthony – “Rich Men North of Richmond”
A friend of mine is an automotive engineer – I don’t mean a mechanic, I mean a straight up engineer who fabricates his own parts, designs suspension systems, builds vehicles that stretch their length using hydraulics, steer with all four wheels, can lift a container full of products, that sort of thing. Really smart dude. If I ever decide to build a replica of the Tumbler Batmobile from The Dark Knight, he’s the guy I would have do it.
So what does he do with this knowledge? He opened a shop and builds custom trucks and mods race cars for people.
It’s a good business. He enjoys it and pays his bills on time. But he will never be rich from it.
There are only so many hours in a day, and the market price of his final product has a ceiling. If you’re doing individual builds like that, your income is tied to the clock. He only makes money when he is doing something with his hands. If he’s sick or injured or takes a day off, he doesn’t get paid.
Now, he’s made some really cool stuff along the way – things that could be sold separately and installed by someone else. Some of the things he’s made for customers in the offroad and racing applications could easily be produced and sold to distributors and retailers in the aftermarket auto space, even the little things like joints and brackets. Any of you Jeep/Classic/Muscle/Corvette guys out there know how many parts and accessory catalogs you get in the mail. It’s a $41 billion industry.
But he hasn’t done it, because he doesn’t think at scale. He only thinks in terms of labor and hours, and doing the job the customer is paying him to do.
Even something simple like a roll cage, he’s building them by hand every time. Every time a customer wants a cage, he takes detailed measurements, cuts and bends the pieces, welds it all together, and sends them on their way. It takes hours and hours of labor. If he would write down the measurements and cut ten of each piece at the same time, he could build ten cages on the ground in about the same time it takes him to build one on the vehicle, then sell the other nine as a ready-to-install product through all of those catalogs and websites – who will then put it in front of millions of subscribers. He could be making ten times the revenue for the same amount of work – and even that would still be pretty small-time, but at least it would be a step toward mass production.
I’ve tried to steer him in that direction. And his response, every time, is “Yeah, I know, I’d like to get to that point eventually, but right now I’ve got 10 more customer projects I have to finish.” He’s been saying that for the lastfive years.
If you want to make millions of dollars, you have to think at scale and not be bound by the limitations of your time and labor. Your product has to be working for you, not you working for your product.
Oliver Anthony – I Want To Go Home| REACTION *TEARS*
Everyone feels this.
Microwave Pepperoni
2023 08 24 10 13
Makes 4 (8 ounce) rolls.
Ingredients
2 pounds ground beef
1 cup water
2 tablespoons meat cure
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons paprika
1 teaspoon oregano leaves, crushed
1 teaspoon onion salt
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon fennel seed
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon Liquid Smoke
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
Combine all ingredients in large bowl; mix well. Divide mixture into 4 equal portions. Shape each portion into a roll, approximately 8 inches long and 2 inches in diameter. Wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate 24 hours.
Remove plastic wrap. Place rolls on microwave roasting or bacon rack. Cover with wax paper. Microwave on 30 percent power for 1 hour, turning rolls over and rearranging every 15 minutes. If necessary, continue to cook until rolls have reached an internal temperature of 160 degrees F.
Drain on paper towels. Cool. Wrap lightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate up to two weeks; freeze for longer storage.
Use as you would regular pepperoni in your favorite Italian dishes and snacks.
Saudi Arabia Just BROKE The Dollar – Record Treasury Dump.
2023 08 24 09 50
Saudi Arabia has dumped their holdings of US treasuries to a 6-year low. Even as a global recession nears, Saudi Arabia is diversifying away from dollar assets into risky investments like stocks. This underscores a big economic and geopolitical shift away from Washington and the world reserve currency.
The latest blow to the United States actually comes from Saudi Arabia no they aren’t pricing oil in the Chinese Yuan or the real yet but they are dumping a ton of their U.S treasury Holdings and this is a big deal.
America is starting to lose control of the petrol dollar and this is confirmed with Saudi Arabia’s move away from U.S treasury Bonds in a big update Saudi power of U.S treasuries at six-year low in shift to risk the kingdom sold three billion dollars of U.S debt in June as they move towards riskier assets and here’s the crazy thing this has been happening for years right under our noses.
From 2016 to 2020 the Saudis were piling on U.S debt they were taking their oil revenues and buying treasury bonds until it picked out at 184 billion dollars but now they have reverse Direction they have sold 76 billion or 41% of their entire Holdings over the last three years that’s even more aggressive than China and it’s all about the timing this comes on the heels of a De-dollarization wave across the global South.
2023 08 24 09 51
Saudi Arabia is losing faith in U.S debt and this is bad for the United States both in the short term and the long term. America is already borrowing a ton of money today racking up an incredible amount of debt in Q3 alone America borrowed one trillion dollars and is facing a fiscal crisis where they have no choice but to keep issuing bonds.
Will Saudi Arabia keep dumping the U.S treasuries and more importantly will they be joining the bricks very soon? Things are getting really interesting as we move towards the BRICS Summit this week.
BRICS could shift the global power dynamics in their favor by controlling the majority of the world’s oil and gas trade. The bloc is keen on expansion by allowing Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates into the group. The inclusion of Saudi Arabia and the UAE into BRICS could have a paradigm shift in the oil economy, as it could force other countries to drift away from the USD. Therefore, the first step of the de-dollarization process could begin with oil and gas sales.
A handful of oil-producing Middle Eastern countries have expressed their interest in joining the bloc. Apart from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, and Algeria are looking to join the BRICS. The five Arab nations represented 60% of the world’s oil reserves, and induction into BRICS could spell doom for the U.S. dollar.
If the BRICS alliance inducts all five oil-producing countries, it could control 90% of the world’s oil supply. This could lead to 90% of the oil and gas trade being settled in local currencies and not the USD. The international markets could subsequently shift away from the U.S. dollar and usher in a new era of global finance.
Accepting local currencies for oil and not the USD could fast-track the de-dollarization process. Countries in Asia, Africa, and South America are most likely to accept paying in native currencies rather than the USD. If BRICS controls crude oil, the U.S. economy could face hardships as the means to fund its deficit narrows. In conclusion, the upcoming BRICS summit holds the key to the U.S. dollar’s prospects.
Saudi Arabia is reportedly considering a large number of French-made Dassault Rafale fighter jets.
Such a purchase would be a break from Saudi Arabia’s long history of buying US and British jets.
This suggests Riyadh doesn’t think its traditional partners will be as reliable in the future.
Saudi Arabia has spent decades building an enormous air force composed exclusively of advanced US and British fighter jets. But Riyadh’s reported interest in potentially purchasing a large number of French jets may be a sign it doesn’t think its longtime patrons are as reliable as before.
In December, France’s La Tribune financial newspaper, citing unnamed sources, reported that Saudi Arabia was considering acquiring 100 to 200 Dassault Rafale fighters. The report came amid developments suggesting that the US and other nations might not provide military equipment to Riyadh in the future.
After Riyadh cut oil production in October, US lawmakers proposed legislation freezing all American arms sales to the kingdom, which could have grounded most of the Saudi air force and would further fray already strained US-Saudi relations.
In July, Germany announced it would not allow additional Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets to be delivered to Saudi Arabia. The Saudi air force has 72 Eurofighters, second only to the number of US-made F-15s it has.
Buying more Typhoons would be “the sensible move” since the Saudis have the infrastructure to train pilots and operate that jet, “but a German block prevents that,” said Sébastien Roblin, a widely published military-aviation journalist.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is “not currently inclined to throw Washington any free bones by ordering F-15EXs,” and despite an “about-face” by President Joe Biden, Roblin said, the Saudis know that future jet sales “could be disrupted by domestic political revulsion for Riyadh’s actions domestically or the war in Yemen.”
As bin Salman pursues a detente with his main rival, Iran, and improves relations with China, opposition to such sales may only increase.
Uncle shame got shunned this time!
She’s Right: The Male Loneliness Epidemic REACTION
From time to time, approximate every three years or so, I am “visited” (or make contact with) a “person”.
These people say there are one thing, but are actually something else. For instance, a massive “billion dollar company” that is looking for a COO, or a businessman who works in China, and so forth. On the surface, it is an “interview”, or a “friendly meeting”, or something along those lines.
Its all very nice and cordial, and I absolutely respect the people that I meet with. Without exception.
But, not everyone is what they say they are. For certain, I have been approached by the “five eyes” under one excuse or the other, as well as some other entities.
My hunt for the truth was interesting as to all the “dead ends ” that it generated. That is a story in itself, I’ll tell you what. A multi-billion dollar company that has no employees, tax records, or products???
Anyways…
The overall impression that I get is that they are providing a “courtesy visit”. To Check off a box or two on a form. It doesn’t matter what organization or nation that they represent, as this seems to be the over all impression. Just “checking up on me”. As they know that I have a “past”, but it is so HYPER-BLACK that they don’t know what I did or was involved with.
Not that it matters mind you.
I am either a threat, or not.
To this, I must add that …
They all KNOW that I was a W(U) – SAP “operator” for MAJ, (which is a branch of the ONI.) And I wiggled out of a retirement “cage”.
That they also recognize that I was “traded upstairs” to a more powerful and hidden organization (of some type) to do some (under-specified) tasks. No one knows the details of.
That I was properly “retired”. Closed off. Shut down. No longer in contact with anyone. Life in the USA is over.
That I am probably inert / neutered at this point in time, though reactivation is possible if unlikely.
That (as far as the “five eyes” are concerned), that I am out of their geographical pervue and thus not their concern, being relatively “harmless”.
That is my impression about the check-ups from the West. As far as my new home, and my love…
I am sure that China (intelligence) is aware of me. Though, to the massive bureaucracy, I am just an innocent foreigner.
Moreover, China considers me to be exactly what I say I am. They do not consider me to be a threat, but rather as a friendly “neutral”.
All in all, I’m like one of those footnotes at the end of a book. Useful if a more in-depth study is required, but often enough ignored as there will probably not be any active contemporaneous participation or contribution in my regard.
Overall, I cannot provide any useful assistance to any agency or government. What I actually did is beyond the utility and use of anyone. I am just a fellow with an interesting story.
What I can do is remind everyone that there are powers that control what we think our reality is. And there are powers that control them. And powers above them that control even that. And finally, there are the powers that I was a part of.
From everyone’s point of view. Let sleeping dogs lie.
…
The Woke movement is ending long standing American institutions on every level. The latest battlefront is DISNEY…
It is nuts.
Somewhat white and the seven affirmative action hires…
Chicken Ravioli Soup
IMG 2279 2
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cut into bite-size pieces
2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with garlic and onion, undrained
2 small zucchini, diced
1 (25 ounce) package frozen cheese ravioli
2 teaspoon dried parsley
Freshly-grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
In Dutch oven, sauté chicken in hot oil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add chicken broth, tomatoes and zucchini; cover and bring to boil. Add frozen ravioli; simmer, uncovered, about 7 minutes or until ravioli reaches desired doneness. Stir in parsley.
To serve, ladle into soup bowls; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
What Edward Snowden just said about UFO’s is TERRIFYING and should concern all of us
Edward Snowden now has access to some of the most closely kept secrets in the country as a former CIA employee and NSA contractor. And so, as any inquisitive mind with access to the CIA’s equivalent of Google might do, he looked for solutions to some of the most important questions asked by society. Attention Area 51 Stormers, chemtrail believers, and doubters of climate change: Edward Snowden has discovered information regarding UFOs that should worry us all.
China imported a huge amount of NVDIA top memory chips bypassing sanctions in 2023 and that has resulted in a congressional inquiry against NVDIA
The way they did so is simply using brand name and model
NVDIA specifically had a grade of Memory Chips made for the Chinese market that was 98–99% of the grade of those Memory Chips that were restricted
Both NVDIA and China estimated a ban almost 2 years earlier
These Chips were not on the ban list but almost 99% effective and thus NVDIA decided to export and China purchased a whopping amount of Chips
China’s import rose 27% YoY of these Chips
They take care of China’s supply upto 2024 December and keep China’s plans intact until then
main qimg 3689605d7c1d969a7524727bc2bcd3a5
The US was INCANDESCENT WITH RAGE
That’s how Sanctions are by passed
The Tech companies ensure they have a specific variant of the product that conveniently by passes sanctions and they sell that in huge numbers to China and keep their profits alive
Another thing was NVDIAs sales to Singapore soared by 111% from 2019–2023 and I can bet most of the those Chips are re exported to China
SNOW WHITE PLOT LEAKS ARE HYSTERICAL!
"With the snow white backlash getting worse for disney and bob iger as the indy 5 box office collapse created more issues for lucasfilm, star wars and kathleen kennedy given the dial of destiny box office failure was so bad that dinsey cut back on budgeting for disney movies.....with the snow white 2024 aka snow white remake by disney getting much criticism after the snow white leaked photos of the seven dwarfs....the film which stars rachel zegler and gal gadot as the evil queen just got more embarrassing through some of the snow white plot leaks."
Wrong. First of all, public education in the USA has been declining for decades. Student test scores are in the toilet.
The average American is borderline illiterate.
Second, American universities are widely regarded as the best because of marketing. Schools like Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Yale, etc. are prestigious by reputation. This reputation may have been earned a long, long time ago but today most of these schools are coasting on their names.
Let’s look at the list of universities ranked by the quality of their scientific research. According to the CWTS Leiden Ranking 2023 , most of the universities that produce the most scientifically impactful research are Chinese — that’s 16 out of the top 25 universities!
2023 07 27 11 57
I’m totally stunned that MIT, Caltech, and Princeton aren’t in the top 25.
If all you care about is a good-looking resumé, then, sure, choose an Ivy League US school. But if you want a good education, choose a Chinese university.
The UFO Incident That Shocked Ariel School: Telepathic Extraterrestrials
September 14th, 1994 was a quiet night in Zimbabwe. Then suddenly, boom! An explosion startled people all over the country.
Windows rattled. Doors shook.
Shocked and confused, people sheepishly stepped outside to see what happened.
Everything looked fine. They went back inside. But one woman wasn’t satisfied.
Cynthia Hind drove around the capital city of Harare, searching for the source of the sound but, nothing seemed unusual.
But back at home, Cynthia’s phone rang relentlessly. She was a UFO investigator and witness reports were coming in one after another.
The news claimed the sound was a sonic boom caused by a meteor shower. But Cynthia wasn’t so sure.
Eyewitnesses near Lake Kariba described bizarre lights in the sky earlier that week.
Lights in a row that moved erratically: fast then slow. First north to south. Then east to southwest. Meteors don’t do that.
Cynthia suspected there was much more to the story. And two days later, she’d find out that she was right.
https://youtu.be/rdr0j_Kf-uk
CNL
My boss was friends with a guy who had been a tunnel rat in the Vietnam War. The guy wasn’t much to look at…he looked like Chuck Norris’s skinny brother. My boss swore up and down this guy was a badass.
One night my boss invited me and my girlfriend to meet him and his lady and his friend and his friend’s wife to hang out at a place where there was dinner and dancing.
We’ll call this guy Chuck Norris Lite…(CNL for short).
CNL’s wife saw an old boyfriend of hers. When the old boyfriend saw she was there, he got up from his table and headed to ours to say hi. At first he was cool, but within a few minutes, he started talking crap…things like how they shouldn’t have broken up, he was better looking than CNL, she needed a real man, and other insults to CNL. Pretty sure he was drunk.
CNL listened to the insults and played it off. He didn’t need the fight, he had the girl.
Then the ex asked her to dance. She said, “No, if I want to dance, I’ll dance with my husband.” A clear clue to him to back off. He didn’t take it.
He protested and wouldn’t take no for an answer. CNL did not get angry. He quietly said, “You heard my wife say no. Take a hike.”
It was then the ex made the mother of all mistakes. He said, “F**k you, p***y. What you going to do about it?” AND SLAPPED THE BACK OF HIS HEAD.
CNL didn’t even get up from his chair. He moved quickly, taking his right hand and doing a palm strike under his left armpit straight into the ex’s stomach. The ex dropped to his knees, and then CNL’s left elbow got him in the nose. The ex slumped to the floor out cold. After a few minutes, he got up and staggered for the door.
About twenty minutes later, the cops came in and approached the table. CNL went over and talked to them, motioned to his wife; she talked to them, they nodded, shook hands and left.
The ex had left and called the cops (this was in the days of phone booths). The officer in charge knew CNL as they both took martial arts classes together. The OIC (Officer In Charge) went back out and told the ex he was at fault, and to take his whuppin’ like a man and go home. He did so.
I was mightily impressed. Any man who can kick your butt and not even get up from his chair is a badass in my book.
MIND BLOWING – American Youth Knows NOTHING (American reaction)
Rule No*1 Every nation on earth must be subservient and submissive to the U.S. and the west.
Rule No*2 The US and its cronies are allowed to steal, loot and plunder from everyone else.
Rule No*3 The US and the west decides who can sell, who can buy, who can live, who should die, which nation will be bomb and which nation to spare. Who to sanction and for how long.
The Critical Drinker – Snow White Looks Hilariously Bad – Reaction!
Spirited Away: A Miyazaki Fan Recreated The Bathing House With An Impressive Model
1 22
The Japanese Sorakio, a big fan of the universe of Chihiro, Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli, had fun recreating the famous bath house of the cult movie Spirited Away in an impressive ultra-detailed model! An amazing work created using hundreds of pieces from other models, but also pieces of plastic or wood.
DISNEY’s Snow Brown & The Seven Climate Activists that Glue Themselves to Artwork!
Holy Moses!!! Some pick-up shots have been seen from the upcoming Disney Snow White live action movie. It looks like the most WOKE by committee inclusive and diverse crud you have ever seen!!
China has no urgency to get into armed conflict with anyone
China would rather be the ‘Peacemaker’ for the world and slowly portray the US and the West as ruthless warmongers
China would like to send a message to the Taiwanese that they would benefit with a Mainland Union instead of lackeyship with the US
Plus the Chinese don’t like being baited and would certainly not plunge into a war where the US can force Taiwanese to keep dying just like they are doing to Ukraine
They will have to bleed the US first and weaken the West
Or rather give them a long rope to hang themselves
What if Taiwan declare Independence?
Even then I don’t think China will invade
It will prefer to fight through UN and BRI and trade related import embargos than invade while simultaneously activating it’s agents in Taiwan to protest and cause violence
Iran, Russia and Saudi will choke off Crude Exports
None of these nations need 7 nm chips exactly
Chinese Shipping will be stopped and LNG Containers
Mainland will offer a chance to many Taiwanese to come to the Mainland and many will come
Then China will defeat the Usurpers from Within Taiwan
The Western Media became too ridiculous after a point and their propaganda became an open joke to all mainlanders
Initially it’s probable that they believed the Western media reports. They probably believed in the treatment of Uyghurs and the camps and all that stuff.
I remember China closing off Xinjiang for a few years after those bad ETIM days and that was when the propaganda was seriously being believed by the locals
However the stories became more and more ridiculous and suddenly it was just too unbelievable
It’s logical to assume Uyghurs are placed in a camp and re-educated and their culture is being destroyed
However to imagine women being impregnated by other men, drinking blood — these stories became so unbelievable that the Mainlanders began to wonder if indeed the earlier stories were lies too.
And as a master stroke China opened up travel to Xinjiang even for foreigners and invited muslim dignitaries to visit the province along with youtubers
Slowly Chinese Media & Social Media celebrities posted on Xinjiang and said “There is nothing here. It’s all lies”
Once this disbelief was generated, China began to slowly believe that the entire Western media was full of lies which served extremely well for the CPC
Today most Mainlanders don’t trust Western media or twitter on any news from China
They trust Taiwanese media or Singaporean Media much more when it comes to foreign media.
So basically Overkill
In 2001, I believed the BJP when they said at 8:00 AM that Mr Karunanidhi was arrested and there was a Law and order problem
Then I walked out and all stores were open , buses were plying, things were as normal as they could be
Then I walked home and heard Arun Jaitley then a spokesperson for the BJP saying “There was a Reign of Terror in TN and nobody could put a foot on the road due to riots”
Immediately I knew it was fully a lie
Once you know a lie, you keep wondering whether the lie will be repeated
Same with Western Media
They lied so much that the Chinese no longer trust them even if they tell the truth
When I was in college, my middle-class-roots fiance lived in a fraternity house with some relatively wealthy people.
One particular person sticks out for me as the high bar for spoiled behavior.
He had a penchant for wearing Calvin Klein Boxer Briefs:
main qimg a67e111c0ff6420a56fbf0b851120e5a lq
They were roughly $25 each, (and this was before you could buy them at Costco.)
He sent out his laundry to be washed and folded (and dry cleaned), and never did any of it himself, but he absolutely *refused* to have anyone touch his underwear. In fact, because of this, he *refused* to wear the same pair more than once.
So, every single day, he would open a brand new, $25 pair of underwear.
And, every single day, he would throw out yesterday’s underwear.
If someone happened to touch his underwear for any reason, there would be another change.
He was ordering them by the case.
No one else has ever even come close to this on my spoiled-o-meter.
How do I know this?
His fraternity brothers, always happy to scrounge through the garbage, noticed that perfectly good underwear was going to waste. So they all stocked up. And then when they all (and I mean all) had more than enough underwear to go around, and there was still an endless supply, they started an underground underwear selling ring.
Part of me chuckles everytime I see this:
2023 07 26 11 11
because I absolutely believe that it is a reference to what actually went on in this specific Ivy League frat house.
Cabbage Roll Soup
Cabbage Roll Soup is guaranteed to be a fall and winter favorite. This delicious soup has all the flavor of traditional baked cabbage rolls.
cabbage roll soup
Ingredients
1 pound ground beef or ground turkey
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 head cabbage, chopped
32 ounces beef broth
29 ounces tomato sauce
2 (15 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with juice
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 cup uncooked rice
1 bay leaf
Kosher or sea salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
Instructions
Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Cook, breaking up the meat, until beef is browned.
Add the onion and garlic cook for 2-3 minutes.
Add the remaining ingredients, except rice, to the pot. Bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to simmer; cover pot and cook for 1 hour.
Add rice and cook for an additional 20 to 25 minutes.
Remove bay leaf and discard.
Notes
If you want to use brown rice instead of white rice, cook for 45 minutes instead of 25 minutes.
The Looming War Against China
Economic Logic has been Replaced by National Security Overrides
The July NATO summit in Vilnius had the feeling of a funeral, as if they had just lost a family member – Ukraine. To clear away NATO’s failure to drive Russia out of Ukraine and move NATO right up to the Russian border, its members tried to revive their spirits by mobilizing support for the next great fight – against China, which is now designated as their ultimate strategic enemy. To prepare for this showdown, NATO announced a commitment to extend their military presence all the way to the Pacific.
The plan is to carve away China’s military allies and trading partners, above all Russia, starting with the fight in Ukraine. President Biden has said that this war will be global in scope and will take many decades as it expands to ultimately isolate and break up China.
The U.S.-imposed sanctions against trade with Russia are a dress rehearsal for imposing similar sanctions against China. But only the NATO allies have joined the fight. And instead of wrecking Russia’s economy and “turning the ruble to rubble” as President Biden predicted, NATO’s sanctions have made it more self-reliant, increasing its balance of payments and international monetary reserves, and hence the ruble’s exchange rate.
To cap matters, despite the failure of trade and financial sanctions to injure Russia – and indeed, despite NATO’s failures in Afghanistan and Libya, NATO countries committed themselves to trying the same tactics against China. The world economy is to be split between US/NATO/Five Eyes on the one hand, and the rest of the world – the Global Majority – on the other. EU Commissioner Joseph Borrell calls this as a split between the US/European Garden (the Golden Billion) and the Jungle threatening to engulf it, like an invasion of its well-manicured lawns by an invasive species.
From an economic vantage point, NATO’s behavior since its military buildup to attack Ukraine’s Russian-speaking eastern states in February 2022 has been a drastic failure. The U.S. plan was to bleed Russia and leave it so economically destitute that its population would revolt, throw Vladimir Putin out of office and restore a pro-Western neoliberal leader who would pry Russia away from its alliance with China – and then proceed with America’s grand plan to mobilize Europe to impose sanctions on China.
What makes it so difficult in trying to evaluate where NATO, Europe and the United States are going is that the traditional assumption that nations and classes will act in their economic self-interest is not of help. The traditional logic of geopolitical analysis is to assume that business and financial interests steer almost every nation’s politics. The ancillary assumption is that governing officials have a fairly realistic understanding of the economic and political dynamics at work. Forecasting the future is thus usually an exercise in spelling out these dynamics.
The US/NATO West has led this global fracture, yet it will be the big loser. NATO members already have seen Ukraine deplete their inventory of guns and bullets, artillery and ammunition, tanks, helicopters weapons and other arms accumulated over five decades. But Europe’s loss has become America’s sales opportunity, creating a vast new market for America’s military-industrial complex to re-supply Europe. To gain support, the United States has sponsored a new way of thinking about international trade and investment. The focus has shifted to “national security,” meaning to secure a U.S.-centered unipolar order.
The world is dividing into two blocs: a post-industrial US/NATO vs the Global Majority
U.S. diplomats became increasingly worried as Germany and other European countries came to rely on imported Russian gas, oil and fertilizer as the basis for its steel, glass-making and other industries. They became even more worried as China had become the “workshop of the world” while the U.S. economy de-industrialized. The fear was that growth by China and its neighboring Eurasian countries benefiting from the Belt and Road expansion threatened to make that part of the world the main growth area, and hence a magnet for European investment. The logical prospect was that politics would follow economic interest at the expense of America’s ability to maintain a unipolar world economy with the dollar at its financial center and trade subject to U.S. protectionist unilateralism.
By joining America’s crusade to destroy the Russian economy and promote regime change, Germany’s and other European countries’ refusal to trade with Russia has destroyed the basic energy foundation of their industry. Destruction of the Nord Stream pipeline has plunged the German and other European economies into depression involving widespread bankruptcies and unemployment. In place of Russian gas, the NATO countries must now pay up to six times as high a price for U.S. liquified natural gas (LNG), and must build new port facilities to physically import this gas.
The European leaders sponsored and financed by U.S. election meddling over the past seventy years have done what Boris Yeltsin did in Russia in the 1990s: They have agreed to sacrifice Europe’s industrial economies and end what had been its profitable trade and investment integration with Russia and China.
The next step is for Europe and the United States to stop trading and investing with China, despite the fact that these NATO countries have benefited from the flowering of this trade, relying on it for a wide range of consumer goods and industrial inputs. That line of prosperous trade is now to be ended. NATO’s leaders have announced that importing Russian gas and other raw materials (including helium and many metals) runs the “risk” of becoming dependent – as if Russia or China might find it in their economic or political interest to abort this trade simply to hurt Europe and to do to it what the United States has been doing to force it into submission.
But submission to what? The answer is, submission to the logic of mutual gains along lines leaving the U.S. economy behind!
By trying to prevent other countries from following this logic, U.S. and European NATO diplomacy has brought about exactly what U.S. supremacists most feared. Instead of crippling the Russian economy to create a political crisis and perhaps breakup of Russia itself in order to isolate it from China, the US/NATO sanctions have led Russia to re-orient its trade away from NATO countries to integrate its economy and diplomacy more closely with China and other BRICS members.
Ironically, the US/NATO policy is forcing Russia, China and their BRICS allies to go their own way, starting with a united Eurasia. This new core of China, Russia and Eurasia with the Global South are creating a mutually beneficial multipolar trade and investment sphere.
By contrast, European industry has been devastated. Its economies have become thoroughly and abjectly dependent on the United States – at a much higher cost to itself than was the case with its former trade partners. European exporters have lost the Russian market, and are now following U.S. demands that they abandon and indeed reject the Chinese market. Also to be rejected in due course are markets in the BRICS membership, which is expanding to include Near Eastern, African and Latin American countries.
Instead of isolating Russia and China and making them dependent on U.S. economic control, U.S. unipolar diplomacy has isolated itself and its NATO satellites from the rest of the world – the Global Majority that is growing while NATO economies are rushing ahead along their Road to Deindustrialization. The remarkable thing is that while NATO warns of the “risk” of trade with Russia and China, it does not see its loss of industrial viability and economic sovereignty to the United States as a risk.
This is not what the “economic interpretation of history” would have forecast. Governments are expected to support their economy’s leading business interests. So we are brought back to the question of whether economic factors will determine the shape of world trade, investment and diplomacy. Is it really possible to create a set of post-economic NATO economies whose members will come to look much like the rapidly depopulating and de-industrializing Baltic states and post-Soviet Ukraine?
This would be a strange kind of “national security” indeed. In economic terms it seems that the U.S. and European strategy of self-isolation from the rest of the world is so massive and far-reaching an error that its effects are the equivalent of a world war.
Today’s fighting against Russia on the Ukrainian front can be thought of as the opening campaign in World War III. In many ways it is an outgrowth of World War II and its aftermath that saw the United States establish international economic and political organizations to operate in its own national self-interest. The International Monetary Fund imposes U.S. financial control and helps dollarize the world economy. The World Bank lends dollars to governments to build export infrastructure to subsidize US/NATO investors in control of oil, mining and natural resources, and to promote trade dependency on U.S. farm exports while promoting plantation agriculture, instead of domestic food-grain production. The United States insists on having veto power in all international organizations that it joins, including the United Nations and its agencies.
The creation of NATO is often misunderstood. Ostensibly, it depicted itself as a military alliance, originally to defend against the thought that the Soviet Union might have some reason to conquer Western Europe. But NATO’s most important role was to use “national security” as the excuse to override European domestic and foreign policy and subordinate it to U.S. control. Dependency on NATO was written into the European Union’s constitution. Its objective was to make sure that European party leaders followed U.S. direction and opposed left-wing or anti-American politics, pro-labor policies and governments strong enough to prevent control by a U.S.-client financial oligarchy.
NATO’s economic program has been one of adherence to neoliberal financialization, privatization, government deregulation and imposing austerity on labor. EU regulations prevent governments from running a budget deficit of more than 3% of GDP. That blocks Keynesian-type policies to spur recovery. Today, higher military arms costs and government subsidy of energy prices is forcing European governments to cut back social spending. Bank policy, trade policy and domestic lawmaking are following the same U.S. neoliberal model that has deindustrialized the American economy and loaded it down with debt to the financial sector in whose hands most wealth and income is now concentrated.
Abandoning economic self-interest for “national security” dependence on the US
The post-Vilnius world treats trade and international relations not as economic, but as “national security.” Any form of trade is the “risk” of being cut off and destabilized. The aim is not to make trade and investment gains, but to become self-reliant and independent. For the West, this means isolating China, Russia and the BRICS in order to depend fully on the United States. So for the United States, its own security means making other countries dependent on itself, so that U.S. diplomats won’t lose control of their military and political diplomacy.
Treating trade and investment with other countries than the United States as involving “risk,” ipso facto, is a projection of how U.S. diplomacy has imposed sanctions on countries that resist U.S. domination, privatization and subordination of their economies to U.S. takeover. The fear that trade with Russia and China will lead to political dependency is a fantasy. The aim of the emerging Eurasian, BRICS and Global South alliance is to benefit from foreign trade with each other for mutual gain, with governments strong enough to treat money and banking as public utilities, along with the basic monopolies needed to provide normal human rights, including health care and education, and keeping monopolies such as transportation and communication in the public domain to keep the costs of living and doing business low instead of charging monopoly prices.
Anti-China hate has come especially from Annalena Baerbock, Germany’s Foreign Minister. NATO is warned to “de-risk” trade with China. The “risks” are that (1) China can cut off key exports, just as the US cut off European access to Russian oil exports; and (2) exports could potentially be used to support China’s military power. Almost any economic export COULD be military, even food to feed a Chinese army.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s trip to China likewise explained that all trade has a military potential and thus has a national-security element. All trade has a military potential, even selling food to China could be used to feed soldiers.
The US/NATO demand is that Germany and other European countries should impose an Iron Curtain against trade with China, Russia and their allies in order to “de-risk” trade. Yet only the US has imposed trade sanctions on other countries, not China and other Global South countries. The real risk is not that China will impose trade sanctions to disrupt European economies, but that the United States will impose sanctions on countries breaking the US-sponsored trade boycott.
This “trade is risk” view treats foreign trade not in economic terms but in “National Security” terms. In practice, “national security” means joining the U.S. attempt to maintain its unipolar control of the entire world’s economy. No risk is acknowledged for re-orienting European gas and energy trade to U.S. companies. The risk is said to be trade with countries that U.S. diplomats deem “autocracies,” meaning nations with active government infrastructure investment and regulation instead of U.S.-style neoliberalism.
The world is dividing into two blocs – with quite different economic philosophies
Only the United States has imposed trade sanctions on other countries. And only the United States has rejected international free trade rules as national security threats to US economic and military control. At first glance the resulting global fracture between US/NATO on the one hand and the expanding BRICS alliance of Russia, China, Iran and the Global South might seem to be a conflict between capitalism and socialism (that is, state socialism in a mixed economy with public regulation in labor’s interests).
But that contrast between capitalism and socialism is not helpful upon closer examination. The problem lies in what the word “capitalism” has come to mean in today’s world. Back in the 19th and early 20th century, industrial capitalism was expected to evolve toward socialism. The U.S. and other industrial economies welcomed and indeed pressed for their governments to subsidize a widening range of basic services at public expense instead of obliging employers to bear the costs of hiring labor that had to pay for basic needs such as health care and education. Monopoly pricing was avoided by keeping natural monopolies such as railroads and other transportation, telephone systems and other communications, parks and other services as public utilities. Having governments instead of business and its employees pay for these services increased the global competitiveness of national industry in the resulting mixed economies.
China has followed this basic approach of industrial capitalism, with socialist politics to uplift its labor force, not merely the wealth of industrial capitalists – much less bankers and absentee landlords and monopolists. Most important, it has industrialized banking, creating credit to finance tangible investment in means of production, not the kind of predatory and unproductive credit characterized by today’s finance capitalism.
But the mixed-economy policy of industrial capitalism is not the way in which capitalism evolved in the West since World War I. Rejecting classical political economy and its drive to free markets from the vested rent-extracting classes inherited from feudalism – a hereditary landlord class, a financial banking class and monopolists – the rentier sector has fought back to reassert its privatization of land rent, interest and monopoly gains. It sought to reverse progressive taxation, and indeed to give tax favoritism to financial wealth, landlords and monopolists. The Finance, Insurance and Real Estate (FIRE) sector has become the dominant interest and economic planner under today’s finance capitalism. That is why economies are often called neofeudal (or euphemized as neoliberal).
Throughout history the dynamics of financialization have polarized wealth and income between creditors and debtors, leading to oligarchies. As interest-bearing debt grows exponentially, more and more income of labor and business must be paid as debt service. That financial dynamic shrinks the domestic market for goods and services, and the economy suffers from deepening debt-ridden austerity.
The result is de-industrialization as economies polarize between creditors and debtors. That has occurred most notoriously in Britain in the wake of Margaret Thatcher and the New [Anti-]Labour Party of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown’s “light touch” deregulatory approach to financial manipulation and outright fraud.
The United States has suffered an equally devastating shift of wealth and income to the Finance, Insurance and Real Estate (FIRE) sectors in the wake of Ronald Reagan’s tax cuts for the wealthy, anti-government deregulation, Bill Clinton’s “Third Way” takeover by Wall Street. The “Third Way” was neither industrial capitalism nor socialism, but finance capitalism making its gains both by stripping and indebting industry and labor of income. The new Democratic Party ideology of deregulated finance was capped by the massive bank-fraud collapse of 2008 and Barack Obama’s protection of junk-mortgage lenders and wholesale foreclosures on their financial victims. Economic planning and policy was shifted from governments to Wall Street and other financial centers – which had taken control of in government, the central bank and regulatory agencies.
U.S. and British diplomats are seeking to promote this predatory pro-financial and inherently anti-industrial economic philosophy to the rest of the world. But this ideological evangelism is threatened by the obvious contrast between the US-British failed and de-industrialized economies compared to China’s remarkable economic growth under industrial socialism.
This contrast between China’s economic success and the NATO West’s “garden” of debt-ridden austerity is the essence of today’s campaign by the West against the “Jungle” countries seeking political independence from U.S. diplomacy so as to uplift their living standards. This ideological and inherently political global war is today’s counterpart to the religious wars that tore European countries apart for many centuries.
We are witnessing what seems to be an inexorable Decline of the West. U.S. diplomats have been able to tighten their economic, political and military control leadership over their European NATO allies. Their easy success in this aim has led them to imagine that somehow they can conquer the rest of the world despite de-industrializing and loading their economies so deeply in debt that there is no foreseeable way in which they can pay their official debt to foreign countries or indeed have much to offer.
The traditional imperialism of military conquest and financial conquest is ended
There has been a sequence of tactics for a lead-nation to carve out an empire. The oldest way is by military conquest. But you can’t occupy and take over a country without an army, and the US has no army large enough. The Vietnam War ended the draft. So it must rely on foreign armies like Al Qaeda, ISIS, and most recently Ukraine and Poland, just as it relies on foreign industrial manufactures. Its armaments are depleted and it cannot mobilize a domestic army to occupy any country. The US has only one weapon: Missiles and bombs can destroy, but cannot occupy but not occupy and take over a country.
The second way to create imperial power was by economic power to make other countries dependent on U.S. exports. After World War II the rest of the world was devastated and was bullied into accepting U.S. diplomacy maneuvering to give its economy a monopoly on basic needs. Agriculture became a major weapon to create foreign dependency. The World Bank would not support foreign countries growing their own food, but pressed for plantation export crops, and fought land reform. And for oil and energy trade, U.S. companies and their NATO allies in Britain and Holland (British Petroleum and Shell) controlled the world’s oil trade. Control of world oil trade has been a central aim of US trade diplomacy.
This strategy worked for US assertion of control over Germany and other NATO countries, by blowing up the Nord Stream pipeline and severing Western Europe from access to Russian gas, oil, fertilizer and also crops. Europe has now entered an industrial depression and economic austerity as its steel industry and other leading sectors are invited to emigrate to the United States, along with European skilled labor.
Today, electronic technology and computer chips have been a focal point of establishing global Economic Dependency on U.S. technology. The United States aims to monopolize “intellectual property” and extract economic rent from charging high prices) for high-technology computer chips, communications, and arms production.
But the United States has deindustrialized and let itself become dependent on Asian and other countries for its products, instead of making them dependent on the US. This trade dependency is what makes U.S. diplomats feel “insecure,” worrying that other countries might seek to use the same coercive trade and financial diplomacy that the United States has been wielding since 1944-45.
The United States is left with one remaining tactic to control other countries: trade sanctions, imposed by it and its NATO satellites in an attempt to disrupt economies that do not accept U.S. unipolar economic, political and military dominance. It has persuaded the Netherlands to block sophisticated chip-engraving machinery to China, and other countries to block anything that might contribute to China’s economic development. A new American industrial protectionism is being framed in terms of national security grounds.
If China’s trade policy were to mirror that of U.S. diplomacy, it would stop supplying NATO countries with mineral and metal exports needed to produce the computer chips and allied inputs that America’s economy needs to wield its global diplomacy.
The US is so heavily debt-laden, its housing prices are so high and its medical care is so extremely high (18% of GDP) cannot compete. It cannot re-industrialize without taking radical steps to write down debts, to de-privatize health care and education, to break up monopolies and restore progressive taxation. The vested Financial, Insurance and Real Estate (FIRE sector) interests are too powerful to permit these reforms.
That makes the U.S. economy a failed economy, and America a Failed State.
In the wake of World War II the United States accumulated 75% of the world’s monetary gold by 1950. That enabled it to impose dollarization on the world. But today, nobody knows whether the U.S. Treasury and New York Federal Reserve have any gold that has not been pledged to private buyers and speculators? The worry is that it has sold European central-bank gold reserves. Germany has asked for its gold reserves to be flown back from New York, but the United States said that it was unavailable, and Germany was too timid to make its worries and complaints public.
America’s financial quandary is even worse when one tries to imagine how it can ever pay its foreign debt for countries seeking to draw down their dollars. The United States can only print its own currency. It is not willing to sell off its domestic assets, as it demands that other debtor countries do?
What can other countries accept in place of gold? One form of assets that may be taken as collateral are U.S. investments in Europe and other countries. But if foreign governments seek to do this, U.S. officials may retaliate by seizing their investments in the United States. A mutual grabbing would occur.
The United States is trying to monopolize electronic technology. The problem is that this requires raw-materials inputs whose production presently is dominated by China, above all rare-earth metals (which are abundant but environmentally destructive to refine), gallium, nickel (China dominates the refining), and Russian helium and other gasses used for engraving computer chips. China recently announced that on August 1 it will start restricting these key exports. It indeed has the ability to cut off supplies of vital materials and technology to the West, to protect itself from the West’s “national-security” sanctions against China. That is the self-fulfilling prophecy that U.S. warnings of a trade fight has created.
If U.S. diplomacy strongarms its NATO-garden allies to boycott China’s Huawei technology, Europe will be left with a less efficient, more expensive alternative – whose consequences help separate it from China, the BRICS and what has become the World Majority in a self-reliant alignment much broader than was created by Sukarno in 1954.
Metal Vocalist First Time Reaction – BABYMETAL – メギツネ – MEGITSUNE (OFFICIAL)
We start off HARD…
BREAKING NEWS: CUBA ANNOUNCES IT IS READY TO ACCEPT RUSSIAN MISSILES (AGAIN) AS RUSSIAN NAVY ARRIVES 90 MILES FROM U.S. COAST
The “Vice-Admiral Kulakov,” an Udalay-class Destroyer of the Russian Navy has arrived in Cuba for an official visit for the first time in a long time, and there is dangerous news for the United States . . .
Shortly before the Russian navy warship arrived, talks were held between the leaders of Cuba and Russia and their defense ministries. The result is statements to strengthen not only economic cooperation, but also military-technical cooperation.
According to American military experts, this could mean the return of Russia to Cuba with all the resulting consequences: the deployment of Russian troops and long-range missiles.
This will be a decisive Russian response to the threats posed by the expansion of NATO’s presence in Northern Europe and Japan.
Earlier, Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel strongly condemned the entry into NATO of new members bordering Russia. “In light of hostile actions by the (NATO) alliance, Cuba is ready to place Russian missiles on its territory, again.”
COVERT INTEL INDICATES CARGO SHIPS IN RUSSIA, “WITH A PRE-FILED TRANSIT ROUTE TO CUBA, “SEEM TO BE” IN PROCESS OF BEING LOADED WITH COMPONENTS FROM RUSSIAN MISSILE MANUFACTURING FACTORIES”
Readers should note that back in 1962, the then-Soviet Union placed Medium Range and Intermediate Range nuclear missiles in Cuba with a five minute flight time to Washington, DC. This resulted in the “Cuban Missile Crisis” wherein then U.S. President John F. Kennedy, imposed a naval blockade of Cuba and began massing U.S. troops in Florida for an invasion of Cuba to destroy those missiles.
For the 13 days when the crisis erupted, the world stood on the precipice of actual nuclear war. The US had blockaded Cuba and was massing troops. The Soviets faced a choice with the missiles: USE THEM or LOSE THEM.
This brief compilation of scenes from the Hollywood Movie “13 Days” briefly lays out how things went back then:
Of course, the movie is a dramatization. Compressing Thirteen Days into 145 minutes necessitates distortion of many specific historical facts. But the central themes of the movie and the principal “takeaways” are essentially faithful to what happened when JFK and Khrushchev stood “eyeball to eyeball” in 1962.
Back then, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev agreed to dismantle and remove those missiles, and the US agreed to remove its “Jupiter” missiles from deployment in Turkey, where they were aimed at the Soviet Union.
Today, the U.S. wants to bring Ukraine into NATO . . . to place US missiles on Ukraine soil . . . with a five minute flight time to Moscow. Same situation as the Cuban Missile Crisis, but in reverse!
Russia told Ukraine “no.” Ukraine ignored Russia. The Russian Army went in and is now smashing Ukraine.
The US and NATO are supplying Ukraine with weapons to kill Russians, so the Russians are now sending naval vessels to Cuba and Cuba says it is willing to accept Russian missiles.
Same type of crisis as in 1962, only this time, it was the US and NATO that started it by trying to bring Ukraine into NATO, so as to put US missiles in Ukraine.
This time, the prospect for actual nuclear war is very much greater because the fighting has already begun in Ukraine.
Today the Chinese don’t want an Invasion barring very very rare circumstances
Neither MAINLANDERS nor Taiwanese want a straits war
Right now they are just slowly coming out of the three year lockdown and waking up from a slumbering economy to a global scenario where half the world is heading to recession
Plus their property values are upto 35% lower today and that’s pretty upsetting
This is hardly time to discuss a war or invasion
The US is dying
In maybe 2 decades it will be a retired country , strong and powerful yet no longer the hegemon
China is still very much surging and two decades later will be immensely powerful and control over 50% of the Global Value Chain
Point is CHINA CAN AFFORD TO BE PATIENT
USA CANNOT
Right now the US is doing all it can to provoke China into some action against Taiwan
Yet China has the time and so doesn’t react too much
US is losing the time fast. It’s power and influence are reducing faster than people think.
China will only invade if Taiwan declare Independence but that will be done only if US provoke Taiwan into doing so through tame politicians like Tsai or her successor
Snow White Looks Hilariously Bad
2023 07 27 14 59
“Don’t even THINK about it!” China issues warning to CIA over spies | Redacted with Clayton Morris
China is warning that it is not going to sit still while the U.S. rebuilds its spy network inside of its borders. Between 2010 and 2012, China killed or imprisoned between 18 and 20 CIA sources. Recently, CIA Director William Burns said that the agency was rebuilding that network and China says that they will not just let that happen.
Not me, but a passenger across the aisle from me. The nasty little piece of business, about 9 or 10 years old, seated behind him, kicked his seat a number of times. The man turned around and very politely asked to the kid to stop kicking his seat. The kid’s Karen of a mother told the man not to tell her kid what to do, in an imperious & entitled tone. The passenger then ask the mother to take her kid in hand and stop him kicking his seat. The mother essentially said that the kid could do what he liked. The passenger whose seat was being kicked explained to the mother that he was of a nervous disposition, and every time the kid kicked the back of his seat, it startled him. Karen didn’t really care. The offended passenger sat quietly & asked the FA for a cup of coffee. The coffee came. The man was holding it when the little brat kicked his seat again. The man jumped in his seat and dumped his coffee backwards all over the mother – accidentally of course 🤪. The entitled Karen called the FA who simply said that the offended passenger had explained that he was a nervous flyer, and when the back of his seat was kicked, he started, and it was an unfortunate happening, but the mother could’ve anticipated it if she did not take her little brat in hand. The kicking stopped, amidst a few muffled chuckles from the passengers in the immediate area
Life In The 1970s For Kids!
The 70s was a time when kids spent the majority of their time outside playing. They made friends with other neighborhood kids and they did all sorts of things together. This was a time when most kids didn’t have a video game system until the very end of the decade. Home computer systems for kids were almost unheard of. In this video we will discuss life in the 1970s for kids prior to those becoming much larger in the 1980s.
Yes. My brother died last September without signing his will (they had it filled out but he didn’t sign it).
I have helped his widow out with cleaning the house.
Because he was intestate, I’m technically entitled to 25% of his inheritance under my state law as our parents are dead, but he was married (75/25 split by law).
He literally told me he wanted everything to go to his wife, who I would consider my sister now.
I’m not screwing a 60 year old lady out of her house.
Yeah, as a working class guy, I could REALLY use 100k+ dollars if I fought it, but I will absolutely NOT destroy his dream of his wife having a nice little home.
Them home cooked meals, talk and sharing memories a couple times every few months are worth more to me than money.
Maybe I’m an idiot, but I love him and her too much to go by “the law”.
Signing that form for her lawyer was about the easiest moral choice I’ve ever had to take.
12 Things People Couldn’t Live Without in the 1960s
2023 07 26 11 35
What will be endgame of U.S.-China Chip War?
main qimg aaa41bbf618338203f9132c00f619c07
A week ago, the New York Times published a rare long article entitled “‘An Act of War’: Inside America’s Silicon Blockade Against China”, which comprehensively analyzed the U.S. chip war against China. In the author’s view, the strategic importance of this article is no less than that of “The Long Telegram” which elaborated on the exclusion policy during the white terror period of McCarthy’s era, and it is recommended that anyone who cares about the direction of the Sino-US confrontation should read it in detail. The importance of this article is unprecedented in the 172 years of the New York Times’ existence.
According to an article signed by Faraway Qingmu from Hubei province three days ago, the New York Times has rarely exposed many political insiders in the U.S., which is very informative and has historical reference value. In the author’s opinion, this is the official kick-off of the 21st century war between China and the U.S., and this is just a warm-up preparation. The unveiling of the war began on October 7 last year, when Biden announced the expansion of sanctions against Chinese chips. Alan, Director of the Vadhwani Center for Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Technology at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., likened it to a war, which has been going on for more than nine months now. The author is still delving into it, trying to digest the vast amount of information related to it. This is a major event of this century, and the author intends to analyze it in detail in the next few articles.
The New York Times describes the chip war as an act of war by the U.S. against China. It is defined as an attempt by the U.S. to influence China’s artificial intelligence industry, and sanctions against China’s semiconductor industry are an important means of achieving this goal. The purpose of Biden’s new policy of October 7 last year is that the U.S. will not only not allow China to make any progress in the relevant technology, but will also actively reverse and obstruct China’s current technological level of progress, in essence, in order to eradicate China’s entire advanced technology ecosystem, to “cut the grass and remove the roots”.
The New York Times quoted Mathney, the former Deputy Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, as saying that China is trying to catch up in chip technology, and to some extent that’s trying to replicate an entire human technological civilization in the short term. Trump initially sanctioned Huawei as the goal, and then proposed to use the chip as a weapon, but only against a few companies in China. After Biden’s rise to power, his goal has changed to stifle China’s high-tech development on all fronts. While Trump targeted individual companies, Biden is targeting the entire industry. The U.S. is now expanding its sanctions against China in almost every way, to the point of no return.
Why is this happening? The significance of the U.S. blockade of China’s chip development lies in its strategy of geopolitical and financial-military hegemony, aimed at eliminating competitors, subjugating them to the U.S. military and the U.S. dollar, accepting U.S. command, engaging in the U.S.-designated international division of labor, and obeying the U.S.-defined sense of value. Therefore, the U.S. believes that China should not make any progress in some key technological areas (artificial intelligence driven by the chip industry) that happen to be the drivers of future global economic growth and development.
Now, in the face of the menacing and hostile policy of the U.S., will China be able to cope with it successfully in the next three to five years? Will it be able to turn the corner and overtake the U.S.? No one can predict. The only thing we know for sure now is that the U.S. will not change its extreme tactics of stifling China’s chip industry, and whether or not it will ultimately get what it wants will depend on the future development of the international situation. The world today is not the same as it was after World War II, and it is impossible for the U.S. to unilaterally call the shots.
For China, the battle for technological autonomy is an unprecedented challenge. Can China succeed? Can it do the unthinkable that the U.S. says is impossible? For now, it’s hard to say.
The U.S. still holds a technological advantage in chips, but why is the U.S. in such a hurry to completely shut down the Chinese chip industry? It is because the U.S. interest class believes that chips are the core of future economic development. The research and development of modern technology depend more and more on supercomputers, and the core of supercomputers is the chip.
While Trump’s initial goal was to use chips as a weapon to gain profit, Biden’s goal has now changed to stifle China’s high technology on all fronts. Through export controls, the U.S. is attempting to cripple China’s ability to produce and purchase high-end chips. Although the controls are implemented in a low-profile manner under the guise of so-called updated export rules, they are essentially designed to eradicate China’s entire advanced technology ecosystem. If the U.S. approach succeeds, it could affect China’s technological progress for an entire generation; but if it fails, it could have the opposite result of China catching up. Whether it succeeds or fails, it will affect Sino-U.S. competition and the global order in the coming decades.
The unprecedented extralegal control (the use of domestic law to override international law) practiced by the U.S. in the area of chips is unprecedented and has infiltrated from the political sphere to the economic sphere, violating the basic principle of free competition in capitalism. According to a report in the New York Times, the former Assistant Secretary of Commerce of the U.S., Mr. Wolfe, who was in charge of export administration, opined that this kind of control meant that even if there was only one kind of American equipment in the foundry in China, and even if there were hundreds of other kinds of non-American equipment, the wafer production of the entire production line would be related to the U.S.. This rule makes all the world’s semiconductors subject to U.S. law, because all the world’s chip foundries (not only for China) are not immune, must be at least to a certain extent, the use of some aspect of U.S. equipment. This is a so-called champertous strategy, which is exactly the same as the U.S. habit of “I call the shots, I set the rules” and considers itself to represent the whole world, which is the same as and no different from the U.S. practice. The U.S. has taken the position of a global hegemon to set the international order for chips. Even if a chip product is manufactured and shipped outside the U.S. and has never entered the U.S., and its final product does not contain any U.S.-origin components or related technology, it can still be considered a U.S. product. Even if only 1% of the U.S. goods appear in China’s production line, China must comply with U.S. law, even if the remaining 99% is developed in China. In short, it’s all-inclusive.
The New York Times is of the view that the U.S. has taken a great risk in deciding to do so and may have to pay a heavy price. It is because this kind of tactic is so tough that it is tantamount to a declaration of war, which is irreversible. If there is any country that can overcome such a tough challenge from the U.S., it is China. The introduction of the U.S. chip export control law on October 7 of last year, although in the foreseeable future will cause a major blow to China’s advanced chip manufacturing capacity, but in the end may be able to stimulate China’s long-term growth, catching up with the curve.
The U.S. chose this irreversible option, obviously after a thorough risk assessment, as a well-considered decision. In the past, the U.S. had a choice between national resilience (because of its belief in the superiority of the system) and commercial development (because of its belief in free competition), but now this choice no longer exists. The subtext is that the U.S. has lost faith in its own political system and traditional market freedom. If a significant portion of the $400 billion that China spends annually on chip imports were spent domestically in China (the economic term is import substitution), its domestic chip companies would be given the opportunity, the motivation, the means, and the ability to catch up.
In the author’s opinion, this is exactly the case with Huawei. When the US uses chips as a weapon to attack Huawei, Huawei’s cell phone market share can plummet at once, but Huawei is mainly a communication equipment supplier, and it is in the process of turning around, the US can’t beat it to death. Huawei’s case proves that even the most severe sanctions can’t directly put Huawei to death. The New York Times believes that the U.S. industry is very mindful and vigilant in this regard, which shows that U.S. public opinion is skeptical of Biden’s extreme measures, rather than blindly supporting them unilaterally.
China has to catch up in terms of high technology. How should China respond? It seems to be the same as before: work hard, and be self-reliant. China has been at the mercy of the Western powers since 1840, and this has never changed. Back then, the country was weak and in danger of being partitioned. Now that the country is rich and strong, it is still being coveted. The characteristic of the Chinese nation is that once it awakens, it will become stronger and stronger, and it will definitely respond to challenges. 183 years ago, China did not have a modern education system, modern mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology, scientific experiments, or numerical management, and today, 183 years later, Chinese-style modernization is on track. To overcome the fact that nanotechnology and chip technology are still at a relatively backward stage, it is believed that with time, we will be able to accomplish all our tasks, and we should be optimistic but still cautious. What is the prospect in the author’s view? It is estimated that in three to five years’ time, we will see whether we have won or lost.
CIA Classified Book about the Pole Shift, Mass Extinctions and The True Adam & Eve Story
CIA Classified Book about the Pole Shift, Mass Extinctions and The True Adam & Eve Story In 1966 a well-known engineer released a book with information that could impact everyone on earth. But before anyone could read it, it was classified by the CIA. We only learned of its existence a few years ago because of a Freedom of Information request. The CIA only released 57 pages of the original 284-page manuscript. And those pages have been, in the CIA’s own words, “sanitized”. Why does the CIA think this book is so dangerous that they had to hide it from the public for 60 years; and continue to hide most of it? It’s because the man who wrote it describes the end of the world.
This harmless-looking fellow, Guido Menzio, was flying to Syracuse from Philadelphia.
main qimg f822ce6c1b150d80d398e30802521028
Once settled into his seat, the busy 40-year-old took out his work papers and got to working.
His seatmate, a blonde-haired white woman in her thirties, later claimed she had tried to strike up a conversation with him but he was evasive.
She took a look at what he was writing, and fear struck.
He was working on some cryptic plans! Strange letters and symbols she couldn’t understand.
She bravely approached a flight attendant, claiming she felt too ill to fly.
She slipped her a note, warning her about a suspicious man working on something in a foreign language.
The woman was then discreetly escorted off the plane, where her bullshit suspicions were entertained for many minutes while the plane waited on the tarmac.
Then Menzio was also taken off-board and questioned.
And so what should have been a quick 40-minute flight ended up being delayed for two hours.
But what was he working on?
Maths. Differential equations.
main qimg 587ed93cb4e237a4c6d7ae4cec02db33
And he wasn’t “Muslim” or “Arabic”. He was Italian. An Italian Ivy League professor.
After they established he was not a threat, they let him reboard. The woman refused to reboard, and opted to take the next flight. Hopefully her next seatmate won’t do something drastic like use the calculator app around her.
I understand math can be scary for some people, like that brave lady. Who does this guy think he is, doing math where anyone could see him?
Summers In The 1980s!
The 1980s was full of fun during the summertime. Some of the things that kids used to do are no longer done. In this video we will remember what summers in the 1980s were like.
The saddest thing I’ve ever done was handle my Mum’s estate after she died. What made is so sad was that there was so much money there, not counting her house. She had far more than she could have used even if she’d lived longer (she died at 80). They weren’t exactly wealthy – she was a retired teacher, and my Dad had been a college lecturer and had died 8 years earlier, but she still had a big chunk of money when she died.
She should have spent that money herself. Yes, her heirs benefited from it, but I’d rather she’d spent it herself, either to enjoy herself, or to have the pleasure of giving it away herself.
Hairy Yoga Pants From Orenburg In Russia Have Swept Over The Internet
1 113
“Gods gift to men” this is how men usually think of Yoga pants. However, after the Orenburgs hairy Yoga pants, we think this opinion could suddenly change. Many have thought this is a fake product or a parody but in fact you can get it over Ebay where it is sold as “Leggins / pants Longhair 100% Goat Down Russian Cashmere Mohair FETISH men woman”. It’s the latest hit from Orenburg, because who can wear tin Yoga pants on severe cold temperature?
During the pandemic, the challenge for each of us was to maintain critical distance: spurning both the tribalism of those insisting Covid was a hoax and the counter-tribalism of those who demanded complete acquiesence to a corporate-political agenda dictated by Big Pharma under the mantle of “Follow the science”.
Fear of living under Big Brother or of dying from plague drove many people not only into the arms of one of these two oppositional camps but fuelled a pandemic mania in which reason and compassion were replaced with either extreme cynicism or extreme compliance. We are still living with the consequences.
There has been a spate of “excess deaths” over the past two years across the West – well above what would normally be expected – and yet this sustained trend is being universally ignored by governments, establishment media and medical bodies. No one is protesting. The cult of compliance is still in the ascendant.
More on that in a moment.
But it is worth first revisiting briefly the climate of intolerance and willed ignorance that predominated at the height of the pandemic, as I documented in real time in a series of essays that upset more of my readers than any I had written before.
It was always unwarranted to press for vaccine mandates, if only because they violated the critically important principle of bodily autonomy. But the demand became completely unhinged once it was clear – as it was much earlier than publicly let on by Big Pharma, the World Health Organisation and national regulators – that the vaccines were doing little to halt virus transmission.
Similarly, it was always unethical to insist that children should be routinely given the vaccine and boosters when it was evident that the virus posed no threat to the overwhelming majority of them – and all the more so given that the mRNA vaccines were based on a new technology whose development had been rushed through on an emergency licence.
By definition, no one could know the long-term effects of mRNA vaccines on humans because there had been no long-term studies. The science was built on a wing and a prayer, which is part of the reason the Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisation, the British government’s official advisory body on vaccinations, demurred for so long, and despite huge political pressure, on recommending vaccination for children.
And it was always deeply irresponsible to refuse to consider, or even study, other treatments that might have had an impact on the virus. Medical authorities ignored or warned the public off potential prophylactics and immunity-boosting treatments and behaviours – even when those interventions could have complemented the role of the vaccines, rather than serving as an alternative to them.
Nothing could be allowed to dilute the public’s exclusive reliance on vaccinations.
One prize example was Vitamin D, the sunshine hormone that, uniquely, every cell in the human body has a receptor for. Most people in the West are deficient in Vitamin D, many of them severely so, and doctors still have little understanding of what the consequences of that deficiency – beyond osteoporosis – might be.
Even before Covid, there were many studies suggesting that Vitamin D was critical to improving the health of our immune systems, including by warding off and aiding recovery from coronaviruses. That evidence has only grown stronger subsequently.
But definitive proof has been lacking because full-scale controlled studies are extraordinarily expensive and only Big Pharma has deep enough pockets to fund such studies (given that our captured governments refuse to dig deep themselves), but Big Pharma has no interest in proving a cheap hormone like Vitamin D – one it cannot patent or profit from – might offer the public health benefits not only in relation to Covid but for a wide range of chronic health conditions.
The fact that most medical regulators and media commentators continue to prefer to shut down debate about the potential benefits of Vitamin D rather than demand that governments fund research to confirm or refute the growing body of evidence for such benefits should be a scandal. But, predictably, it isn’t.
Blanket silence
I set this out as a preface to this latest scandal on excess deaths, one that – like so much else related to the pandemic and its aftermath – continues to elicit a blanket silence from the establishment media, politicians and, of course, our medical authorities.
The consistent and markedly elevated death rates each month across most of the Western world are not due to Covid and are far above the seasonal five-year average before the pandemic.
Such deaths have been significantly raised since late 2020 or mid-2021. That is all the more surprising because, after early waves of Covid killed off those who were already sick and vulnerable, the expectation was that excess deaths would fall, not rise. That anomaly needs explaining – scientifically.
Despite the backlash inevitably provoked by asking critical questions, I want to examine this development because it highlights something important about the way of our supposedly democratic governments, and the regulatory and adversarial institutions meant to hold them in check, have been hollowed out. We imagine we live in societies where scientific reason and compassion guide our response to a medical crisis. The reality is different. In our societies, one thing rules: money.
The issue of excess deaths is only one of many problems – though probably the most serious – that have emerged in the aftermath of the pandemic. Unless you have made an extraordinary effort to do your own research and managed to evade the internet censors and their algorithms, you will most likely not know about these developments. Neither politicians nor establishment media have publicised them.
Instead troubling data is buried away in obscure, peer-reviewed scientific journals, or has to be squeezed out of government authorities through freedom of information requests – and even then the information is often heavily redacted.
Such data would remain largely unnoticed but for the efforts of a few brave souls daring to draw attention to it – only to be smeared as cranks and crackpots, whatever their formal qualifications.
Dr John Campbell, whose Youtube channel became an invaluable internet resource during the pandemic and since (at least for those trying to sift the wheat from the chaff), has done sterling work shedding light on many of those problems.
Some notable videos have covered:
the mishandling and lack of oversight of Pfizer’s research into its vaccine;
the astounding admission that Pfizer never actually tested whether its vaccine stopped transmission;
continuing efforts to obscure evidence demonstrating that natural infection confers superior immunity to the vaccine;
the troubling discovery that mRNA can remain in the blood for at least a month after vaccination, with no understanding of what it might be doing in that time to our immune systems;
high variation in adverse reactions caused by different batches of mRNA vaccine, with some off the scale;
the involvement of US researchers and Pfizer in engineering Frankenstein’s monster-type coronaviruses of the very kind that, it increasingly seems, led to the Covid pandemic in the first place;
new research demonstrating the lack of evidence for reduction in virus transmission from masking;
and a causal connection, confirmed by the WHO, between vaccination and the development of autoimmune disease like multiple sclerosis.
There is doubtless much worse, but we cannot learn of it – at least from qualified sources – because any effort to discuss it publicly will almost certainly result in banning by the corporations that run social media, our modern town squares.
For his efforts shining a light into the darkest recesses of the West’s pandemic response, Dr Campbell has been pilloried by the tribe that still identifies with Big Pharma. Arrogantly, they dismiss him as a glorified “nurse”, even though he has written widely read and authoritative medical textbooks.
More to the point, the smears are designed to distract from the fact that, more often than not, Dr Campbell is not speaking for himself but relaying in intelligible language the findings of peer-reviewed studies or interviewing respected experts in their field to draw attention to their work.
Complete mystery
Nonetheless, the issue of unexplained excess deaths is an order of magnitude more serious than even these other matters, which is why Dr Campbell has dedicated so many of his videos to discussing it.
Many, many thousands more people, including young people, are now dying each month across the Western world (where such data is reliably collected) than should be, compared to previous years. And they are dying for entirely mysterious reasons.
Yet:
This deeply troubling phenomenon barely merits a mention from politicians, the media or medical authorities.
Governments are failing to fund research to determine the causes of these extra deaths, even though the rates have been elevated for two years or more.
This reckless, self-imposed climate of ignorance is being sustained even as expert medical bodies warn that we face future pandemics.
It is almost as if Western governments prefer to let large numbers of people die unnecessarily, and potentially at great cost to health care services, rather than learn the truth. It seems these governments are quite happy, if they believe another pandemic is on the way, to risk repeating any mistakes they made during Covid that may have caused those excess deaths.
In a world where we are supposed to “follow the science”, how can that possibly be the case? What is going on?
If we try to understand why a blind eye is being turned to the shocking data showing a sustained and unexplained rise in deaths, it is hard not to arrive at one, and only one, conclusion.
Governments, establishment media and the medical regulators are frightened. They are scared of what they may discover if the research is carried out.
And that suggests something further. That these are not groups with their own discrete or competing interests and agendas.
The media, whatever it claims, is not a watchdog on government or the medical establishment. It colludes with them against the public. In fact, the corporate interests of all three are closely aligned.
Why? Because the government is captured by Big Business. Because the medical authorities are funded by Big Pharma, which can make or break careers. And because the media is owned by billionaires, and serves as little more than the public relations arm of concentrated wealth and as cheerleader for a neoliberalism that normalises the criminal profiteering of drug manufacturers like Pfizer.
Cultivated ignorance
Before I continue further, let me state unequivocally – because sadly, these things need emphasising in our ever-more tribal, polarised societies – that I have no idea what is causing this wave of excess deaths.
The point of this piece is not to pre-judge the matter or adopt a tribal position.
Rather, I’m trying de-tribalise your and my own thinking so that we can better understand why our governments and medical agencies prefer that no research is conducted, and why our establishment media chooses not to expose this glaring failure.
Dr Vibeke Manniche, a member of the Danish medical team whose peer-reviewed research showed that some batches of the mRNA vaccine caused off-the-scale adverse reactions, believes there are likely to be an array of contributory factors. That sounds right to me.
Her team are now undertaking as their next project an investigation into the mysterious rise in deaths. It is their private initiative, rather than research funded, organised or assisted by the Danish government. In fact, according to Dr Manniche, Danish authorities have been throwing obstacles in their way.
But why are these authorities so afraid?
The answer is simple. They suspect that any research will implicate them in those excess deaths. They are frightened – rightly or wrongly – that the narrative they constructed around the pandemic, and the powers they accrued to themselves, will unravel.
The reason they are in no hurry to find out why so many extra people are dying is because they fear that significant contributory factors are either the lockdown policies they imposed or the side-effects of the vaccines they championed – or both.
Again, I’m not saying that is what I think. I have no expertise to evaluate all the possible causes, including the ongoing erosion of socialised health care in much of the Western world and its transfer to yet more corporate profiteers – for which our governments areundoubtedly responsible.
But governments and medical regulators have access to the same data and graphs as Dr Manniche, showing a relentless and near-identical rise in excess deaths beginning in spring 2021 in Denmark, Norway and Finland, in the immediate wake of the mass vaccine rollout. Similar graphs are available for other Western states.
The inference that there is a connection between the vaccines and excess deaths may be wrong. But it is not a hypothesis they wish to test. The consequences are far too serious for them. They would rather enforce general ignorance, or perpetrate a deception on the public, than risk undermining their own authority – and the crucial levers they control both to sustain their privileges and to further concentrate their wealth.
There are some uncomfortable lessons here for us all.
The truth is Western governments – all of them – dare not test the evidentiary basis for their insistence on lockdowns and experimental vaccines as the only way out of the pandemic. They dare not do so in the full glare of public scrutiny for fear that the truth will not serve them, and more likely will damage them. So they cultivate public ignorance.
The truth is that the medical regulatory authorities were long ago captured by Big Pharma, and the revolving door it offers, leading to prestigious jobs and lucrative salaries in the industry. So they favour public ignorance too.
The truth is that the media will not hold the feet of governments or the medical establishment to the fire because, whatever the media claim, they are not in the business of enforcing real, systemic accountability. The billionaire-owned media corporations are embedded in the same model of corporate profit as Big Pharma. Indeed, the media’s own corporate profits depend on the advertising and sponsorship of drugs companies – fellow corporations – like Pfizer. So they benefit from public ignorance as well.
World of illusion
We live in a world not, as we are told and tell ourselves, of democratic accountability and transparency. Beyond formal, surface appearances, the system of political, economic and social control is designed to lack all but the most minimal checks and balances, institutional safeguards and oversight.
We live in a world of illusion, of elites that look out for their own, that develop ever more sophisticated technological tools to manipulate and deceive us, and that have progressively rigged the system to accrue to themselves ever more wealth and power.
We are not, as we like to imagine, informed citizens. The system cannot afford to provide us with the information we need to be informed – information that might reveal to us that we have been duped, that the rich steal from the poor to give to themselves, that our rulers have no clue how to fix the biggest problems facing us, aside from lining their pockets with more gold as the ship goes down.
As the last year has demonstrated, our elites had no more idea how to deal with the pandemic than they currently do with the climate crisis, or with the Ukraine war (without risking nuclear conflagration), or with rapid advances in Artificial Intelligence. Faced with the biggest challenges, they are like children – shouting “Follow the Science” or “Green New Deal” to distract the rest of us as they grab as many sweets as they can thrust into their pockets.
For these elites, Covid was a party – quite literally in the case of the British government – in which the biggest corporations not only profiteered but drove small businesses into the ground. Excess deaths are but a hangover, one that must be studiously ignored if the fiction of responsible, accountable, democratic government is to be maintained.
Our world has been carefully constructed to ensure we do not get to peek behind the curtain, to see the con-men at work. Unless we dispel this central illusion – that science, reason and compassion are the forces driving the West – the charlatans will take us with them over the edge of the cliff in their pursuit of suicidal “economic growth” and chimerical “progress”.
Snow White Becomes Snow Latinx
2023 07 27 15 07
Cheesy Lasagna Soup
Lasagna in a bowl, chock full of what you love in regular lasagna, with the added ‘Florentine’ touch of spinach!
2023 07 27 15 02
Ingredients
1 pound bulk sweet (mild) Italian sausage
1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon red chile flakes (optional)
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
4 cups (32 ounces) chicken stock
1 to 2 cups water
8 ounces lasagna noodles (not no-boil), broken into 1 to 2 inch pieces
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, plus additional for serving
1/2 cup (2 ounces) Wisconsin parmesan cheese, shredded
2023 07 27 15 0gs3
Instructions
Heat Dutch oven or large pot over high heat. Brown sausage for 5 minutes, breaking up as it cooks.
Add onions; cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until onions are softened and sausage is cooked through.
Add garlic and red chile flakes; cook for 1 minute.
Add crushed tomatoes, scraping bottom of pan with wooden spoon.
Add stock, 1 cup water, lasagna noodles, basil and pepper. Bring to boil.
Reduce heat to medium-high; cook at a gentle boil for 10 to 12 minutes, until noodles are cooked through, stirring occasionally to prevent noodles from sticking to pot.
Stir in spinach. Add salt to taste. If soup is too thick, add additional 1 cup water. Remove from heat.
To serve, divide mozzarella among 6 serving bowls. Ladle soup over cheese. Top with spoonsful of ricotta, parmesan and additional basil.
Prep: 10 min | Cook: 30 min | Servings: 6
2023 07 27 15 03
Energy tips for Empaths, Highly Sensitives, and ye on the path of the Mystic
This is good. I hope it helps someone in MM land out there.
Just because the US or UK or the West don’t hear from someone for a month, doesn’t mean he has gone missing
This obessession of always talking to the press every day is slavish and a Western compulsion
Same with Tweeting every day
He simply has not been seen in the Public Domain
Why should the Chinese care about why he has not been seen??
It’s not their problem right?
main qimg 4a4382708d7b875712ab956be4cea4bd
The CPC has a message
It’s called MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS
In China, it is the business of the CPC to run the country, govern the country and help it develop and grow and regulate policies to sustain the country and defend the country
The Average Citizens have their own business — Work Hard, Take advantage of the free and heavily subsidized education, Do well, Pay Taxes and ENJOY LIFE — take vacations, buy stuff, play games, have fast food
China is not India
The Average Chinese doesn’t spend all his time discussing Modi vs Raga or saying “Ayega to Modi Hi”
He doesn’t even know the names of most standing committee members and won’t recognise them if they stood in front of him without escort or the party’s No 8 Cars
The CPC tells the Citizens what they HAVE TO KNOW
The CPC doesn’t need to tell them anything more because it won’t be productive
The CPC won’t tell all the problems to the Citizens because the Citizens knowing the problems is counter productive and could complicate stuff
Instead the CPC SOLVES THE PROBLEMS and ensures that the Citizens don’t even feel the negative effects
The CPC will take care of the Governance
The CPC will replace ministers and members if they cannot be fully capable of doing their job which underlies the Meritocracy of the Chinese System
In India, Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj worked for a year despite taking cancer treatments half the time
Not in China
China wants 100% and if they don’t get it — you get a golden handshake and a goodbye
You want my opinion
I love such a system and the opacity
Knowing only what I NEED TO KNOW and being protected by a system and confident in such a system is very productive and helps me focus on what my business should be
The Greatest Growth and Development in the world took place under such a system
IT WAS CALLED MONARCHY !!!!!
main qimg 135bf5bd324bc975d935d01b615a0076
The World’s greatest inventions — Machine Guns, Spinning Jenny, Steam Engine, Dynamite, Shopping, Telegraph and Modern Banking all took place under this system
Where the Common men did what their business man and where the people who should rule, did their job and ruled
Mixing them was catastrophic and luckily China hasn’t done that yet
Note:—
My point here is to hail the opacity of China and the CPC and not discuss why Qin Gang didn’t make a public appearance for 3 weeks
The Opacity for whatever reason is what makes China the world’s fastest rising threat to the West and it’s degraded political systems
SNOW WHITE ENDING LEAKS GET EVEN MORE PATHETIC! What On Earth Is DISNEY THINKING!
TSMC estimates that they need 13 Factories plus another 7 from Korea to be able to match the demand and achieve sufficient scale to maintain some profitability
The cost would be minimum $ 240 Billion a year
Add to this at least 6000 Specialized Workers who were to be paid $ 34,000 a year from Korea and Taiwan who refuse flat and demand $ 61,000 minimum
That’s $ 1.05 Billion a year including all other services and labor costs and welfare measures
Thus the US Chip program needs around $ 2.7 Trillion in the first 10 years
Their budget is $ 230 Billion in 5 years
So the simple question is where is the MONEY ?
main qimg 2ad8649ae5f758a834131f4187f515d7
Mrs Raimondo is unwilling to release any more money
Add to this is the US demanding
Full Access to every Customer
Full Access to profits and financial records
Full Access to all Process Technologies not controlled by the US
TSMC and Samsung are Loth to agree to these terms and have decided to go to their lawyers and use the courts to fight the issue
Thus the Make Chips in USA has gotten derailed and side tracked
It is likely to take 2028 before the first commercial chips will be sold from USA and that too only 13% of the actual demand
It will take 2036 before the first commercial chips are sold to fulfil the whole demand
That gives the Chinese 13 years to take over the market and if they manage to make chips at a larger scale and lower cost
That’s $ 2.7 Trillion DOWN THE DRAIN and Taiwan and Korean entities are finished
Its why the Tech war has been in place
To hope to ensure China isn’t able to crack any of these technologies by 2036
A police man by the name of Joseph James DeAngelo had a habit of going into the houses of people. He enjoyed to observe them from afar. Then, he would enter their houses at night, and leave, and enter… and if he felt he had familiarized himself sufficiently with their homes, he’d subdue them.
main qimg eb68de40152c1c5e00913210ecee4a47 lq
DeAngelo would often attack couples, a man and a woman, together. He’d tie the husband or boyfriend up in one room. And he would place teacups, plates, cups on the back of the man. He’d tell the victim not to move because if he did, “the cups will fall, I’ll hear you and I will come back to kill you…” DeAngelo would then go to the other room, and rape the wife
The husbands would be on the floor, tied up, and forced to listen to the agonizing sounds of their wives being brutalized in the other room. Always, without fail, they would wiggle and try their hardest to escape to save their wives. The porcelain would drop and break, and DeAngelo would then drag them to the bedroom. Bludgeon the wife in front of the tied-up husband… and then, kill him last. The killer repeated this several times. Some victims survived. Most didn’t. For decades, the man capable of such great cruelty got away with his crimes, unpunished, a family man, father, grandfather.
A policeman, he heard of DNA evidence being a thing by the late 1980s. Which is when he stopped his spree of terror. DeAngelo lived another thirty years in relative peace and quiet. He had a little boat he would sail on. And he enjoyed his retirement. DNA evidence did take him down, in the end — genealogy websites used to track down relatives allowed law enforcement into their database and found a match. Before he ‘retired’ from his career as a maniac, DeAngelo raped 45 people and murdered twelve.
Nature is straightforward. An animal gets hungry, he’ll kill another animal and eat it. It’ll hurt, it will be brutal but there’s no inate cruelty or sadism involved… the killing is a mean’s to an end. Nature produces no Joseph James DeAngelo’s. Humanity alone does.
Young Girl REINCARNATED from an Ancient World | The Ghost Inside My Child | LMN
This is pretty good and well worth your time to watch.
Obviously you think that the Party is a very top-down organization where only a few people at the top make all the decisions for 1.4B Chinese, and everyone underneath follows. Following on this, you think that if the Party collapses through the elimination of this top few, it will collapse and everyone will go wild.
Let me correct your view:
The Party has 98M members now. This means about one in 14 Chinese is a Party member.
In order to join the Party, one must either apply to join, or be invited to apply.
The Party permeates through all levels of Chinese society with branch organizations. Every company, school or organization with more than ten employees has its own party branch secretary who convenes monthly meetings for all Party members. At these meetings they discuss policy and developments, and how to implement Party policy in their organization.
It is common for applicants to be rejected on the first application. The current general secretary, Xi Jinping, was rejected nine times before finally being accepted on the tenth application.
On joining, the new members swear an oath of loyalty and sacrifice if called to do so.
In an emergency, such as a flood, earthquake or COVID crisis, the party mobilizes its members FIRST. This is why when the COVID crisis broke out in Wuhan in January 2020, most of the victims were Party members; they had been called to use their skills and experience to fight the virus. Ordinary Chinese who are not Party members know about Party members being called up and in some cases dying.
This is not to say that the Party is a perfect organization which has never done anything wrong. For instance, the Cultural Revolution is now officially considered to have been a disaster.
At the same time, it has lifted more than 600M Chinese out of poverty, and is building a modern infrastructure in China which puts western societies to shame. It has made Chinese proud of China.
No one has been able to offer a better alternative to replace the Party. Do you have a better alternative aside from vague statements about freedom and democracy? That will not work with ordinary Chinese because they want some firm alternatives.
Would you offer to give every Chinese a US passport, and a free one-way ticket to the US? I am sure that would attract 50–100M Chinese, maybe more. Do you want to do that? I don’t think Biden or Trump have plans to do that right away.
So why would it collapse? If you can tell me how such an organization and society would collapse, I would like to hear about it.
I’m all ears.
Father Takes Away Daughters College $ After They Crossed The Ultimate Line, Now They’re LOSING IT!
Yes, it worked very well because it restored the faith of most Chinese in the Chinese Communist Party.
If Xi Jinping did not have the anti-corruption campaign, China would have become as corrupt as another leading superpower, where money can buy anything, including the presidency.
Animals are easier to pick up with chopsticks if they are dead, and they don’t fight back as they are being eaten.
Chili Dog Soup
IMG 9753 scaled 1
Ingredients
1 pound ground beef
1 package hot dogs, cut up
1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
2 (16 ounce) cans dark red kidney beans, undrained
2 (15 ounce) cans tomato sauce
Salt and pepper
1 cup shredded cheese
1 bag Fritos Corn Chips
Instructions
Cook ground beef. Drain.
Stir in hot dogs, diced tomatoes, kidney Beans, tomato sauce, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Serve over Frito chips and top with cheese.
12 People Reveal The Saddest Thing They’ve Seen at a Casino
July 18, 2023
1. A woman asking security if she could come back in clean clothes, after she got kicked out for shitting herself while working the slots. She wouldn’t leave that machine, even to use the bathroom. Gross. She wasn’t even phased or embarrassed by the scene she was making in public.
2. Casino dealer here for 10 years. I’ve worked at three casinos and worked in many departments . Young best buy worker comes in buys in for 500 on roulette and loses it. Goes to the parking lot and sells his car for 500 and comes back and racks up 75,000 bucks. In 20 minutes he loses it all. 25 years old I couldn’t believe it. Feel free to ask any question.
3. Not a dealer and it was a card room, but while playing poker a guy sat down with the max buy in and got wiped out on his first hand at the table. He reloaded for the max and lost it all his second hand dealt. He reloaded max a third time, and no shit, went broke again on his third hand of the night. Like, wtf? He stood up real quick and stared at the board stunned. Then, proceeded to freak out about how his wife was going to divorce him. He grabbed as many chips off the table as he could and made a break for the door. Unfortunately, he tripped over the back of someone’s chair and chips went flying everywhere. Police kindly escorted him out as he was having what had to be a mental breakdown.
4. I am not a dealer but I am a cocktail server at a local casino. I am still fairly new but it is a very sad place. I work anywhere from 7-10 hours shifts at a time. People will sit at a slot machine for my entire shift and put every single dollar they have into it hoping to win big. They constantly visit the ATM or main bank for cash advances on credit cards or go into the negative in the bank account. I see the same people there daily. Most are friendly but some bark orders at me or don’t thank me. I am always smiling and friendly with everyone I come into contact with.
I’ve witnessed people win thousands of dollars and be completely miserable because it wasn’t enough for them and they are still in debt from their addiction.
I’ve heard horror stories about people pissing or shitting because they refuse to visit the restroom in fear of leaving their machine for a few moments.
5. Former slot attendant and cage cashier at Showboat in Atlantic City (RIP): the worst is watching the people who clearly don’t have enough money to be in there coming in, losing it all, and begging for a marker (a line of credit that allows them to keep betting) so they could try to win it back. Showboat was a Harrah’s casino, and Harrah’s made a very big deal about their commitment to responsible gaming. We were told to refer them to Gambler’s Anonymous or point out the brochures and signage about needing help if we determined a guest was gaming irresponsibly, but we couldn’t actually stop them if they had the money. Once they were out, though, you’d still get a few sad sacks a day that tried to open the marker. I don’t know which was worse: watching them get the application accepted and piss away even more money, or watching them get denied and leave in tears.
6. Tossup between:
Coming into work to see some of the same people still playing that were there when i left the previous night.
Watching other dealers take their tokes and sit down at a table and lose it all after their shift ended.
7. Been in the casino industry for about 14 years. Dealt for about 8 of those, I have since moved up and am in management now.
The saddest thing I’ve seen is death.
Death by itself is tragic and rare, and seeing someone keel over from a heart attack is sad to say the least. But you are trained and ordered to never stop dealing if there are bets that need to be paid or taken.
Case in point: A normal, slightly overweight guy has a heart attack. He drops. It happened across from me in a different pit, but I saw it just the same. Concerned crowd, EMTs arrive, all of what you would expect. But he had this misfortune of dying on a live craps table. In the middle of a good roll. People complained that the game stopped, so they kept the game going as EMTs were doing their thing. People were straight stepping over the guy’s legs to place bets.
In St. Louis if you are curious. I’ve seen two other people die in my casinos, but this one was the saddest by far.
8. The first time I was ever in Vegas a security guards came up to the slot next to me and removed the stool from the floor. Another guard wheels up an old lady and she starts throwing her money in to that slot. Within a minute of her losing every last dime the guard is back wheeling her away while the other fixes the stool back in to the floor. I notice them taking her out the front door towards Fremont street. A couple hours later as I am leaving the casino I see her right by the front door where they wheeled her and I figure perhaps she is waiting for a ride. Four hours later when I come back she is still in the same place so I ask her if I can pay for a taxi for her and she asks if I can give her $20 dollars to buy some groceries. I give it to her and a few minutes later see security wheeling her back to the slots.
9. 90 (ish?) year old woman wearing tattered rags, and in a wheelchair that was falling apart, cigarette in one hand, a drink in the other spending what I could only assume was her life savings on the slot machines.
10. I used to work as a change person, pushing a cart around and making change for gamblers. I once saw a grown man at about 3am – desperately walking from slot machine to slot machine, dropping coins into the slots, pulling the handle, and watching the tumblers roll – quietly sobbing and mumbling to himself, seemingly looking desperately for a winner. I left that job the next day and never forgot his face (it’s been about 25 years).
11. I worked as a croupier for 3 years, I had an Irish student come into the casino drunk. He proceeded to spend his entire years worth of student loads and bursary. He stood at my blackjack table and begged me and my manager for his money back, trying to explain to me that he was only 18 and why it was illegal for us to put him in such a position e.g. bent over the table and looted of all monies.
12. I wasn’t a dealer but i use to work security at a casino. I remember a relatively wealthy couple explaining to me that they sold their fridge and stove so that they could use the money to keep gambling. They said they had no need for them because the casino comped them so many meals. All i could think of was how sad of people they were.
This one for some reason bothers me more than anything though; seeing a mother leave her children at the entry gate so she could gamble. This was like 2:30am and the children were something like 4 and 16. We told her numerous times to take them home but she wouldn’t. We contacted DCI (state troopers basically that are always on property) to come and talk to her. Because the 16 year old was watching the other child they couldn’t do anything. We also had a policy that if they were at the table games, the pit boss had to make the call to kick her out. He wouldn’t because she was spending too much. I just watched as these kids sat on a bench for hours waiting for their mom. They complained they were hungry and thirsty but i couldn’t do much more than get a waitress to grab a soda.
“We have alien bodies and they are hiding it from you” Bombshell UFO testimony
On Wednesday, Congress held a hearing about UAP’s or “unidentified aerial phenomena.”
This is government speak for UFO. During the hearing, U.S. intelligence official David Grusch, a whistleblower, testified under oath before Congress that the United States has the bodies of alien pilots who were recovered from crashed UFO’s.
He also said that we have crashed craft and that he will give more details about that in separate closed-door hearings.
8 Parents Revealed Why They Home-Schooled Their Children
July 27, 2023
1. My number one reason was I wanted my kids to like learning. And they do, they love both reading and math. But it ended up being so much more. We have a lot more bonding time as a family, and my kids are best friends. They have more time to spend with their friends, and they have friends of all ages, from all around our city, not just the kids their age, in their neighborhood. They have lots of time to pursue multiple hobbies and interests. We as a family aren’t tied to a school schedule.
2. Our homeschool journey started because of food allergies. As we began to research our options we were flooded with reasons to homeschool that really resonated with us.
Safety- pandemic, a growing anti-vax movement and violence (bullying, shootings,etc)
We wanted our girls to get accurate and useful information regarding sex education. Not just the abstinence nonsense that is taught in schools. When our girls eventually go down that path, we want to make sure they know how to protect themselves as well as how to advocate for themselves and what they want.
We want to make sure that our girls are being taught accurate, truthful and fully represented history. I’m not interested in my kids learning a conservative, white-washed version of history.
My kids are only kids once and I genuinely enjoy spending time with them. Homeschooling lets us do that.
Flexibility. We’re able to do extracurricular activities such as gymnastics during the day while public school is in session. This usually means better instructor to kid ratios. Also, it means more time to spend as a family in the evening once my husband gets off work so he doesn’t miss out on time with the kids.
Private school was never an option for us because all of the private schools in our area are religious. We don’t feel that religion has anything to do with education and shouldn’t be included during school time.
3. I personally don’t have too much of a problem with the material taught in public school (though with a lot of recent developments in some states re: religion butting it’s way in, book bans etc, I’m wary of the future) but large classes have to, by default, teach to the middle. The kids who are behind will stay behind, and the kids ahead will get bored and disruptive. There’s also incredible stigmatization of kids held back OR skipped forward, even if they need it, so it rarely, if ever, happens. The way I see it, public schools prioritize putting kids in boxes and keeping them there, regardless of their needs academically or developmentally (it’s really not developmentally appropriate for young kids to sit in one place for hours at a time). I don’t blame them, though, because you kind of have to exercise a lot of control if you are the sole adult in charge of 20+ young children all day.
We looked at a lot of private schools in the area and none of them met our needs. We want our kids to have a low pressure academic atmosphere where they are allowed to act like young kids, and where there are enough teachers to meet kids where they’re at. That’s just not offered around here in a school we can drive to and afford right now.
4. Ultimately, I don’t believe that the material taught or the way it is taught will be of any benefit to my children in their future and may even be detrimental.
5. There’s a lot of reasons..
Like you, I don’t think what is taught in schools is quality information and nothing applicable to life skills.
I also don’t like the idea of my kids sitting in a chair 7 hours a day.
I think kids should be around a lot of different people and different age groups. I don’t see that there’s a lot to gain by being with the same group of kids the same age for 12 years.
I don’t like the political climate of our nation and I don’t like that it’s so apparent in schools. Our children’s education isn’t a game and shouldn’t be messed with the way it is.
I am fine with people having differing opinions than me, and I also don’t want to shelter my kids from different opinions and ideas but I also don’t trust a bunch of strangers having such a big part of my kids lives.
I genuinely love my kids, enjoying being around them and hate the thought of them being gone 40+ hours a week starting at age 5.
We homeschool now. As our kids are reaching middle school levels, we have discussed possibly putting them into private school. Financially, it’s definitely doable for us. Right now, we like homeschool, our kids like it and are thriving. Private school is always an option for us if thats what we decide. There is one we’ve toured and really like near us that will be what we choose if that’s the path we go down.
6. We decided to homeschool after we already had three kids in public school. I watched their love of school, turn into dread. The younger kids, no longer felt safe. They were coming home crying because of their peers or confused over classroom assignments. I watched my older kid turn into robot mode to please the system with A’s.
After my oldest graduated high school, we pulled the younger kids and decided to homeschool. We love the freedom of homeschool. Being able to tackle assignments in a way that benefits each child. Going to zoo’s, museums, and state parks anytime we want too. Learning about any thing we want, just because we want too. I can tailor their education to the career fields that they are interested in. We can enjoy play groups other extracurricular activities at our own pace.
Ultimately, learning is a life long process and I wanted them to have a good foundation. Classroom learning is a small percentage compared to the rest of their lives. I considered their physical, emotional, intellectual, social, spiritual, environmental and occupational well-being when we decided to homeschool.
7. I like homeschooling and the freedom that comes with it. I like that my kids can spend time outside, playing, reading, and I like that we can choose a curriculum that they enjoy and that works for them. My kids are young and I don’t like the idea of them being in public school for 8 hours day. They can sleep late if they need to, and can take days off when they’re struggling. The public schools in my area are overcrowded and there is so much crime; schools are frequently on lockdown due to crime in the surround area or because of threats made.
We actually homeschool through a public charter. So the charter school provides funds for students that we use to purchase curriculum and that is used towards extracurriculars. We use the charter funds for piano lessons, gymnastics, and a learning co-op that meets weekly. Private schools in our area are expensive and also overcrowded.
8. Our catalyst for homeschooling was originally the pandemic and some academic trauma and bullying that came before that. We continued for many reasons but mainly because one of my kids especially needs lots of time to work through struggle and build confidence. If he were in public school his anxiety would be unmanageable and he wouldn’t be thriving as he is. It also fits our lifestyle and gives us flexibility to live the way we want and not be ruled by a societal schedule.
My favorite reason for homeschooling though is that learning and growing becomes an ongoing, long-form conversation. It’s stream-of-consciousness across the years where we reach back, make connections, and are continually building on the day before in an organic, developmentally appropriate way that revolves around hand-picked curricula and materials we believe in. I as their teacher can see where they are compared to where they have been and I can be a better steward of their progress. Pair all this with the ability to do year-round school, friends of all ages and walks of life, field trips around our town or country to learn about their world first hand, 4H and other clubs, and their being involved in a few different family businesses, often working events with adults, and living on and working a farm, and we’ve got invaluable real life living year round. After doing it this way school seems even more artificial and not the right path for us.
HOUSE PASSES THE TAIWAN INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY ACT
Washington, D.C. — Today, the House passed the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, bipartisan legislation authored by Congressman John Curtis (R-UT) and Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA), co-Chair of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus that seeks to counter Beijing’s attempts to exclude Taiwan from participating in international organizations.
“The passage of the Taiwan International Solidarity Act is a significant step in reaffirming our commitment to Taiwan and in opposing attempts by the People’s Republic of China to use international organizations to distort Taiwan’s status,” said Rep. Curtis. “Building on my TAIPEI Act, this bipartisan legislation stands strong in support of Taiwan’s rightful place on the global stage.”
“For too long, the People’s Republic of China has distorted policies and procedures at international organizations to assert its sovereignty claims over Taiwan, often to the detriment of global health and security efforts,” said Rep. Connolly. “This bipartisan legislation ensures that we stand against Beijing’s weaponization of international organizations and in solidarity with the wishes and best interests of the people on Taiwan. I’ve been proud to partner with Rep. Curtis on this effort and I look forward to continuing to work together to get this important legislation signed into law.”
The Taiwan International Solidarity Act builds on Congressman Curtis’ TAIPEI Act to reaffirm that the United States will oppose any efforts by the People’s Republic of China to interfere with Taiwan’s ability to conduct diplomacy and participate in international organizations. In addition to Connolly and Curtis, the legislation was cosponsored by Representatives Ami Bera, Andy Barr, Mario Diaz-Balart, Dina Titus, Lisa McClain, Brian Fitzpatrick, Ted Lieu, Darrell Issa, Chris Smith, Brad Sherman, David Cicilline, and Michael Lawler.
Online casinos are a great way to spend time, especially if you win simultaneously. However, there are some nuances that online casinos hide from you.
Modern online casinos with lightning roulette demo, primarily legal and premium ones, offer a lot of entertainment, including state-of-the-art slot machines, live dealer games, and much more.
Most decent online casinos have fully informative websites. Detailed descriptions accompany most games and services. However, there are some things that online casinos need to inform players about.
Some things online casinos hide from you
None of these nuances alone will make you a great player who regularly withdraws huge sums from online casinos. However, knowing these things can help you significantly reduce your losses in online casino gambling.
Blackjack offers the best odds of winning
A casino wants to keep the online game that offers the best odds of winning. That’s why you often see promotions that focus on Blackjack. A casino won’t advertise that Blackjack offers the best odds of winning. Nevertheless, considering that the casino’s advantage can be as low as 0.5%, it is true. Try playing it yourself – it’s easy to learn and understand.
Betting systems do not guarantee winnings
Nothing can guarantee you a win when you play at a casino. It would help if you understood that:
• Even professional casino players sometimes win. • You shouldn’t rely too much on a betting system and expect always to win.
It’s best to place responsible bets on the games you choose. This way, you can limit your gambling opportunities and potential winnings.
Time flies by when you gamble
Although this feature is more typical for offline casinos, it applies here.
Land-based casinos have no clocks or windows, so you never know the time of day. It helps you forget the time because the establishments want you to stay longer and spend more.
The same thing happens online, and you can lose track of time when playing like this. Even safe online casinos do not inform you of this fact.
Maximum bets can pay off on slots
Many players often make the mistake of thinking that the size of the bet doesn’t matter. So, they continue to place small bets, hoping that a crazy multiplier will appear on the slot. However, this never happens. That’s because, in many cases, bonuses are awarded only at the highest bets. Therefore, using a higher bet can guarantee the activation of these critical special features.
Ignore advertising of “hot” slots
Casinos often use a kind of petty fraud by “highlighting” certain games. Usually, they indicate that these games are “hot” and others are “cold”. Such labelling is explained by how often they have paid out money recently. However, there are no actual trends in the frequency of game payouts. All outcomes of online games are random due to the random number generation technology. Therefore, nothing says that the probability of paying out in one game is higher than in another.
The casino always has an advantage
It is something you can figure out for yourself. However, casinos are not very happy that players know this. Why? Because it means that players know that the casino always makes a profit. For every bet you place, the casino gets a certain percentage. The casino’s edge (House edge) exists, so the casino/operator makes money when you play. Even fast-payout casino sites have to make money somehow. That’s why the casino tries to steer you towards games with a higher casino edge.
Casinos don’t like bonus hunters
It is a pretty obvious statement. Online casinos want to avoid bonus hunters coming to them. Why? Because these players sign up and make deposits with the sole intention of redeeming a bonus.
They build up a balance, withdraw money, leave, and never play again. Casinos do not like such players. They prefer players who play for a long time and often, and with their real money.
Online casinos don’t want you to withdraw your winnings
When you win a decent amount of money at an online casino, the ideal thing to do is to withdraw it. However, casinos want you to do something other than that. Instead, they want you to keep gambling, hoping to win even more. In the end, there is a chance that you will lose everything you won and more.
That’s why it’s better to set a winning goal and leave the online casino when you reach it.
The hype around jackpot winners is not accidental
Casinos go to great lengths to get people to spend money. It applies to both land-based and online gambling establishments. Both illegal and completely honest. Casinos love advertising and excitement around the enormous payouts they make to lucky players who hit the jackpot. Such sums are often life-changing. So they want you to believe you can win the same amount. It is their way of getting you to register, deposit, and play. If you hope to win big, the casino will grab hold of you.
Card counting is not illegal
Land-based casinos are more guilty of this than online sites. However, if you visit live casino sites, this applies to games in the rooms. Card counting is something that experienced players can use in these games. Knowing which cards have already come and gone gives you an advantage. However, some casinos prefer you to have something other than this kind of knowledge. It puts them at a disadvantage. The thing is, if you can do it, it’s not illegal. So take advantage of it if you can.
What probably happened to Qin Gang
What probably happened to Qin Gang.
The following is a compilation of a plot-line that seems to have solidified on international social media.
No one knows for certain what is going on in regards to the Qin saga, however, internet sleuth armies (many located inside of China) have pieced together this most-probable scenario. Knowing what I know of the quality of the “keyboard warriors” of China, the sleuthing tends to be of high quality and speculation is kept at a minimum. Its another animal all together compared to the West.
Is this explanation the full story? No.
For internet sleuthing, the amount of detail, with names, dates, times, and actions are all very *specific*. It is a great amount of detail. This suggests a Chinese government “seeding” effort into social media as opposed to an “organic” discovery.
But, please keep in mind that this is the best explanation that you will ever get. It is the story with the highest probability. And keep in mind that the Chinese government, though its “unofficial” key-board warriors DOES actually “seed” narratives onto social media.
On 26/6/2023 — Qin Gang received a phone call from a mysterious ANDRE asking him to meet at a secret location in Beijing
QG was about to refuse when Andre said it was about “FU” or Fu Xiaotian, his mistress or girlfriend.
2023 07 28 14 40
QG decided to travel alone and meet Andre who confirmed he worked for the CIA and revealed pictures and secret tapes of QG and Fu and their affair and confirmed that Fu was a CIA Asset.
Andre = CIA agent
Fu = CIA asset
Andre informed QG that he would either [1] see that these photos delivered to the Security Committee and his wife and made public or [2] he would have to do whatever the CIA wanted him to do.
QG nodded and Andre said he would mail the instructions and call him for their next meeting.
…
However QG drove straight to the Security Committee and confessed the entire affair plus the blackmail.
The Committee [1] recorded his statement and [2] imposed a section 15(iii) violation — Ethical and Moral Breach, and [3] placed him on leave from that moment on.
As he left, three security men followed him, his regular driver was gone and instead Captain Wen of the MSS was at the wheel
At Zhonganhai, his home was covered by security guards.
…
Andre watched as the MSS men began to hunt for him and realized he had made a mistake with the Chinese Foreign Minister.
Westerners usually cracked under blackmail but QG came clean mainly because being a misguided philanderer was better than being a traitor to his country.
Andre fled China as fast as possible to Taipei realizing that the mission had failed and Fu (the CIA sponsored mistress) was blown.
On 3/7/2023 — the Security committee decided to impose a full investigation on every member of the ministry who had meetings with QG and 181 officials fell under suspicion and were investigated.
Xi Jingping who was notified agreed that the safest course was to give the Foreign Ministry to Wang Yi, a man above suspicion and not in QGs sphere of influence in the last year.
Qin Gang came clean and revealed all aspects of the affair after which his phone and laptops and suits were examined for bugs.
There were none.
It was likely that now that QG would live in Beijing and it was impossible for Fu to follow him there, the CIA rushed things.
China couldn’t blame the CIA because that would expose China.
So instead China continued with Wang Yi.
After many days the committee decided that Qin Gang had not divulged any state secrets and that Fu was part of a long term operation that had been accelarated due to QGs sudden promotion to Foreign Minister.
Thus Qin Gang was retained as State Councillor and as Party Member.
He will never leave China now.
His Passport was confiscated on 26/6/2023.
He will be under surveillance for life or until he turns 80 or if a later standing committee votes against the same.
Of the 181 others —69 have been cleared fully and 46 more have been cleared for their last 3 years activities.
Likely by 1/1/24 — a new foreign minister will replace QG — someone chosen by Wang Yi from his old guard
Andre(CIA agent)
Andre was found at 4:45 AM.
His mouth was gaping open and he had suffered a massive seizure.
His mouth was purple and a needle prick was found near his lower right elbow.
On 18/7/23, he was buried anonymously under the name of Regis Waller (1971–2023)
The Experts found traces of substances that seemed similar in composition to NOVICHOK.
Fu Xiaotian (Mistress)
Fu is in a safe house in Brazil waiting for evacuation to Vancouver under a false name and terrified of retaliation.
Today all they want to do is LOOK TOUGH AND TALK TOUGH
So they are all bullies
From Madeline Albright to Powell to Rice to Hilary Clinton to John Kerry to Pompeo to Blinken — their message is always the same
You better do what we say or else…
British diplomats always want to look condescending to Asian & Middle Eastern & African countries
European & American diplomats always threaten Asian, African and Middle Eastern countries
main qimg 9fb4cad30516286d6b6702d0d7a62ea2
US Diplomats have all but forgotten the art of quid pro quo
It’s all about being terrified of “Looking Weak”
The result is they are more and more hawkish than ever
If you don’t have a democratic system, then you are a dictatorship and a threat to the world
If you don’t do what I say, i will sanction you or embargo you
If you don’t stand against Russia, i will create a color revolution and ensure you are defeated in elections
Blinken is one of these diplomats
Now Chinese Diplomats are DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSITE
They always believe in deals that benefit everyone so that nobody leaves with a grudge
Nobody LOSES FACE
They are terrified of LOSING FACE and they would do anything in their power to not lose face
When Nancy Pelosi went to Taiwan, the Diplomat Wang Yi lost a lot of face
He regained his face and gained even more face after his Solomon Island deal and the SAUDI IRAN DEAL that helped him gain so much face that we was rewarded plentifully with a huge promotion to the Politburo
main qimg 94a24fcd67ed5e19bb034750effdad89
Zhao Lijian on the other hand, got a promotion and a higher salary but he LOST FACE and that meant his power and his responsibilities have reduced
So US vs China is always a tough battle
Both sets of Diplomats have their restrictions
US diplomats cannot appear weak so they threaten and posture
Chinese diplomats cannot lose face so they react and cause US to lose more face
It’s a vicious circle
However Chinese Diplomats are reasonable while US Diplomats are not. They won’t yield a millimeter at any cost but demand that China does.
As US becomes less and less of the only Superpower in the World , their stubbornness will rise accordingly
China meanwhile have a 5000 year civilization and their diplomacy is much different and they won’t put with the US and it’s brash bullyboy tactics
So one side has to yield or be made to yield
The jury is out on who
So who are US Diplomats are terrified of?
main qimg c52d6c9899f61af30b5387545f210ade
Yep the Taliban
When a 14 year boy can smilingly cut blinkens granddaughters throat and laugh saying Allahu Akbar and happily get shot believing he will be in Jannat
That’s enough to terrify the living daylights of any American including a Pentagon Five Star General
In 2001, Afghanistan was an isolated nation
Today 4.7 Million Afghans are in US and at least 30% are pro Taliban having infiltrated through as victims
If a single mullah asks them to do god’s work and kill 7 Women and Kids before sacrificing their lives — US would fold in a week and make a compromise
Stuxnet | The Computer Virus That Caused World War 3
STUXNET. The virus that prevented; then started the next world war. Cyberwar is being waged right now in your name.
No matter what country you call home, your government is engaged in highly dangerous combat on the Internet. Infrastructure around the world is under siege and everyone is at risk. Even you.
In 2010, the Stuxnet virus was discovered in Natanz, Iran and thousands of control systems that operate factories, power plants and nuclear reactors around the world.
It was 20 times more sophisticated than any malware ever recorded.
It could halt oil pipelines, destroy water treatment plants and bring down entire power grids.
Stuxnet is back, stronger than ever. And we should all be concerned.
Cyber-security experts knew Stuxnet wasn’t ordinary malware thrown together by some basement hacker. This was something different.
World War 3 is proceeding. NATO and the United States are “throwing everything, including the kitchen sink at Russia”. At this point in time, details are trivial. Russia will eventually win, and the United States will sulk, but then “pivot to China”.
China is ready for this. And if they are not, then they deserve what will be coming.
Preventative efforts to minimize the “bads” from being big, to something more manageable are in process. But I have no “crystal ball” and cannot predict the future.
I, like you all, tire of war talk, covid talk and all the rest.
We all should be exhausted of this nonsense. But the evil son-of-bitches won’t stop. They are functionally evil.
Here, let’s take a light view of human relationships today. I’m throwing this post in the art section.
The Married Kama Sutra: The World’s Least Humorous Erotic Sex Manual
married kama sutra1b
For centuries, lovers have found inspiration and advice in the ancient text of the Kama Sutra. Now, Simon Rich – ‘one of the funniest writers in America’ (The Daily Beast) – and Farley Katz have unearthed a valuable new document – a guide to the positions most common after marriage.
From ‘the interrupted congress’ to ‘the beaching of the whales,’ here are the poses, positions, and games married lovers play to keep the spark alive – and the dishwasher properly loaded. Complete with four-color, full-page illustrations in the style of the original Kama Sutra, but with modern, domestic accoutrements: dirty diapers, TV remotes, and wine glasses aplenty.
Ever since the Military coup in November 1963 (President Kennedy Assassination) the United States became a military empire. It is run by wealthy oligarchs associated with the military-industrial complex. By the very nature of this situation, the United States serves the interests of the hidden cabal, and ignores the needs of the citizenry. And it shows.
To keep the system running, the United States must be constantly engaged in war; feeding the military-industrial complex.
The United States, over the decades has become a nation of raw plunder, manipulation, and shadow activities to feed the handful of wealthy oligarchs.
But all that is now coming to an end.
The military empire model that the United States is built upon is not a sustainable model. You can only destroy so much, and steal so much, and pillage so much until limits are reached. Now, with much of the world plundered of it’s materials and products, a new competitor has entered the world; the re-awakened giant dragon; China.
As China flexes its muscles and sharpens it’s claws, other nations are flocking to China for support, aid, assistance and protection. Leaving the corrupt, inept, and tarnished American military to go elsewhere. And the American stature is shrinking as a result.
The smart thing for the hidden leadership to do is to accept the change in global stature and adapt to it. But, that is not what is going on. They wish to clutch onto what they have in some mistaken belief that their plundering, rape, robbery, and theft was ordained by God.
And with this belief is the idea that the United States military can actually fight China, defeat it, and then plunder it like it has so many times in the past.
It’s a fantasy.
The world has changed.
And that is why the United States is constantly trying to provoke a Gulf of Tonkin incident with China over the South China Sea and Taiwan. It is an attempt to change the developing world order back to one when a military dictatorship can rule the world.
royal tomb
Breaking: Ancient Royal Tomb Discovered in Egypt
Egyptian authorities have announced that a never-before-seen royal tomb has been uncovered in Luxor, Egypt, dating back around 3,500 years. Archaeologists believe it belongs to a royal of the 18th Dynasty of Pharaonic Egypt (1550 BC to 1292 BC), but it has not yet been revealed who and what is inside.
Dr. Mustafa Waziri , General Secretary of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said the tomb was unearthed on the west bank of the Nile River, where the famous Valley of the Queens is located.
Valley of the Queens
The Valley of the Queens, also known as Biban el-Harim, is a valley in Luxor, Egypt that was used as a necropolis for the wives and children of pharaohs during the 18th, 19th, and 20th dynasties of ancient Egypt. The valley contains around 75 tombs, including the tomb of Nefertari, the wife of Pharaoh Ramses II, which is considered to be one of the most beautiful tombs in the valley. The tombs in the valley are known for their well-preserved paintings and inscriptions, which provide valuable insights into the lives and beliefs of the ancient Egyptians.
location 26
The location of the newly-discovered tomb on the west bank of the Nile in Luxor. Credit: Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.
A Royal of the Thutmosid Lineage?
Phys.org reports that Piers Litherland of the University of Cambridge, head of the British research mission, said the tomb could be of a royal wife or princess of Thutmosid lineage.
The Thutmosid pharaohs include some of the most famous kings of ancient Egypt, such as Hatshepsut, Thutmose III, Amenhotep II, and Tutankhamun. During their reign, the Thutmosid pharaohs expanded the territory of Egypt through military campaigns, built monumental architectural projects such as temples, tombs and statues, and promoted the arts, literature and religion. They also increased the power and wealth of the central government and the royal court. The 18th dynasty was considered a golden age for ancient Egypt and it was the most powerful and prosperous dynasty in the New Kingdom. The significance of this discovery cannot be overstated, as it will shed new light on the cultural heritage of this era.
photo 3
A photo taken from inside the entrance of the tomb looking out. The tomb has been secured with a metal gate to prevent looting. Credit: Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.
Damage from Floods
The joint Egyptian-English mission between the Supreme Council for Archaeology and the Modern State Research Foundation of Cambridge University, led by Dr. Fathi Yassin, is continuing its excavation and documentation of the cemetery. However, it is in poor condition due to ancient floods, which filled the tomb with sand and limestone.
Recent discoveries in Egypt are playing a crucial role in reviving the country’s vital tourism industry. The highlight of these efforts is the highly anticipated opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum, located at the base of the iconic pyramids.
Top image: The royal tomb discovered in Luxor. Credit: Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.
By Joanna Gillan
Chart of the week
trade with russia
Thessaloniki Metro Construction Reveals Unimaginable Treasures
Thessaloniki metro 2
The construction of local metro facilities in the ancient Greek port city of Thessaloniki have uncovered a massive stash of thousands of archaeological treasures from different periods of Thessaloniki’s history. This booty includes a decumanus (an east-west oriented road, one of the primary highways of the time), along with a Byzantine avenue.
Construction 0
Construction site of Thessaloniki’s Metro seen from the inside of a tunnel. (Konstantinos Stampoulis / CC BY-SA 3.0 GR )
Thessaloniki’s Tryst with Momentous Greek and Roman Heritage
There are architectural remains of many 15th to 17th century buildings built on top of the remains of Hellenistic and Roman buildings – a nymphaeum, a marble paved square, a bathhouse heated by an underfloor hypocaust system and a large mosaic with intricate geometric patterns. There is even a paved road with colonnades and a line of Byzantine period shops and workshops. Stunning images of the same have been released by Attiko Metro SA .
The metro follows the path of the ancient decumanus, which now serves as the main historical avenue cutting through Thessaloniki, reported Arkeo News . The ancient road begins at the famed Golden Gate ( Porta Aurea ), the contemporaneous Vardario Square, all the way to Kassandriotik Gate, known today as Syntrivani Square. Currently, the excavation of Thessaloniki is the largest in northern Greece and covers an area of as much as 20,000 square kilometers (7,722 sq mi).
According to Arkeonews, over 300,000 artifacts have been uncovered so far, dating to the 4th century BC, excavated from six of the twelve station sites currently under construction. This figure is likely to increase immensely as the rest of the sites are excavated. The unearthed artifacts are likely to be exhibited at the stations where they were uncovered, as well as two new museums set to be created before the end of the year.
images 4
The images released of the Thessaloniki metro excavations show the sheer scale of the project. ( Attiko Metro SA )
The Thessaloniki Metro Excavation that Keeps on Giving
Owing to its strategic placement along the Thermaic Gulf of the Aegean Sea, Thessaloniki received a fair bit of human traffic throughout its history. Located in the Macedonian region, it is Greece’s second largest city today and new finds from various phases of its history keep popping up at frequent intervals, including the declaration of Thessaloniki as a “Byzantine Pompeii” during 2013 metro excavations.
In 2012 a pre-Cassandrian small town from the 4th century BC was discovered in Pylaia during excavations of the main line of the metro. It led to an ensuing 31-acre (125,000 sq m) excavation in the area, with part of the city being laid out according to the Hippodamian grid plan – an urban planning system along the line of the great cities of Macedonia, Olynthos and Pella.
In 2018, the statue of Aphrodite was discovered at the Hagia Sophia station, named after one of the oldest churches in the city, revealing an entire fountain complex around the area. Meanwhile, a Roman cemetery (2nd to 4th century AD) was discovered within the confines of Fleming Station, revealing previously unidentified settlements on the outskirts of ancient Thessaloniki.
In the same area, a 3 kilometer (1.86 mi) cemetery basilica with mosaic floors was discovered on the site of a previous structure, revealing thousands of funerary monuments from the Hellenistic to Late Antiquity period. The tombs were of all kinds – pit-shaped, box-shaped, pot burials, altars, altar-shaped constructions, single and double vaulted, clay and glass vessels, silver and gold jewelry, and all kinds of coins.
Centuries 0
Centuries of history has been unearthed thanks to the construction of a metro line in Thessaloniki. ( Attiko Metro SA )
Thessaloniki: A Checkered History of Power and Prestige
These finds are not surprising – after all, Thessaloniki was known as Symvasilévousa or the co-reigning city of the Byzantine Empire , alongside Constantinople. Prior to that too, Thessaloniki had a strong economy and established socio-political structures and institutions, with the greatest development occurring in the second half of the 4th century.
In 315 BC, Kassandros founded the city, though it was briefly abandoned after the fall of the Kingdom of Macedon in 168 BC. It regained its prestige and importance with the emergence of Rome as a trading hub with a vital highway running through it, known as the Via Egnatia, connecting Byzantium with Dyrrachium.
Thessaloniki reinvented itself as a seat of power away from Rome in the second half of the 5th century AD, after the fall of Rome and with the emergence of the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire, explained Heritage Daily . It was sacked again in 904 AD in a naval attack led by Byzantine converts to Islam led by Leo of Tripoli, and finally passed out of Byzantine hands three centuries later during the Fourth Crusade .
Top image: Thousands of artifacts and architectural remains have been uncovered during metro excavations in Thessaloniki. Source: Attiko Metro SA
By Sahir Pandey
What is the U.S.A. doing to prevent China from becoming a superpower?
What is the (ridiculously named) United States of America doing to ‘knee-cap’ or ‘hamstring’ China’s recovery from Euro-American/Japanese colonial ruination — a recovery which, given China’s share of humanity’s global population, naturally makes it a ‘superpower’? To the end of (to the American consensus) “keeping the Chinese ‘in their place’”?
Everything in their power.
The ‘running total’ ‘bottom line’ return on the (lol) ‘United’ States of America’ effort to handicap the PRC?.
Less. Than. Nothing.
Less than nothing? Yes. Less than nothing. Their every effort has worked to bouy-up China’s good global reputation — and to both justify and grow its defensive resolve.
The American consensus lives in gob-smacking denial re: how near to universal … let’s call it the ‘global antipathy’ towards America is — despite the evidence — and despite how indisputably earned thus reasonable that global contempt is. Perhaps a picture might help. (A long shot … but hey . . .)
Here, to use the American vernacular, is the map of “The New World Order” as of 1/1/2023:
main qimg 31568b8afffb33e0f11cd9ace58d972b pjlq
Green hue nations are committed members of at the least one China-fostered strategic community. The deeper the green the more such cooperative arrangements.
Blue hue represents nations drinking out of the American kool-aid well. They comprise America, the UK, Australia, Japan, Canada — and (sort of) Mexico. Think ‘5 Eyes’ and ‘AUKUS’ plus Japan.
‘Europe’ is purple-hued. Well, sort of. Here’s the close-up of Europe as of 1/1/2023:
main qimg dd114939d4e9eb873b763fbd842a6c8a pjlq
All of those purple w/green stripes nations are ‘committed’ to BOTH the EU AND Belts & Roads Initiative. Europe’s in a complex and increasingly fragmenting situation.
Here’s another world map to obviate how far the global majority have come in feeling empowered to shrug an “and these are the f___s we have to give you” in America’s bossy face.
main qimg 2fb8165bd9ab04843d5d371971f86970 pjlq
The blue hue represents the nations who are now investors in the Belts & Roads Initiative’s primary funding agency — the AIIB (Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank). Notice how America has only managed to “ahem” Japan to shunning the AIIB. Every nation with the capital to invest is doing so. Already this year Africa’s Mauritania has begun the paperwork in a trend that’s seeing borrowers empowered to become investors.
So. Why is America — the planet’s only ‘power projecting’ superpower — a status that it’s held for well over a generation — 30+ years — why’s it been increasingly powerless to sabotage China’s recovery and success? Why has America failed to isolate China? Why have America’s efforts to undermine China proved so . . . impotent?
Here it comes . . . another map. This one is of an organization improbable in its members’ ethnic, spiritual, cultural and political diversity. And why that community has thrived for 60 years. Here’s the map:
main qimg 486d95999ffb591c9d8206f055c8e52a pjlq
The Non-Aligned Movement was born and grew to include 120 of the world’s 195 nations. It did so because those 120 nations (plus observers) had no desire to ‘fall in line’ behind any power.
At the outset that meant America or Russia. By 1990 it was clear the only superpower they need fear was America. By 1992 there was zero room to doubt that America was the only hegemonic superpower threat. Russia having unilaterally, voluntarily, relinquished all its authority over the Warsaw Pact — followed by all the non-Russian republics of the USSR. Russia then having made nothing other than verbal responses to American (‘NATO’) exploitation of Russia’s de-militarization of the entire central ⅓ of the European continent for a full generation — 25 years.
No sooner had Russia retired from seeking to be a global hegemonic rival to America than the US began manufacturing ‘legitimacy’ to bombard to smithereens then invade — “Shock & Awe” they called it — assorted nations. The message made clear “If we can starve then smite into rubble Iraq imagine what we can do to you”.
Without Russia as a constraining counterbalance America’s 11 Carrier Battle Groups were free to ‘Commodore Peary’ swagger into any port they felt the urge to. Thru that full generation America doubled-down on its neo-colonialist ‘crusade’. (Hell, Bush Jr. called it a crusade. A blitzkrieg undertaken on what we’re clearly false pretenses . . . a ‘crusade’. Not even a mumbled “oops, our bad”. Americans in general revealed themselves such a**-holes they didn’t rush out and buy all The Dixie Chicks albums in contrition and compensation.
The world watched and weighed and judged — and found Americans wanting. Found America wanting. 1850 ‘gunboat diplomacy’ steroidally bloated to battle group diplomacy.
Decades of unrepentant self-righteous gunboat bullying shrugged off by Americans as perfectly okay left zero doubt America was the greatest threat to their sovereignty and success. China? Zero global ‘projection of power’.
Instead of the 11 super-carrier battle armadas gunnels-full with freedom-killing F-22s, F-35s, and missiles? China’s ‘blue-water fleet’ boasts equally massive bulk carriers heaped full of a cargo of capital and container ships filled and mounded high with 20,000 each of rail-cars of affordable life-enhancing consumer goods.
So. While China has treated its global villager neighbours with respect? America’s done little other than condescend — and coerce.
America simply by being its same old self doing the same old disrespectful things has stood in a stark contrast to China — making the choice of so easy.
She had been lying there, on the cold ground for two weeks, but no one seemed to have seen her
Sorry, but I would do that for my cat too.
52 63be700dd204e 700
Odd Thrift Store finds…
thrift shop 40
thrift shop 39
thrift shop 21
thrift shop 13
thrift shop 15
thrift shop 17
This Artist Created Cartoons That Are Too Relevant To Anyone Who Likes Alcohol, Sex And Being An Idiot
0 70
Iamnotanartist_ is an illustrator who creates comics about the stupid things that happen to him. The (not an) artist says the inspiration comes from their nights out with their mates: “Fortunately for me, they are degenerates and are really easy to write about.” From drunk abilities to life’s great mysteries, everyone who likes to have a pint (or five) once in a while will relate.
iamnotanartist 40927885 1136697626506569 5298880128059646385 n
iamnotanartist 40814519 243765549816179 5335064512756486567 n
iamnotanartist 40546037 1885606985081887 6480780775661674387 n
iamnotanartist 40540002 262677591039483 3893305216585044513 n
iamnotanartist 40457467 275146636653141 5201490607054258176 n
iamnotanartist 40446062 271430813690083 1118896335601270784 n
iamnotanartist 40399771 2225043887775390 3392358468779647760 n
iamnotanartist 40360548 273784509899393 8593122570676913661 n
iamnotanartist 39962044 269776323859593 7404520981735039951 n
iamnotanartist 39887427 2139196293006898 3844008451613130752 n
iamnotanartist 39494052 1784883904958544 4534013957240782848 n
iamnotanartist 39486298 1142795369205843 6538226300929179648 n
iamnotanartist 39320743 283319429115908 8088449284191551488 n
iamnotanartist 38890848 224017398461788 373881988358078464 n
iamnotanartist 38626410 277656933023697 8965164096282427392 n
iamnotanartist 38146149 214939779170882 8951065071564357632 n
iamnotanartist 38081549 719261928422343 8151483401048686592 n
iamnotanartist 38081508 526453437808222 5511592112023404544 n
iamnotanartist 38042603 2113208398712707 3534968898782756864 n
iamnotanartist 37850217 498565887260501 6863040121881493504 n
iamnotanartist 37419062 1612654372177163 1362264528510779392 n
iamnotanartist 37384180 2099260746991869 4049530109969825792 n
iamnotanartist 37328431 309914463082460 7878673606757056512 n
iamnotanartist 37169525 1135445826593490 855931645734158336 n
iamnotanartist 37089755 229593867864944 8364676317672636416 n
iamnotanartist 36883655 286355258777768 8288906192558751744 n
iamnotanartist 36644725 277651522987712 2146459259645198336 n
iamnotanartist 36601424 424952584655367 3300574846764711936 n
iamnotanartist 36577618 240331050028929 7965462741051768832 n
iamnotanartist 36536768 413726649112485 4777853840638607360 n
iamnotanartist 36086022 409707929528248 4520461196528189440 n
iamnotanartist 36049089 170528140479544 8485156064495403008 n
iamnotanartist 35575803 669410560066255 7924925035825856512 n
iamnotanartist 35574991 190616991652612 8749770906567442432 n
iamnotanartist 35540256 2169558549727346 4443317837225787392 n
iamnotanartist 35498994 825254677663208 5877998129982210048 n
iamnotanartist 35488710 238471160083951 339356726245457920 n
iamnotanartist 35357393 200684357253580 6660103342347255808 n
iamnotanartist 35271972 212325706254780 7251791003550482432 n
iamnotanartist 35001156 2096973900585791 6510347054030520320 n
iamnotanartist 34921370 398328910657641 3048238809385795584 n
iamnotanartist 34329698 2063078340680000 3667580154395230208 n
iamnotanartist 34051242 1274355666000139 2551285095801552896 n
iamnotanartist 33908605 245518776030808 3435530514570674176 n
iamnotanartist 33630344 591880911190416 5686848669148512256 n
iamnotanartist 33226248 2101605286783852 144568002182905856 n
iamnotanartist 33135273 1831979793765404 531357020100493312 n
iamnotanartist 33037330 590840781315435 7839489434704674816 n
Chicken Soup Mexicana
All of your favorite Mexican flavors mix together in this soup while the canola oil and avocado supply healthy fats. ¡Muy delicioso!
2023 01 22 16 18
Ingredients
1 tablespoon canola oil 15 mL
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, sliced (about 1 cup/250 mL)
4 celery stalks, sliced (about 1 cup/250 mL)
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper 0.5 mL
2 teaspoons cumin 10 mL
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes 5 mL
8 cups low-sodium chicken stock 2 L
2/3 cup lentils 150 mL
1 (19 ounce) can tomatoes, chopped 540 mL
3 medium carrots, thinly sliced (about 1 cup/ 250 mL)
1 small zucchini, thinly sliced (about 1/3 cup/75 mL)
1 cup frozen peas 250 mL
1 small avocado, peeled and sliced (about 1/2 cup/125 mL)
Instructions
In Dutch oven, heat canola oil. Add garlic, onion and celery. Sauté until vegetables are tender.
Season with black pepper, cumin and red pepper flakes.
Add chicken stock, lentils, tomatoes and carrots. Simmer, covered, for 30 minutes, or until carrots are tender.
Add chicken, zucchini and peas. Cover and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes longer, or until vegetables are tender.
Garnish with avocado slices.
Prep: 10 min | Cook: 50 min | Yield: 10 (2 cup) servings
Nutrition per serving: Calories 270 Total Fat 6 g Saturated Fat 1 g Cholesterol 75 mg Carbohydrates 17 g Fiber 6 g Sugars 5 g Protein 35 g Sodium 170 mg Potassium 571 mg
Vietnam’s ‘mini-China’ days may be numbered
President Phuc’s likely forced resignation could signal a less reform-friendly direction in one of Asia’s hottest economies
With so many headwinds zooming Vietnam’s way, now seems an incredibly inopportune moment for Hanoi to carry out a major political shakeup.
That’s precisely the dilemma global investors faced this week as pro-market President Nguyen Xuan Phuc suddenly resigned.
2023 01 22 16 16
Government officials claim that the unparalleled purge led by Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong was all part of an anti-corruption effort in the halls of Vietnamese power.
Investors, though, can’t help but wonder if Phuc’s departure is more of an internecine Trong power grab that will delay urgently-needed economic reforms in one of Asia’s hottest economies.
Phuc has been president since April 2021 and was prime minister from 2016 to 2021. Generally speaking, he significantly strengthened Hanoi’s ties with the US and European Union.
The EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement signed in 2019 was emblematic of Phuc’s determination to internationalize the economy and an example of why he garnered considerable gravitas in global market circles.
It’s worth noting, too, that Phuc’s ouster follows recent news that numerous technocratic and Western-leaning officials have been shown the door as Trong centralizes power.
As such, notes Zachery Abuza, professor at the National War College in Washington, Phuc’s comeuppance is “good for China and Russia” and a sign that “Trong has effectively won the war against technocrats.”
Poor Deaf Cat Abandoned In The Street With Unknown Fate
Planning the move…
2023 01 22 16 22
Do you think an armed conflict between the USA and China is close?
If China and the US are persons. Here is the conversation.
USA: I hate you, commie bastard.
China: I don’t like you, too. Imperialist scum.
USA: You treat millions of your Uyghur people brutally, setting up Firewalls to contain your people from accessing cyberspace outside your turf, and you are stripping off the autonomy of Hong Kong, you don’t allow anyone to criticize your governance and make fun of “The Party”, and criminalize religious people and dissidents. You’re such a totalitarian dystopia, your people would be happy if you adpot democracy.
China: You are lynching a lot of African-American people, many streets in your cities are infested with homeless and gangsters, your cops are enforcing law by violence, let your people own guns to kill each other, you’re deporting a lot of Latino parents from their children and drugged them, bombing other countries that made a lot of refugees and terrorists in the world, and making my people turn against me by indoctrinating them by your so-called “freedom” and “human rights”. Your media is making a lot of lies and baseless accusations about me, and keep sticking your nose into other people’s businesses. You can only make your living from wars and conflicts. You are the source of chaos in this world.
USA: South China Sea is not your belonging, it belongs to everyone, douchebag.
China: South China Sea is not your pond in your backyard, get the hell out of there, jerk.
USA: I won’t afraid of you cuz your navy still sucks though you can build carriers.
China: Yeah, come to take it if you dare. My DF-21D supersonic anti-ship missiles would send billions worth of your carrier battle groups into Davy Jone’s Locker.
USA: You are enslaving a lot of 3rd countries by kicking them into your debt trap, a$$hole.
China: Oh, better than what you did to the Native Americans a century ago, you murderous dickhead.
USA: You plagiarized and stole all my hi-tech stuff! Unless you pay me the copyright licensing fee then I will let you make them!
China: Those stuffs were figured out all by myself! I don’t need to steal them from you! And why must I pay you for those?
USA: I’m selling weapons to Taiwan! Protect their democratic government!
China: And I’m buying those stuff from Russia!
USA: I’m putting more sanction and tariffs to you!
China: Bring it on! I still got a lot of friends would like to do businesses with me!
USA: You’re an eyesore, China! I’m just want to keep this world in order, but you are always standing in my way!
China: You’re a prick in my heart, America! I am just want to make this world a better place but you are always messing things up!
USA: I wanna destroy you but I can’t.
China: Yup, we are going down each other if we really flipped out.
USA: I will think the other ways to stop you from rising above me, just you wait. I will show you who’s the boss!
China: Come on, you know I’m not interested to preveil you as the “Big Brother” of the globe, there’s no need to be confrontational, we can sort this out together. However, if you are still being so worked up against me, then so be it. I got thousands of “ancient Chinese secret” techniques to put you on knees and don’t complain that I didn’t warn you.
“The Way We Fall”: Eerie Illustrations Of An Apocalyptical World By Yuri Shwedoff
1 41
Whether we imagine the world as a futuristic dystopia or a charred wasteland, post-apocalyptic images weigh heavily on our cultural imaginations. In a stunning series of illustrations, Russian artist Yuri Shwedoff has created an intensely atmospheric vision of the “end of days,” one that blends fantasy imagery with science fiction. Among his scenes are sword-wielding warriors, blasted roads, alien architecture, and falling skies; as vestiges of the lost world, animals seem to take on a symbolic significance, communing with the human figures in moments of intensity and reflection. Pulled between oscillating states of violent destruction and quiet despair, Shwedoff’s images are bound together by a powerful atmosphere that emanates from the brooding, ash-filled skies.
2 40
While many of Shwedoff’s artworks feature otherworldly phenomena — such as the telekinetic gladiator — what makes them most evocative are their ties to the world we know. The space shuttle, for example, sits dormant on its launch pad, embedded in dust and waste. Perhaps it was prepared to escape the world; now, it becomes aged scenery for the lone horseman who regards it on his journey. Similarly, the alien pods in “Cradle” suggest a landing with no escape plan; now, the structures are merely shelters for those who survive. Instilled with imagination and emotion, Shwedoff confronts us with powerful images of a lost humanity that has surpassed its technological limits and reached an inevitable end.
3 38
You can view more of Shwedoff’s work on Behance, Facebook, and Instagram. He also has a page on Patreon where you can make pledges in exchange for artwork, undersketches, and process videos.
4 37 1
42 3 1
41 3 1
40 3 1
39 3 1
38 3 1
37 3 1
36 4 1
35 5
34 6
33 6
32 6
31 6
29 8 1
27 9
26 9
25 9 1
24 9 2
23 11
22 13 2
21 15
20 16
19 17 2
18 18 1
17 18
16 19
15 18 1
14 20 1
13 21 1
12 21 1
11 23 1
10 25 1
9 26 1
8 28 1
7 31
6 35
Ugly truths about the United States
0f 63be92d286d59 700
0 63bed1d73ded6 700
58 63be7019f32a5 700
0a 63be7b205bdcf 700
63bfbedb45a48 funny very american posts
86 63be705f278c8 700
1567996780331032576 png 700
14 63be694d58fef 700
63beba2a30d83 funny very american posts
119 63be70adca6e5 700
59 63be701c75105 700
0b 63be7c88ca83a 700
41 63be698517e29 700
89 63be706743515 700
132 63be70c8cc0ae 700
108 63be7094de7e7 700
18 63be69565c35b 700
62 63be7022631ec 700
60 63be701e887f8 700
48 63be7003ac50e 700
17 63be69543c133 700
49 63be7005c807c 700
122 63be70b435aef 700
106 63be708f6aad3 700
0h 63beb178a2897 700
140 63be70db8265f 700
6 63be9c9cc8be2 png 700
2 63be648968a2e 700
0d 63be8f6d460d5 700
0e 63be907a80ebd 700
103 63be708835c50 700
33 63be6974b627b 700
Lost kitten crying in the cold rain, God please protect this poor kitten.
https://youtu.be/TlUCkxnYWVE
Chicken Pot Pie Soup
All the ingredients for chicken pot pie – the chunky chicken and vegetables and the savory broth – are in this soup. A crisp crouton stands in for the pie crust.
1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup frozen peas
8 thin bread slices
1 teaspoon oil
Instructions
Mix rosemary, thyme and garlic powder in small bowl. Reserve 1/2 teaspoon.
Heat 1 teaspoon of the butter in large saucepan on medium heat. Add mushrooms, carrots and remaining seasoning mixture; cook and stir for 3 minutes. Remove from saucepan. Set aside.
Melt remaining 3 teaspoons butter in saucepan on medium heat, stirring to release browned bits from bottom of skillet. Sprinkle with flour; cook and stir for 3 to 4 minutes or until flour is lightly browned.
Gradually stir in broth until well blended. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer for 10 minutes or until slightly thickened, stirring occasionally.
Add vegetable mixture, chicken, pearl onions and peas; simmer for 8 minutes or until chicken is cooked through, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Cut bread into rounds with 3 inch cookie cutter. Place on baking sheet. Brush bread with oil and sprinkle with reserved seasoning mixture. Bake for 10 minutes or until toasted.
To serve soup, ladle into soup bowls and top each with 1 crouton.
Yield: 8 (1-cup) servings | Prep: 15 min | Cook: 25 min
I can't remember a time when war propaganda has been this intense.-dwp
Crappy title regarding a strange period of time.
Well, the world is quickly switching from one uni-polar governmental operation to a multi-polar one. And we are watching it in real time. Oh, sure, the “West” is kicking up a fuss, and the United States is in hysterics, but that will fade in time.
Sometime, hopefuly sooner than later, the United States will decide to scrap the decades old RAND plans and accept a new reality.
However, that will have to be forced by necessity, and the rest of the world is waiting for that moment to come. Hopefully sooner than later, as the longer it is delayed, the larger the risk of catastrophic fiasco.
Here, we continue on our menu of current events, and toss in views of what we all used to have. It is a lfiestyle that predates the neocon monsters that have corrupted the United States government so badly. I hope you enjoy this article.
Been there. Done that.
Been there.
Young boy picks out a girl
This video has been making it’s arounds. A boy is in a Business KTV, and when the girls come out in the lineup, he runs up and picks a girl immediately. LOL video 8MB
The “news” about China
China is falling apart. Andy day now… any day now… the people will “rise up” and accept democracy™ and freedom™. That’s the narrative, don’t you know. Of course the idiots regurigating this bullshit have exactly zero experience with China. They are fine “cannon fodder”. LOL!
From Drudge Report 8APR22.
2022 04 08 16 05
The fiction is “off the charts”.
On the domestic side
You will only get it if you are married .
Singapore abstains from UN vote on Russia: MFA says awaiting probe on human rights violation in Ukraine
Singapore suddenly adjusted her pro US foreign policy, they now are not so trigger-happy against Russia. Abstention in UN vote: MFA says Singapore is awaiting findings on human rights violation in Ukraine
This has everything. Meat pie. Beef. beans, and taste! The key is the unique set of ingredients. But all are commonly available.
Spicy Bean and Beef Pie.
Ingredients
1 pound ground beef
2 to 3 garlic cloves, minced
1 can (11-1/2 ounces) condensed bean with bacon soup, undiluted
1 jar (16 ounces) thick and chunky picante sauce, divided
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 can (16 ounces) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
3/4 cup sliced green onions, divided
Dough for double-crust deep-dish pie
1 cup sour cream
1 can (2-1/4 ounces) sliced ripe olives, drained
Directions
Preheat oven to 425°. In a large skillet, cook beef over medium heat until beef is no longer pink. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Drain. In a large bowl, combine soup, 1 cup picante sauce, cornstarch, parsley, paprika, salt and pepper. Fold in beans, 1-1/2 cups cheese, 1/2 cup onions and beef mixture.
On a lightly floured surface, roll half the dough to a 1/8-in.-thick circle; transfer to a 9-in. deep-dish pie plate. Trim even with rim. Add filling. Roll remaining dough to a 1/8-in.-thick circle. Place over filling. Trim, seal and flute edge. Cut slits in top.
Bake until crust is lightly browned, 30-35 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting. Serve with sour cream, olives and remaining picante sauce, cheese and onions.
Once the go-to hangout spot for American teens and a symbol of opportunity for small business owners, diners are one of the most beloved remnants of mid-century America.
Scattered across the country, diners come in many shapes and forms, from roadside railcar-style establishments to tiny hole-in-the-wall restaurants in the country’s biggest cities.
Here’s what diners looked like during their heyday...
American Diner.
Republica – Ready to Go (Official Video)
Big British group from the 1990s. They made a splash on the music scene and then faded away. They maintained domestic signifigance for some time, but most of the world remains unaware of them.
Good Map ever of Ukraine.
It’s from the Western leadership. So it’s really not all that accurate. But it’s a good map never the less. You can zoom in, and all that. The actual military territories and Russian locations are entirely deceptive. It seems that Russia has made no gains. But that’s not the intention. This is not World War I. Don’t “pull a Hitler” and maintain 19th century thinking.
Beijing warns of ‘forceful measures’ if Nancy Pelosi visits Taiwan
It is possible that China may declare Taiwan airspace a “no fly zone”. If so, in this senario, they will shoot down any Taiwan jet and destroy Taiwan military bases that dare to fire the first shot.
.
It’s possible, but not probable.
.
Imagine if “Xi the great” follows “Putin the great” to declare a ban on accepting US currency. What will happen to the Western economies, their cost of living, manufacturing supply chain, currency value, and world confident in Holding US treasury debt?
.
The truth is that the United States is playing a zero sum game, and blindly believe in its might with nary a second thought.
.
US House Speaker is expected to arrive in Taipei on Sunday, according to media reports
Beijing says Washington ‘must be fully responsible for the consequences’ if it goes ahead
Nancy Pelosi postpones Asia trip after testing positive for Covid-19
Imagine that. What “bad luck”.
A US Congressional delegation to Asia has been postponed after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tested positive for Covid-19.
The announcement followed a warning by China that it would take strong measures if the trip included a visit to Taiwan, as media reports in the region had claimed.
Pelosi's deputy communications director Drew Hammill said in a tweet on Thursday that the planned Congressional delegation to Asia, to be led by Pelosi over the two-week Congressional break, "will be postponed to a later date."
"After testing negative this week, Speaker Pelosi received a positive test result for Covid-19 and is currently asymptomatic. The Speaker is fully vaccinated and boosted, and is thankful for the robust protection the vaccine has provided. The Speaker will quarantine consistent with CDC guidance, and encourages everyone to get vaccinated, boosted and test regularly," Hammill tweeted.
Railcar-style diners were modeled after rail carriages or sometimes converted from the original train cars into stand-alone eateries. Diners were constructed in factories and then shipped to their destinations, much like mobile homes, and were relatively affordable to purchase at just $1,000.
2022 04 08 15 19
Once they arrived, the utilities simply had to be connected. Since diners, or “lunch cars,” had to be shipped using a truck or railcar, they were designed to be narrow.
AUKUS is “Anglo-Saxon small bloc” to serve U.S. hegemony: Chinese FM spokesperson-Xinhua
It’s pretty obvious, and if you tabulate all the public speeches from the USA and from Australia, you can clearly see that the Chinese spokesperson is just stating facts. Why this is signifigant is that the Chinese government is officially recognizing that a military build up prior to an American invasion / war upon China is the purpose of AUKUS.
Until the Great Depression, most diners could be found in the Northeast.
After World War II ended and the suburbs began to boom, more and more people began opening diners nationwide.
Typical diner interior.
The small businesses could prove extremely profitable for owners. Since the restaurants themselves were so small, and the kitchens so narrow, not many employees were required.
Sneaker Pimps 6 Underground/Lyrics/Kelli Ali
A top charter in the mid-1990s. I wonder if anyone remembers this song. I think it kind of defined what it was like in those years.
Chinese democracy seems to work pretty good.
In a comparative sense. But America has “American” democracy™. That’s superior Right?
2022 04 08 14 43
With the implementation of cross-country highways in the 1960s, diners continued to grow in popularity.
Travelers along the new highways could stop off and grab a quick bite at the roadside establishments.
Interior of a roadside diner.
Many diners featured a row of bar stools along a counter, allowing many people to be served without much effort from the diner’s staff.
Sophie B. Hawkins – Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
Here’s a “blast from the past”. This song was pretty famous back in the 1990s. It is about… well, you know… there is a person, a certain someone… that you really like. But, you know, there are taboos and you cannot have a relationship with that person.
I don’t think you people understand how big of a deal all this economic stuff that is happening actually is. It’s very difficult even for me to watch it all playing out in real time.
Basically, the whole world had agreed to a US-run financial system that was outside of the realm of politics. Then, the United States decided to violate international law and ban Russia from the global financial system, ostensibly because they believed that Vladimir Putin is a very mean person.
Global economies will be rethinking how safe it is to rely on the US dollar in their foreign currency holdings, the deputy head of the International Monetary Fund, Gita Gopinath, said on Tuesday.The statement comes after half of Russia’s forex holdings were effectively confiscated by international financial institutions amid sanctions placed on Moscow following the launch of its military operation in Ukraine.“We are likely to see some countries reconsidering how much they hold of certain currencies in their reserves,” she stated in an interview with Foreign Policy magazine.Gopinath said the IMF sees “increasing fragmentation” in global payments systems as one of the consequences of the current events. However, she stated that the US dollar, traditionally considered the world reserve currency, is not likely to suffer an “imminent demise.”Still, depending on how long the crisis in Ukraine lasts, there could be larger effects, Gopinath said.
I don’t know how many hardline “everything is a conspiracy” people read this website.
Personally, I’m a moderate conspiracy guy. As a rule, I only publish conspiracies that can be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. In terms of my personal mind, I believe some conspiracies that I wouldn’t publish, because I understand they can’t be proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
There is some gray area, of course. You can use deductive logic to conclude something without necessarily having all of the facts documented. For example: when the CIA (or one of its tentacles) releases documents admitting to doing some dastardly thing decades earlier, and then says “yeah, but we stopped doing that,” you can deduce that they are almost certainly still doing it.
The logic is:
They lied about doing it in the first place while they were doing it
They have a history of saying they stopped doing things and then getting caught still doing them
If they were doing it in the first place, and nothing has changed, they still view it as worth doing
Everything they want to do in secret is done in secret, under the guise of national security
They’ve repeatedly demonstrated that there is no consideration of any type of morality in their secret deeds
etc.
So, with for example any of the human experiments that the CIA was involved in – whether it be testing chemical weapons on the public or doing mind control techniques on patients in psych wards – you can assume with very high confidence that, given that they’ve admitted to doing these things in the past, they are still doing them now.
Viewing Everything That Happens as a Conspiracy Can Lead to Tangled-Up, Nonsensical Thinking
I am the first person to admit “conspiracies are real.” I am not some rabid person who goes around condemning people as “conspiracy theorists.” I’m always interested in hearing people out. I think I’m about as open-minded as a person can be without having a gaping hole in my head. I like engaging people in discussion of every kind of idea.
The World Economic Forum’s Great Reset is the most obvious conspiracy of the current year. I don’t “believe” in this – I know it is real, because I’ve read their publications, and seen their policies enacted around the world. However, you have to match your beliefs with facts with reality, or you end up getting sucked into a void.
There is a sect of people who think everything is a conspiracy, and use backward logic to explain anything that happens as part of the conspiracy. Again, I don’t know how many of these people there are, and I know that these people tend to be much more vocal on the internet than people who are not in this subculture. But I have seen a lot of people claim some version of “the West is using the Russia conflict to destroy its own economic system on purpose.”
These people are correct in stating that the US and the rest of the West have a plan – this “Great Reset” thing – to make basically everyone poor, jobless, living in state housing and eating state food, ultimately reducing the population so that the elite can dominate the limited resources remaining on earth. (If you follow the WEF documents and presentations, they are very big into the idea that they are going to use emerging technology to basically become immortal, extending their lives through gene therapy and bionic implants and such, so they believe they will need these resources to build an empire in outer space. They literally believe that and you can read it on their website. It’s not a “theory.”)
So, when you see them destroying the global economic system, it is easy to say “see, this is that thing.”
And indeed: they are clearly spinning this stuff in that direction. You see US officials coming out and saying that it’s time to start riding the bus if you can’t afford an \$80,000 Tesla.
2022 04 08 10 52
Earlier this month Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told American families to buy electric vehicles if they desire gas savings, now he’s telling them to take the bus.https://t.co/r5Iw6UA9cBpic.twitter.com/CKqrviNwDA— MRCTV (@mrctv) March 22, 2022
This is clearly part of the program, and they’re exploiting the Ukraine situation to push this agenda.
Meanwhile in France, their dictator just came out and said that he’s going to start issuing food rations when everyone starts starving because of a border skirmish in the former USSR.
However, “everything is going according to plan” just doesn’t work, because ultimately, these big decisions on the geopolitical stage regarding the dollar as reserve currency only serve to empower China.
China can’t be sanctioned because they produce too much of what America uses. China has also formed a global trade network that they could use to blockade the United States.
Diners became popular due to their large menus featuring American food staples like hamburgers, fries, and club sandwiches.
Diners were popular.
Most diners had galley kitchens that made it easier for cooks to move from one dish to another, making service quicker than in a traditional restaurant.
Do you think that I am giving enough airtime to the humble American hamburger, or is more time needed?
Here’s an accurate meme posted by a Chinese official:
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that when the West talks about the "int'l community", they mean: pic.twitter.com/RZNOwDymX2— Lijian Zhao 赵立坚 (@zlj517) March 17, 2022
2022 04 08 10 50
Saudi Arabia is going to start trading oil in yuan.
Countries are going to start dumping dollar reserves.
America is going to be a third world country, while China becomes the dominant world power.
So then, if you are going to say that this is all going according to plan, you have to say that the US leadership wants to transfer all of its global power to the Chinese.
But why?
That’s where the hang-up is. It doesn’t make any sense why the US and Western establishment would be interested in transferring power to China.
In order to square that circle, you have to really start going into nutty type conspiracies. And when I say “nutty,” I’m saying that not as an insult, but as an objective descriptor. You would have to come up with an explanation as to how China is secretly on-board with the global Western (frankly, primarily Jewish) agenda.
There is no indicator of that, really at all. In fact, China’s culture is virtually the diametric opposite of Western Jewish culture.
To make it make sense, you are forced into a few necessary assertions, all of which are fantastical:
China has a secret deal with Western powers to implement a feminist-anal-tranny-Jewish slave grid
China purposefully did the reverse of the feminist-anal-tranny-Jewish agenda instead of a push for democracy (I guess as some kind of fake-out)
For some reason, China has refused all Western attempts to “democratize” (another fake-out?)
The Taiwan occupation, the Western-backed Hong Kong riots, and every other thing that the US has done to try to undermine Chinese society was part of a massive fake-out (who are they faking out? People on internet forums?)
The West has some kind of secret mechanism through which to ensure that China upholds this theoretical secret agreement, which is why they are willing to surrender all global power to China upfront, without any visible guarantees that China will uphold the secret agreement
None of this, to me, is serious in any way. People try to work backwards from what they see happening, then they hit the brick wall of these fantastical and possibly outright nonsensical assertions which are necessary to uphold the logic train they are riding.
There is no way to say this is all part of the plan without saying the plan is to transfer all power to China, and there is no explanation of why that would be the plan.
The hardline conspiracy people will then start listing off a series of allegedly unexplainable questions, rather than confront the underlying hard wall their logic has hit.
For example:
Why would the US transfer its manufacturing base to China in the 1990s?
Why would the US implode its own economy and status as a world power?
Why are the Chinese allowed to invest in Western infrastructure?
These are fair questions and worth considering. But to claim that the only possible explanation is “a secret deal with the Chinese,” despite the stated problems with that theory, is absurd.
My explanations for these questions are simpler: in general, I would answer those questions with “the West made bad decisions.” I would attribute these bad decisions by a decadent and decaying elite feebly attempting to manage complex systems they don’t understand.
With the first question – the issue of transferring the manufacturing base – this was well documented at the time. Western think-tanks explained in a virtually infinite number of white papers and books that when the Chinese quality of living was escalated, they would “democratize” and integrate with the West. Needless to say, that did not happen. Instead, China installed a new Emperor who organized a wide-ranging program to promote ultranationalism and reinforce traditional Chinese cultural values.
Samuel P. Huntington, who died in 2008 at the age of 81, is one of the globalist thinkers who disagreed with the consensus, arguing that China could, unlike Western countries, modernize and still maintain traditional culturally conservative values, which would then make it “unintegratable” into the Western order, which is based on modernist ideas.
If anyone wants to understand Huntington’s predictions further, they can read his book “Clash of Civilizations.” It’s kind of boring if you don’t have all the background knowledge, but not particularly difficult for someone with high school level reading skills.
This is the map he gave of the different civilizations that were to “clash” in the modern world:
You can overlay that with the above Chinese meme about the “international community.”
Meanwhile, China has spent the last two decades reaching out to these various other civilizations, and most of them get along very well with the Chinese. During the same two decades, the West has been engaged in brutal, pointless, and very expensive wars, serving no clear purpose anyone can explain beyond “Israeli security interests.” (Those countries could have been conquered a lot easier with Netflix and pornography, but the Jews wanted war. That’s the theme of all of this – the globalist agenda is continually undermined by bizarre Jewish psychology.)
The Chinese have also peddled a lot of influence in the West, primarily through being productive and exploiting the transnational ideology of the West.
Finally, to be clear: I don’t doubt that Western politicians have been bribed or that the Democrat Party in particular has a fair number of Chinese intelligence operatives and assets. The story of Fang-Fang the Chinese spy going around having sex with American politicians seems to be true, and that has probably happened a lot without the spies getting identified. But espionage and intelligence operations fit into my paradigm, rather than the “everything that happens wouldn’t happen unless it was a conspiracy” paradigm.
As well as being quicker to make, dishes served at diners were cheaper, too.
Items like pancakes, sausages, meatloaf, burgers, and sandwiches were typically served in the restaurants and still are in diners today.
Good cheap food was available at diners.
The meals were low-priced, making diners popular even before their rise in the 1950s. During the Great Depression, diners provided an inexpensive way for families to go out to eat.
It’s the Same with Russia
These same kinds of issues come up when talking about how Putin is secretly working for Klaus Schwab – but those arguments aren’t even really important enough to address, because at this point, Russia is a de facto proxy state of China. To elaborate: China and Russia are in a binding alliance, and China is a much more powerful country than Russia, therefore: de facto proxy state – at least as regards Russia’s moves on the geopolitical stage. If China was allied with America, Russia would already be crushed (that’s why so many people tried to warn American planners that they had to choose one or the other).
Putin and the Russians obviously have their own objectives and so on; I don’t think they are a vassal state of the Chinese. But it is clear that Putin made sure the Ukrainian intervention was approved by China, and they would not have approved it if they didn’t think it served their interests. As we’ve seen, it has very much served their interests. Frankly, I am virtually positive that the Chinese knew how the US would react and did the math on how this would play out, ultimately resulting in the collapse of the dollar, and thereby the American Empire.
Meanwhile, by every single fact we are able to observe, the decadent leaders of the West are acting as though Russia and China are Iraq and Libya. It appears that they genuinely believe they can use brute force and threats of brute force to come out on top in this conflict. (It’s also worth mentioning that the West, due to the ultra-low moral character of its leaders and the utter lack of any unifying ideal beyond anal sex, has lost the ability to cooperate cohesively as a single body in the way that the Chinese do.)
Please note: Unlike the theoretical secret deals between the West and the Chinese (or Russia), the deals between China and Russia are very much visible and are largely committed to paper.
The West started this conflict, of course. I don’t know when they realized Russia was going to move into the Ukraine, but they had ample opportunity to prevent it by simply agreeing to the previous status quo. They appear to believe that they can create a protracted conflict in the Ukraine like they did when Russia invaded Afghanistan in the 1980s. That shows a fundamental lack of understanding of the situation. Ukraine has historically been a part of Russia. There is not really any such thing as a “Ukrainian identity” outside of being a vassal state. In the west of the country, they tend to feel closer to Poland, and there is some bad blood all around with regards to the USSR. But none of this is in any way similar to fanatical Islam. The US has backed neo-Nazism as a kind of “Ukrainian ISIS,” but you can’t rally a country around cartoonish neo-Nazism (particularly while the entire leadership of the country is Jewish).
The idea of using neo-Nazis as rebels against a Russian occupation or a Russia-backed government in the Ukraine is nonsensical, and reeks of the kind of stupid thinking that led to America’s Afghan debacle. The US government pays people to lie to them, and when people tell the truth, they get fired and end up on obscure livestream interviews answering superchats. These liars are telling the decision-makers that the Ukraine is Afghanistan and a protracted conflict can be used to drain Russia, which will ultimately result in the collapse of the Putin government.
The fact that they have no idea what they’re doing is blatant in the fact that they are sanctioning the entire Russian race. Putin’s support is going up rapidly among the people, many of whom didn’t like his policies before but now feel compelled to rally around him since they are being attacked personally for their race by the West.
Diners typically operate around the clock, allowing patrons to stop by at any time for a meal.
Since diners are open all night long, many pop culture depictions of diners involve a feeling of loneliness and isolation.
Diners were open 24 hours.
Edward Hopper’s 1942 painting “Nighthawks” shows a diner and its few occupants late at night. The painting is based on a diner in New York City’s Greenwich Village.
So, China Ruling the World, Huh?
We are clearly facing down a world ruled by the Chinese. A lot of people are uncomfortable with that. But most of the discomfort comes from the idea that the Chinese are somehow going to rule us in the same fashion that the US has ruled the world since World War II. They have no such plans for us. The Chinese have a vision of conquering the world through commerce, rather than war, threats of war, and geopolitical maneuvering.
We started out on the issue of the economic dominance of the US, and that economic dominance is indeed the key to everything. However, US economic dominance was entirely a result of US military might.
The reigning US philosophy for global economic dominance has been: “we will literally bomb you.”
Conversely, the Chinese philosophy has been: “we will sell you high quality products at reasonable prices.”
Chinese people do not really even understand what white people are, and they don’t have very much interest in learning. If a Chinese person outside of the major urban centers sees a white person, they don’t register them as a person, but rather as some kind of weird exotic creature that has popped up in their environment for mysterious reasons. The reaction is similar to if you were walking down the street, and saw Doraemon float in on a cloud.
Doraemon float in on a cloud.
You might stop and look at him in awe, you might take out your phone and take a selfie, you might just ignore him completely because your brain cannot register the existence of a Doraemon floating around.
This is to say: it’s a purely insular culture, which Westerners do not understand any more than they understand us. As an example: instead of trying to trace their origins as a people, the Chinese believe – and teach children in school – that China has always existed. In their thinking, China is the “Middle Kingdom” that sits between Heaven and a mass of strange barbarians who may be interested in buying products.
When the Mongols consistently raided them, stealing their women and wealth on horseback and riding off with the booty, they said “cannot allow.” Instead of mounting an army to crush the Mongols, they built a gigantic wall, and told the Mongols that if they wanted Chinese products, they would have to buy them at the wall.
It is precisely the same logic as a Chinese immigrant family setting up a store in an all black neighborhood and covering the counter, cash register, and expensive items with bulletproof glass.
China has always been, fundamentally, a merchant empire, and that hasn’t changed. If it were not for the belligerence of the West, they wouldn’t have bothered to build up a large military at all. Historically, virtually every war the Chinese have fought has been a civil war, as they don’t look at the rest of the world as enemies or friends, but rather customers and potential customers.
China has de facto economic dominance over most of Southeast Asia and a lot of Africa. They’ve not interfered with any of these countries’ political processes, and they’ve shown no interest in doing so. I’ve repeatedly pointed out that they should have sent advisors to Burma during their (still ongoing) political crisis, given that they’ve got such a large stake in the Burmese economy, but they did not. Even when it is obviously to their benefit, and the problem would not be difficult to mediate, they stick to a policy of non-interference.
Similarly, they had huge investments in Vietnam, but made no attempt to interfere with the politics there. The locals started to resent Chinese being richer than locals. This ended up in massive pogroms of Chinese businesses in 2014. It didn’t get a lot of media attention in the West of course, but it was a pretty big deal. They burned more than a dozen factories, and were just smashing anything with Chinese characters on it (they can’t visibly tell the difference between each other, because Vietnamese people are really just Southern Chinese). They ended up accidentally smashing or burning a bunch of Taiwanese and even Japanese businesses (I guess they didn’t attack Korean businesses, because Korean characters have that circle thing that makes them really obvious).
Several people were killed. China’s response was basically “this is very disrespectful behavior. We cannot continue doing business with you.” They didn’t threaten them with a war, or try to do regime change. The Vietnamese government said they would secure Chinese investments, and then only arrested two people. (The Wikipedia page on these “protests” is not very good, but might be a starting point for people who want to look into it more.)
China pulled most of their investment, and Vietnam continued to pivot towards America, a country that they had relatively recently had a relatively brutal war with. Some Western-owned factories moved to Vietnam from China, but mostly the result of the pogroms and lack of action by the government to the pogroms just meant more money for Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Indonesia – countries where the local barbarians are more amenable to gentlemanly business practices.
Vietnam has effectively been cut out of the One Belt, One Road project, while the Chinese are doing expensive infrastructure projects and building factories everywhere else. Instead of using Vietnamese ports, China is going through neighboring Laos, Burma, Thailand, and Cambodia, then running a waterway shipping line past Vietnam.
This is why they’re going crying to the US State Department about fishing waters. I guess we’ll see how that gamble works out for them. (Obviously, at some point, they’re going to end up begging for the Chinese to come back – assuming they don’t end up being used in some kind of Western military operation.)
Note this: America still has military in Thailand. However, when push comes to shove, Thais are going to side with the Chinese, because dumping money into a country works a lot better for building stable relations than putting your military inside a country.
This little variation on Pork Chops is very, very delicious and so easy to make!
Baked Saucy Pork Chops
Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter
2 bone-in pork loin chops (3/4 inch thick)
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
Directions
Preheat oven to 350°. In a large skillet, heat butter over medium heat. Brown pork chops on both sides. Transfer to a greased 11×7-in. baking dish; sprinkle with onion.
In a bowl, mix remaining ingredients; pour over chops. Bake, covered, until a thermometer inserted in pork reads 145°, 15-20 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.
Pay attention to this;
If the West wants to fight a bioweapons war, the East can do the same thing.
Two COVID Variants Just Combined Into a ‘Frankenstein’ Virus
The first subvariant of Omicron, the latest major variant of the novel coronavirus, was bad. BA.1 drove record cases and hospitalizations in many countries starting last fall.
The second subvariant, BA.2, was worse in some countries—setting new records for daily cases across China and parts of Europe.
After Biden and Blinkedin warned China that serious consequences would occur if China failed to sanction Russia, there have been outbreaks up and down China with this second subvariant BA.2. No other actions occured (aside fromt he mysterious mid-air breakup of a domestic airliner).
Now BA.1 and BA.2 have combined to create a third subvariant. XE, as it’s known, is a “recombinant”—the product of two viruses interacting “Frankenstein”-style in a single host.
With its long list of mutations, XE could be the most contagious form of the coronavirus yet. “From the WHO reports, it does appear to have a bit more of an edge in terms of transmissibility,” Stephanie James, the head of a COVID testing lab at Regis University in Colorado, told The Daily Beast.
But don’t panic just yet. The same mix of subvariants that produced XE might also protect us from it. Coming so quickly after the surge of BA.1 and BA.2 cases, XE is on track to hit a wall of natural immunity—the antibodies left over from past infection in hundreds of millions of people.
Those natural antibodies, plus the additional protection afforded by the various COVID vaccines, could blunt XE’s impact. For that reason, many experts worry less about XE and more about whatever variant or subvariant might come after XE.
Now, it appears that a deadly variant of the BA.2 has been detected in the USA. It's now known as XE.
The subvariant hasn’t shown up in U.S. tests yet. But that doesn’t mean it hasn’t reached U.S. shores. “It might not be detected by the standard analysis pipeline,” Rob Knight, the head of a genetic-computation lab at the University of California, San Diego, told The Daily Beast. Major new forms of SARS-CoV-2 can require tweaks to testing methods.
XE is a nasty bug, owing to potentially dozens of mutations to its spike protein, the part of the virus that helps it grab onto and infect our cells. And it’s a strong reminder that the pandemic isn’t over. Even with widespread natural immunity and highly effective and safe vaccines, SARS-CoV-2 keeps finding pockets of unprotected people—and opportunities to evolve.
Diners have appeared in pop culture favorites like “Grease,” “Seinfeld,” “Gilmore Girls,” and “Twin Peaks.”
“In the movies, the diner is a special kind of space, a mythic place, a zone of escape,” film critic John Patterson told the BBC.
2022 04 08 15 31
Suzanne Vega, who wrote the ’80s hit song “Tom’s Diner,” said, “The attraction of the diner is that it’s a sort of a midway point between the street and home.”
Trade is Better Than War
Frankly, if you read Thomas Jefferson – who was not an Orientalist – his vision for America was not dissimilar from that of the “Middle Kingdom” of China. He thought America should base its relationships with other countries on trade, rather than military or political antagonism (let alone moral lecturing).
This thinking was based primarily on the fact that the US had been a colony, and so understood the complexities of running an empire, which requires you to rule over people in foreign lands. Most all of the original American thinkers thought trade was a better way to interact with and influence the world than direct military rule.
Basically, this thinking ended with the Spanish-American war. Before that, America had wars, but they were all basically necessary (the Civil War is obviously complicated, but it was not a foreign war so doesn’t apply here). Because of the alleged sinking of the USS Maine by the Spanish – which turned out to be a fake news hoax – the US did an “intervention” in Cuba, and then “intervened” in the Philippines.
Irony of all ironies, however, the actual first “intervention” in a dumb foreign conflict was the support for the British during the Second Opium War.
The short story is: The US initially refused to get involved, and then were talked into sending a small number of troops by the British. After a few brief skirmishes, the US signed a neutrality agreement with China, effectively abandoning the British to their stupid adventure in global Jewish drug-peddling (the opium racket was run by the Jewish Sassoon family, and the entire scheme of conquering the Chinese by getting all the peasants addicted to drugs was a Jewish plan that the British went along with – the British have a proud history stretching back to Cromwell of cooperating with maniacal Jewish schemes). Then a US Navy commander went rogue and attacked the Chinese in defense of the British, claiming it was a race war, and “blood is thicker than water.” I agree with the sentiment, of course, but not in the context of a Jewish drug scheme on the other side of the planet.
So: our nation’s first stupid foreign adventure was against the Chinese as a part of a Jewish plot – and thus will be our last foreign adventure.
The Dragon’s Breath blows away the Empire of Dust.
Diners brought together people from different economic levels
Michael C. Gabriele, who wrote “The History of Diners in New Jersey,” told the Telegraph that “diners are the state’s ultimate gathering places — at any moment, high school students, CEOs, construction workers, and tourists might be found at a counter chatting with the waitresses and line cooks.”
American diner.
During the civil rights movement, diners became a popular place for activists to hold “sit-ins” in restaurants that refused to seat black people, despite many of them employing black people to work there.
In 1964, Congress outlawed segregation through the Civil Rights Act, but many diners in the South continued to segregate their establishments, afraid that “seating blacks would drive away white patrons.”
Worse Things Have Happened to Better People
It goes without saying: no Chinaman ever tried to convince my son to cut his dick off. No Chinaman ever flooded my country with immigrants and pornography. No Chinaman ever called me “goy.”
China is not going to invade America. They are going to allow it to commit suicide. Over time, a new order will be established in America, and that new order will have the option of trading with China. Probably, during the chaos of this collapse, China will buy up a lot of the resources in America, and this will mean that a new emerging order will be tied in to the global economic order run by the Chinese. That’s unfortunate, but hey – your son gets to keep his dick.
A world with China as the central global superpower will be peaceful and based on independent countries engaging in voluntary commerce. It’s sad to see people getting so fussy over it.
I get that it’s also sad that the white man is not going to be the dominant force on the planet anymore. But in truth, we haven’t been for a long time. Everything that we associate with Western dominance in the modern age is really Jewish dominance.
Basically, 80 years ago, white people had a big war with each other and the good guys lost. Everything that’s happened since then has been effectively predetermined – a series of chaotic and revolutionary events driven by the chaotic and revolutionary spirit of the Jewish race. The Jews ultimately destroy everything. They can’t help themselves.
So, here we are.
Railcar-style diners are still manufactured in factories today, but they’re much more expensive to purchase and ship.
New diners can reportedly cost more than $1 million to produce, and restoring or renovating old ones can be extremely pricey as well. Instead, many ’50s-style diners in operation today are built on-site to cut costs.
American diner.
US oil imports from Russia increase by 43%
If you are confused, well; welcome to the club.
In the past week, the US administration has increased its imports of Russian oil by 43%, reaching 100,000 barrels a day.
I have so much information to share with you today, and I will do my best to be brief. But be warned that this article is going to be longer than usual. Global events are moving so quickly now, and I believe that they are going to move even more rapidly in the months ahead. Sadly, the changes that we are witnessing will have a very real impact on the daily lives of every man, woman and child on the entire planet. As I discussed yesterday, a global food shortage has arrived. In fact, members of Congress are now using words like “famine” and “starvation” to describe what conditions will soon be like all over the world.
For example, U.S. Senator Joni Ernst just told Fox Business that our planet is facing “impending famine”…
About 40 to 45 percent of the production in Ukraine will be decreased this year because of the war and the scarcity of supplies that go into the planting season. And we know that Ukraine also supports about 400 million people around the world with its food products. So we do see that we have an impending famine. And I’ve heard from David Beasley at the World Food Bank that he’s now going to have to take from the hungry to feed the starving.
And U.S. Senator Cory Booker has previously warned that we could soon see tens of millions of people “dying of starvation”…
“Democrats and Republicans in Congress need to quickly come together and approve emergency global food aid in order to prevent tens of millions of people, including millions of children, from dying of starvation,” Senator Cory Booker, a Democrat from New Jersey, told Reuters.
They aren’t exaggerating.
Even Joe Biden recently admitted that food shortages are “going to be real”.
The one thing that could provide a ray of hope would be an end to the war in Ukraine.
But it appears that isn’t going to happen any time soon. In an interview with Fox News on Friday, Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that his nation will not accept anything less than “victory” in the war…
Special Report’s Bret Baier interviewed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday evening, touching on a wide variety of topics, including what a victory looks like for Ukraine and what Putin is hoping to achieve.Baier asked the Ukrainian leader at the start of the interview how he believes the “war will end” prompting an explanation from Zelenskyy that only “victory” will be acceptable to his country.
Good luck with all that.
Now that the Russians have pulled their forces away from Kiev to focus on the eastern front, there is a lot less pressure on Zelenskyy to compromise on a peace deal.
And the fact that this conflict has made him one of the biggest celebrities on the entire planet actually gives him an incentive to keep it going.
Meanwhile, millions upon millions of people are already deeply suffering. In Somalia, we are being warned that an “impending famine” is at the door…
What we are now seeing is impending famine similar to that which occurred in 2010/2011 in which more than a quarter of a million people died – including 133,000 children under the age of five. Although some donors have committed to fund Somalia’s Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) which seeks US$1.5 billion, not even 4% of funding required to meet Somalia’s humanitarian needs have been allocated. Like the novel coronavirus, which had impacted many of Somali households, the Ukraine crisis has driven inflation and rising costs in Somalia, particularly for food and energy, at a time when families are already incredibly desperate.
The reason why the situation in Somalia has become so desperate is because that nation normally gets more than 90 percent of its wheat from either Russia or Ukraine…
Finally, in the Horn of Africa 13 million people are already suffering from hunger. Ethiopia imports around 40 percent of its wheat from Russia and Ukraine, Kenya 30 percent, and Somalia over 90 percent.
Meanwhile, the food crisis in Yemen just continues to escalate. One man that was recently interviewed admitted that he and his family “live like ants”…
Experts are warning that the world faces a historic famine. The war in Ukraine is only one of many problems plaguing the global distribution of food.In Yemen, Ghalib al-Najjar skips meals so that his children have enough food. He says he and his family “live like ants or fish…we eat what we can find.”
An ongoing wave of violent protests in Peru shows how the Russian invasion of Ukraine is affecting markets around the world, sparking unrest and deepening political divides.Rising fuel costs originally triggered the protests, which started last week, but quickly intensified into large anti-government demonstrations with marches and road blockades.
So far at least six people have died in the chaos, and protesters continue to block at least nine major roads.
In Afghanistan, it is being estimated that 95 percent of the entire population does not have enough food to eat right now…
Afghanistan has faced grave hunger crises before. Two decades ago, people in the country were so hungry they resorted to eating wild grass.But the situation in the country now is unprecedented.Exacerbated by an unusually cold winter and the worst drought in decades, the economic upheaval that came with the Taliban takeover has left 95% of Afghans without enough food.
We haven’t seen anything like this in a really long time.
The World Food Program estimates that 285 million people face starvation.The head of the World Food Program, former South Carolina Governor David Beasley, says the world food supply already faced a catastrophe before the war in Ukraine.“We’re so short of funds already, and now with Ukraine, we’ve got 50-percent rations for people, for example, in Yemen, I’ve just cut 50 percent rations for eight million people. Niger, 50 percent rations, Chad 50 percent rations. And 50 percent don’t have anything, those who are in extreme need,” Beasley said.
Of course this is just the beginning. As I specifically warned in Lost Prophecies and 7 Year Apocalypse, conditions will eventually become far more severe than they are at this moment.
Here in the United States, nobody is starving just yet, but the cost of living is escalating at a frightening pace.
According to a Bloomberg report, the average U.S. household will need to spend 5,200 dollars more just to have the same standard of living as last year…
“Inflation will mean the average U.S. household has to spend an extra $5,200 this year ($433 per month) compared to last year for the same consumption basket,” Bloomberg Economics reports.Having to spend an extra $433 per month to get the same is a hefty, even gargantuan ask for anyone — especially parents who are already struggling to keep a roof over their kid’s heads and food on the table.
And our historic supply chain crisis just continues to get even worse.
The wait times for semiconductor deliveries rose slightly in March, reaching a new high, after lockdowns in China and an earthquake in Japan further hampered supply.Lead times — the lag between when a chip is ordered and delivered — increased by two days to 26.6 weeks last month, according to research by Susquehanna Financial Group.
The system is crumbling all around us, and we really are in the early stages of a full-blown economic implosion.
Initially, it will be the poorest nations that suffer the most.
Millions upon millions of innocent people don’t have enough to eat right now, and that number will rise with each passing day.
Normally, most Americans don’t pay too much attention to what is happening on the other side of the world, but food scarcity is growing in the United States too.
So if you and your family have enough food to eat tonight, you should be very grateful, because at least for now you are one of the lucky ones.
What Chinese houses look like
You know, you can easily see glimpses of China by looking at the backgrounds in the Douxing videos. here, we have a girl dancing in the front of her home, and in her living room. I can tell you that this is normal. This is what China is like, and to all those people who mistakenly believe that the Chinese nation is going to collapse any day, well… don’t hold your breath. video 2MB
Quick Chicken and Dumplings
Using precooked chicken and ready-made biscuits, this hearty dish is comfort food made simple. It’s the perfect way to warm up on chilly nights.
1 can (4 ounces) mushroom stems and pieces, drained
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
1 teaspoon minced fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried sage leaves
1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Directions
Cut each biscuit into fourths; set aside. In a large saucepan, saute onion and green pepper in oil until tender. Stir in the chicken, broth, mushrooms, bouillon granules, parsley, sage, rosemary and pepper.
Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; add biscuits for dumplings. Cover and simmer (do not lift cover while simmering) 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a dumpling comes out clean.
By the 1970s, the rise in fast-food restaurants led to a decline in the popularity of traditional diners.
As McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Burger King restaurants continued to pop up nationwide, it became difficult for small business owners to compete with the huge corporations also selling cheap, convenient food.
American diner.
While there were reportedly over 1,000 diners in New York City around 30 years ago, just 398 remained in 2015, according to a Crain’s New York Business article citing the city’s Department of Health records at the time.
One way to view civilization collapse is to say that every nation dies when its marginal costs exceed potential profits. This means that each action is so encumbered — red tape, taxes, unions, corruption — that none of them are worth doing.
At that point, people stop trying to improve things and simply make do with what they have or stop using it. In this way, even technological civilizations revert to third world subsistence agriculture.
The Soviets went out hard because they imposed the burden of socialism on every action. The West has done the same with insurance, unions, high taxes, regulations, and diversity costs.
Individual industries do it too. You may notice that every software product you own is blighted with constant trivial updates, and that almost every company wants to sell you a “service” instead of a product.
For example, why own a software package like Microsoft Office when you can pay a monthly fee to use an online service “in the Cloud” (translation: on servers owned by someone else)? Makes sense, until you realize you are re-buying the software every ten years.
Microsoft realized it had a problem with Windows XP, Windows 7, and Office 2007: if you do something right enough, people will never buy another product unless forced. That means you need to downsize your company.
In other words, the end result of Microsoft would be to make a really good operating system and software, then fire everyone but five guys who answer the emails and keep selling the stuff.
Businesses need to find new horizons in order to stay ahead of this, just like societies constantly need new goals to avoid stagnation, but with all of the regulatory, tax, and affirmative action costs, they cannot afford to do that.
Instead they become rent-seekers, having built something great and now trying to extract as much money out of it as possible. Consequently they want you to pay them fifty bucks a month, however they have to justify it, so they can count on consistent profits and limit their size accordingly.
These are signs of a sick economy, and that usually means a sick society, since it has made crazy-stupid decisions to the point that it no longer operates as an economy but as a tax and rent-seeking cash cow.
All of that is extracted from the average wagie, which means that he pushes his employer to find ways to make more money in the world outside of his borders, at which point globalism — effectively created by unions driving labor offshore at the same time that democracy decided that with the Soviets out of the way, it might as well complete what it started in WW1 and take over the world — becomes a ruthless profit-seeking activity.
We saw this starting two decades ago when grocery stores began offering those little customer loyalty cards. If you got the card, you got better prices and enough coupons to keep you coming back.
As long as they got their $50 a month out of you, life was easy for them. Multiply that amount times their number of consumers times twelve and they know their baseline revenues, which enables them to keep hiring their friends and other bloat.
Software updates are another variation on this. They ship you “free” updates every month that eventually require you to upgrade your gadget because it cannot handle the bloat and waste of the new updates.
When margins overwhelm profit potential, everyone turns into a rent-seeker. “I have this title or ownership, therefore hand me things.”
Entropy wins at that point. No one can act to improve anything, and everyone forms a little hugbox dedicated to preserving the gimmedats of the status quo.
A civilization avoids this state by doing two things: first, it cuts external costs so that margins do not overwhelm profit potential, and second, it socializes mature products by granting monopolies that then cut staff.
If, for example, we decided that Microsoft Office 2019 was the best that an office suite could ever get and had no flaws, it would make sense to transfer it to another authority which would be five guys in an office with a monopoly and no interest in expanding it.
That would force Microsoft to find new fields to till, new mountains to climb, and new visions to dream instead of milking the past in a rent-seeking pattern that ends with everyone paying them a subscription fee just to enjoy normal tools.
We know that tech is grinding to a halt because it has invented nothing new for a long time. The grand visions of Google sputtered and died; Facebook has turned into Second Life; Twitter now seems like a good place to go get state propaganda but not much else.
This means that transition is on the wind. The old ways no longer work. Every time you see a service fee or update, console yourself with the knowledge that this is simply a grave being dug for worldwide democracy and the NWO.
In New York City, few original diners remain. However, the recent embracing of nostalgia — think, the rise in speakeasies — has also revitalized the typical American diner.
American Diner.
A recent addition to New York’s Soho neighborhood is the trendy ’50s-style Soho Diner, part of the Soho Grand Hotel. Other New York diners, like the Waverly Diner and the Empire Diner, have managed to keep their doors open despite changing tastes.
.
CIA tries to import insects that devistate crops
China inspects all packages. It’s a 100% full scan policy. This is because for decades, the United States has been busy introducing plagues, insects, and viruses to destroy China via destruction of it’s food base, and in any and all forms. This is known as “hybrid war”.
China has not retaliated…yet.
But if and when they do, the United States will collapse like the house of cards that it is.
This is typical, and apparently it’s a common enough event. Once discovered, the Chinese then send the packages on (minus the insects) and watch who gets the packages. Then the person just disappears after their mandatory interview with the PLA. video 3MB
Unfortunately, the sanctions the US put on Russia do not appear to be harming Russia at all, even as they are furthering the destruction of the economy of the West, and setting the stage for a collapse of the dollar as reserve currency.
Russia has just announced that if Europe wants its oil, they’re going to have to pay in rubles. This will heavily reenforce the ruble, of course. Presumably, it will make up for most or all of the damage that the sanctions have caused.
Russia will now accept payment for gas exports to “unfriendly countries” in rubles only, President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with the government on Wednesday.The president explained that Russia plans to abandon all “compromised” currencies in payment settlements. He added that illegitimate decisions by a number of Western countries to freeze Russia’s assets destroyed all confidence in their currencies.“I have decided to implement in the shortest possible time a set of measures to change the payments for – yes let’s start with this – for our natural gas supplied to the so-called unfriendly countries in Russian rubles, that is to stop using all compromised currencies for transactions,” the Russian president said.“It doesn’t make sense to deliver our goods to the EU and the US and get paid in dollars and euros,” he added.
For those who don’t know the details: it is impossible for Europe to shut off Russian gas any time soon. They will literally freeze to death, or have to figure out some kind of wooden steam system.
People were saying Russian might just shut off the gas and let Europe deal with the situation, but this is much better.
The ruble bottomed out on March 7, and has been largely recovering. It’s only down 13% over the month of war.
If you consider that Russia is currently under the most severe economic sanctions in history by the most powerful economic entity in history – it’s not looking too bad.
That 13% isn’t going to affect anyone’s life in Russia, it only affects international trade. Not a big deal. No one in Russia is suffering from this, unless you consider being denied PornHub, Netflix, and McDonald’s as “suffering.”
This ultimatum to Europe will give it its 13% back.
Meanwhile, the Russian stock market, which was closed on the day of the incursion into the Ukraine, was reopened and is doing fine.
Russia’s stocks continued to rise sharply on Thursday as the Moscow Exchange reopened for limited trading this week, after suspending most of its transactions on February 28.The ruble-based MOEX benchmark went up more than 11% to 2,743 points. The dollar-denominated RTS index of leading Russian stocks was down slightly, to 888.59 points.The Moscow Exchange resumed trading in 33 Russian equities, including shares of Gazprom, Sberbank, Aeroflot, and other domestic firms. Oil majors Rosneft and Lukoil were both up by 20% and 16%, respectively. Aluminum company Rusal rose more than 14%, while Norilsk Nickel jumped more than 22%.
So, basically, the US operation against Russia has been like a situation where a guy breaks into your house and is waving around a gun at your family, then he goes ahead and puts the gun in his mouth and blows his own brains out. You’re going to have to clean the brains off the wall, and repair the locks on the door, but otherwise you’re going to be good. The intruder, however, is not so good. He’s just blown his own brains out.
This is all happening very quickly.
It’s hard to keep up with.
But the US has effectively committed a very public suicide in the name of a bizarre moral signaling campaign about how they are very good people and so oppose the very bad Russians.
It now looks to me as though this thing was planned over a very long period of time. Since the Maidan, Russia, presumably working with China, has set a trap for the United States in the Ukraine. They knew that after the revolution, the West wouldn’t be able to help itself, and would move NATO forces into the country, and NATOize the country, and so they planned the response – and understood the US response.
There had to be an invasion, because they had to get the US to act in this deranged way, which is the result of both unfathomable hubris and the general degrading of the culture into a state of nonstop moral panic.
The US has already lost.
Putin has demonstrated hypersonic missiles in the Ukraine. These cannot be shot down by any of NATO’s missile defense systems, meaning if NATO tries to attack Russia conventionally, Russia can strike targets across Western Europe. Moreover, there is just no way to invade Russia.
The only remaining options are to back off or start a nuclear war.
It is looking like they will do some kind of chemical attack false flag hoax in the Ukraine, but I don’t even understand what purpose that serves. The only people who will believe that are the “international Community,” which America is already dragging down to hell with them.
There are other theories. Alex Jones and others are saying that Western intelligence is planning to assassinate Joe Biden and blame Russia. That seems a bit outlandish, but I guess you never know. Still, I don’t really see what purpose that would serve. Russia can just say they didn’t do it. Then what changes?
The wheel is already turning.
The jig is up.
The Church – Under The Milky Way
Continuing with the 1990s theme, perhaps a reader or two might remember this little gem…
Family. Rufus. It’s all about a greater purpose. video 1MB
Do you want more?
You can find more articles related to this in my latest index; A New Beginning. And in it are elements of the old, some elements regarding the transition, and some elements that look towards the future.
Lately I have been playing around with the You-Tube platform. I have added a few videos and am busy learning video editing and production. I have up loaded three videos so far, and I am learning so much by my myrid of mistakes. Hopefully, I will be able to provide MM readership with a steady flow of videos to suppliment the writings herein. Well. That’s my goal anyways.
We are in a “funny time”. The main stream American media (along wiht the Western media) are still playing the nonsense, but you know… the “worm has turned“. Ah. It’s all different now. The East is now going to rule, while the West slowly fades into the background.
Oh, don’t misunderstand, it’s still a dangerous time, but the verdict is in. A new world order is emerging out of the old, and there’s very few things that the old order can do to change things.
Here, we will continue on the collection of narratives as we document this great period of change, but keep in mind (as dangerous as this time actually is) the future is a foregone conclusion. The only issue at this time is the death count, and the speed at which the collapse of the West will occur.
.
Escobar: Meet The New, Resource-Based Global Reserve Currency
Authored by Pepe Escobar,
A new reality is being formed:the unipolar world is irrevocably becoming a thing of the past,a multipolar one is taking shape.
It was something to behold. Dmitri Medvedev, former Russian President, unrepentant Atlanticist, current deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, decided to go totally unplugged in an outburst matching the combat star turn of Mr. Khinzal that delivered palpable shock and awe all across NATOstan.
Medvedev said “hellish” Western sanctions not only have failed to cripple Russia, but are instead “returning to the West like a boomerang.” Confidence in reserve currencies is “fading like the morning mist”, and ditching the US dollar and the euro is not unrealistic anymore: “The era of regional currencies is coming.”
After all, he added, “no matter if they want it or not, they’ll have to negotiate a new financial order (…) And the decisive voice will then be with those countries that have a strong and advanced economy, healthy public finances and a reliable monetary system.”
Medvedev relayed his succinct analysis even before D Day – as in the deadline this Thursday established by President Putin after which payments for Russian gas by “unfriendly nations” will only be accepted in rubles.
The G7, predictably, had struck a (collective) pose: we won’t pay. “We” means the 4 that are not large Russian gas importers. “We”, moreover, means the Empire of Lies dictating the rules. As for the 3 that will be in dire straits, not only they are major importers but also happen to be WWII losers – Germany, Italy and Japan, still de facto occupied territories. History does have a habit of playing perverted tricks.
Denial didn’t last long. Germany was the first to break – even before industrialists from Ruhr to Bavaria staged a mass revolt. Scholz, the puny Chancellor, called Putin, who had to explain the obvious: payments are being converted into rubles because the EU froze Russia’s foreign exchange reserves – in a crass violation of international law.
With Taoist patience, Putin also expressed hope this would not represent a deterioration in contract terms for European importers. Russian and German experts should sit down together and discuss the new terms.
Moscow is working on a set of documents defining the new deal. Essentially, that spells out no rubles, no gas. Contracts become null and void once you violate trust. The US and the EU broke legally biding agreements with unilateral sanctions and on top of it confiscated foreign reserves of a – nuclear – G20 nation.
The unilateral sanctions made dollars and euros worthless to Russia. Hysteria fits won’t cut it: this will be resolved – but under Russia’s terms. Period. The Foreign Ministry had already warned that refusal to pay for gas in rubles would lead to a serious global crisis of non-payments and serial global-level bankruptcies, a hellish chain reaction of blocked transactions, freezing of collateral assets and closures of credit lines.
What will happen next is partially predictable. EU companies will receive the new set of rules. They will have time to examine the documents and make a decision. Those that say “no” will be automatically excluded from receiving direct Russian gas shipments – all politico-economic consequences included.
There will be some compromise, of course. For instance, quite a few EU nations will accept to use rubles and increase their gas acquisitions so they may resell the surplus to their neighbors and make a profit. And some may also decide to buy gas on the go on energy exchanges.
So Russia is not imposing an ultimatum on anybody. The whole thing will take time – a rolling process. With some sideway action as well. The Duma is contemplating the extension of payment in rubles to other essential products – such as oil, metals, timber, wheat. It will depend on the collective voracity of the EU chihuahuas. Everyone knows that their non-stop hysteria may translate into a colossal rupture of supply chains across the West.
Bye bye oligarchs
While the Atlanticist ruling classes have gone totally berserk but still remain focused on fighting to the last European to extract any remaining, palpable EU wealth, Russia is playing it cool. Moscow has been quite lenient in fact, brandishing the specter of no gas in Spring rather than Winter.
The Russian Central Bank nationalized foreign exchange earnings of all major exporters. There was no default. The ruble keeps rising – and is now back to roughly the same level before Operation Z. Russia remains self-sufficient, food-wise. American hysteria over “isolated” Russia is laughable. Every actor that matters across Eurasia – not to mention the other 4 BRICS and virtually the whole Global South – did not demonize and/or sanction Russia.
As an extra bonus, arguably the last oligarch capable of influence in Moscow, Anatoly Chubais, is gone. Call it another momentous historical trickery: Western sanction hysteria de facto dismembered Russian oligarchy – Putin’s pet project since 2000. What that implies is the strengthening of the Russian state and the consolidation of Russian society.
We still don’t have all the facts, but a case can be made that after years of careful evaluation Putin opted to really go for broke and break the West’s back – using that trifecta (imminent blitzkrieg on Donbass; US bioweapon labs; Ukraine working on nuclear weapons) as the casus belli.
The freezing of foreign reserves had to have been forecasted, especially because the Russian Central Bank had been increasing its reserves of US Treasuries since November last year. Then there’s the serious possibility of Moscow being able to access “secret” offshore foreign reserves – a complex matrix built with Chinese insider help.
The sudden switch from dollars/euros to rubles was hardcore, Olympic-level geoeconomic judo. Putin enticed the collective West to unleash its demented hysteria sanction attack – and turned it against the opponent with a single, swift move.
And here we all are now trying to absorb so many in-synch game-changing developments following the weaponization of dollar assets: rupee-ruble with India, the Saudi petroyuan, co-badged Mir-UnionPay cards issued by Russian banks, the Russia-Iran SWIFT alternative, the EAEU-China project of an independent monetary/financial system.
Not to mention the master coup by the Russian Central Bank, pegging 1 gram of gold to 5,000 rubles – which is already around $60, and climbing.
Coupled with No Rubles No Gas, what we have here is energy de facto pegged to gold.
The EU Chihuahuas and the Japanese colony will need to buy a lot of rubles in gold or buy a lot of gold to have their gas. And it gets better. Russia may re-peg the ruble to gold in the near future. Could go to 2,000 rubles, 1,000 rubles, even 500 rubles for a gram of gold.
Time to be sovereign
The Holy Grail in the evolving discussions about a multipolar world, since the BRICS summits in the 2000s featuring Putin, Hu Jintao and Lula, has always been how to bypass dollar hegemony. It’s now right in front of the whole Global South, as a benign apparition bearing a Cheshire cat’s smile: the golden ruble, or ruble backed by oil, gas, minerals, commodity exports.
The Russian Central Bank, unlike the Fed, does not practice QE and won’t export toxic inflation to the rest of the planet. The Russian Navy not only secures all Russian sea lines, but Russian nuclear-powered submarines are capable of popping up all over the planet unannounced.
Russia is far, far ahead already implementing the concept of “continental naval power”. December 2015, in the Syrian theater, was the strategic game-changer. The Black Sea-based submarine 4th division is the star of the show.
Russian naval fleets may now employ Kalibr missiles across a space comprehending Eastern Europe, West Asia and Central Asia. The Caspian Sea and the Black Sea, linked by the Don-Volga canal, offer a space of maneuver comparable to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf combined. 6,000 km-long. And you don’t even need to access warm waters.
That covers around 30 nations: the traditional Russian sphere of influence; historical borders of the Russian empire; and current political/energy rivalry spheres.
No wonder the Beltway is berserk.
Russia guarantees shipping across Asia, the Arctic and Europe, in tandem with the Eurasia-wide BRI railway network.
And last but not least, don’t mess with a Nuclear Bear.
Essentially, this is what hardcore power politics is all about. Medvedev was not bragging when he said the era of a single reserve currency is over. The advent of a resource-based global reserve currency means, in a nutshell, that 13% of the planet will not dominate the other 87% anymore.
It’s NATOstan vs. Eurasia redux. Cold War 2.0, 3.0, 4.0 and even 5.0. It doesn’t matter. All the previous Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) nations see which way the geopolitical and geo-economic winds are blowing: the time to assert their real sovereignty is at hand as the “rules-based international order” bites the dust.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in China, after meeting several counterparts from across Eurasia, could not have outlined it better:
“A new reality is being formed: the unipolar world is irrevocably becoming a thing of the past, a multipolar one is taking shape. It’s an objective process. It’s unstoppable. In this reality, more than one power will “rule” – it will be necessary to negotiate between all the key states that today have a decisive influence on the world economy and politics. At the same time, realizing their special situation, these countries ensure compliance with the basic principles of the UN Charter, including the fundamental one – the sovereign equality of states. No one on this Earth should be seen as a minor player. Everyone is equal and sovereign.”
Welcome to the birth of the new world system.
Tears For Fears – Head Over Heels (Official Music Video)
Ok. So I’m out of MAJestic on my own and waiting to be called in for “training”. At this time, we (my first wife and I) were living in the nice seaside community of San Louis Obispo in California. It was the middle to late 1980’s. We were living in a broken down van stuck in the end of a church parking lot, and I was working two jobs as a breakfast cook and janitor.
It was at that time that MAJestic tracked me down and called me into the base with work. But before that happened, we were living hand to mouth at the poverty level.
It was a special time. It was Spring and we lived in a “college town”, and the music of that time was unique. One of the songs of that time was “Head over Heels” by Tears for Fears. Here’s the MV of it. Please enjoy my flashback to the past.
What do you think of this flash back in time?
Goldman Sachs warns the dollar is at risk of losing its dominance, and could end up a lesser player like the UK pound
Goldman Sachs has said the US dollar faces a number of risks, and could become a lesser currency like the UK pound.
The US’ tough sanctions on Russia have raised concerns that countries around the world could try to move away from the dollar.
Goldman said the US’ foreign debts mean that foreign investors may become reluctant to hold dollar assets.
This is another one of thes songs of that particular period in time. Fast forward two years later, maybe three, and I am out of MAJestic and I am off trying to start yet again anew. Sheech! And this is the song that is playing all over the radio 24-7…
Homemade Biscuits and Gravy
Homemade Biscuits and Gravy
This recipe will take your taste buds down South, to where good old-fashioned recipes are still king. Our Homemade Biscuits and Gravy recipe is full of so much down-home goodness, you’ll want to eat these homemade biscuits at breakfast AND dinner, which is perfectly all right by us!
What You’ll Need
2 cups pancake and baking mix
2/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) butter, melted, plus 2 tablespoons butter
1 (16-ounce) package hot pork sausage
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
What to Do
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
In a medium bowl, stir baking mix, buttermilk, and the 1/2 stick melted butter until soft dough forms. Drop 8 equal spoonfuls of dough onto an ungreased baking sheet.
Bake 14 to 16 minutes, or until golden brown.
In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt remaining butter; cook 1 to 1-1/2 minutes, or until browned. Add sausage and cook 6 to 8 minutes, or until no pink remains, stirring to crumble sausage. Add flour; mix well. Add Worcestershire sauce, milk, salt, and pepper; mix well. Cook 2 to 4 minutes, or until gravy thickens, stirring constantly.
Cut biscuits in half and spoon sausage mixture evenly on bottom halves. Replace tops and serve.
The captured General in Ukraine is being rewritten
From an influencer, the background wikipedia on the captured American Major General Roger L. Cloutier, that I wrote about HERE, is being rewritten as we speak. Poof! New numbers. New dates. New backgrounds.
White board. That’s what the internet is today. A big white board.
Grow Alum Crystals That Resemble Simulated Diamonds
Home-made.
Alum is found in the spices section of the grocery store. That little jar contains small white crystals that, with a bit of time and effort, grow a big alum crystal that looks a bit like a diamond. It only takes about an hour to grow small alum crystals, but getting a big crystals takes days to weeks.
All you need to grow alum crystals are alum, hot water, and a container. Choose a clear container so you can watch the crystals grow. While not strictly necessary, it helps having a way to tie and suspend a crystal in the liquid. This helps it keep an ideal shape. A coffee filter or paper towel keeps dust out of your project, while still allowing good air circulation.
1/2 cups hot tap water
2-1/2 tablespoons alum
nylon fishing line
pencil, ruler, or knife
2 clean jars
spoon
coffee filter/paper towel
There are actually a few different kinds of alum. The edible one in the grocery store is potassium alum. It grows clear crystals. Other types of alum include sodium, ammonium, selenium, and chrome alum. Chrome alum grows deep purple crystals. If you have access to the other chemicals, feel free to combine them to see what colors you get. But, check the labels for safety information. Some types of alum are non-toxic, but others are irritants and not edible.
Grow the Crystals
Pour 1/2 cup of hot tap water into a clean jar.
Slowly stir in alum, a little at a time, until it stops dissolving. Don’t add the whole amount; just enough to saturate the water.
Loosely cover the jar with a coffee filter or paper towel (to keep dust out) and allow the jar to sit undisturbed overnight.
The next day, pour the alum solution from the first jar into the clean jar. You will see small alum crystals at the bottom of the jar. These are ‘seed’ crystals that you will use to grow a big crystal.
Tie nylon fishing line around the largest, best-shaped crystal. Tie the other end to a flat object (e.g., popsicle stick, ruler, pencil, butter knife). You will hang the seed crystal by this flat object into the jar far enough so that it will be covered in liquid, but won’t touch the bottom or sides of the jar. It may take a few tries to get the length just right.
When you have the right string length, hang the seed crystal in the jar with the alum solution. Cover it with the coffee filter and grow a crystal!
Grow your crystal until you are satisfied with its size. If you see crystals starting to grow on the sides or bottom of your jar, carefully remove your crystal, pour the liquid into the clean jar, and put the crystal in the new jar. Other crystals in the jar will compete with your crystal for alum, so it won’t be able to get as big if you let these crystals grow.
Solving Common Problems
The most common problem people experience growing alum crystals is that crystals not growing. If you don’t see crystal growth within a day or two, there isn’t enough alum in the liquid. Gently heat the liquid over a stove or in the microwave and try adding more alum powder. Crystals only grow if the solution is saturated. This is the point where no more solid dissolves.
Crystal Growing Tips
You can use sewing thread or other string instead of nylon fishing line, but crystals will grow on the entire length of the submerged string. Crystals don’t adhere to nylon, so if you use it, you can get bigger and better crystals.
Alum is an ingredient used to make pickles. It makes them crispy.
Don’t worry if you don’t want to bother with the string! Crystals grow just fine on the bottom of the container. Use a spoon to scrape crystals away from each other so they won’t grow together. The shape of crystals growing on a flat surface differs from the shapes that form when crystals are suspended.
From Hal Turner
I happen to be in the morbidity business; I'm the CEO of a large insurance group... Based on what it is we are seeing, the rates right now are excess mortality of 84% and excess of every kind of disease at 1100%.
We are expecting a 5000% or so increase in excess mortality for this year (2022).
An enormous number.
I don't think that it's by coincidence, by the way, that Moderna has now just received licensure of their emergency use authorization HIV vaccine. So they gave everybody AIDS, and here's your salvation, another vaccine."
-- Attorney Todd Callender
The video below is Attorney Todd Callender, whose comments are shown above.
When he says “So they gave everybody AIDS . . . ” he’s talking about the mRNA injections given out under the guise of COVID-19.
Quick investigation of the Preliminary USA mortality data for 2021 from the CDC reveals:
499,132 X 51 = 25,455,732 excess deaths. That is what Attorney Todd Callendar indicates the USA could see !
Add to that the 2.95 million expected deaths, and the result is:
28,405,732 total deaths for 2022.
At this rate all the injected will be gone by 2025, just as was forecasted by the population reduction charts posted on the Deagel web site for many years.
Deagel.com last original 2025 population forecast (before scrubbing it all) for Germany was 28 million. For the USA, the chart that was “scrubbed” is shown below:
2022 04 06 15 51
About one third of Germanys population remain unvaxxed. Today’s population is 83 million, so Deagel’s report may be quite accurate.
So the DoD guy who ran the Deagel website † 2021 knew about this “plandemic” since 2015? CIA connections huh?
Deagle has always had the forecast at the year 2025. The numbers may have fluctuated but the date never did.
Qualudes again
Well, is he right? Or is he fear-mongering? It’s hard to say. I am not a doctor, but I can read tables. I guess we will have to wait and see.
In the meantime, let’s go back to 1976. This song topped the Country and Western chart at that time. It’s about a hyptnomic sedative that was very popular at that time for recreational use. Known as the Qualude. I can tell you first hand, that it was an awesome drug.
It made you so very relaxed, but at the same time, so very lively. You just wanted to dance and have a great time. Don’t drive though. You are not safe behind the wheel of anything.
It was banned in the United States.
Pakastan thwarted a United States coup
Pakistan just narrowly thwarted the US’ regime change campaign against Prime Minister Imran Khan that was launched against him as punishment for his independent foreign policy.
.
“Imran Khan claimed that Donald Lu warned the Pakistani envoy to the US, Asad Majeed, that there would be implications if the Pakistan PM survived the no-trust vote in the National Assembly.
PM Khan said that the no-confidence motion against him was a “foreign conspiracy” and he thanked Allah that it failed.”
.
Why invest in diplomacy or in projects like BRI ? The return of investment is way way higher if Uncle Sam just perform regime change here and there and if successful, the interests of US will be taken care of by the puppet gov’t in place.
A fine throw-back to 1960s television fare. It’s well worth at least a ten minute watch. I lvoe the acting, the costumes, and the premise of a B-grade science fiction movie. Great for laughs.
Doomsday ‘Preppers’ Warn Of Hard Times Ahead As Preparedness Goes Mainstream
Food scarcity. Food vouchers. Food riots and flash mobs.
All of that’s coming – and soon, says Texas-based food scientist and “Health Ranger” podcaster Mike Adams, who sees dire events unfolding in America in the short term.
Texas-based food scientist Mike Adams, known online as the “Health Ranger,” sees food shortages and heightened security later in 2022. (Courtesy of Mike Adams)
.
His advice: people need to get prepared now.
“The thing to really watch for is the food inflation,” Adams said.“My position is we’re going to see food riots in America before the end of this year. We’re going to see flash mobs in grocery stores—especially for meat products.
“Grocery stores are going to respond with increased security and checkpoints. At some point, we’re probably going to see an attempt at price controls and rationing.
“And not on everything—certain types of things. It’s almost certain that the rationing they will attempt to enforce with a vaccine passport app that becomes a food rationing app,” Adams told The Epoch Times.
Adams is not alone in his predictions of hard times coming to America—and the world.
With food production buckling under the weight of runaway inflation, skyrocketing fuel costs, and fertilizer shortages, much of what’s in store is already “built-in.”
What Do You Want From Life?
The tubes was a group that was hitting the audiences when I was graduating out of university. They probably had one hell of a stage show. I don’t actually know, as I never watched them perform. However their album was a real hoot. As this particular song clearly indicates.
Unfertile Ground
In North America two years ago, it cost around $200 an acre to fertilize a 1,000-acre commercial farm, Adams said. Right now, with spring planting, farmers can expect to pay $1,200 to $2,000 an acre.
And consumers will pay for it in higher prices for basic necessities.
“Many farmers are deciding not to plant. In addition, the diesel fuel prices and diesel fuel scarcity is going into their equation whether they should plant,” Adams said.
The upshot, he said, is that fewer farmers are planting, which means less food to go around.
As a food scientist Adams is a big proponent of clean, organically grown food free of heavy metals, which he makes available through the online sale of “Ranger Buckets.” The demand for his products has seen extremely high since the COVID-19 lockdown began in 2020.
Adams said it takes on average six to eight weeks to produce 2,000 buckets, which typically sell out within 30 minutes to three hours.
Even before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the demand for survival food in the United States has been on the increase among a number of national suppliers.
“The supply chain in the United States continues to crumble. More Americans are realizing it takes four trips to different home improvement stores for parts to make home repairs, instead of all their needs being in one store,” said Lori Hunt at Practical Preppers in South Carolina.
“That is making folks realize this extends to everything: food, books, solar equipment—and considering Ukraine is a source for critical raw materials in the solar industry, this is going to get much worse in the coming months,” she told The Epoch Times.
“Many of our customers are moving toward energy independence, and this is making a greater demand and diminishing supply situation. We are urging our customers to be prepared for a 2–4 month wait to amass all parts needed for their systems. Many installers around the United States are telling us they are experiencing the same.”
Byron Walker, Founder and CEO of Survival Frog in Denver, told the Epoch Times, “We have struggled with supply chain issues and things only appear to be getting worse.”
Allied Marketing Research (AMR) reported that the global incident and emergency market, valued at $75.5 billion in 2017, is projected to reach $423 billion by 2025.
“Factors such as rise in need for safety and security solutions, owing to increase in natural calamities and terrorist attacks, implementation of regulatory policies for public safety, and the necessity for emergency preparedness drive the growth of the global incident and emergency management market,” AMR said on its website.
“In addition, the surge in smart cities is expected to drive the adoption of intelligent evacuation systems and surveillance systems, thereby fueling the incident and emergency management market growth.”
Miami Vice – IN THE AIR TONIGHT | Tribute Video
If you lived though the 1980s then you would really appreciate the television show “Miami Vice”. It defined cool. It was a mix of rock music, detective action, drugs, and fashion. Everyone, and I do mean everyone, was hooked on this show. In this this clip here, you will see so many famous actors when they were young and not yet famous. In hindsight, it’s all pretty silly. But, the video is great and well worth the three minutes to watch.
Price Hikes ‘Here to Stay’
In recent weeks YouTube survival “preppers” such as City Prepping and Alaska Prepper have been sounding the alarm that hard times are just ahead.
Matt the “Magic Prepper,” in North Dakota, said being prepared continues to go mainstream as a “financial and scarcity genre” in view of current global events.
“With food production issues, supply chain problems, a slow economic recovery from the pandemic, and the cascading effects of an overseas conflict, it seems rather clear that shortages, disruptions, and price hikes are here to stay,” Matt told The Epoch Times.
He said the situation in Ukraine has revived interest in preparedness in case of a nuclear, biological, or chemical attack.
“With the conflict creating volatile rhetoric from multiple global superpowers, we find ourselves closer to such an event than any point in recent history,” Matt said. “I operate under the assumption that there is and will likely always be more time to prepare.”
Still, the state of being prepared is “exponentially limited” by the length of time it takes to get prepared, and other factors, he said.
“Every dollar spent today is worth less in value toward preparations than a dollar you would have spent three years ago. Therefore, by waiting to begin, you’ll inherently be able to prepare less and less.
YouTube’s Matt the “Magic Prepper” in North Dakota says it’s not too late to begin preparing for difficult economic times ahead. (Courtesy of Matt the “Magic Prepper”) .
“This is most obviously apparent when you relate it to items such as ammunition. Stocking up on it now provides you with anywhere from 50 percent [to] 75 percent less ammunition for the same amount spent on it three years ago.
“Even if we find ourselves in the midst of a full-on economic collapse or hot conflict, training and learning skills will likely still be accessible,” he said.
Preparedness also requires the ability to network and communication, having supplies in sufficient quantity, a “hardened” location, and knowledge on how to survive an economic collapse.
“I have suggested to keep moving forward regardless of the events unfolding currently. If things finally fall apart to the point of relying on our preparedness efforts, we will have prepared as best as we could up to that point.
“I am making phone calls, appointments, and plans every day to try and enhance my own personal preparedness,” Matt said.
Given the economic protectionism of halting food exports from countries like Hungary, Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus, the world supply of grain is going to be severely limited, Adams said.
This, he said, will result in the “most extreme food shortages we’ve seen in our lifetime.”
Better Now Than Never
“It will begin about August and continue until the end of the year. A lot of this depends on [President Joe] Biden’s economic decisions on whether he allows U.S. oil companies to finish pipelines and do more drilling. If he does not we are going to see even more shortages throughout 2023.”
Out of chaos, however, Adams foresees a reawakening of freedom and self-reliance in the way we grow and produce food.
“I think this is a red pill moment for the people of the world that they need to be more self-reliant. We need decentralization of food production. I’m a big proponent of decentralization—food grown locally.”
The bad news is that only about 5 percent of people in the United State are prepared. But “the more people prepare, the less they panic when shortages appear,” Adams said.
Star Trek – Missile Alert
And here’s a nice brief section of a 1960s Star Trek show. It’s also a fun watch. Just enjoy the five minute vision of the past.
Its about “Gary 7” and his cat.
Rick Wakeman Journey to the Centre of the Earth Full Album 1974 YouTube
Oh my teenage years. This album brought my father and me together musically. He loved it due ot the classical influences, and I loved it for the blend of rock music. Not to mention the great story line.
Simple Minds – Someone Somewhere In Summertime
Another glimpse to my early years right out from the Navy after MAJestic implantation. Enjoy this look back in time.
Conclusion
Yah. It’s a funny time. Don’t get too worked up with and about it. Things are unfolding to the plans set forth. To us “peons” it seems like everything is going to shit, but if you step back, and look at the big picture, just maybe… just MAYBE the West won’t be able to turn the world into an inferno if these various indicators play out as they appear to.
Hold on but not too tightly.
.
Do you want more?
You can find more articles related to this in my latest index; A New Beginning. And in it are elements of the old, some elements regarding the transition, and some elements that look towards the future.
I once read an article. It’s maybe six years ago that said that SJW types were scouring old used bookstores for “sexist” and “racist” books. Buying them up in huge lots and burning them, and generally trashing them outright.
I don’t know if it was true or not.
I certainly hope not.
What I do know is that my brother told me that when he visits the used books stores, he simply cannot find science fiction anthologies or collections of short stories anywhere. He said that he visited perhaps fifteen stores in the Colorado region and none could be had.
It would be a shame to see my boyhood erased simply becuase some bight-eyed utopian wanted to make the world better though tyranny.
Sigh.
But that’s the United States today. The internet is a corporate-technologist controlled dictatorship-based white-board. Things pop up, and then are erased as new narratives take hold, develop, conduct their purposes and then die.
Then new narratives materialize.
Now, it’s Ukraine. It was Coronavirus. Before that it was China. Before that was 5G radiation, before that was…
I need a beer.
By the way. You do know that beer goes great with steaks, meats, potatoes, and all sort of fine delicious and tasty foods. How about a fine, fine pot roast, eh?
Pot roast. Needs some thick gravy and some fine icy cold beer.
It’s an old clichéd joke to say you read adult magazines for the articles. However, if you’re talking about men’s mags from the 1950s and 60s, there might actually be some truth in your statement.
Magazines like Playboy, Adam, Jem, and Rogue often featured genuinely well-written articles and short fiction.
Getting published in a men’s magazine wasn’t the shameful smudge on an author’s reputation as it is today – in fact, it was a common stepping stone for soon-to-be-famous authors.
Like Ray Bradbury.
2022 03 15 14 58
But it isn’t just the stories that deserve respect – it’s the artwork that complimented them. Often sleazy and purposefully outrageous, the illustrations were designed to entice you to read the story in a not-so-subtle way.
Here in this article, we are going to present some most excellent examples. Grab some snacks, pour a large bowl with potato chips, get some nice dip, and start reading.
Chips and dip.
Oh, and don’t forget a tall frosty glass of beer. Or, if you are like MM, a fine bottle of wine , and share with your beloved pet.
2022 03 15 15 03
Have fun.
Be with your kitties.
I mean, more like this…
Not shown is a book, magazine, and a beloved pet next to you.
Let’s begin our fun adventure…
They were two drunken lovers having an affair in her bed while her husband was away. But, was he away? Wasn’t that he – respected adviser to the President – they now overheard plotting to kill the man in the White House?
6335207469 fbd8c7ab54 b
Lured by his smoldering eyes and magnetic personality, adoring women flocked to Rasputin. Peasant girls, prostitutes, princesses – they came, they saw, and they were conquered!
6335965054 16831a9e5b b
We got home about midnight. Shelia, the sitter, lay fast asleep on the couch. Maria woke her. Then I drove her home… an hour later, she’d been raped and strangled – and I was suspect number one!
6335207571 92a32a307f b
Getting Avis pregnant, and other sinful shenanigans, proved that the passionate pastor simply didn’t practice what he preached…. it finally took the electric chair to deliver him from all evil.
6335207551 aa2d59503b b
As the whistling whip snaked across her back, the young woman writhed in pleasure. For this was the joy that she’d paid to feel and relish.
6335209837 0163dcd64b b
I could hear Ted’s screams, but I couldn’t get to him, the bull sea lions were surrounding me and the angry sea was at my back…
6335209925 f95c194b10 o
With a 2,000-horse-soldier combat team, the mad Russian set out to take all Asia for a harem. And he would have made it if he hadn’t touched the man millions call God.
6335210025 e6e955795a o
The Sewer rats are the only ones you’ll share your secret with.
6335957032 89b11a4932 b
The couple’s honeymoon yacht turned into a craft of horrors when it was boarded by a lust-crazed psychopath who butchered anyone who dared invade his private inlet.
6335199403 d988020d40 b 1
Big blondes in dime-store dresses, tender teenagers with eager smiles, they converge in front of fancy bars and good hotels in all the big towns bordering the hill country.
6335199515 cb7b935f43 b
According to one automotive expert, these prestige-heavy imported hot rods are often badly made, unsafe, cash-eating tin cans perfectly designed for carrying you to the morgue.
6335957270 225bfa37ab b
A wanton, lush-bodied kitten of a blonde, she gave Mike Webster the sweetest, most loving hideout any murderer-on-the-run ever had.
6335957294 1d813a2ec3 b
Housemaids, heiresses, coeds and countesses – this brawling blackmailer sampled them all on a 75-year love binge so bawdy his memoirs still can’t be printed…
6335957438 5d13e53e01 b
In life, she was a nymphomaniac with a very high taste in jewels and men. In death, she was Mike Shayne’s fourty-first murder case.
6335207369 2e0e0e3049 b
Laos was in flames, and in that bloody, steaming jungle hid a broken and dying pilot guarding a cargo the Reds would give their birthright to get…
6335964954 5c94d528e7 b
In the waning days of world war two, Germany was in a state of utter collapse and chaos.
6335956456 353537a693 b
Angel terror across Dixie… Girl Rage Rampage!
6335956536 e505f2d888 b
In the grim violence of the Mate Grosso, two lusting men and two equally desire lashed females were stripped of all defenses before the furious onslaught of body-snatching banditoes…
6335956614 02143014e1 b
…!
6335198935 316a37e27a b
Jack Murphy primed her talents and showed her to the right people, all the while sating his desires on the sensuous blonde’s promise of passionate reward.
6335956662 cd3fe1e112 b
Roaring out of the back alleys of Los Angles on their souped-up hogs, four piston-fast “leather jacket looters” and their “desire debs” hatched a plot for the greatest armored truck robbery ever attempted.
6335199055 26b67f15bf b
…she didn’t even have time to…
6335956856 f575574372 b
A tough yank enforcer, two revenge-hungry nymphs vs. a crazed murder genius.
6335956980 df5ecf10ae b
An Englishman who produced a .30 caliber carbine compact enough to fit in a cigarette pack…
6335199367 6e835443b8 b
Everyone in the third-floor room tried to laugh off what was happening to the girl on the bed – everyone but her boyfriend and the doctor, who found more in her stomach than just milk and cookies.
6335955266 e51bce0736 b
…he turned an island into a cross between Fort Knox and the sexiest Siegfried line ever built.
6335197545 e52c0cff20 b
Those oriental Nazi dancing girls were all they were supposed to be… and more.
6335197885 b99fcf9651 b
A murderer at the age of eleven, Ben Hogan led a life of crime and depravity that had no equal outside of Hell.
6335197901 eaa1d6c5f9 b
Blood was dripping from his slavering fangs…
6335956096 2128a66132 o
With a bleching sound, the torrent gushed into the street. For tipplers it was a perfect way to die. For others it was an unheard of death.
6335956130 bacd9eccde b
…his wrist and ankles manacled to a steel bed.
6335198497 9824848f7e b
Women, whiskey and dope made the Japanese town of Chitose “the wickedest city in the far east”.
6335198617 b9df26565e b
They pumped two bullets into Al Cooke and left him for dead, but he wasn’t ready for the grave yet… not until he could get the laust laugh.
6335198639 e706f39136 b
he was determined to even an old score. But the grim climax with the giant tusker was unexpected.
6335198699 339bccc8e1 b
The trappers poured into camp hunting for their week of women…
6335956348 5ef0192172 b
Murderous females who were armed to the teeth tricked Fred hardin into stopping his car for them. Then, by threatening to slit the throat of his wife on a moment’s notice, forced him to accompany them on a journey through Hell.
6335198729 a1cbac7992 b
To save his mate from a fate worse than death, the incredibly swift cat invaded a camp swarming with professional hunters, ready to kill or be killed if necessary…
2022 03 07 19 15
Brother Briggs’s 3,300,00 members game kept his desert empire polygamy happy until the day the disciples caught on to the reason behind the leaders 9-1 ratio.
6335967544 01eed0626b o
The Reds were bleeding the West of vital defense secrets. And even after a seven-year manhunt, counterintelligence had only one clue – a case of nylon undies.
2022 03 07 19 21
“Being a Lady of the Night in jolly old London is never easy – but when somebody wants to carve you up, it’s sheer murder”
Adam v10 n10 Oct 1966 13
“He writhed in agony as they tore at his wife’s clothing… Dan’s car was the only weapon which could avenge their heinous crime.”
Adam v04 n04 Apr 1960 18
“Trapped by the mafia’s maniacal sadist, Garry had only one chance to save himself and the woman he loved”….And by the looks of things, Garry had damn well better hurry up!
Adam v5 no2 1961 0037
“Reilly was doomed to a life without women – unless he could force the leprechaun to lift its double-whammy”
Possibly my favorite of all time.
Black Magic v03 n04 Jan 1967 AAA 022
One moment of frenzied passion could destroy his only chance for a perfect future.
Adam v5 no2 1961 0015
“The telephone had killed his wife – and the telephone offered the perfect revenge”
Adam v5 no2 1961 0019
Until he saw with his own eyes, the refused to believe a United Nations report -40,000 girls to be kidnapped this year in Europe and Africa and marched across the Sarah for sale to wealthy Arabian harem owners!
042
In an age of charm and delicacy, Madame Laramie was a demon incarnate.
Adam v04 n04 Apr 1960 12
The gallows beckoned and even Rand’s woman couldn’t save him from the gambler’s double-cross.
Adam v03 n11 Nov 1959 39
One minute you’re there, the next… poof! you’re ashes. Never a dull moment for drinkers.
Adam v10 n10 Oct 1966 54
Threatened with ultimate degradation, Mira became a slave to the strangest of passions.
Adam v5 no2 1961 0003
The farewell party was so wild, he almost missed the journey…
Adam v10no8 Aug1966 0061
Parker knew he must kill his wife’s lover… but he had one growing problem…
2022 03 07 19 24
“Was Marie Antoinette a victim of character assassination, or did she diddle?”
2022 03 07 19 39
“It was no ordinary shipboard romance. Her bull of a husband was along for the ride. Yet Allen knew he had to have her”
2022 03 07 19 3e8
“Telsa had to save the mission from destruction because of Heroq’s passion to remain a Homo sapien”
As this illustration from 1968 demonstrates, artists were free to stylize their work by the late sixties, rather than stick to the somewhat homogeneous look of the mid-century illustrations.
2022 03 07 19 38
“With five sex-starved wives to satisfy, a man can have a myriad of problems”
2022 03 07 19d 38
“Dollar for dollar, corpse for corpse, Holmes might have become America’s most successful lady killer – if one pretty doll hadn’t talked out of turn and exposed the most shocking mass murder in history”
2022 03 07 19 37
“There are so many physiological differences between men and women that it is hard to believe they belong in the same species, says this noted psychologist”
2022 03 07 19 4s9
The hang-up on the telephone saved him from getting hung up on the couch.
2022 03 07 19 49
“The night was cold – and so was his wife. All of which led to Pete Landon’s tantalizing adventure.”
2022 03 07 19 51
“Telling others what a big make out artist you are could very well help you become one”
2022 03 07 1s9 50
All the hush-hush planning for the Allied invasion of Europe almost went out the window of a beautiful Hungarian’s bedroom.
2022 03 07 19 50
“Iona screamed as Peggy stripped for the two men…. only one desperate gamble could stop the crazed convicts”
2022 03 07 19 dww53
With a quick slap of the hand, Joe sent the shake-down artist to the floor.
2022 03 07 19 d53
He was a hostage of the Orient’s most notorious fighting brigade – a band of torture-trained females currently terrorizing the border region of Vietnam.
2022 03 07 19 53
“If sexy strategist Suzanne had been a general, the South might have won the Civil War”
2022 03 07 19e 56
Broom and Board; a Witches tale.
2022 03 07 19 56
“Hollywood’s a bad influence”… with the sordid Harvey Weinstein stories in the news of late, a very appropriate title. We’ll end here. Until next time.
2022 03 07 19 58
Fun huh?
Yes. It was.
Back in the day, these magazines were everywhere. Young guys like myself would take our shoe-shine box and earn a few quarters spit-shing shoes and then use the money for candy and other treats. I used to happily get those comic books that were on this wire revolving display.
Comic book heaven.
This was at the local corner drugstore.
I would ride my bike there, and just leave it outside. There was no crime. And even if someone stole it, the community would easily track down who stole it and bring it back. I’d park my banana-seat, long handlebars, Schwinn bicycle outside and go in. The mesh screen door would slam behind me with this little tiny brass bell ringing as I entered.
At that store was a selection of scant housewares, household good, woman’s cosmetics, and a pharmacy in the back. They always had this counter at the side where you could get a simple hamburger platter, eggs and toast, a milkshake or some other delicious treat. Though, as a boy who only had coins, I would get a soda out of the machine outside.
coke machine
These small town businesses have largely disappeared in America. The small towns are deserted. Big mega-retailers like Wal-Mart and other enormous “box stores” pretty much devistated the smaller communities. Which is a real shame.
A real shame.
A lunch counter in a five and dime store.
Oh, I’ll bet that you are all wonderign what these strange businesses might look like. Well, they came in many different sizes and shapes. Some were just standard brick storefronts, while others were standalone oeprations.
Here’s a very “modern” small-town drugstore.
Small town drugstore.
And what’s more, there were many, many other establishments in the small towns throughout the United States.
Here’s The Krystal. It’s a “fast food” hamburger “joint” that popped up and existed before McDonald’s acted like “The Borg” and assimulated all of them.
The Krystal.
And there were all sorts of establishments to eat.
Most people, having two hour lunches, would eat and then go home and take a nap before returning back to work. In those days, long lunches with naps were the norm.
Here’s a typical restaurant at lunch time.
The Varsity.
My father had a routine that he would have a lunch at the tavern across from the mill where he worked, and on Thursdays, he would mosey over to the Barber Shop for a haircut and trip afterwards.
Those were the days.
When I entered the work force, they were busy removing benefits left and right, eventually asking us to dash for a 15 minute drive through burger, and return back to a “Lunch Meeting”. This continued though the 1990s. Eventually they eliminated technnical and engineering / manufacturing work completely.
It wasn’t profitable, they said.
Conclusion
We have to understand what we lost before we can understand what we need to change.
The United States today is in turmoil. This is at every level. But if you want to simplify everything, it’s really easy. Greed and the search for profits over all has bankrupted the nation. It hollowed it out, and destroyed the population and society in the process.
It will change.
But right now, most people have no idea what they lost, so how are they supposed to regain any true and real freedoms?
I’ll tell you what…
Real freedom is going into a Men’s-only Barber Shop, picking up a “Girlie Magazine” while a baseball game plays in the backgound. You light up a cigarette, and inhale it deeply.
Is it sexist? Yes.
Is it racist? I don’t know.
Is it unhealthy? Probably.
But so what? It’s no ones business except yours alone.
Freedom is absolute.
You either have it or you do not.
Bye Bye America. You were a dream; and ideal that was never truly possible.
The young Russian artist Elena Limkina reveals the inside of her fascinating sketchbook, where each page contains beautiful drawings in ink or watercolor. A wandering into the world of the artist through her creative diary, where she experiments styles and techniques, moving from architectural drawing to animal or floral illustration.
Throughout my life, I have maintained my own MM sketchbooks. Being both an artist, an engineer, and a scientist, having a well documented record of my thoughts was important. And like this artist, my books were very similar to these works.
I would use ink, pencil, and blue pencil in the journals. The light blue pencil was used to outline the shapes, and then I would use an ink pen to illustrate. I preferred to use a light green, or light tan notebook with lines. And for highlighting, I would use a white pencil.
On some notebooks, I would use a light wash of watercolor. This helped me add depth to my sketches.
However, many of my notes also incorporated formula, calculations, part numbers, addresses and the like. So I would often use a red pen, a blue pen, and sometimes other colored pens to highlight specific information.
I would use a yellow highlighter for passwords and access codes. And many of my notebooks used tape to hold in various photos, documents and other items that I wished to include in my journals.
One of the things that I was doing, up until I was incarcerated for my “retirement” was to print out photos on adhesive-backed paper. I would then cut out the paper, and place it nicely and tightly in the journal.
This included photos of new friends that I would make during my trips to China and the KTV establishments, maps, schedules and photos of projects.
Often, people would see me writing in my books and would want to take a look, and they would really love to go page by page through it. I am sure that it was meaningless to them, but they really seemed to like the mixture of sketches and thoughts.
Honestly, it looked a lot like the notebook that the Saint used in the movie of the same name. With sketches, and papers, and photographs.
I always instructed my engineers, designers, and interns to take up the habit of using and engineering notebook and using it in a more or less traditional manner. I also insisted that they do this religiously, as all it takes is one computer melt down to wipe away years of hard work.
The younger “kids” don’t understand as they believe that once in the “could” the data is forever safe. I don’t believe that that is true at all.
But having a journal is more than that. You can write down your dreams and monitor your personal non-physical life. You can include your affirmations. You can internally debate your wishes and dreams in your journal, and you can write down things in one place so that you would never forget about them. Whether it is a recipe, or some notes, you will always know where to find the information.
Most people, in modern society, do not understand the concept of privacy. Especially Americans, I am sad to say. Even though the Bill of Rights authorize “security and privacy in one’s personal papers and documents”, that hasn’t been functionally true for centuries.
I am one to tell you that AS A FACT.
In fact, it was my journals that were used against me when I was “retired”. Ah. Any excuse serves a tyrant.
But privacy is a natural need. We all require time alone. Whether it is to gather our thoughts, take a dump in the toilet, say our affirmations, pray, or masturbate. We, as humans, require privacy. Anyone who cannot recognize that basic need is an evil, selfish, and self-centered busybody.
Run away from them as fast as you can.
My first wife maintained dream journals, and as she gradually lost her mind (she had a mental illness), her journaling became an obsession. She would wake up and spend five hours writing down her dreams. Which was obviously unhealthy.
My brother maintained magick journals for his studies, incantations, and other projects that he worked on. He loved to use these thick, soft leather-bound books with a strap to hold everything tight and in place. While I really used a spiral bound lined notebook that I would buy in packs of ten.
Notebooks offer a person, such as myself, a canvas to illustrate our thoughts and concepts. It was when I was in prison that I cluttered up my notebooks (well, actually, there were just tablets of paper. We were unable to own notebooks in the ADC.) with sketches of the MWI and world-line travel.
Long time readers of MM will be able to imagine the kinds of sketches and drawings that I made regarding souls, consciousness, and travel on the MWI. As well as thoughts on the teleportation device, and the mathematics behind it’s operation.
I would place my personal thoughts and concepts there in my journals. While in prison, I used a kind of pencil known as a “golf pencil” because of its diminutive size, and I sharpened it with sandpaper that I could get from the commissary store. We were also permitted a small pen. I would use that to ink my sketches.
All was very crude, but it served its purpose. Yes, there were others while in prison that maintained a sketchbook where they practiced their art. But most of the people int eh ADC were illiterate. Often what we would call “urban youth”, “trailer park trash”, and “gang members. Folk like myself were a minority.
Of course, most of my sketch books, journals, and writings occurred while I was working as an inventor, designer, engineer, and scientist for the US government, large technical corporations and the like. And when they would let me go (i.e. fire me / downsize me / lay me off) they would demand to retain my journals and notebooks, often claiming that they contained company secrets.
These notebooks shown here are obviously not mine, but they have well been mine. The look, the feel, and the drawings are all similar.
I seriously encourage everyone to have their own journal or notebook. I do not suggest that they rely on electronic media, no matter how seductive it appears, and I have had multiple bad experiences in using these software programs.
Aside from the computer dying and a hard-drive death meant the end of everything that I wrote and collected, but other things happened as well. For instance, I once used an electronic diary. It was nice and worked really well. Then it suddenly stopped working.
As it turned out, the diary was only configured to work for five years, then you had to ask for an upgrade for a small fee of course. So when it stopped working, I called the company and discovered that they went out of business and all of my writings and documents were unable to be recovered.
And don’t get me started on Microsoft. You are typing away, and suddenly MS wants you to register, and pay for yearly updates. And when you don’t pay, you are locked out of your documents. It wouldn’t be all that bad, but last year they demanded $350 from me.
It’s one of the reasons why I switched to Lunix.
And forget about freeware. Or donationware. My experience with them have been hit or miss. You have to have one that is directly configured for your needs. Right now I have three folders (on my Lunix computer) each one containing a separate group of files unique to that particular program. All of which are not available in Lunix format.
Now, of course, there are benefits to using electronic media. For instance, you can lock it with a password. That makes it safe so that only you or the NSA can open it up. Passwords are transparent to the American government. If you don’t believe me, read my story about how I was retired.
But there are some disadvantages to putting things in journals. For one, they take up space. Unless you have a lot of room, and don’t mind hauling them around, it could be a problem. Another thing is many people, notably your spouse and the United States government, have no respect for boundaries, personal space, privacy or secrecy.
If you don’t want anyone to access them, you must either write in code, not write at all, or use symbology that only you understand.
This woman does a nice job in her artistic renderings and I find her work noteworthy. It’s a joy to look at, and takes and carries me away to an other place and other thoughts. I start to muse and dream. All very good things.
What ever your desires are, I urge you all to start sketching and journaling.
Of course, I no longer have my notebooks.
When I was retired, the police seized many of my notebooks as evidence of my devious character. They were subsequently “lost”. The remaining notebooks were acquired by my father, desirous of protecting me, promptly burned them.
Those sketches and notes, that I made while in prison, were often confiscated and misplaced. I never got them back. Of the few that I was working on at the time of my departure from prison, were in my luggage that was misplaced and ended up in the lost-luggage section in Newark, NJ.
I started anew. A “blank slate” as they say. And married a woman who respects my privacy, my confidentiality and my space. If you don’t have that, perhaps you should reconsider your relationships and what kind of life that you have.
Do you want more?
I have more articles like this one in my Art Index here…
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
This article is about the creation of a mechanical / electrical device that will help you conduct affirmation prayer campaigns. What it will do is [1] scrub your mind form the electromagnetic waves trying to manipulate you and [2] replace it with affirmations, direction and MWI navigation channels of your own design. Huh? What am I talking about?
“You see them on the street. You watch them on TV. You might even vote for one this fall. You think they’re people just like you. You’re wrong. Dead wrong.”
— They Live
We are living in an age of mayhem, madness and monsters. Monsters with human faces walk among us. Many of them work for the U.S. government. What we are dealing with today is an authoritarian beast that has outgrown its chains and will not be restrained.
You will conform.
Through its acts of power grabs, brutality, meanness, inhumanity, immorality, greed, corruption, debauchery and tyranny, the government has become almost indistinguishable from the evil it claims to be fighting, whether that evil takes the form of terrorism, torture, disease, drug trafficking, sex trafficking, murder, violence, theft, pornography, scientific experimentations or some other diabolical means of inflicting pain, suffering and servitude on humanity.
We have let the government’s evil-doing and abuses go on for too long. We have bought into the illusion and refused to grasp the truth. We’re being fed a series of carefully contrived fictions that bear no resemblance to reality. We’re living in two worlds: the world we see (or are made to see) and the one we sense (and occasionally catch a glimpse of), the latter of which is a far cry from the propaganda-driven reality manufactured by the government and its corporate sponsors, including the media.
Indeed, what most Americans perceive as life in America—privileged, progressive and free—is a far cry from reality, where economic inequality is growing; pandemic lockdowns (both mental and physical), real agendas and real power are buried beneath layers of Orwellian doublespeak and corporate obfuscation; and “freedom,” such that it is, is meted out in small, legalistic doses by militarized police armed to the teeth.
The powers-that-be want us to feel threatened by forces beyond our control (terrorists, shooters, bombers, disease, etc.). They want us afraid and dependent on the government and its militarized armies for our safety and well-being. They want us distrustful of each other, divided by our prejudices, and at each other’s throats. Most of all, they want us to continue to march in lockstep with their dictates.
Obey. Resistance is futile.
Tune out the government’s attempts to distract, divert and befuddle us and tune into what’s really going on in this country, and you’ll run headlong into an unmistakable, unpalatable truth: the moneyed elite who rule us view us as expendable resources to be used, abused and discarded.
In fact, a study conducted by Princeton and Northwestern University concluded that the U.S. government does not represent the majority of American citizens. Instead, the study found that the government is ruled by the rich and powerful, or the so-called “economic elite.” Moreover, the researchers concluded that policies enacted by this governmental elite nearly always favor special interests and lobbying groups.
They live.
In other words, we are being ruled by an oligarchy disguised as a democracy, and arguably on our way towards fascism—a form of government where private corporate interests rule, money calls the shots, and the people are seen as mere subjects to be controlled.
As CBS News reports, “Once in office, members of Congress enjoy access to connections and information they can use to increase their wealth, in ways that are unparalleled in the private sector. And once politicians leave office, their connections allow them to profit even further.”
In denouncing this blatant corruption of America’s political system, former president Jimmy Carter blasted the process of getting elected—to the White House, governor’s mansion, Congress or state legislatures—as “unlimited political bribery… a subversion of our political system as a payoff to major contributors, who want and expect, and sometimes get, favors for themselves after the election is over.”
Rest assured that when and if fascism finally takes hold in America, the basic forms of government will remain: Fascism will appear to be friendly. The legislators will be in session. There will be elections, and the news media will continue to cover the entertainment and political trivia.
Consent of the governed, however, will no longer apply.
Actual control will have finally passed to the oligarchic elite controlling the government behind the scenes. Sound familiar?
Our Rulers
Clearly, we are now ruled by an oligarchic elite of governmental and corporate interests. We have moved into “corporatism” (favored by Benito Mussolini), which is a halfway point on the road to full-blown fascism. Corporatism is where the few moneyed interests—not elected by the citizenry—rule over the many. In this way, it is not a democracy or a republican form of government, which is what the American government was established to be.
It is a top-down form of government and one which has a terrifying history typified by the developments that occurred in totalitarian regimes of the past: police states where everyone is watched and spied on, rounded up for minor infractions by government agents, placed under police control, and placed in detention (a.k.a. concentration) camps.
For the final hammer of fascism to fall, it will require the most crucial ingredient: the majority of the people will have to agree that it’s not only expedient but necessary. But why would a people agree to such an oppressive regime?
Fear
The answer is the same in every age: fear. Fear makes people stupid. Fear is the method most often used by politicians to increase the power of government. And, as most social commentators recognize, an atmosphere of fear permeates modern America: fear of terrorism, fear of the police, fear of our neighbors and so on. The propaganda of fear has been used quite effectively by those who want to gain control, and it is working on the American populace.
Despite the fact that we are 17,600 times more likely to die from heart disease than from a terrorist attack; 11,000 times more likely to die from an airplane accident than from a terrorist plot involving an airplane; 1,048 times more likely to die from a car accident than a terrorist attack, and 8 times more likely to be killed by a police officer than by a terrorist , we have handed over control of our lives to government officials who treat us as a means to an end—the source of money and power. As the Bearded Man warns in John Carpenter’s film They Live:
“They are dismantling the sleeping middle class. More and more people are becoming poor. We are their cattle. We are being bred for slavery.”
We are living the movie
In this regard, we’re not so different from the oppressed citizens in They Live, which was released more than 30 years ago, and remains unnervingly, chillingly appropriate for our modern age or Carpenter’s other dystopian films.
Best known for his horror film Halloween, which assumes that there is a form of evil so dark that it can’t be killed, Carpenter’s larger body of work is infused with a strong anti-authoritarian, anti-establishment, laconic bent that speaks to the filmmaker’s concerns about the unraveling of our society, particularly our government.
Time and again, Carpenter portrays the government working against its own citizens, a populace out of touch with reality, technology run amok, and a future more horrific than any horror film.
In Escape from New York, Carpenter presents fascism as the future of America.
In The Thing, a remake of the 1951 sci-fi classic of the same name, Carpenter presupposes that increasingly we are all becoming dehumanized.
In Christine, the film adaptation of Stephen King’s novel about a demon-possessed car, technology exhibits a will and consciousness of its own and goes on a murderous rampage.
In In the Mouth of Madness, Carpenter notes that evil grows when people lose “the ability to know the difference between reality and fantasy.”
And then there is Carpenter’s They Live, in which two migrant workers discover that the world is not as it seems. In fact, the population is actually being controlled and exploited by aliens working in partnership with an oligarchic elite. All the while, the populace—blissfully unaware of the real agenda at work in their lives—has been lulled into complacency, indoctrinated into compliance, bombarded with media distractions, and hypnotized by subliminal messages beamed out of television and various electronic devices, billboards and the like.
It is only when homeless drifter John Nada (played to the hilt by the late Roddy Piper) discovers a pair of doctored sunglasses—Hoffman lenses—that Nada sees what lies beneath the elite’s fabricated reality: control and bondage.
The true power
When viewed through the lens of truth, the elite, who appear human until stripped of their disguises, are shown to be monsters who have enslaved the citizenry in order to prey on them.
A wad of dollar bills in a vendor’s hand proclaims, “THIS IS YOUR GOD.”
When viewed through Nada’s Hoffman lenses, some of the other hidden messages being drummed into the people’s subconscious include: NO INDEPENDENT THOUGHT, CONFORM, SUBMIT, STAY ASLEEP, BUY, WATCH TV, NO IMAGINATION, and DO NOT QUESTION AUTHORITY.
They Live.
This indoctrination campaign engineered by the elite in They Live is painfully familiar to anyone who has studied the decline of American culture.
A citizenry that does not think for themselves, obeys without question, is submissive, does not challenge authority, does not think outside the box, and is content to sit back and be entertained is a citizenry that can be easily controlled.
In this way, the subtle message of They Live provides an apt analogy of our own distorted vision of life in the American police state, what philosopher Slavoj Žižek refers to as dictatorship in democracy, “the invisible order which sustains your apparent freedom.”
From the moment we are born until we die, we are indoctrinated into believing that those who rule us do it for our own good.
The truth is far different. Despite the truth staring us in the face, we have allowed ourselves to become fearful, controlled, pacified zombies.
We are manipulated zombies
We live in a perpetual state of denial, insulated from the painful reality of the American police state by wall-to-wall entertainment news and screen devices.
They Live.
Most everyone keeps their heads down these days while staring zombie-like into an electronic screen, even when they’re crossing the street.
Families sit in restaurants with their heads down, separated by their screen devices and unaware of what’s going on around them.
Young people especially seem dominated by the devices they hold in their hands, oblivious to the fact that they can simply push a button, turn the thing off and walk away.
Indeed, there is no larger group activity than that connected with those who watch screens—that is, television, lap tops, personal computers, cell phones and so on.
Psychologically it is similar to drug addiction. Researchers found that “almost immediately after turning on the TV, subjects reported feeling more relaxed, and because this occurs so quickly and the tension returns so rapidly after the TV is turned off, people are conditioned to associate TV viewing with a lack of tension.”
Research also shows that regardless of the programming, viewers’ brain waves slow down, thus transforming them into a more passive, nonresistant state. Historically, television has been used by those in authority to quiet discontent and pacify disruptive people. “
Given that the majority of what Americans watch on television is provided through channels controlled by six mega corporations, what we watch is now controlled by a corporate elite and, if that elite needs to foster a particular viewpoint or pacify its viewers, it can do so on a large scale.
If we’re watching, we’re not doing. The powers-that-be understand this. As television journalist Edward R. Murrow warned in a 1958 speech:
We are currently wealthy, fat, comfortable and complacent. We have currently a built-in allergy to unpleasant or disturbing information. Our mass media reflect this. But unless we get up off our fat surpluses and recognize that television in the main is being used to distract, delude, amuse, and insulate us, then television and those who finance it, those who look at it, and those who work at it, may see a totally different picture too late.
This brings me back to They Live, in which the real zombies are not the aliens calling the shots but the populace who are content to remain controlled.
They live.
When all is said and done, the world of They Live is not so different from our own. As one of the characters points out, “The poor and the underclass are growing. Racial justice and human rights are nonexistent.
They have created a repressive society and we are their unwitting accomplices. Their intention to rule rests with the annihilation of consciousness.
We have been lulled into a trance. They have made us indifferent to ourselves, to others. We are focused only on our own gain.”
We, too, are focused only on our own pleasures, prejudices and gains. Our poor and underclasses are also growing. Injustice is growing. Inequality is growing. Human rights is nearly nonexistent. We too have been lulled into a trance, indifferent to others.
They live.
Oblivious to what lies ahead, we’ve been manipulated into believing that if we continue to consume, obey, and have faith, things will work out. But that’s never been true of emerging regimes. And by the time we feel the hammer coming down upon us, it will be too late.
So where does that leave us?
The characters who populate Carpenter’s films provide some insight. Underneath their machismo, they still believe in the ideals of liberty and equal opportunity. Their beliefs place them in constant opposition with the law and the establishment, but they are nonetheless freedom fighters.
When, for example, John Nada destroys the alien hyno-transmitter in They Live, he delivers a wake-up call for freedom. As Nada memorably declares,
“I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass. And I'm all out of bubblegum.”
In other words: we need to get active. Stop allowing yourselves to be easily distracted by pointless political spectacles and pay attention to what’s really going on in the country.
The real battle between freedom and tyranny is taking place right in front of our eyes, if we would only open them. All the trappings of the American police state are now in plain sight. Wake up, America. If they live (the tyrants, the oppressors, the invaders, the overlords), it is only because “we the people” sleep.
The solution
Yah. You can’t change the world. But you change your little part of it.
This article describes the theory and the schematics for a device that will be useful in assisting people to control their mind.
It is based on mind control patents released to the public in the 1970’s. It is not for casual use, and nor should it ever be used to control others without their knowledge.
It will scrub your mind of the programming of others, and it will enable you to self program your mind, for your own purposes. This particular device is based on “Silent Sound” technology. You might be aware of this by the very well passed around graphic meme…
Silent Sound.
It’s an interesting technology.
Silent Sound
TheSound of Silence is a military-intelligence code word for certain psychotronicweapons of mass mind-control tested in the mid-1950s, perfected during the 70s, and used extensively by the “modern” US military in theearly 90s, despite the oppositionandwarnings issued by men such as DwightDavid Eisenhower.
-Digital TV, H.A.A.R.P., GWEN Towers, SilentSound & Mind
And of course, being so influential, the government would use it to control people…
…and they do.
And they have. And it is everywhere, and being implemented by every other person, company, media or government. Americans, and those in many nations of the West are terribly irradiated and manipulated.
This is one of those subjects that once you get involved in it, it sucks you in and takes you down, down, down into a morass of misdirection, emotionally charged literature, and technical papers. Ugh! Such as this…
Yeah. More and more and more. It’s no wonder that everyone in the ‘States feel stressed. They are constantly being manipulated and beamed at with all sorts of manipulative wave forms…
U.S. Patent, #5,123,899. June 23, 1992
DESCRIPTION: A system for stimulating the brain to exhibit specific brain wave rhythms and thereby altering the subjects’ state of consciousness.
U.S. Patent, #5,289,438. February 22, 1994DESCRIPTION: A system for the simultaneous application of multiple stimuli (usually aural) with different frequencies and waveforms. Electro Magnetic Field (EMF) monitoring / interference is one of the most insidious and secretive of all methods used by the agencies. Similarly, EEG cloning feeds back the results of EMF monitoring in an attempt to induce emotional responses (e.g. fear, anger, even sleep, etc.)
US Patent # 4,777,529 (October 11, 1988)
Auditory Subliminal Programming System, Schultz, Richard M., et al.
Abstract --- An auditory subliminal programming system includes a subliminal message encoder that generates fixed frequency security tones and combines them with a subliminal message signal to produce an encoded subliminal message signal which is recorded on audio tape or the like. A corresponding subliminal decoder/mixer is connected as part of a user's conventional stereo system and receives as inputs an audio program selected by the user and the encoded subliminal message. The decoder/mixer filters the security tones, if present, from the subliminal message and combines the message signals with selected low frequency signals associated with enhanced relaxation and concentration to produce a composite auditory subliminal signal. The decoder/mixer combines the composite subliminal signal with the selected audio program signals to form composite signals only if it detects the presence of the security tones in the subliminal message signal. The decoder/mixer outputs the composite signal to the audio inputs of a conventional audio amplifier where it is amplified and broadcast by conventional audio speakers.
US Patent # 4,858,612 (August 22, 1989)
Hearing Device,Stocklin, Philip L.
Abstract --- A method and apparatus for stimulation of hearing in mammals by introduction of a plurality of microwaves into the region of the auditory cortex is shown and described. A microphone is used to transform sound signals into electrical signals which are in turn analyzed and processed to provide controls for generating a plurality of microwave signals at different frequencies. The multi-frequency microwaves are then applied to the brain in the region of the auditory cortex. By this method sounds are perceived by the mammals which are representative of the original sound received by the microphone.
US Patent # 4,877,027 (October 31, 1989)
Hearing System, Brunkan, Wayne B.
Abstract --- Sound is induced in the head of a person by radiating the head with microwaves in the range of 100 megahertz to 10,000 megahertz that are modulated with a particular waveform. The waveform consists of frequency modulated bursts. Each burst is made up of 10 to 20 uniformly spaced pulses grouped tightly together. The burst width is between 500 nanoseconds and 100 microseconds. The pulse width is in the range of 10 nanoseconds to 1 microsecond. The bursts are frequency modulated by the audio input to create the sensation of hearing in the person whose head is irradiated.
US Patent # 3,393,279 (July 16, 1968)
Nervous System Excitation Device, Flanagan, Giles P.
Abstract --- A method of transmitting audio information via a radio frequency signal modulated with the audio info through electrodes placed on the subject's skin, causing the sensation of hearing the audio information in the brain.
US Patent # 3,629,521 (January 8, 1970)
Hearing Systems, Puharich, Henry K.
Abstract --- The present invention relates to the stimulation of the sensation of hearing in persons of impaired hearing abilities or in certain cases persons totally deaf utilizing RF energy. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for imparting synchronous AF or "acoustic" signals and so-called "transdermal" or RF signals. Hearing and improved speech discrimination, in accordance with one aspect of the present invention, is stimulated by the application of an AF acoustical signal to the "ear system" conventional bio-mechanism of hearing, which is delivered to the brain through the "normal" channels of hearing and a separate transdermal RF electrical signal which is applied to the "facial nerve system" and is detectable as a sensation of hearing. Vastly improved and enhanced hearing may be achieved.
PSYCHO Acoustic Projector U.S. Patent, #3,566,347, February 23, 1971DESCRIPTION: A high directional beam radiated from a number of transducers and modulated by a speech, code, or noise beat signal. It may take the form of a radiator mounted on a vehicle, aircraft or satellite. PURPOSE: To produce aural/psychological disturbances and partial deafness.
US Patent # 3,576,185 (April 27, 1971)
Sleep-Inducing Method & Arrangement using Modulated Sound & Light, Meseck, Oscar & Schulz, Hans R.
Abstract --- N/A
US Patent # 3,568,347 (February 23, 1971)
Psycho-Acoustic Projector, Flanders, Andrew
Abstract --- A system for producing aural psychological disturbances and partial deafness in the enemy during combat situations.
US Patent # 3,647,970 (March 7, 1972) Method and System for Simplifying Speech Waveforms, Flanagan, G. Patrick
Abstract --- A complex speech waveform is simplified so that it can be transmitted directly through earth or water as a waveform and understood directly or after amplification.
US Patent # 3,773,049 (November 20, 1973)
Apparatus for Treatment of Neuropsychic & Somatic Diseases with Heat, Light, Sound & VHF Electromagnetic Radiation, L. Y. Rabichev, et al.
Abstract --- N/A
US Patent # 3,766,331 (October 16, 1973)
Hearing Aid for Producing Sensations in the Brain, Zink, Henry R.
Abstract --- A pulsed oscillator or transmitter supplies energy to a pair of insulated electrodes mounted on a person's neck. The transmitter produces pulses of intensity greater than a predetermined threshold value and of a width and rate so as to produce the sensation of hearing without the use of the auditory canal, thereby producing a hearing system enabling otherwise deaf people to hear.
US Patent # 3,727,616 (March 17, 1973)
Electronic System for Stimulation of Biological Systems, Lenskes, H.
Abstract --- A receiver totally implanted within a living body is inductively coupled by two associated receiving coils to a physically unattached external transmitter which transmits two signals of different frequencies to the receiver via two associated transmitting coils. One of the signals from the transmitter provides the implanted receiver with precise control or stimulating signals which are demodulated and processed in a signal processor network in the receiver and then used by the body for stimulation of a nerve, for example, while the other signal provides the receiver with a continuous wave power signal which is rectified in the receiver to provide a source of electrical operating power for the receiver circuitry without need for an implanted battery.
US Patent # 3,712,292 (January 23, 1973)
Method & Apparatus for Producing Swept FM Audio Signal Patterns for Inducing Sleep, Zentmeyer, J.
Abstract --- A method of producing sound signals for inducing sleep in a human being, and apparatus therefor together with representations thereof in recorded form, wherein an audio signal is generated representing a familiar, pleasing, repetitive sound, modulated by continuously sweeping frequencies in two selected frequency ranges having the dominant frequencies which occur in electrical wave patterns of the human brain during certain states of sleep. The volume of the audio signal is adjusted to mask the ambient noise and the subject can select any of several familiar, repetitive sounds most pleasing to him.
US Patent # 3,837,331 (September 24, 1974)System & Method for Controlling the Nervous System of a Living Organism, Ross, S.
Abstract --- A novel method for controlling the nervous system of a living organism for therapeutic and research purposes, among other applications, and an electronic system utilized in, and enabling the practice of the invented method. Bioelectrical signals generated in specific topological areas of the organism's nervous system, typically areas of the brain, are processed by the invented system so as to produce an output signal which is in some way an analog of selected characteristics detected in the bioelectrical signal. The output of the system, typically an audio or visual signal, is fed back to the organism as a stimulus. Responding to the stimulus, the organism can be trained to control the waveform pattern of the bioelectrical signal generated in its own nervous system.
US Patent # 3,835,833 (September 17, 1974)
Method for ObtainingNeurophysiological Effects, Limoge, A.
Abstract --- A method and apparatus for obtaining neurophysiological effects on the central and/or peripheral systems of a patient. Electrodes are suitably positioned on the body of the patient and a composite electric signal is applied at the electrodes. The composite signal is formed by the super positioning of two signals: a first signal which is a rectified high-frequency carrier modulated in amplitude to about 100 percent by substantially square-shaped pulses whose duration, amplitude and frequency are chosen according to the neurophysiological effects desired, and a second signal which has a relatively white noise spectrum. The mean value of the first electric signal has a predetermined sign which is opposite the sign of the mean value of the second electric signal.
US Patent # 3,884,218 (May 20, 1975)Method of Inducing& Maintaining Various Stages of Sleep in the Human Being, Monroe, Robert A.
Abstract --- A method of inducing sleepin a human being wherein an audio signal is generated comprising a familiar pleasing repetitive sound modulated by an EEG sleep pattern. The volume of the audio signal is adjusted to overcome the ambient noise and a subject can select a familiar repetitive sound most pleasing to himself.
Malech's Remote Brainwave-Altering Machine
US Patent Number 3,951,134 (April, 1976) - Represents an invention by Robert G. Malech Apparatus and method for remotely monitoring and altering brain waves
Abstract -- Apparatus for and method of sensing brain waves at a position remote from a subject whereby electromagnetic signals of different frequencies are simultaneously transmitted to the brain of the subject in which the signals interfere with one another to yield a waveform which is modulated by the subject's brain waves. The interference waveform which is representative of the brain wave activity is re-transmitted by the brain to a receiver where it is demodulated and amplified. The demodulated waveform is then displayed for visual viewing and routed to a computer for further processing and analysis. The demodulated waveform also can be used to produce a compensating signal which is transmitted back to the brain to effect a desired change in electrical activity therein.
The Demo device
The electronics and the functional board layout isn’t all that difficult. ANy one with the most basic soldering skills can make their own device. As this image clearly shows…
But do not freak out.
Technology is a tool. It can be used for good purposes or bad. In this case we will use this technology for our own purposes which would be to improve and enhance our ability to navigate the MWI.
Other systems
And this…
What we are going to do…
Now, where this technology was promoted, and used to control others. We are going to take this technology to construct a machine that we can use on ourselves to help us reprogram our own minds away from other influences. And so let’s look at the basic outline of our intentions. What we will do is…
Create a steady tone
We will create a steady tone on the high end of the hearing range. The normal human hearing range of a healthy individual is usually in-between 20Hz and 20KHz with the higher frequencies gradually fading during a lifetime. Below 20Hz are called infrasounds and above 20000Hz are called ultrasounds. This is easily done. You take a cheap 555 IC chip, add some resistors and capacitors and attach it to a battery and you have a tone.
Create a custom affirmation campaign
We will create a custom affirmation campaign or document just for this device, and record the audio track in MP3 format. In so doing we will read it from the FIRST PERSON perspective.
I am calm, cool and collected.
I have a great life and I am very satisfied with it.
I am healthy and eat good, healthy and delicious food often.
Etc. Etc. We will then record this as an MP3 file format.
Construct a voice modulator circuit
We will construct a voice modulator circuit. With it, the two signals would be merged together as one singular signal. Thus the reading of the affirmations would be overlaid over the carrier tone. It’s a common and normal well-used circuit. Here’s one with transistors… Here’s one with ICs…
The overlaid signal
From that voice modulator circuit will be an overlay of the steady carrier tone and the affirmation campaign. This is the signal that will be the primary driver for the system.
Compress the signal
[5] We will then compress that signal. Then we will pulse it at a target frequency. There are multiple brainwave frequencies or patterns of brain activity. Most of the recorded information the the brain is received through the senses and is encoded in electrical impulses. All parts of the brain communicate with each other, and this is done through a vast array of nerve cells – the neurons – which work like small “electrical” stations. Their membrane presents an electrochemical charge on the external surface, releasing it again and again in the form of what is called cyclical electrical potential. This is what is commonly known as brain waves. These waves then travel along neural protrusions called axons and dendrites to other neurons. The nerve cells act in unison to generate thoughts, movements, and information that spread through very fine networks, between the various parts of the brain and the organs of action.
Target Frequencies
With the following be the different target frequencies that we can utilize; Alpha Waves: 8 Hz – 12 Hz In the alpha wave state, you’ll most likely feel awake but also simultaneously quite relaxed and without a loss of brain function like you would if you were very tired. When you get up in the morning and just before you fall asleep, you are naturally in this state. It’s interesting to note that when you close your eyes your brain naturally starts producing more alpha waves, however there are varying degrees of the alpha wave state and when you really drop in deep it’s far more powerful and profound than what you might feel or experience just from closing your eyes. Deep alpha wave states are frequently seen in and experienced by meditators. Alpha activity also heightens your imagination, visualization, memory, learning and concentration and is correlated with a decrease in stress and anxiety. Beta Waves: 12 Hz – 27 Hz In the beta state you are essentially wide awake. Beta brainwaves are associated with normal waking consciousness and a heightened state of alertness, logic and critical reasoning. This is the dominant mental state most people are in during the day and the majority of their waking lives. Although this state tends to be uneventful, don’t underestimate its importance. Many people who lack sufficient beta activity may experience mental or emotional disorders such as depression or ADHD, and low SMR production (a sub-range of beta at 12-15 Hz) may be related to insomnia. While Beta brainwaves are important for effective functioning throughout the day, they also can translate into stress, anxiety and restlessness. The voice of beta can be described as being that nagging little inner critic that gets louder the higher you go into the range. On the other hand, stimulating beta waves in under active individuals can improve energy levels, concentration, attentiveness and emotional stability, however, most people notice more benefit from shifting their brainwaves into other less frequently experienced states such as alpha, delta, theta and gamma. Delta Waves: 0.2 Hz – 3 Hz Delta is the slowest band of brainwaves and is experienced in deep, Stage 4, dreamless sleep. When your brain is in a full delta wave state, your body is healing and repairing itself and resetting its internal clocks. You don’t actually dream in this state and are more or less completely unconscious. Delta has also been seen in very deep states of meditation as well. Gamma Waves: 27 Hz and up The Gamma wave state is associated with expanded awareness, creativity, activation of the pineal gland, heightened intuition, enhanced mental clarity and focus, deep feelings of peace, joy and oneness, formation of ideas, language and memory processing, and various types of learning. As such, this is generally a highly desirable state to be in. Unsurprisingly, Gamma waves have been identified as a characteristic brainwave pattern of regular meditators and monks and are present when we are dreaming, although they can arise in normal waking consciousness as well. However, research has shown that by practicing forms of meditation and mindfulness regularly, you can literally rewire your brain to experience Gamma waves more frequently. Theta Waves: 3 Hz – 8 Hz Theta brainwaves are present during deep meditation, relaxation and light sleep, including the dream state. Theta has been shown to be a very receptive brainwave state that has proven useful for hypnotherapy, as well as self-hypnosis using recorded affirmations and suggestions. They are also strongly correlated with bursts of creativity, inspiration and vivid daydreams and visualizations. According to brainwave experts, it is at the Alpha-Theta border, from 7 Hz to 8 Hz, where the optimal range for visualization, mind programming and using the creative power of your mind begins. Clearly there are great benefits to be had by shifting your brainwaves into highly specific states, allowing your consciousness to experience reality through different ‘lenses’ that help it focus in positive, expansive and often times deeply healing ways. The exercises, technologies and nutraceuticals below have all been proven to shift brainwave patterns and improve trans-hemispheric communication in the brain, allowing for an expanded experience of consciousness.
Using the target frequencies.
The pulse of the “message” carrier wave must match that of the target frequencies of the person listening. For instance if you know that you will be awake and alert, mowing the grass or washing dishes, then your target wave would be in the Alpha range. If, however, you were meditating or resting, it would be in the beta wave range.
Guarantee of hitting the precise target range
There are two techniques to guarantee that the target frequencies are matching that of the “message” carrier wave. [A] Broadcast the signal in all target frequencies simultaneously. or, [B] Have a bio-feedback loop that measures your brain frequencies and then adjusts the pulse width of your message carrier wave.
Down slope control of the voice wave
We process the signal so that the pulse width is controlled by the down-wave trigger.
We utilize calming music to overlay over the system
Instead of simply having what amounts to “white noise” beamed into your headphones, we will add a soundtrack of calming and soothing sounds. Perhaps hemi-sync.
Output is a set of headphones
The output would ideally be a set of headphones, but a set of speakers can be employed as well. However, if you use speakers, anyone who hears the sounds form the speakers will be influenced by the embedded carrier waves and affirmation pulses.
Conclusion
I know that the vast bulk of the readership doesn’t even understand the schematics. But don’t worry about that. This is just a preliminary introduction article. This is a rudimentary discussion on the creation of a device that will automatically program your mind based upon whatever you want it to be programmed to. It relies on the beaming of audio frequencies that will reprogram your brain. In future articles, I [1] will prove a DIY do-it-yourself instructions on how to make one. Further, [2] I will also provide a kit with all the parts, and later on still, [3] I will provide already assembled devices for purchase. I hope that this all will be beneficial to you all.
Do you want more?
I have more posts related to this in my Affirmation Campaign index here… Intention Campaigns
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Here is another article in my series on learning about China by looking at pretty girls. This particular collection is a response to a Bloomberg article of never ending hate found on LinkedIN that was splashed all over Gab, Freerepublic, and the normal set of mouthpieces… FOX, CNN, MSN, etc. etc. etc.
Someone please screenshot his series of tweets and translate into English. I understand he has begin to criticize the western media ongoing negativity against China.
One of his tweets claims his dream of being a journalist has been destroyed by the requirement to keep up the massive campaign of anti-China demonetization over the years of his journalism career.
https://mobile.twitter.com/javihagen
Yada. Yada. Yada.
You know this multi-million dollar funded program of lies and distortions is really too high of a mountain for me to climb. So I won’t even bother. If you are still too brain-dead to see that it is all propaganda, then it’s not my business to change your mind. It’s your reality. Soak it in. How’s it going for you?
Are you a better person for believing that China is a pile of shit?
…
The idea behind these “pretty girls of China” articles is to give everyone a rather unique chance to see what China is… without someone yelling (at the top of their lungs) you are only showing the “wealthy” not the “real” people of China.
Yeah. Right.
What ever you say…
What ever you say…
This view is of the girls, or all sizes and shapes posting their videos on Douxing. Some are just being attractive butterflies. While others are just being cute and playful. Still others show off their wonderful eyes and nice cheeks. Some have amazing eyebrows (to die for – I’ll tell you what), while many have a nice backside, bouncy chest, or artistic arms.
Attributes that I love. By the way.
By looking at these videos you get to see what China is in all of it’s totality. You see the poor, the average, the wealthy. You see it all.
This is what China is.
Are they starving from famine?
Are the buildings in disrepair and neglect?
Are they yearning for (that delicious) freedom™ and democracy™?
Are they all wearing blue uni-sexy clothing?
Do they look like they are abused?
Today is a morning rain Thursday.
It’s right after the mid-autumn festival and normally it’s a cooler time of the year and dryer. Not this year. It has been hot and very humid. Being at the dew point for the last five or so days. Ugh!
Today we had a morning rain. This is what it looked like.
Anyways, that’s what it is like where I live. Video is from my back porch. My “laundry” porch.
You know, there is a calmness in the rain that I enjoy.
It’s a relaxing peace.
It doesn’t matter if you are in a car… or in a truck in a corn field… or if you are in a tent on the side of a gurgling brook. It is the same. Whether you are in a nice cozy bedroom, and reading a book in a gathering darkness living room. Or a porch…
…a rain is lovely. Don’t you think?
A lovely rain.
I’m a little hungry
As the rain falls, it’s sort of cozy inside. It’s dry. Nice. Quiet. Peaceful. A perfect time to snack.
So I made myself a “Back to School” sandwich.
A “Back to school” sandwich.
About the concept here…
Let’s get on to the girls of China, eh?
The idea here is that you would look at the girl, and in the process concentrate on the background around her. Because these are the “real deals”. This is what China is. And while the girls want you to focus on them, their eyes, their faces, their bodies, the background tells us much about where they live.
Besides… who doesn’t like to look at attractive people?
She’s attractive. Right?
A typical girl of Communist China.
Girls and food
The girl above is most certainly a cheeseburger gal. Maybe with a pearl tea, a side of fries, perhaps a beer later on. Not too much though, and a nice stroll though a park. I can picture it.
You have to be able to viscerally imagine and image your role in the world that surrounds you.
A fine delicious burger.
To Open the Files
Just unzip to whatever folder you want and then just play the first video, the other videos will play immediately afterwards (if you follow the default settings on your OS). Most videos are between one and a half to four minutes long. All told each zip file will give you about five to ten minutes of viewing. So it’s a pretty quick event once you download the archives and open them up.
Another beautiful girl of Communist China.
I find the ladies lovely. But others might not.
For you others, well, I really hope that you are not too bored.
While I tend to prefer ladies with a more motherly and robust appearance, I find all of them to be very attractive. From the tall thin leggy beauties to the short cute little kitten like cuddle balls. One of the things that I enjoy about China are the oval face and the oval eyes.
Like this girl here…
You can learn so much about (Communist) China just by looking at the girls and the surroundings.
Girls remind me of food
Long time readers of MM will well know of my association of women and food. For some odd reason, I associate girls with types of food. Just like I associate guys with cars, truck, motorcycles and construction machinery.
I’m a Mercedes Benz C-class, if you must know.
If MM were a car.
Many times I will imagine myself taking this or that particular woman out and enjoying a nice meal together, having a great conversation.
Drinking some wine.
More talk. More wine.
A couple of jokes. Some crazy light-hearted stuff.
Just having a nice time. You know, dressed up a little bit. Shined and buffed shoes. Beard trimmed. Nice cologne. Finger nails manicured. A nice well chosen restaurant.
Or even if it is just a nice “burger joint”, you all can make it special with a theme. You eat and then go for a walk on the boardwalk, or explore a mall and window shop. Or even just ride those rent-a-bikes together.
There’s nothing stopping you from a fine delicious hamburger.
Some key points
Beauty is up to the person who views it. Not everyone agrees what is beautiful or not. Which is just fine. I think that there is a woman for every man, and a man for every woman.
You all have to close that “idea” or concept that what you should do, should date, should eat, should consume, should inject your selves with, is what is being defined by your electronic media. It isn’t.
None of that garbage is real.
Try running a prayer / affirmation campaign based on the images and directions that you get off the media, television, movies or social media. Then you’ll see.
You, and only you, can define what you like.
Not media.
Whether it is an apple on the table, a new pair of shoes, a nice car, or making friends with someone. You are the only person who can make that decision.
Beautiful girls and women are all over the world. These are the girls of China.
Now, when I was younger, my tastes in women were shaped by the images and magazines of the time such as Playboy, and Penthouse. That’s all I had to go on, and as a young man, with my hormones a raging, all I could do is tremble as I asked a girl out.
Which most of the time was a failure.
But it’s all a growth phase that we all go through.
Now, all I want to do is meet folk, and share a meal, some drink and a laugh. And if we hit it off and have a great conversation, well, buy goodness gracious! That’s marvelous!
A fine healthy woman that I would love to share a hot pot and some wine with.
Guys.
You know it, or you will.
And eventually you reach a balance point where your hormones are under control and all you really want to do is get to know the girl, have a good time together, and enjoy the moments. And really as you get older this becomes more and more pronounced.
Yikes!
Men change as they age.
Nah. It’s all good.
You savor the steaks you eat. You enjoy the perfume she wears, you listen to her talk and enjoy the night air after the dinner. You joke, you laugh, and maybe sing a song or two while walking on the jetty.
Women are magical.
Women are magical and wonderful.
I think that the beauty of these videos is that in a few seconds you can see the “personality” of the ladies as they try to display their charms for the world to see. It’s their choice of clothing, the area where the video was filmed, the selection of music, the way their hair is done up, and so much more.
Each little video is like a window to the soul. Where you get a little glimpse of the girl behind the mask. That little presentation is just pure gold.
The pandemic (Bio-weapons attack) really put a clamp on everyone’s style.
Some have personality.
And some really do. While others just have a strong softness. Some are calm and composed, some are happy and light. And some are stunning and serious while others remind you of Summer carnival rides, cotton candy and “bear claw” cakes to s’munch upon.
A steak dinner girl. She reminds me of red lipstick, a dry red wine. Baked potatoes and candlelight in a high-rise restaurant.
Some have a great body.
They have long legs, or great dimples. Some have just long, long hair or dark, dark eyes. Some have a soft touch, while others have a careful composed prettiness.
Some have a great personality.
Some are special in ways that cannot be adequately explained.
A thin, curvy body, long hair. What’s not to love?
Some just look great in a particular outfit, while others just fit the particular environment. Girls, ladies, women are like beautiful flowers that should be treasured and cherished. For they are all wonderful.
A little aside...
In 2004 - 2005 the Winter fashion for all the women in China were these knee-high boots. I have no idea what it was all about, but it drove me into a sexual frenzy every time I saw a girl in those things. And believe you me, they were friggin' everywhere.
Later on, Spring came and it was ultra-high mini-skirts and "ladder" high heels. (Yeah, 6" (150cm) high) High heels. Lord, how could you possibly walk in those things. But it was an awesome spectacle.
Anyways...
But do not mistake the cuteness of a tiger for the damage it could cause if you angered it. Chinese women are very, very capable people. You can take that “to the bank”. Never fail to understand that they are strong, knowledgeable and powerful in their own right.
Oval face with nice eyebrows. How is it even possible?
All are wonderful.
Such is the beauty of women. And for us, and for everyone, we need to appreciative the world around us more.
A beautiful girl of China. This is an average, but beautiful girl from China.
That fat gal at the store that you see every day, she’s a kind, lovely beauty, who could use some TLC. There is nothing stopping you for saying hi, and saying something nice. Just do it, and if they don’t understand… well, don’t worry about it. Your mission is just to be nice.
It’s easy for me because the girls in China like to listen to others saying good and nice things about them. They get this big old smile. It’s like a sun shining though parting clouds. Try it some time.
Maybe if you two hit if off and don’t want to go out and get a coffee, how about a nice back or leg massage. Here in China it’s pretty cheap and a good way to pass a few hours. You just sit back and get pampered. I love it and I am a man, and all the gals I know think that this is a most excellent idea. It’s a great way to spend some time with someone you just met.
A nice relaxing massage. Yessur!
And that older woman wearing that elaborate outfit, just look at her, see how the light plays upon the details.
Oh, and I do love a cheerful gal with a sense of humor.
Cute and playful at any age. That’s how we should all be. Don’t you agree?
And that young girl going out with “her crew”, see the beauty of her age around and what they are doing. There’s a world of cheap eats out there. Ice cream cones to share. BBQ to enjoy. Little pockets of nachos and chips. French fries. Sushi.
Food and friends.
Lot’s of smiles all around.
What could possibly be nicer?
Share some delicious food with some new friends.
We have to be more aware, and certainly more appreciative.
When I meet a woman I always think of scenarios. Whether it is hiking in mountainous crags looking for the mysteries of the past, or having a cup of coffee in a pub on a foggy day. This is true whether it is images of romantic nights or just fun times on a train, or trolley. I always think of scenarios.
Cherish the moments.
Of course, I wasn’t always this way.
When I was younger, my mind was fully dedicated to sex and the more visceral elements of relationships. It’s that darn testosterone that all males have pumping through their body. But now that I am older I cherish so much more.
I cherish everything.
Most especially the little things. Like the details on her purse (You can tell a lot about a woman by her purse.) to the smell of her shampoo to how she treats her fingernails.
Oh by the way...
I do love those purses that have those little baubles and pockets and whimsy's all over it. But that is just me.
To the shoes she wears.
Notice the fingernails on this gal.
I do love the more sturdy and robust women.
The Videos
Let’s have a look at the videos shall we? I’ve got a bunch for certain.
What a beautiful set of legs. I would love to see her in a little black dress. I’d bet that she would look like steamed fish and oysters with a chardonnay.
In this particular post we will look at these groups of videos. I do hope that you enjoy them…
You all might wonder why I am posting these pictures on the internet. But you shouldn’t.
Try to find pictures of beautiful girls from China using Google, Bing or any American or Western search engine. What you will get are stock images, advertisements, pictures of children, and professional photos associated with some Western “journalism”.
Google the women of China… this is what you will get.
What an American search engine thinks the women of China look like.
Nonsense.
This in these series of articles, is what it’s really like.
This is the real, honest to goodness deal.
Oh, and don’t leave yet! Let’s talk about the girls for a spell….
She is wearing a lovely short skirt, that flows outwards. What fun. I am a real sucker for cute dresses and skirts. I really am.
Cute skirts
I really, I mean REALLY, love cute dresses or shirt flowing dresses. They are like sunshine and flowers under a rainbow sky. They are like popcorn, and blueberries and cream on a hot Summer day. They are like lipstick, and smile and cute little purses big enough for a cell phone, some makeup and a tissue.
I just love how those skirts move. It’s like poetry.
TWICE – What is love MV.
Gosh! I just love those cute dresses! OMG!
Swish. Swish. Swish.
And I also really like the puffy yellow one, and the pearl dress to the right, don’t you know.
About the girls
These girls are mostly between the ages of 18 years and 45 years old. The vast bulk of them are in their late 20’s. In China, if you are a woman, the ages between 23 years old and 30 years old are the dating years where you look for a husband worthy to start a family with. In China, if a woman cannot find a man by the time she is 28, she is considered a Spinster. And is considered unmarriageable.
This lass is approaching the unmarriageable age, and in a few months she will be considered a “spinster”.
The age to get married for a woman in China is between 25 and 28. If they do not get married their entire family will sponsor these date-a-thons where they will have these programmed courting-rituals where the girl and the boy (part of a long line of boys) will spend time together.
The family won’t tell the girl beforehand either. She’ll walk into the house, and before she knows it, she’s on the fast track to get married. In the USA we call this a “shotgun wedding”. Only in China it’s the other way around.
The fish shape is considered very attractive in China.
I don’t know about you’se guys, but all these girls look pretty darn marriageable to me. They would be on the “A” list in any man’s personal list.
Isn’t China beautiful.
Comment
To give you an idea of just how evil the United States and their client nations (UK, Japan, Australia) are, they want to have a war with China, and start killing all these lovely, lovely people.
They want to kill all these women here for democracy™ and freedom™!
…
And don’t give me that bullshit that a war “isn’t going to happen”.
American Military expenditures as a function of GDP is higher than at any other time for any other war in the entire history of America. The USA is planning for a very large, long duration conventional war against China.
…
Hey!
I’ve got news for you all.
It ain’t gonna be conventional, and it isn’t going to be against China alone.
It’s going to be the USA (+it’s surrogate nations) against a unified nuclear Asia. And not to see that reflects a true head in the sand regarding the true and real situation in this world today.
So enjoy what you have around you now.
Enjoy what you have. Spend time with friends and family. If you see someone make friends with them. Especially if you want to know them better. There is no better time than right now.
Who know what it might lead to. Eh?
James Bond.
Do you want more?
You can find many more videos in my “Learning about China by looking at pretty girls index” over here…
This article is about China. More specifically it is about the people of China and why everyone has military training, and why everyone is organized into military units, and why everyone is willing to blow up the rest of the world in a nuclear fireball without giving it a second thought. Yeah. It’s what all the bullshit out of Washington DC is saying, except they are not telling you that China is backed into a corner and this time… THIS time, they are ready.
No. This is not your usual hate – hate – hate China bullshit that flows so readily out of the Western media mouthpieces. No, this is just an American expats view on what I see, based upon what I know, and in my discussions with members of other black programs. China is ready. Russia is ready, and Iran is ready, and the out of control “loose cannon” that America is is just about ready to have it’s wings clipped.
Don’t say that I didn’t warn you.
Introduction
I’ve written about all this before. I’ve discussed training for military warfare starting at six years old to the unification of the social structure, and the intense anger towards what happened in China by the Japanese. There’s no need to rehash much of that. You all can go through the archives.
The big news this week is how Australia has torn up it’s agreements with France and the EU to become the nuclear staging point for American submarines in the South Pacific. Big News! Except no one else really understands the implications.
Let this video tell you…
By hosting American nuclear weapons, Australia has now made itself a target for immediate decapitation were a war between the USA and China to break out. There is no way that it can remain neutral. All of it’s coastal cities are now at risk for total and complete obliteration.
Sheesh.
No one is taking China seriously and this is disturbing.
No one understands
Given the great ignorance in the Untied States and much of the West, it should be understandable. But it isn’t. I see otherwise intelligent people saying that a big buildup towards war is a good thing. Maybe it’s because they haven’t held their loved ones in their arms while they died away in a painfully bloody broken death.
War is not a computer simulation.
War is not social media or a talk show.
War is not a newspaper you read while drinking your morning coffee. Nor it is a news feeds that you swipe away.
It is a nasty, nasty earth-shattering event. And it is coming to the West faster than you can what “wat”?
Even if the USA launches a first-strike nuclear salvo…
Systems are NOW in place to fucking throw America back into the coal age. You all do know what I mean by the coal age, eh?
It’s January 20th. Snow is blowing outside. There is no gasoline for your cars. All electrical systems are fried. Refrigerators are gone. Computer is a useless door stop. Cell phones are all dead. And you haven’t eaten for three weeks.
Coal age.
Here’s a small video of what each God Damn City in China has for their LOCAL RESERVIST CADRES… (VIDEO). Yes. This it the local reservist militia. Just imagine what the actual military would be like.
Local reservists.
Afghanistan it ain’t.
These are God Damn reservists guys. Do you have any fucking idea of what a war against China would be like?
It would be like a tiger against a Chihuahua.
No, it’s not going to be a throw back to the iron age (as I suggested before). Not the bronze age. Not the stone age. It’s gonna be into the coal age. The few straggling survivors will need to figure out how to make fire from sticks, how to tan hides for clothing, and how to farm without mechanized machinery.
75% of America will die.
Oh that’s so unfair, you might meep!
Some basic History.
Japan took over China and abused it horribly. This occurred after nearly 100 years of abuses of the British and European rule. If anyone thinks that China will “turn the other cheek” they are mistaken. China is ready for pay-back time. (video)
Somehow, everyone thinks that China is a peer manufacturer. Equal to that of the manufacturing giants of the West. Wrong. China is THE global manufacturer and they make everything and they have been busy making all sorts or reliable weapons systems for their 1.6 billion people nation. They do not play around.
This is supposed to be a message to the American military establishment. Check out all those neutron bomb smart missiles. Yes, tactical missiles for use in conventional warfare. I guess that the American military are too brain dead to realize that any war with China will be nuclear.
Vehicle after vehicle of ugly, messy, dirty neutron warhead missiles. Some for taking out land targets like towns and cities. Some for taking out fleets of ships, flotillas and armadas. Some for blasting the entire sky into a fireball to wipe out aircraft assaults.
Well… The United States is being a fucking dick. The out of control giant is all about war, and the entire purpose of the QUAD is to support a war against China. Let’s be real. It’s not about fishing. It’s not about technology transfer. It’s not about immigration. It’s not about borders. It’s about conducting a war against China via the QUAD surrogates.
So China is ready.
Only an idiot (which pretty much describes most of the Western “leadership”) would still even conceive taking on Russia / China and Iran / North Korea simultaneously.
But you know…
While all this public display of terror and bluster is unsettling, let’s not forget what is going on behind the scenes.
Taiwan
What is NOT BEING REPORTED in the American “news”…
From PM…
An important event is going to happen tomorrow (Saturday; Sep. 25th) but one can’t seem to find any news reports in the West about it.
.
Taiwan’s Kuomintang, the political party of Dr. Sun Yat-sen and Chiang Kai-shek, is going to elect a new leader. No one cares, right? Kuomintang has been totally discredited by its string of failures.
.
Its young members have left the sinking ship in droves.
.
There is no hope when all the candidates are well known imbeciles who know nothing beyond repeating the same drivel that everyone is tired of hearing.
.
Yes, let’s get back to the 1992 Consensus and keep the ambiguous status quo forever, as if Xi will let that happen.
.
I have a Taiwanese friend (an old ROC soldier, descendant of the Yunnan warlord’s clique) who is so disgusted with the KMT that he has given up hope that the party will survive.
.
Until a professor and the principal of the Sun Yat-sen School leaps into the fray, and over the course of one month, goes from being an unknown to the top of the polls over his three opponents, two of them with significant entrenchment in the party.
.
His name is Chang Ya-chung [张亚中]. How does he do it? He advocates unification with mainland China to form One-China!
There are thousands of comments on Youtube clips in which the dark horse candidate explains his policy, and practically 100% supports him.
.
It appears that he has stirred up a political storm.
.
If he intends to push for unification regardless of whether he wins the KMT leadership or not, and therefore creates a movement, he may become a power to be reckoned with.
.
In fact, Prof Chang could overturn the Taiwan political “applecart“.
.
We are now faced with several scenarios all of which mean the realization of the One-China union probably within the next five years. Let me explain. It’s another long essay; have patience.
.
I wrote in August of 2020 about a great strategic opportunity for China to unilaterally unify with Taiwan with minimal risk.
.
It was based on the predictions, all of which were backed by simple observation, that (1) Trump would certainly lose the election (2) Trump would certainly not concede (3) Trump would therefore try to destabilize America in order to remain president (4) Trump would likely not succeed but he would create a royal mess (5) Biden would no doubt continue the war on China, and would use Taiwan as a pawn. Biden’s public protestations of America’s love of peace are laughable lies that will fool no one.
.
All of the predictions have come about.
.
There was however an overestimation of Trump’s team. Trump was not surrounded by geniuses, and rather than stopping the legal ratification of the Electoral College’s votes in December, he used the mob to disrupt the formality at Congress in January. It was an asinine and meaningless task. Trump will suffer the consequences of his stupidity.
.
At the end of October 2020, just a few days before the presidential election, I wrote another article explaining how it would be possible for China to unilaterally effect reunification with Taiwan without much risk of bloodshed.
.
One only needs to look at how Russia reunified with Crimea without firing a single bullet, and recently how easy it has been for the Taliban to reconquer Afghanistan to know that it’s possible.
.
First of all, the narrative must be changed from “Unification by Military Force” or Wutong [武统] to “Defending Taiwan from Traitors and Foreigners.”
.
I’d like to see anyone try to stop the PLA from doing its duty of defending the sovereignty of China.
.
ROC soldiers are conscripted, most of them are ordinary young men and women with a family and the prospect of going home to live a long and fruitful life, hopefully in a peaceful and prosperous society.
.
They’re not going to be stupid, as long as they understand that the PLA is coming to help them do their job, which is also to defend Taiwan from traitors and foreigners.
.
Now, it is not possible that I was the only person who had the perspicacity to notice the strategic situation.
General Miley noticed it and he made secret calls to his counterpart in China before the election on Oct. 30th and two days after the Jan. 6 Trump revolution fiasco.
.
Pundits and mouthpieces have made all kinds of comments on Miley’s secret calls to the enemy, but they’re all wrong. It was indeed as General Miley had explained, he was simply doing his job.
.
General Miley called to deliver a tiresome Nixonian madman threat–we have a mad man at the helm and he may send nukes your way, so don’t do anything to give him an excuse.
.
The poor general also had to deliver a contradicting message–at the same time, America is not falling apart; everything is hunky dory and the well-oiled machine is running smoothly.
.
Which is to say, the Pentagon and the army are standing ready to attack when ordered.
.
If I was General MIley and I knew China had a window of opportunity to take Taiwan at no cost, completely turning the geopolitical tables on the US ring of fire around China, as well as controlling the majority of the world’s output in microchip, that’s what I would do to stop them.
.
If I was China, I would of course ignore him.
.
America is good at posturing and bullying small countries; just check out its wars since WWII.
.
It will not destroy its dollar hegemony and the printedfaçadeof its wealth by starting a nuclear war with China.
.
Just think if you’re the owner of a vast orchard with your finger on a button that will burn everything to ashes, including yourself and your family, would you do it just to kill off squirrels picking nuts from your trees?
.
I guess not.
.
The madman threat is just a ruse. it won’t even fool the squirrels. As I said before, not a single American will die for Taiwan. The orchard owners are not as stupid as we think, or they would not be owners and we their slaves.
.
I think, although I don’t know for sure, that China should know about all this, but it probably felt that a major factor was missing, and therefore preferred to wait for another opportunity.
Once the PLA takes Taiwan, how will China govern it?
.
It is a headache if you do not know for certain that everything will run smoothly rather than turn into a bloody mess. China no longer trusts the KMT, whose leaders are discredited and ridiculed, how can China depend on them to maintain order?
.
The emergence of Prof Chang and his army of ardent supporters from the general population provides a clarity that China needs for the Unification. .
.
What China needs is to change its narrative of Wutong to defending China and Taiwan.
.
The final contest for the KMT Chair is between Prof Chang Ya-chung and KMT Party apparatchik Eric Chu Li-luan [朱立伦]. The younger incumbent Johnny Chiang Chi-chen [江启辰] is a distant third. The fourth candidate Cho Po-yuan [卓伯源] is non-existent.
.
Prof Chang and Eric Chu are in a dead heat.
.
No one can predict the outcome of Saturday’s vote. Prof Chang’s participation and his Unification policy will at a minimum create a historic turnout.
.
The dark horse candidate is already causing much excitement not only for the KMT but his carrion call for peace talks with mainland China is eliciting a groundswell of support from outside the party.
.
This exposes the lie that people of Taiwan support only DPP’s (Democratic Progressive Party) policy of antagonism against China or KMT’s policy of the everlasting status quo of ambiguity.
.
A new and powerful voice says let us negotiate for union and peace for prosperity and a future for our children, and it is resonating on the island.
.
Scenario 1: Prof Chang wins the chair and proceeds with his Unification plan. I won’t go into details here, but his plan is a viable one and receives quite a bit of grassroot support even at this early stage.
.
It may have something to do with Prof Chang’s charisma and his ability to win all his debates by logic and eloquent elocution, letting his opponents expose themselves as morons and moral midgets.
.
Assuming the Unification path becomes a KMT policy, it will culminate in the presidential election in 2024 as a contest of KMT’s peace with China vs DPP’s antagonism leading inevitably to war with China.
.
If KMT’s candidate wins, then there will be a peaceful progression towards a negotiated unification.
.
Let me place a caveat right here. It will likely not happen smoothly because the US will not let it happen. When push comes to shove, expect the chaos of Hong Kong to repeat on the streets of Taiwan or worse.
.
Scenario 2: Many obstacles stand in front of Prof Chang even if he wins the KMT Chair. He may have to resign because the party scuttles his Unification plan, his Unification MOU with China may not be passed in KMT, and the KMT presidential candidate may lose out to the DPP candidate in 2024. Then what?
.
Scenario 3:Eric Chu wins the KMT Chair, the comatose establishment of KMT breathes a sigh of relief, and goes back to their sinking ship, hoping the ship will somehow right itself by a miracle. It will not.
.
So all three scenarios say Prof Chang’s plan will fail.
.
How will Unification happen? It will happen because China now knows about the latent support for peace in Taiwan with the mainland. The Taiwanese people didn’t have a smart and courageous politician to take them to the promised land.
.
But now they have Prof Chang.
.
It is therefore important for China to change its narrative from Wutong to Defend the Homeland. It is a unifying call, and it’s not hard to understand what it means.
.
China and Prof Chang should talk about Unification regardless of what official status Chang has. Hire Prof Chang as a Peace consultant if necessary. But direct talk means that Prof Chang will understand his potential role as the leader and organizer of an interim government in case the PLA needs to defend Taiwan from traitors and foreigners, most likely within hours and without bloodshed.
.
It will take time for Prof Chang, assuming he agrees, to prepare the infrastructure for such an interim government without violating any laws. .
.
The reward to Prof Chang for doing this is the solemn undertaking by the Chinese government to provide a high degree of self-rule for Taiwan and to let the Taiwanese people run their own affairs despite China having effected unilateral unification.
.
The five year period is a reasonable timeline, and by then, China will have surpassed the US in all aspects of wealth production, America will still be dealing with another Covid wave (I wrote an article explaining why), and Xi will be confident of success, establishing his legacy for future generations, so that the Central Committee of the CPC could start working on an orderly succession by bringing the next generation of leaders to the forefront. .
.
Beyond that, all is murky and muck, but stay healthy and we will live to witness history.
PM
Remember – what’s really going on is not televised
We really do not know all of the story. We really do not know what everyone is thinking. What we do know is the visible actions that are taking place.
Evergrande’s share price collapse: The world’s biggest no-big-deal default
The monster debt crisis that utterly failed to cause any catastrophe this week was that of Evergrande, the Chinese property giant.
Evergrande’s share price collapse: The world’s biggest no-big-deal default
The monster debt crisis that utterly failed to cause any catastrophe this week was that of Evergrande, the Chinese property giant.
Why it matters: Evergrande’s share price has collapsed to pennies, its bonds are pricing in a default with very limited recovery, and even its customers are demonstrating across China. But so far the broader repercussions have been minimal.
Driving the news: Global markets fell on Monday on fears that Chinese markets would collapse on Wednesday morning, when they reopened after a two-day holiday for the Mid Autumn Festival. When Shanghai did reopen on Wednesday, it closed the day up rather than down.
Between the lines: A deal with domestic bondholders, combined with the company’s deep political connections at both the national and local levels, have combined to reassure investors that the Chinese government will contain any fallout.
Evergrande is the first big test of the global financial system — and especially the Chinese financial system — since the pandemic-induced chaos of March 2020, when central banks around the world were forced to take unprecedented measures to prevent total collapse. So far, world markets seem to be coping just fine.
Context: By any measure, an Evergrande debt default is likely to be one of the largest in history of the world.
To put its $305 billion debt load in perspective, Argentina’s massive foreign-debt default in 2001 was about $93 billion; Greece’s restructuring in 2012 was about $200 billion; and Lehman Brothers had about $600 billion in debts when it filed for bankruptcy.
Those defaults shook entire economies. Evergrande, by contrast, seems to have been successfully contained.
Between the lines: Evergrande debt has always carried a low junk rating, and the company was being described as “the biggest pyramid scheme the world has yet seen” as long ago as 2017. As a result, investors in Evergrande, much like investors in bitcoin or GameStop, were acutely aware that they were taking a big risk.
Financial crises generally happen when (seemingly) safe assets unexpectedly default, not when risky assets do something that was largely foreseen.
The bottom line: It’s normal and healthy for markets to fall when giant companies fail. The fact that Chinese markets have been so sanguine this week implies the existence of some kind of “Xi put” — and the idea that Evergrande is, ultimately, too big to fail.
So what is actually going on?
We have a bunch of school-yard bullies hitting each other in the arms and congratulating each other on how tough they are.
The Asian kids are in a corner of the school yard, writing in their books. Planning things. Drawing diagrams in the sand, and taking notes.
The rest of the kinds in the school yard are playing but keeping an eye on both groups; the bullies and the smart Asian kids. They are not doing anything. Just watching and waiting.
Do not believe anything that you see in the “news”. The situation is still fluid.
Watch “Meng Wanzhou Wins Her Freedom!
US Drops Extradition Charges Against Huawei Executive!” on YouTube. I trust this report more than any on the western media …
Meanwhile, here’s some Chinese military videos…
Just some video that I collected. Some are training films. Some are recruitment films. Some are just studies. Some are personal videos. All in all a good mix. It will give you all a great idea about the Chinese military capability.
Some of the films have children in it going through training. These are the elementary-school Pioneers (the Chinese cub scouts). Everyone in China gets full military training. Those older kids, are in middle school. They are the ones wearing blue slacks with the white line training and shooting AK-74’s.
You will see closeups of the various electronic weapons systems, and the state of the art Chinese SEAL and Special Forces troops as well. You will see some videos about how Japan came into China and killed off so many innocent civilians. And note that now that every civilian can fire a gun, and fight, that is never going to happen ever again.
It starts off with some more middle school assault weapon training.
Next is the elementary school pioneers who undergo physical obstacle course training. Notice that they do it while carrying a full military rifle. Also note that it’s both boys and girls. No one gets a pass. VIDEO.
Boys and Girls no one gets a pass.
The third video is the reservists. China has an active military and the reserves that meet every few weeks. VIDEO.
Reservists practice and drill over and over and over and over.
Fourth video is for the young Pioneers. For inspiration and training. Very, very interesting.
It’s all your fault that all the people are being rounded up in the city.
So many interesting videos. Watch them all in this massive collection.
Of course there are all sorts of interesting things in these videos.
Group 3B
Conclusions
Those videos are very interesting. Especially the ones where New York City is destroyed by a massive nuclear explosion. As you watch the movies, you can see that the military is infused in every aspect of the Chinese life. From elementary school through middle school and into college. There are layers upon layers of military. All driven by merit. All with the latest technology. All with a memory of how China has been hurt and abused int he past.
Next time you watch CNN, FOX, Hal Turner, or any of the rest and they are talking about hate – hate -hate China, keep in mind that it is a narrative based on insane levels of ignorance. There is not going to be any war against China, for if there were, America would cease to exist. While China might take a few dings, and then brush itself off and rebuild up bigger, better, faster.
Where SHTF in America it will be every man for himself, and that will be a fiasco.
So, don’t poke the Panda.
Realize that what you read is all bullshit propaganda. And that China has everything well under control. So turn off that propaganda outlet, focus on what you see around your life and your home, family and friends. That is what really matters.
What you read in the “news” is just a lie to anchor your thoughts towards a catastrophic fiasco. Ignore them.
Just go forth and live your life. Adults are in charge. Never forget that.
Just go forth and live your life.
Finally…
While this article is about China and it’s efforts to continue and thrive while the enormous American Military Empire has a hissy fit, do not think that that’s what is actually going on. Military Empires MUST have wars.
If they can’t have one with China right now, or soon, perhaps they can have one else where…
More than fifty-nine ships have massed in the central Atlantic Ocean, south of the Equator, in a non-shipping route area, and ALL have turned off their automated ship Identification transponders.
Ships massing off the coast of Venezuela.
No one can tell whose ships they are, or why they are gathering there.
Here’s a closer look:
Somethings up.
Somethings up…
Prep for an invasion.
Stand by. What is this all about?
Invasion build-up?
Flotilla to collect Haitian refugees and send them to the Untied States?
Collect American Haitian refugees and send them back to Haiti?
Stand by?
Do you want more?
You can find many more videos in my “China index” over here…
This is somethings that I have been wanting to do for a while now. What this is; is comparing the scouts programs for children. In particular we compare the programs found in the United States and those found in China. In America, the scouts are co-ed, which differs from what I grew up with. But that’s fine they are co-ed in China too. In China they are called the “Pioneers”. And they are quite active.
Actually, I don’t want to get into too much detail here. It’s not like a member of the American scouts is going to move to China and become a member of the Pioneers! LOL. Instead what this is; is a short visit to see how the philosophies of the two scouting programs differ.
Essentially, as far as I can make out, the United States scouting programs teach self-reliance, individualism, basic woodland skills, and obedience to authority.
Cub scouts of America.
While the Chinese Pioneers teach communication, working as part of a team, nationalism, and overcoming adversity.
It seems that the United States is about making the scout a better “rounded” person overall, while the Pioneers is a paramilitary organization that teaches defense of the homeland, strength during times of adversity, and leadership skills.
The United States Scouts
American Cub Scouts.
Cub Scouting is part of the Scouting program of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), available to boys and girls from kindergarten through fifth grade, or 5 to 10 years of age and their families. Its membership is the largest of the five main BSA divisions (Cub Scouting, Scouts BSA, Venturing, Exploring and Sea Scouting ).
- Wikipedia
And the Boy scouts…
American Boy Scouts.
The Boy Scouts of America places the greatestimportance on creating the most secure environment possible for our youth members. To maintain such an environment, the BSAdevelopednumerousproceduralandleadershipselectionpolicies and providesparents and leaders with resources for the Cub Scout, Scouts BSA and Venturing programs.
-Boy Scouts
The Cub Scouts are one of the BSA’s premier programs, offering citizenship, character, personal fitness, and leadership for youth in grades K to 5.
Cub scouts of America.
The mission of the Boy Scouts of America is to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law.
[Note 1] According to Wikipedia there were 21,000,000 males age 10 -19 in 2000 in the US. Also according to Wikipedia there are 2,739,692 boy scout youths (age 11-17). That would indicate that more then 13% of boys are in scouting at a given time. 13% of American Children are in the scouts.
Cub scouts of America.
I think it sounds ok. Don’t you?
It’s a program to help young youth to become better rounded individuals.
Chinese Pioneers
I do not know about this program as an expert. I know of it as a parent. And that is a little different. But I can tell you that being in the Pioneers is a very important step in your child’s education within China.
It is very, very few people who will not allow their children to join the Pioneers. Mostly Christian fundamentalists. No problem with the Chinese Uighur Muslims,
It is a program that runs in parallel with the education system that provides group and community activities, rallies, a sense of community and belonging, not to mention skills, training, and social interaction. It is a critical system of development within China.
The following is an article that says more than I could ever say…
“Be prepared to struggle for the cause of communism!” As other children saluted the Communist Party of China (CPC) and swore their loyalty on the playground, Tao Hongkai, 6, was alone in the classroom studying.
Tao, a primary student at Wuhan’s Shuiguohu Primary School in Hubei Province, was the only one among his 50 classmates to not join the Young Pioneers – a State-run organization of 130 million children under the leadership of the CPC.
Check out this video…
As a result, he was not allowed to wear a red scarf, the emblem of the Young Pioneers, or join any related activities.
“I envied them so much that I saluted in front of a mirror at home,” Tao told the Global Times. “But I never felt empty because I had my own goals.”
Chinese Pioneers.
Six decades later, Tao is a sociologist and an expert on helping Internet-addicted children.
“I could focus on studying and accomplishing my goal – to be a useful person in society,” he said, looking back to the days when he was not a Young Pioneer.
[Note 1] Almost every primary school student between 6 and 14 years of age in China joins the Young Pioneers, which is widely seen as being a great honor. Being excluded from the organization would be seen as a blemish on one’s record. 98% of Chinese Children are in the Chinese Pioneers.
However, in recent years, as social values have diversified, some parents have begun to doubt the meaning of their children being “successors of communism” and discourage their kids from joining the Young Pioneers. They say they worry their children might be influenced by an ideology at such an early stage of life.
Chinese Pioneers.
Chinese Christians don’t want to participate
Xiao Yan, a Christian from Shandong Province whose son is about to attend primary school, told the Global Times that she and other religious parents are reluctant to see their children become Young Pioneers.The Chinese Young Pioneers National Working Committee declined to comment for this story, only emphasizing that membership in the movement is optional.
Even though it is officially optional to join, in many schools, new members are elected directly by teachers without being consulted or the entire student body is forced to join up.
Chinese Pioneers.
“I will tell my child the difference between the communism and Christianity, and I will make myself clear that as a parent I don’t want him to join,” she said. However, she admits that “if my child insists, I will let him do so.”
Xiao suggested that joining the Young Pioneers should be conducted by a third party.
“Schools are a place to teach knowledge, it should stay out of politics,” she said, “So if children are interested to join, they can apply to an external organization.”
However, Xiao said most children from religious families choose to be Red Scarves, often for fear of being left behind.
Chinese Pioneers.
Don’t be left behind!
In a secular society where many people do not share religious convictions and are not too bothered about ideology, Xiao’s case is rare.
“Parents often ask the teachers why their children are not in the Pioneers yet, and if there is anything that they can improve,” said Ma, a teacher in charge of recruiting new Young Pioneer members at the elite Asia-Pacific Experiment School of Beijing Normal University.
In Ma’s school, 1,100 of 1,400 Grade 1 students are all members of the Young Pioneers. The rest are on the waiting list. The head teachers for each class elect candidates based on their overall performance. “Star students” with good grades and talents will be the first batch to join, others join in the second batch.
Chinese Pioneers.
“But no one will be left behind. All the children will join the Young Pioneers eventually,” she said.
Many students are reportedly upset and unhappy if they are not part of the first batch. Ma explained this division exists to motivate students to behave themselves and study harder.
“Being a Young Pioneer means being outstanding. Of course star pupils should join first and set a good example for others,” she said.
Chinese Pioneers.
Scarves not so red
Most Chinese elites follow a set political career path: Students who graduate from the Young Pioneers can expect to join the Communist Youth League and then compete to become full-fledged members of the Party.
However, this ladder is not always straight and narrow now. Some teachers reportedly accept bribes from parents in exchange for helping their children become Pioneers first, and some teachers have even put their own children at the head of the line.
Earlier this month, an online post accused teachers at Southwest Central Primary School in Foshan, Guangdong Province, of ensuring their children to become Red Scarves before anyone else. This attracted thousands of hits and broad debate on wielding this kind of influence.
The Guangzhou-based Nanfang Daily quoted the school’s deputy headmaster Liu Xiuying as saying that some children in the first batch were teachers’ children, but that they were elected first because of their behavior and academic track record.
Chinese pioneers.
This was not the first time netizens had questioned the ideology of the Red Scarves. Last year, teachers from a primary school in Shaanxi Province gave green scarves to students with poor grades or bad behavior records, which drew criticism from both parents and educators, forcing the principal into an apology.
It was an easy leap for netizens to associate the elections of Red Scarves to the real world where power holds absolute sway.
Last year, the nickname of Five Stripes Boy, was given to Huang Yibo, 13, from Hubei Province who was pictured with a five-stripe badge on his uniform. The picture was to promote the Young Pioneers, but netizens said it resembled pictures of high-ranking officers. The Xinhua News Agency reported on Wednesday that a primary school in the province had canceled the use of the five-stripe badge to “let kids live as kids.”
Tao sees this phenomenon as a consequence of cultural deterioration.
Chinese Pioneers.
“I feel pity that some good traditions are fading and losing their meaning,” he explained. “It reflects concerns about the deterioration of China’s cultural, political and ideological environments.”
Considering this, some non-religious parents discourage their children from joining the Young Pioneers.
Fu Yongjie, the father of a young girl daughter from Shaanxi, said he would not push his child to join.
“What does a 6-year-old kid know about the goal of the Young Pioneers? I hope my daughter’s first lie will be denying she stole money to go out with her friends, not that she would struggle for a cause she doesn’t understand,” Fu told the Global Times.
Some religious parents have also expressed their concerns that they do not want their children to get involved with politics at such an early age.
Tao said the goals that the Young Pioneers are not always met, even once children join up.
“Interestingly, some badly behaved children I deal with are Red Scarves, that means being a member does not guarantee exemplary behavior,” he said.
Chinese Pioneers.
“Therefore, parents should not worry too much if their children are Young Pioneers or not, they should focus on their studies and their goals,” he continued.
Poor guidance
One reason why the organization has been losing its glory is also because Young Pioneers’ counselors, mainly head teachers or officials assigned by the educational bureau, do not know much about how to guide the Young Pioneers, Yan Kai, editor of Guangdong-based Children magazine, told the Global Times.
“Many children find it hard to accept the way they explain the organization as there are too many political terms,” he said.
The current generation of students has grown up with new media, which has become part of their lifestyle and affected the way they think, according to a survey issued in May by the Guangdong Provincial Social Sciences Academy.
It found out that half of the 5,000 students surveyed in 50 Guangzhou primary schools had microblogs and many had access to cell phones and iPads.
The education ministry announced in September that Young Pioneers activities would be listed as a required course in all primary schools, with one class every week for students from Grade 1 to 8.
Yan suggested that Young Pioneers’ counselors should broaden their approach to keep up with the new generation by organizing public or charity events rather than simply focusing on classes.
The organization also has a plan B. Earlier this month, on its 63rd anniversary, it announced that the Young Pioneers in Guangdong would now only receive counselors with master’s degrees.
Chinese Pioneers.
Three universities in the province launched a pilot project to create a new postgraduate program – children’s organization and ideological education. This aims to produce well-educated Young Pioneers’ counselors who could use positive discipline and show exemplary behavior to guide children, Xinhua quoted an unnamed director from the provincial working committee as saying.
There are over 170,000 counselors in the province. However, the pilot program will only recruit five students for 2013 although the provincial working committee said this number would increase according to the volume of applications.
“Those graduates can work in many education sectors like schools or NGOs. They will play a very important role in children’s education in the future,” the director said.
Chinese Pioneers.
Chen Xinyue, 12, who just graduated from Yahetang Primary School in Guangzhou this summer, was elected as the 2010-2011 excellent Young Pioneer of Guangzhou.
When asked whether she is aware that the organization has not lived up to its ideal, she said the title was a great honor but that she did not know much about what it mean to be an excellent Young Pioneer.
“I am really unlucky,” she said. “The reward was supposed to add some 5-10 points to my middle school entrance exam score, but the policy was canceled because some parents complained to the education ministry that it was unfair.”
Let’s look at some videos…
In China membership not only educates, but provides social scoring, and lays out a path for university and future careers. In America it is only a social club that helps one become a better person.
Here’s a bunch of videos that I’ve collected.
These little kids are tough little boys and girls and I really like how they use scaled down full-auto rifles firing smaller cartridges to train with. When I say that China is a tough, tough nation that does not play, I really mean that.
Training in the use of firearms in elementary school.
Group 3 – 17 short videos
You can download the archive HERE– 17 Videos / 89MB
Tough little kids.
Conclusions
Throughout elementary school, Chinese children are encouraged to join the Pioneers. They become adept at working as a team, undergoing hardship, and learning basic paramilitary fighting, combat and shooting skills. Perhaps 98% join the Pioneers.
In Middle School, it is no longer optional. 100% of all Middle School students must take a two week “Boot Camp” military training every year while they are in school.
As all Chinese students study both English and Chinese, the students who graduate from High School make up the members of the irregular military force in their communities, were the need ever to arise. The best and the brightest are scored on their abilities, and their ability to become a Rufus. As China is a merit driven society, only the best can join the Communist Party, and then if they so desire go into the political administration of it.
USA – China meeting in Anchorage Alaska, in April 2021.
Which differs substantially from the buy-your-way into power, and set up a puppet show, “democracy” style. And you can see this.
USA-China meeting Anchorage Alaska April 2021.
China, being much larger than the United States is indeed a formidable giant, and the thought that somehow American (with Japanese and Australian military) could (somehow) invade China is a laughingly pathetic.
If you teach your youth to be strong, be tough, to overcome and to work as a team, there is nothing that they will not be able to accomplish.
Perhaps it would be best if America tackles it’s many, many systemic problems at home on the domestic front rather than worrying about what is going on at the other side of the globe.
And maybe, just maybe if the scouts would devote more time to community, communication and endurance, American wouldn’t be such a nation of ho-hos, donuts and booty wagging misfits.
Learning about the dangers of slingshots and chewing gum…
Teaching safety to cub scouts in slingshot use at the slingshot range.
…instead of having to rescue others in need during times of discord.
Do you want more?
You can find many more videos in my China and America comparisons index…
No. It’s not all girls. And no, it’s not even most girls. But it is a lot of girls.
It’s that in China, a fish-like shape is considered to be very beautiful and appealing. And so the women wear flattering clothes, and wear cute outfits. It’s really nice to go out in a restaurant and see the beautiful ladies go out and about. It’s like being in a beautiful garden full of wonderful flowers.
Here, we will present some of these appealing Chinese women for you to look at.
But first… Note that these Chinese girls look this way because they [1] eat healthy food, [2] have good traditional habits and [3] all maintain a healthy and vibrant social life.
And that is the key.
You must have a vibrant and healthy social life, with friends, and family, if you want to be healthy, and look great.
Chinese girls and American girls are the same
The fact is that if you remove the weight that many Westerners now have (due to poor diets, broken up families, fast foods, and GMOs) the women would resemble what is common in China today. the only difference between Chinese women and American women is that they are not eating GMO-laden food.
And they are not under stress.
And they eat good healthy food.
And they are active in a vibrant social life.
Here, we take a normal American girl (on the left). She has a robust rotund shape. And then slim her down to what the shape was in America before the rise of big AIG industry, GMOs and the rise of Fast Food. She is at a woman’s body shape mid 1960’s in America.
The girl on the left is a typical American woman, while the girl on the right is what she would look like in the 1960’s…
2021s Girl / 1960s Girl shape
And if you look, you will notice that many Chinese women have bodies that resemble this 1960s era shape. If you look at the shape and the body proportions the current typical Chinese female body structure resembles the typical female body structure of American women in the 1960’s.
Here’s another one…
2021s Girl / 1960s Girl shape
Who does she sort of look like from the 1960’s and 1970’s? If you pay attention, her body structure on the right side of the image greatly resembles the typical body images of actresses from the 1960’s and 1970’s. And this is no mistake.
Notice that when you slim down, the rest of the body proportions stay the same. That gives the illusion of a healthier and more swan-line or fish-like body. And in my mind, I think that American women are just as beautiful as Chinese or Asian or African women.
It’s just that the culture, the diet and the society has distorted them.
And GMO’s has played a major role, no doubt. Once can only imagine how the mRNA changes in the bodies of Westerners will react to GMO laden food. If the bodies we see today are the end result of sugars, starches, and GMO’s combined with a stress-filled environment, one can just imagine what horrors will manifest with an mRNA alternation.
2021s Girl / 1960s Girl shape
France in the 1960’s
Did you know that you used to drink wine in French schools, have long lunches to savor the food followed by a nap, and then strolled back to school and work.
Then, when France decided to adopt the American / British “improvements” in society…
… such as wine replaced with sugar-laden soft-drinks…
France used to require children to drink their daily wine.
Last night I was standing at the counter of our local café on Boulevard Saint Germain, finishing off a last glass of wine after work before heading home for the evening, when I noticed something behind the bar. I thought I must have been reading it wrong (I was on my third glass) because it said in French: “Never more than one litre of wine per day… the correct serving: one quarter of a bottle per meal,” and then beneath in large capital letters, “HEALTH, SOBRIETY“.
France before it became British.
What kind of alcoholism prevention poster sets the recommended limit at one litre of wine per day? And are they suggesting we drink wine at breakfast? I suppose this is France…
“It’s from the 1950s”, explained Pierre, the owner of the Café Maubert. “I think it’s from a campaign when they were trying to stop everyone from drinking too much wine everyday. I bought it on eBay for 70 euros”.
Drink wine. It’s good for the health.
It would be worth mentioning here that it wasn’t until 1956, two years after the start of this campaign, that the consumption of alcohol was outlawed in French schools for children under 14.
Mothers were known to send their small children to the local schoolhouse with lunch baskets containing a bit of cheese, some saucisson … and a half bottle of wine or cider to drink.
-Messie Nessy
France implemented all sorts of “progressive improvements”. Not just the switching of wine for soda beverages, but other things as well. Such as…
… butter replaced with artificial margarine…
… and a two hour long lunch break replaced to a 20 minute cram and dash lunch…
… and the 65 religious day-off holidays replaced with 6 holidays a year, that people became fat, sad, depressed, sickly and obese?
Things were much better before these “improvements”.
Improvements?
Bread and cheese.
Pretty soon you will see the famous (and delicious baguettes) replaced with white American processed white bread loaves. Followed by cheese replaced with cheese-it in a can (or a jar). It’s more “progressive” don’t you know.
American improvements in the way we eat bread and cheese.
These improvements to our lives, as dictated by the powers that be, have created an enormous tidal wave of secondary effects that has destroyed the Western society and has wrecked ruin throughout our individual cultures.
And this is American “culture” today…
Walmart reality.
Bond girls – Chinese style
Here’s another picture. I think that the girl on the right resembles a typical Chinese lady today, and I can easily picture her in a 1960’s James Bond film taken in France in the 1960’s.
2021s American Girl / 1960s French Girl shape
She has that “Bond Girl” look, don’t you think?
Doctor No.
It’s not just women. It’s men too.
Everyone has ballooned up to enormous proportions by the crazy stress and piss-poor lifestyle choices available to people in the West.
I know that women do not like big, fat gluttonous men. I think that they prefer thinner guys that take care of their appearance and are strong and confident. At least that is what I like in a woman, and I figure that women are much the same as I.
You know, when I compare my pictures of me back around twenty years ago, when I first started to spend serious time in and out of China, to now, I am astounded. In those days, I ran a three weeks in China, followed by a six weeks in the USA. And my body shape reflected that. I looked like a rather large American man.
Today, my physical size is much slimmer, though I do believe that I have gained weight.
Funny that.
Thin and confident secret agent.
Just like men don’t really care for the rotund women in the pictures to the left. Everyone, men and women, want a healthy partner.
2021s Girl / 1960s Girl shape
People want a healthy partner.
Not necessarily a weight lifter, or a marathon runner, but someone who takes care of their appearance, is a great conservationist, and is fun to be with.
Not just for sex, companionship and pride, but also for long life and healthy activities. Don’t you think?
2021s American Girl / 1960s American Girl shape
I think that it is important to live a lush, fruitful and enjoyable life. This means good food, good drink… wine instead of sugary soda. It means being around loving animals, dogs and cats.
It means taking pride in your appearance.
It means having an active social life with people who respect and trust you.
It means happiness, and good long health.
So I am not getting down on any chunkier women in the MM audience. As I too am getting a tad chunkier myself. But what I am saying is that we ALL need to start mixing up our social and friend and family circles around companionship, social interaction, and really good healthy food.
The weight loss will follow.
There’s something about have a great engaging conversation with people who you are comfortable with that will really tone up your body.
What would you rather do? Cozy up in from of your computer monitor and read what Washington DC is planning to do, or get dressed up, and meet some friends to the local pub, bar, brasserie, restaurant or lounge and just chat. Chat and smile. tell some stupid jokes that you heard a thousands times before. catch up on the latest gossip, talk some politics, and just enjoy the evening?
What is healthier?
What is healthier?
2021s Girl / 1960s Girl shape
Life in your 20’s
Consider what it was like when you were slim.
You were probably in your youngish 20’s. Slim, going out with friends, and dating. Eating out. eating good food. drinking some. Enjoying life. Optimistic with a life in front of you.
Now, what’s your life?
Oh, it’s such a simple thing to say. It’s all that bad fast food that you put into your mouths. It’s this. Or, it’s that.
It’s everything else except what is staring you straight in the face. Instead of looking at the bigger picture.
Your lifestyle changed.
In history, those families that adopted a traditional lifestyle with an active social life, and fine delicious home-cooked meals by the spouse who was in control of the finances were all THIN. They were not fat, and they held a very important role in their communities.
You need to be part of a community, and you need to socialize.
Living in Boston
When I lived in Boston, I hardly ate fish. Why? Because it was outrageously expensive, and I simply could not afford it. But if I did, perhaps I would have avoided some of my later healthy issues that hit me a few years later.
You must plan.
So it’s expensive, well, go out and plan on a meal out with friends and have a fine delicious fish and lots of vegetable side dishes. Some wine. Lots of talk. Dress up a little smartly for it. make it a great event.
Do it often enough.
You will live much longer. I promise you.
2021s Girl / 1960s Girl shape
“What’s going on?” You might ask.
Food and losing weight?
Here I am talking about going out and eating at the same time where I am discussing losing weight. How does it all relate. Ah. Let me explain.
You see your weight has no bearing on the amount of food you eat. Women in the 1960’s ate as much food as they do today. That is true for both China and the USA. The difference is what you eat, and how you eat it.
What you eat.
How you eat it.
These are critical points that you will not find anywhere else on the internet. I suppose it is another thing that make MM unique. Our weight is connected to our thoughts, and our thoughts are connected to our well-being. And our well-being is connected to our society. To lose weight, you must go forth and make yourself some good friends.
Even if I am full of bullshit, at least you will be with others and having a good delicious time at it.
2021s Girl / 1960s Girl shape
Not about diet entirely…
So I am not talking about dieting or anything like that.
[1] I am not talking about those diets or loading up on salads. I am saying that you eat IN A SOCIAL VENUE as much as possible. Be it with family, or with friends. You should only be eating alone very, very rarely.
[2] When you eat, you should be eating a balanced meal of meats / fish / foul with three other vegetables and a staple. Be it rice, breads or potatoes. They might cost slightly more, but they are worth it. Don’t always select foods based on price and convenience.
American breakfast is often nothing more than disguised dessert. And we keep eating sugar throughout the day — in cupcakes, soda, even salad dressing. So many of the additional calories in our diet that weren’t there a few decades ago are coming in the form of sugar. Back in 1977, the average adult got 228 calories per day from sugar in food and drinks. By 2010, it was up to 300 calories a day. Added sugar consumption increased almost as much — 20 percent — among kids.
[3] All sugar laden drinks are out. You can have tea, beer, wine, water, or anything else you can think of.
People who drink soda have more obesity, Type 2 diabetes, tooth decay, and other health problems compared with people who don't -- the research on this is clear. And Americans are drinking way, way too much of the sweet stuff. According to Euromonitor’s most recent data, Americans remain the world leaders when it comes to per capita sales of soft drinks.
[4] Fast foods are NO NO NO.
Fast foods are NO!
American breakfast is often nothing more than disguised dessert. And we keep eating sugar throughout the day — in cupcakes, soda, even salad dressing.
So many of the additional calories in our diet that weren’t there a few decades ago are coming in the form of sugar. Back in 1977, the average adult got 228 calories per day from sugar in food and drinks. By 2010, it was up to 300 calories a day. Added sugar consumption increased almost as much — 20 percent — among kids.
Then watch your weight disappear. I honestly believe that social interaction is the KEY to all this problem that we are discussing here.
2021s Girl / 1960s Girl shape
Oh, so you don’t believe me?
Overeating obviously leads to excess weight, right? A team of scientists says not so fast, it’s actually what you eat, not how much you eat that leads to obesity. Their study finds processed food and rapidly digestible carbohydrates may be what’s really behind society’s growing waistline.According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over 40 percent of American adults classify as obese. This places nearly half the population at higher risk of heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes. The USDA’s current Dietary Guidelines for Americans for 2020 to 2025 maintains the belief that losing weight “requires adults to reduce the number of calories they get from foods and beverages and increase the amount expended through physical activity.”
...
Unlike the energy balance model, study authors say the carbohydrate-insulin model claims overeating is not the main cause of weight gain. Instead, the researchers say consuming foods with a high-glycemic load are the real culprit. These foods include processed, rapidly digestible carbohydrates.The study finds such foods also cause hormonal responses which alter an eater’s metabolism, drives fat storage, and leads to weight gain. When people consume carbohydrates, the body increases the amount of insulin it secretes. This signals fat cells to store more calories and leaves fewer calories for the body to use as muscle fuel.
- Study Finds
Medicines…
Now, I know that there are other things that can contribute to weight gain, such as medicines. depakote is the worst. (If you need some control, try risperdal, it will slim you down three sizes and pop up your boobs three sizes larger as well. And you’ll stop smoking as a side effect.)
But it’s a MAJOR tranquilizer, and should only be taken if you have problems in that area.
But there are many other factors Yet, I argue that stress alleviation, and mitigation can be handled by social support groups. And as your stress goes down, so will your weight. So go forth make friends and eat well.
Anyways…
Why do so many Chinese girls resemble the large chested beauties of the 1960’s and 1970’s?
When you get fat, the excess body fat conceals your natural curves and body shape. You end up looking like a huge tomato, a squash or a big pear. When if you just keep fit, the other parts of your body; the chest, the legs, the hips will form in their normal proportions. this will give you a more chesty look, a more shapely look and a more healthier look. As the photos above illustrates.
Now there are all kinds of people in this world. There are tall, short, fat, thin, robust, and frail people. And what ever body you inherited at birth is just fine. Just keep it well maintained, and enjoy what you have. Feet it well. Use it to socialize with and enjoy your time on this planet.
The large busy girls of China
This is part of my “Beautiful girls of China” series. Here, we introduce the reader to China, and what it is today, by looking at the girls, women and ladies of China. In all cases the ladies are dancing, posing or just being themselves around their homes, businesses or city centers where they live.
By looking at them, listening to the music, and paying attention to their surroundings you will end up getting a very clean and pristine vision of what China is, what it stands for and what it is actually like.
For convenience, I have arranged the videos in zip files. I am sure that you will enjoy them.
Group AA. All very nice.
We will start with these gals. All are grouped in individual zip files.
There is nothing different between an Asian woman, an American woman, a Russian woman and an African woman. All are naturally thin with a nice swan (or fish) shape. The differences in body SHAPE that we see today are a function of the social and cultural climate that exists within the different geographic and national regions.
In nations that are toxic; that have a suppressed social life, where the foods are not really healthy, and where the lifestyle is one of isolation… the women (and men) get enormously fat.
In nations that are healthy; where society allows for personal interaction, and communication, and where fresh food choices are easy to obtain, plentiful and cheap, the people are thin and attractive with finely shaped bodies.
Thus is the difference that we see between the USA and China today.
Do you want more?
I have more articles like this one in my Learning About China by Looking at Pretty Girls Index here…
Here, I continue on my “bender” on taking a look at other nations in our world. In each case, so far, I have shown the reality to be something different from what you would ever read about in the Western (especially the American) press. I have looked at China, Russia, Thailand, Cambodia, the middle East, and now, Vietnam.
Vietnam is a very interesting place full of great beauty, beautiful women, delicious food, and an easy going happy-go-lucky lifestyle.
Enter Donald Trump and his neocon war-mongers
Vietnam continued their easy and laid back lifestyle since the tumultuous 1960’s when America decided to churn up and rape the countryside for freedom™ and democracy™. And it continued that way through the decades, up until Donald Trump took office and started his “War on China”.
He demanded that American companies leave China or face all sorts of consequences. In American “language” this means that “border-line legal” actions might (and probably would) be directed at the company. Such as suspicious hard-line tax audits, and review of OSHA and EPA policies and factory operation shut-downs during the “investigations” as well as mysterious fires in the warehouses, random union uprisings and personal tax audits and random arrests of key corporate executives.
Many, but not all, American companies started to relocate a number of their operations out of China. The vast bulk did not return to America, however. Instead, they went to Mexico and Vietnam.
About Factories
When America switched from manufacturing inside of America to outsourcing to China, they did NOT teach the Chinese how to make factories or build products. Instead, they went to existing factories, handed over the blueprints, and quality specifications, moved their tooling and equipment, and said “make this for us”. And that is pretty much (as harsh as it sounds) what actually happened.
Now, in the thirty to forty years that America has been devoid of solid manufacturing skill, the American companies that manufactured inside of China were in a bind. Just how do you move your factory, when you don’t own it?
Do you start from scratch? Hire new engineers? Try to reverse engineer your systems to fit a Mexican or Vietnamese work force? What do you do?
Well, I can’t say that this is what happened to all of the factories, but I can tell you that a sizable number took this action…
…the Chinese factories that supplied the American companies, set up divisions inside of Vietnam.
Thus, the Donald Trump trade war, as far as bringing manufacturing capability back to the United States failed. Instead, all that happened is the existing Chinese factories continued to supply the American companies. The only difference is that they did so out of Vietnam.
Vietnam Changed.
Of course, all of this movement of Chinese factories into Vietnam, and with it, the Chinese support structures, have made great changes to Vietnam. While it is still a sluggish and rather backward nation, it is growing and expanding. And this has created a rather unique mix of older traditional Vietnam, with modern Chinese industry and support structures. Very few American influences are present. As America is rather a nation of bankers, accountants, lawyers, and diversity experts. Very few have an kind of impact on Vietnamese society.
Here we are going to look at some videos out of Vietnam taken these last two months. It’s a quite interesting mix of color and tradition.
The Videos
Let’s go through these videos.
I suggest you watch them in order to get the full diverse effect. And I hope hope that you enjoy them and get “something out of them”. This group has around 85 (give or take) videos. So to prevent you from getting carpal tunnel syndrome (yikes!) clicking on each individual video, I have clustered the videos into small zip files that you click on, download and then browse through at your leisure.
Group A
Cooking some kind of purple Vietnamese food.
Foreigner in Vietnam trying to pick up a local butterfly girl.
Young love having some fun.
Lunch in a Chinese factory located in Vietnam.
Dressing up to go out on a date.
You ride scooters to get anywhere.
Making supper.
Loved ones going off to do their mandatory military service.
Some girls getting down at a local gathering.
Another foreigner trying to pick up some butterfly girls.
Night life in one of the bigger cities.
Two girls on the way to work (my guess is a massage or restaurant).
Bar Life.
Home made turbo-generators for local village power needs.
As the Biden administration consolidates its foreign policy, it has predictably turned its attention towards Southeast Asia in a bid to “counter China”.
Just last week, Mid-August 2021, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visited Vietnam, the Philippines, and Singapore in a bid to increase military ties between Washington and the region.
Means… allow American military bases there, American war ships to sail there, and the placement of American offensive missile systems there.
You know like swallowing bile that rise up in your throat.
The vice president’s aim with this trip is to “call out” China over its maritime claims in the South China Sea.They can’t do it personally face-to-face with China. They will no longer play “that game”. So like cowards, they are trying to undermine all the relationships of all the nations that border on China.
They come with suitcases (no cross that out) pallets, (no cross that out) Shipping containers full of freshly minted US dollars.
Freshly minted.
Hot off the (over worked) printing presses.
For, you know, the leadership to do what ever they want with the nice crisp “green backs”.
This comes amid America’s attempts to militarize the region.
They’ve been really busy, don’t you know.
The anti-China QUAD; those vassal states of the UK and Japan who will be compelled to “die on their swords” at the push of a button from the American Pentagon. To Australia who has only become a vassal state for reasons not so obvious. In my mind, a treasonous Morrison government with many, many skeletons in his closet is willing to sacrifice his people for Washington DC.
As well as continuously sailing aircraft carriers through the sensitive waters in a bid to project American power.
No prizes here for guessing who he was talking about…
The US says that it’s “back” to Southeast Asian countries.
It’s just bullshit.
The reality is this: apart from all the militaristic “sabre rattling” and pushing a non-stop hate China narrative while convincing everyone (with a pulse) to oppose China, the United States actually doesn’t have a strategy for the region.
But Beijing does.
In many ways, the legacy of recent US policies in this area of the world has been self-defeating.
The “political space” (the room to maneuver and work around is) that Biden has to turn it around is really quite limited.
In other words, it’s essentially still Trump’s ‘America First’ sentiment.
And that is quite telling as the biggest gaping hole in America’s strategy towards Southeast Asian countries is failing to offer them anything in return.
There are no, absolutely zero, economic incentives to oppose China. All they have to offer is personal riches for the rulers. As well as promises to offer them “green cards” and citizenship if the whole plan goes “tits up”.
China, need I remind you, which is right next door to these nations.
On this front, America has isolated itself.
In so many ways too.
Most notably by withdrawing from the mega trade deal which Obama fashioned as an anti-China initiative known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
Now rebranded CPTPP (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership) amongst local partners.
On the level of US domestic politics, this is toxic because the consensus is that free trade is bad, especially if it detracts from jobs at home.
Therefore, Biden faces protectionist pressure not to re-join it, thus it has not come back on the Biden agenda.
China, on the other hand, has comprehensively doubled down on its economic ties with the surrounding region and entrenched its presence. Most notably through joining the ASEAN-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which it quickly ratified.
This creates an obvious problem for America.
China is increasingly integrating itself with the region on an economic level.
In which local parties (Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, etc.) welcome with open arms gleefully.
But, you know, the United States is not happy with in the least.
No longer is trade being conducted in the “almighty” US Dollar. It’s local currency to the e-yuan. And as time moves forward, more and more nations are following this lead.
The US doesn’t have an answer to any of this.
Recently, it was reported that Washington wanted to try and propose a ‘digital trade deal’ among the economies of the Asia-Pacific. This “digital trade deal” is intended to lock China out of trade with any nations that sign that agreement. This is by regulation.
A favorite technique, mind you, well established and mature to crush nations that do not “toe the line” with American Geo-political policy.
This is intended to be done by setting strict rules and regulations on the ‘digital economy’ of the region.
Because it’s absolutely untenable for these countries to lock China out, and it’s not hard to see why.
Yesterday (Mid-August 2021) Huawei announced it would be investing $100 million into over 1,000 software start-ups throughout Southeast Asia. And that’s just one of the many initiatives in bringing manufacturing, development, growth and prosperity to all the nations that surround China.
With a high degree of integration and economic benefits, it is impossible for the US to now shape the region’s initiative while keeping China excluded.
There’s nothing left.
This leaves the military.
And this is where China is increasingly powerful, but the US remains competitive and relevant.
Many countries in the region accept the presence of the United States and its allies militarily, because it gives them strategic space to prevent them from being completely dominated by China.
For a small city state like Singapore, this inclination makes obvious sense, but this is not so much ‘siding’ with America as it is a geopolitical balancing act between both powers.
Walking the “tight rope”; the “fine line” of neutrality.
Here lies the problem: America wants countries to align with it against China in a binary way, but the nations themselves want neutrality.
And ASEAN (The association of South East Asian nations) as an institution officially seeks such.
Some of these states of course are formally allied with America, such as the Philippines. Yet, you know, for all intents and purposes they utilize a strategy of ‘hedging’ between both sides.
And for certain, they do not seek confrontation with Beijing.
If Washington pushes too hard on anti-China initiatives, these countries become uncomfortable, and this may have the ‘opposite’ result.
This aims to ease tensions, and brands the US a ‘troublemaker’.
Duh!
Again, Washington doesn’t have the ability to conduct close diplomacy with these countries as a neighbor, only as a ‘visitor’.
America is an outsider.
China is local.
China is right there.
All in all, geography works against America. China is the neighbor of Southeast Asia, not the US.
Beijing is the largest economy in the region and is irreversibly integrated in terms of trade, technology, and finance.
America is not.
Yet, the US foreign policy strategy seems to pursue the bizarre premise that they can somehow dominate this region…
… push back China…
…and match its growing power…
… despite the fact they physically cannot, simply because they are not based there.
This means that whilst these countries are not necessarily rejecting an American presence, they are never going to adopt any serious anti-China policies or the militarization of the region that Biden hopes for.
Would you start a fight with your much bigger next-door neighbor?
Biden has no economic incentives to offer either.
China is, in many ways, continuing to lead and shape the regional agenda through its own initiatives, and as its own military presence in this area also grows, it has plenty of options to counter US posturing.
And the United States is impotent in the region, no matter what the American media says to the contrary.
Conclusion
Most of the world is still being influenced by the American media in one form or the other. And on subjects that everyone seems to have adjusted to what ever narrative that the American government made, the belief is that what ever Washington DC says is the truth. Nope. It is not.
Vietnam is many things, but an American proxy nation, whether military, commercial or economic, is simply not true.
This article broaches the true and actual state of affairs, and I do hope that it was interesting and meaningful at the same time. I have tried to present a diverse collection of videos showing the great breadth and width of the colorful Vietnamese society, and I hope that I put it in a positive light.
I have many friends how go to Vietnam, as it’s not too far from where I live, and they pretty much confirm what I have listed here. I hope that you all can see that it has a bright future ahead, and some deep and wonderful culture and traditions. I sincerely hope that they hold on to them and not allow them to disappear.
And when the pandemic ends, perhaps a nice visit to Vietnam would be a wonderful trip, and I am sure that you would make some wonderful, maybe even lifelong friends. And isn’t that what we all want out of life?
This is part of my “Beautiful girls of China” series. Here, we introduce the reader to China, and what it is today, by looking at the girls, women and ladies of China. In all cases the ladies are dancing, posing or just being themselves around their homes, businesses or city centers where they live. By looking at them, listening to the music, and paying attention to their surroundings you will end up getting a very clean and pristine vision of what China is, what it stands for and what it is actually like.
This is my own personal attempt to show others what I find so wonderful about China.
At the bare minimum you will at least get an opportunity to listen to contemporaneous Chinese pop music that plays all over the nation.
A beautiful Chinese woman in a wonderful flowing dress.
The girls and ladies come in all shapes and sizes. They all act and behave and dress differently. But the music selection and the short videos are wonderful in that it gives you a real idea what China is actually like. It’s the “feeling” that you get when you are here. And that is not easy to transmit. I hope that you all appreciate the images and visions that I present to you today.
Another lovely girl in China.
While I am showing images and videos of beautiful Chinese girls, I want to explain some of the great misconceptions about people, and relationships.
One thing that everyone doesn’t “get” (understand) is that when a couple wants to have sex, the Guy is always “ready to go”, and the woman “needs to warm up”. It’s not really accurate.
For men, watching a woman…
…being confident, looking good, smiling, acting cute; seductive, or just being playful is (de facto) foreplay. The mind, the thoughts and the emotions are engaged by watching the women be who they are. And when we say that it’s a “turn on”, we really meant it. Literally.
There’s few things more attractive to me than a confident woman, being herself, being clean, having a great conversation and eating delicious food. I think that many people don’t understand this. They think that being “sexy” is showing a lot of skin, and moving in provocative poses. That’s not true at all. Being sexy is just being yourself with all your faults and blemishes.
A normal, but very sexy girl. We all have to accept ourselves as we are, and be confident in that knowledge. That confidence makes us sexy.
In the following videos are girls being themselves, and showing their best images for the camera. And for me I think that it’s terribly sexy, and a great “turn on”. These ladies put the cream in my coffee if you get my mixed idioms, and they tenderize my meals. I like to believe that every single person on this planet, mean and women, are capable of being attractive.
All it requires is a good kind heart, and openness and willingness to be yourself. A kind of fearless acceptance of who you are. Smiling. Being open. And just engaging others. You are attractive.
Attractive Chinese girl on the escalator.
And while you are watching these ladies, please take note at the “feeling” you get. It’s a combination of imagery, motion, music, and environment. I can tell you that this “feeling” permeates all of China. From the smallest hamlets tot he largest cities. It’s a feeling of unity, of being one’s self, and pure unrestricted freedom. things that you really notice are missing in the United States today.
You do not need to show a lot of skin and wear skimpy clothing to be sexy. You just need to show personality.
When you watch the girls pay attention to the background. This is what China is. These are the homes that the Chinese live in. These are the buildings that they work in. These are the parks that they play in. These are the restaurants that they eat in.
Pay attention to the background. This is what China is actually like.
The video group A
I have broken down these videos into an easily downloaded zip file. HERE. Just download the file and open it up and start watching all the pretty girl videos.
Well, some you can just fall in love with them. Like this wonderful girl. She’s all about the delicious sundae (with a cherry on top) and coffee. Ahhhh!
And you do not need to be anything other than yourself…
There is nothing (to me) more attractive than a woman who is proud of herself, strong, yet oozing with kindness and softness. Like this lovely girl…
Do you want more?
I have more articles like this one in my Learning About China by Looking at Pretty Girls Index here…
Here is part ten of my series on learning about China by looking at pretty girls. This particular collection consists of a very average selection of attractive Chinese girls, and you all might just be “blown away” by the content. Indeed, there are some favorites in here.
As I said, this is a “no frills” presentation. Download the zip file and open it up. Inside will be a bunch of pretty girls videos. I do hope that you enjoy them.
Of course, the idea behind this presentation is to show that the people in China, and most especially the girls, are good and fine folk that do not resemble anything that is being portrayed in the American “news” media. And when you watch the girls, listen to the (mostly) Chinese pop music, you will start to notice something…
…they are happy. They are well fed, the buildings all look like they are well maintained. They eat well, the night life is alive, families look normal, and these none of that crime, and LGBT ram-rodding down your throats like you would see in the West. It’s refreshing.
This is China. It’s the “real deal”.
And for “new comers” it tends to be a bit of a shock. As they had no idea that Chinese women looked like this. They still hold on to the fantasies that are well promoted in the American press. But you know… it’s all a fiction.
Here’s what the girls in China look like…
Group AA
First up is this bevy of beauties. Some nice all around girls. For certain. The folder and files tend to be on the large size. Sorry for that.
You can get the zip file HERE. 490MB. It’s large and might take some time to download.
AA – A “buffalo wings” kind of girl
Here’s one of the girls from the mix. She reminds me of a dish that used to be common in the United States. They were called “Buffalo wings”, and you would get this basket of deep fried chicken wings and a small saucer of blue cheese dressing to dip them in.
Chicken wings girl.
I well remember one time in Syracuse New York, my wife (at that time) took me out to a restaurant on South Selina street, and we went to a (then famous) chain called “The Ground Round” and she bought me a set of eight “Buffalo wings” and clue cheese dressing to dip it in. The cost came to $120 something and just under her entire weekly pay check.
I wonder if the current crop of American leadership has ever had that experience? To live in a land where you work hard, and for your reward all you can afford is eight measly chicken wings. If you call that “exceptional government” then you have a hole in your head. China has a basic guideline that food, clothing, shelter, medical care, housing and clothing, as well as all government services should be affordable by 90% of the nation.
Anyways…
This girl reminds me of this basket of chicken wings.
And here is what a basket of chicken wings look like…
Buffalo wings.
By the way, does anyone know why this is called “finger food”, because sure as shit your fingers are gonna get messy eating these things.
Group BB
You can get the zip file HERE. 448MB. Again, it is a large file.
I tend to associate girls, women with food. It’s an association that I have, and I make no apologizes for it. Women are delicious, and so is food. Here’s some of my favorites from this group.
BB – Cream of Asparagus Soup girl
This lady reminds me of a nice bowl of cream of asparagus soup. With crackers, or those little “goldfish” crackers that you put in it. As well as a nice little mound of mild cheddar cheese, ground up and place don the top. And for some reason, I’m not quite sure why… A tall glass of mint iced tea.
Cream of asparagus soup girl.
If you compare her to the picture of an actual bowl of soup, you can easily see what I am talking about. Right? Or is it just me? This girl reminds me of this…
Cream of Asparagus Soup.
BB – (Not-a-Upside-down) banana split girl
This little cutie reminds me of an “banana split”. Served in a ceramic dish shaped like a boat, and a nice little flag on the top near the cherry. Can’t you just imagine going to an ice cream parlor and sharing a split with her? I can. It would be wonderful.
(Not a Upside down) banana split girl.
Come on! Can’t you just picture yourself sharing a banana split with this lass, chatting and just handing out in a fine air conditioned ice cream parlor?
An “old fashioned” banana split.
BB – Poached eggs on toast girl
This little lass reminds me of a simple meal. Poached eggs on toast with salted butter, some peanut butter, chopped tomatoes, salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. Oh, and orange juice. This is the kind of girl that is best enjoyed in the morning.
Poached eggs on toast girl.
This is a morning girl. And what is more, she is most certainly a poached eggs on toast kind of girl…
The following girl is representative of this particular group. She is most certainly a baked ziti lass.
CC – A Baked Ziti Lass
You would think that I would be eating baked ziti all the time. After all it’s cheap and delicious and it is easy to make and delicious if you take the time to add the proper meat, and cheese. But guys, for me, that was not the case. I can never get it in China. And we tend to eat better than the cheapest foods that I grew up with. Further, I never ate it in prison, we mostly ate beans, global, artificial eggs and mashed turnips. So it’s been maybe two, possibly three decades since I enjoyed a fine well-made ziti dish.
And when I think of that dish I think of women like this. She is my ideal ziti girl.
My ideal ziti girl.
I can just see us going outside for some fresh night air, as the boisterous crowds in the orange lit interior carry on with singing, dancing and a clinking of glasses. Ziti is best served with wine; a nice red wine. And some crunchy Italian bread, some cheese, some olives, maybe some red lipstick on my collar…
…heh. heh.
And you know, maybe I’m wearing a nice tux. Not a rental. A custom fitted tux like the one I used to have years ago. Made out of a fine weave and dark blue material. Not a shawl collar. A nice set of cuff links and a chance to wear a very extraordinary bow tie. Maybe something in a vibrant red, or purple / blue pattern.
Oh, but I digress…
And here is what a deep baked ziti looks like…
Deep baked ziti.
CC – Australian Prawns girl
The largest shrimp that I have ever seen in the world come from Australia and they are called prawns. They are bout the size of a small chicken, and believe you me, they are delicious. It’s sort of like a cross between a lobster and a shrimp and so very tasty.
Well this girl reminds me of giant prawns.
On one of my trips to Australia, the staff took me out to a meal and we ate some prawns. they ordered two enormous prawns for me, and I surprised them by eating the entire things. Well, I was hungry!
Anyways, this girl reminds me of two giant prawns.
The following is a notable girl from this collection…
I am always a “sucker” for a girl with a big smile on her face. The smile just attracts me to her. Smiles always do this. Don’t you know.
A smiling beauty.
Well…
I am going to call it “quits” for now. I hope that you enjoyed these tasty female delights and learned a little about China in the process. I have many more videos and I am going to post them when I get a chance.
Have a great day you all.
Do you want more?
You can find many more videos in my “Learning about China by looking at pretty girls index” over here…
Ok, guys and girls. This is going to be a little bit of a strange article. I make no apologies for it. It’s going to be confusing, rambling, and apparently unordered, but that is by INTENTION. I fully intend to produce this article in this manner, and if you don’t understand, then it’s simply because you haven’t learned the most basic tenants of MM.
Life is complex.
You cannot isolate certain sections without influencing everything else.
Background
All through life we have been taught to do one thing at a time. We studied reading, then we put our books away, and then we studied History. Then we put those books away, and we went to gym class. After that, we change our clothes and studied Math. Everything was nice and compartmentalized. So nice. So neat, and so tidy.
But as we became adults we realized with a big shock that the world is not fine, nice, neat and tidy. It wasn’t that way at all. When we married a person, we inherited an entire slew of interpersonal relationships, not one singular one. When we went to work at a company, we were expected to perform multiple tasks simultaneously. Not one singular one that we studied in school. We didn’t like this change. But we adapted to it. We adapted coping mechanisms. We learned to “multitask”.
But no one has breached the most basic point. Which is that life is complex, colorful, and encompasses multiple things, events, relationships, ideas, thoughts and emotions simultaneously. And unless we train our mind to handle and sort out this onslaught of data, we will be forever easily manipulated by it.
And what is what is going on today. People are being manipulated by the “fire-hose” of manipulation. And since people see things out of context, they believe the manipulations without questioning what’s going on.
Even the most intelligent and skeptical people fall into this trap.
An Example
Today, for example, is this little blurb on the “Drudge Report”;
The Chinese military announced HOW they will attack Taiwan!
Well!
Well, I (being an interested person) ran to the site to see what is going on, and there is a very detailed explanation of a war plan. It looks like something out of a World War I American military college. Not something that the Chinese leadership would ever do.
So many interesting pictures, details and diagrams.
Ok. I’ll bite, where did this come from. I want to read the original.
Screen capture of the article.
So if you look in the article it says…
"An article in a state-controlled publication has offered a glimpse of a..."
Ok. So what is this article, and where is it? Who wrote it?
Nope. Nothing. But the article does go on to say…
"The article states: "The attacks against Taiwan’s airports would continue until [Chinese] surface troops had accomplished an assault landing.""
Ok. I want to see the article. I want to see it myself.
Still nothing. But it does say…
"the article states YJ-91 and CJ-10 cruise missiles..."
Still nothing about the source. Where did they get this bullshit? I want to know. So I read further…
"Finally, the article said warships and land-based rocket forces would wipe-out any remaining obstacles so the PLA’s marine corps..."
So I scroll down all the fancy graphs, and maps showing fighting. I scroll down the pictures of Chinese military. And I go all the way to the bottom of the page.
NOTHING!
The entire article is based on one big lie.
How do I know. I did a Baidu search. I did it in Chinese. There are no Chinese articles about this at all. It’s all made up bullshit.
Summary
Drudge said that the Chinese Government released this battle attack plan. Instead the truth is that a supermarket tabloid claimed to translate an important document in a Chinese magazine. Both of which are lies.
Many things
Right now the globe is a caldron of quanta seething and boiling over with the various interactions being generated out of the United States (and the UK).
It’s spitting quanta balls, and most humans are unable to grasp what is going on. They are being pelted with quantum “slime balls” and it hits them, manipulates their thoughts and sets the stage for some very, very bad and catastrophic things to happen.
And if you get your Intel from the American (or Western) “news” media, mainstream of alt-any, you are being deceived. Nothing like what is being stated is actually happening.
We need to see things AS THEY ARE. Not as what is being presented to us.
This article
It began simple enough.
I just wanted so show the real and true face of China.
And I do this by my very successful method of showing very pretty Chinese girls in their homes, in the public spaces, on bridges, inside restaurants and other places inside of China. And people come to MM to look at the pretty girls, and in the process see that the China that they see does not resemble anything like what is being showed at them out of the Western oligarchy.
So…
Here is a part of what was intended to be part 11A of my series on learning about China by looking at pretty girls. (Don’t ask me about the interruption between series nine and the rest. It’s a long story. )
This particular collection consists of a very average selection of attractive Chinese girls, and you all might just be “blown away” by the content. Indeed, there are some favorites in here. And with each grouping, I have isolated and make a key social and societal point that I want to make.
These points are well understood by long time MM readers. But I “feel” the need to underline, or “underscore” these points so that the reader can best understand things in the proper context, and the most important context; THEIR context.
Undoing American propaganda
When you look at these women, please pay attention to the China that they are being filmed in. And ask yourself “Does this in any way represent the narrative promoted by the American MSM “?
The United States is out of control, and it’s going to get each and every one of us killed.
The western world is being led by people who are functionally insane, that is not hyperbole.
There are any number of things that we 'could' 'should' 'might' or 'must' do about the situation but a lack of sane and workable solutions is not the problem.
The problem is the vast concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a very few mostly unelected people.
People who would (and probably will) see the world go up in flames rather than relinquish their largely unearned and unwarranted power.
Posted by: MarkU
"No U.S. president will risk New York over Taipei City." one would think, but the crazies running usa foreign policy seem to have undue persuasion with usa presidents, as witnessed the past number of years usa behavior... maybe they want to go down in a blaze of glory? what do the end of worlders, or born agains think??
Posted by: james
Please kindly excuse me for my entanglement of thoughts, opinions, beauty, China, and Geo-politics…
Group A of Chinese beauties
And the first point that I want to make is that all you see on the internet is a fiction. It is a lie. It is a construction. Just like Hollywood has created illusions, so has the internet. What you read, and what you get has no bearing on reality. So the first point that I want to make is…
The reality is much better than what you read about.
According to the National Review, the Chinese are miserable and are just “pining away” for liberation from the evil oppressive Chinese government. You can see this oppression in the videos out of China.
What? There are NO videos showing this “oppression.”
What, oh, that’s right, Chinese videos are BANNED in the United States. Well, here we will show you just how oppressed the Chinese are. Here’s a typical woman just wanting to be liberated by the proud United States Marines from the “Bright and shining city on the hill”.
One of the Chinese girls from group “A”. Does it look like she is living in squalor and filth and needs to be liberated from the oppressive Chi-Coms for Democracy and Freedom?
Ah yes.
If these people actually believe what they write then they are delusional and need to be locked up in a mental institution for a long, long time. If they aren’t and they are lying. Then they need to be put in a situation where they can personally experience the horrific consequences of what they are tying to provoke.
Group "A" here. You can download a file of about thirty or so micro-videos of amazingly beautiful Chinese women. OMG!
But forget about the crazy man on the “shining house on the hill”. He’s really a mess and so fucking crazy that he’s not worth your time of day.
American neocons started the pandemic, tried to start world war III, and are constantly pushing and pushing to start a major war with SOMEONE.
But their reality is not YOURS.
So instead, Let’s concentrate on the girls. Ok?
Some of the girls from group “A”.
They are all awfully pretty, don’t you know. And when I look at them (like this particular beauty, for example) I think of strawberry shortcake. I mean, really, when was the last time that you had a strawberry shortcake?
When was the last time that you had a strawberry shortcake?
Let me “single out” one especially delicious lady.
I choose this girl to discuss (in this particular instance).
Man! I do love a cute little pleated skirt.
Actually, this (particular) girl reminds me of a girl that walked in the restaurant where I was eating dinner today.
A “gaggle” of beauties came on off from work, they must have worked at the same company as they were all wearing the standard black and white office address code attire, and a lanyard around their neck with an ID QR code.
Szechuan food.
I love it when friends get together and are all happy and smiling. I like there attitude, and their nice fellowship.
She was a smiling, and chatting away, and while I wasn’t rude enough to eavesdrop, I could tell that they were all passionate.
This kind of event warms my heart and gives me hope for the future. You just cannot expect mankind; humans to grow and advance as a species, when they are living and toiling inside of sterile grey cubicles and chained to electronics media. No matter what the wealthy oligarchy believes.
They are wrong.
Anyways, this girl is most certainly a strawberry shortcake kind of gal. Admit it! You do KNOW what I am talking about, right?
Strawberry shortcake.
Just looking at her and her happy smiles and friendships put me in a great mood. It really does!
And so dusting off this old song from my parolee-bicycling days in Erie, PA, I present to you…
Group “B”
And the point that I want to associate with this next group of Chinese girls are that happy people are a real treasure. You need to associate with the happy, with the up-beat, with the cheerful, and the energetic.
I haven’t yet covered this, but we can exchange quanta (qi energy) from each other. Sad, disturbed, mentally ill, sick, upset and angry people can steal from you. And close association will them will drain you. Long term effects will destroy you.
Be around happy and cheerful people.
Happy people are a treasure.
Surround yourself with them.
One of the Chinese girls from group “B”. I am such a “sucker” for a nice wide smile, beautiful and clear eyes, and long lush hair. I mean it. The hair in Asia and in Africa are just amazing.
Group "B" here. It's about twenty five to thirty great videos of amazing Chinese women.
Some stunners, indeed.
Here I go again, with my association with food and beautiful women. There’s something that I just cannot “put my finger on” but I really associate beautiful and attractive ladies with food, conversation and companionship. And for me, well at least for me, that means food and chatting at a table.
This girl reminds me of an Australian meat pie. I guess you could refer to her as my “meat pie lady”.
Australian meat pie.
All men need a nice meat pie lady in their lives.
You all don’t probably “get” (understand) what I am trying to say. Women are like these big capacitors, or reservoirs that men can use to recharge. If the men give to them, the woman’s “battery” charges up and is there and provides the energy for the both of them (or more, if they have a family) and then combined, anything is possible a great meat pie lady can do this.
I think that meat pie ladies are not appreciated. They are the people that go visit a dying friend, and violate the pandemic restrictions to do so. They are the kind of people who will go out of their way to help a friend, a loved one, and an animal. They are natural Rufus’s.
They communicate with the unseen. They are in tune with nature, and the hidden. They can talk with faeries, and humans. They can understand things in a much greater scope than most of us can.
Meat pie ladies.
Totally and completely underappreciated.
Group “C”
And you know what? I’m going to talk about mothers.
Appreciate your mother.
Women are amazing. When the world is falling apart, they gather their family together and offer hope, comfort and protection. They help relatives, and provide a refuge from the storm. Whether it is Haiti, or Southern California. Real women are amazing.
A smiling girl from group “C”.
Group "C" here. It's about twenty five to thirty great videos of amazing Chinese women.
She is , and the rest of the gals are just lovely. This woman above embodies how I remember my mother. She was such a happy person on the holidays. But me, nah. I was a sultry spoiled teenager, and I made fun of her singing when she was cooking the meal for the family on the holiday.
I was such a little dweep-shit.
Family often takes people, roles, contributions as “givens”, without taking the time to think about how just very special these other people are. You all shouldn’t worry too much about your families and how the family dynamic exists. Just accept it as it is, and be the best you that you can be.
Anyways…
Women, especially (and mostly) those that smile and participate, are like precious treasures.
Precious.
Treasure.
And you know what this woman above reminds me of? I cannot help myself. They remind me of fresh vegetables and a fine delicious fruit salad. She reminds me of my mother, and in the Summer she would help us cut up fruit, and add cream and make a fine luscious Summer snack.
That’s what a true and fine woman can do.
They can evoke strong, visceral emotions, and trigger actions… which could lead to great things.
Lately I have been going through my old archives. I wrote a post on what it was like while on parole. And the situation there. And one of the groups that heavily influenced me at that time was the Japanese group Funky Monkey Babys. Of course, here I was, trapped in the United States under the jurisdiction of the Arkansas crew and in a “recovery / rehabilitation” system in Erie which was smack dab in the middle of poverty-central.
Both places had good people, I am sure. But I surrounded by the under-educated, the impoverished, the mentally ill, the survival-group of the criminal class, and the professional social networks that supported them. I felt very much alone and out of my environment.
I coped with the materials at hand. One of which was healthy up-beat music, my cat, painting, and my prayer affirmations with a goal of living an exceptional life inside of China. One of the videos that I watched, I just managed to dig up. Like all the music and videos from that time, they brought up memories of the things and images that I clutched to keep me going.
You know, I felt alone.
I was alone. It’s very different to have friends as a “sex offender”. So I was really isolated.
But then I would watch a video from Asia. Whether it is Korea, Japan, or China they all pointed to being part of something. Not being alone, and lonely. These videos pointed a way; a route and a direction for me to follow. They reminded me over and over that YOU ARE NOT ALONE. You are always part of something bigger.
As this video shows. This man is part of a trio of three people, but he always believed that he was alone. Nope. He was one of three. Together we are strong. Together we can do great things. Together we are significant.
You are NEVER alone. You are part of something bigger.
It’s just that those in the West (most ESPECIALLY Americans) don’t see this because the entire government and social structure is one of divide and conquer. Put people in isolation. Make them alone. Feed them drugs and passive entertainment. Get them addicted, and feed off them.
But in watching this video spoke to me. I could see that there was an option out. That I could join a society where I was an equal contributor and one where I was appreciated, and had a role. And now I am part of something bigger socially. And like this video, where the fellow was part of three. I am now part of a place, and a people that accepts, appreciates me.
We all need this.
Do not buy into the belief of isolation is being a “lone wolf” and that it will make you fantastically rich and wealthy. It’s a fucking lie.
Be part of a community.
Group D Videos HERE. It's about twenty five to thirty great videos of amazing Chinese women.
And here’s a little preview on what to expect…
But America is exceptional!
Today is the 100 year anniversary of the government of China.
Do you guys have any idea what happened in America on it’s 100 year anniversary? Yeah. It was right after the American Civil War, [1] the Federal government formally dissolved the tenth amendment (States Rights), [2] legalized slavery by renaming it “being a felon”, [3] destroyed the entire South-East of the United States under “Reconstruction”. And shortly afterwards went forth to fight wars with everyone.
All this, all these actions, have consequences. They are not “something” that “happened in the past”. All things must be bought and paid for. Even though those particular individuals have died, and their bodies have long rotted away, their souls, and their beings live off the quanta that they accumulated in those times.
Those quanta are still active. They are still “alert”. They need to be “dispersed”.
It is not that there is some great celestial “goal keeper” keeping score.
But rather, a recognition that the physical reality is far more complex than most humans realize. Everything is attached with everything else.
And since there is no such thing as time, the events and crimes against humanity that happened two hundred years ago still must be atoned for. The quanta-attachments are not settled.
It’s a “ticking time bomb”.
My guess is that during this generational turning, the build-up of the unseen must be rather enormous.
In America today
I am glad that I am not living inside of America right now.
It’s all starting to unravel.
But it is not being reported in that manner.
Here’s a scene from New York city…
Here’s another scene from the United States.
Just a “random” event. Nothing to see here. Keep moving on. Eh?
Some thoughts on stuff
What does food, pretty girls, media manipulation, bombs in New York, the concept of being part of something, and meat pie ladies have in common?
What?
They are all the outcomes of elements, of a host of events, that are occurring in the NON-PHYSICAL reality.
Our brains make it so that we want to keep things isolated in nice little neat boxes. There is a war in Taiwan, and it will be way over there and won’t affect anyone in Utah. Or, wearing a mask is a sign of loss of rights. Or that America is number one! And was, and is the best!
Really?
Yes. Really!
Silly, me.
Let’s take a look at the deaths for the “pandemic” shall we? It seems that America is actually the WORST place to be on the entire world right now. And the only way that you can justify this kind of “in your face” data is to deny it. To go around saying that the COVID is a hoax. To go and say that all media is bullshit, except the USA media, and so on, and so forth.
But that’s the bullshit that is being fed to Americans today.
You cannot take these selected snippets of information and consider yourself an expert on things.That is silly, but that is exactly what these “experts” in Washington DC, and those “think tanks” do. They don’t see the entire picture.
They write about China, and have written about China for five decades now, and never ONCE stepped inside the nation, learned Chinese, or had shao Kou.
They are like the guy in a restaurant that is complaining about a broken toothpick will ignoring the food, the table, the others in the room and everything else. Eventually he will rant on and on about that fucking toothpick, walk outside and get hit by a truck.
It’s the Fourth of July
America is NOT exceptional.
America is a failure, and American democracy is a failure. And these two truths must be reckoned with before the United States, and the people of the United States can get off their collective asses and start to do something about it.
I want to see America perform a course correction.
I want to see the American government to start caring for the American people. Not promoting one war after the other. They are going to get huge numbers of people hurt.
US strategy looks to be based on the thought that China will capitulate when the stakes become nuclear. Limited conventional war to blockade China at which point China capitulates. It is going to be an exceptionally bloody war if US goes down that road. They will experience what Modi's "brave jawan" experienced in the Galwin valley.
Posted by: Peter AU1
From all indications, the American oligarchy will not permit a controlled implosion of the American nation. They want to externalize it. They want to go out in a volley of hell and destruction.
That scares the living crap out of me.
But…
Be part of a community.
What we see is only a fraction of what there is
This is what I am trying to vocalize, but the subject is way too deep to get involved in.
Beauty, food, love, relationships, being good, Rufus behaviors, constructive efforts all are positives in building quantum associations in the non-physical reality.
While the build up of negative and destructive elements of quanta continues as well. Generational turnings are a release from the build-up. If the release is suppressed or avoided, the build up will continue until it becomes an enormous avalanche. And is very dangerous.
YOU MUST SEE EVERYTHING TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IS ACTUALLY GOING ON.
Most of what you see is a distraction.
However, when taken as a whole you can see that there is a great deal of bullshit, distortions, and illusions that are shrouding the judgments in the West. The greater the media influences, the less people are able to reason things out.
What is actually going on is far more interesting, and not all that gloomy. Those in Washington DC think that they know what is going on, but they are about 45 steps behind in the great game of Geo-political chess.
Rufus is the embodiment of the good.
Guns, wars, threats and destruction is the embodiment of the bad.
Let’s look at some videos, and images. Here’s some things to ponder…
Rufus saves a driver who has collapsed at the toll booth…
This is China. I would post these kinds of Rufus movies from America if I could find them. But they are getting fewer and far between as time moves on.
China teaches and instills discipline in elementary school.
All Chinese students MUST take part in paramilitary training. The big major training period is in middle school. This is the most fundamental training for the formation of the Chinese “irregulars”. But certain geographical regions require earlier training in elementary school. Check it out.
And keep in mind that the Chinese DO NOT PLAY. They are a serious, serious nation and they are fighting for their lives against a belligerent American Military Empire run by complete psychopaths.
Soak it in. If you are an American you know how true this is. This guy was waving the flag of Puerto Rico which is an American territory. But that angered the illiterate urban youth who shot him dead.
It is not a healthy nation. She’s doing “her thing”, and all that “freedom” stuff. That’s why she is dead today. There is no freedom, just a bunch of words bantered about by the ultra-wealthy.
Just because the United States is completely falling to pieces, does not mean that the rest of the world is.
Actually the rest of the world is getting on far better now that there are some attack-dogs (China and Russia) willing to bitch-slap the out-of-control monster that the West has become. And with the guardians of tradition and sensibility in charge, the psychopaths have only one, and only ONE option, to maintain control. That option is destroy the world and hope that they can survive in their bunkers.
So is there going to be world war III?
What is actually going on? Well, you know there’s a great big build-up of negative energy, quanta, or qi in the United States right now. Not so much in the rest of the world.
Just in the United States, and it’s client nations.
And a release valve needs to be tapped. It doesn’t matter if it is a nation, a people, a place, a thing or something else. Understand what it is.
Please be the beacon; the light that shines happiness to those around you.
Contribute in your community.
Smile more
Be helpful
Be the best you can be.
Participate.
Make friends, over and over, until you have some good ones.
Be part of a community. Once you are part of a group you will never be alone ever again.
My final present
Absorb this. The measure of our worth, as determined by our benefactors, is how we help and assist others within our community. For that defines our most important trait. A trait which gauges our relative value.
Do you want more?
You can find many more videos in my “Learning about China by looking at pretty girls index” over here…
"Chinese women look like adolescent children, they are flat chested, petite, subservient, timid, and look like little "brown" waifs."
It’s not at all true. It’s not at all realistic. It’s a terrible distortion of reality.
And it irritates me.
Most especially because I was facing 80 years at hard labor in the hot cotton plantations of Southern Arkansas. And the litany of excuses used to turn my life upside down were spellbinding in the lies, distortions, corrupted understandings, and just pure hatred that spewed forth from the Arkansas legal system.
I painted in figurine oils, so I must have a sex fetish.
I quit my career as a “heavy hitter” upper-management Vice President in a technology company to take care of my dying mother, and that became “lives with parent, unemployed, with no friends”.
And all my travels to China were not for business. Instead they were to indulge into my wild sick fantasies of sex with women who looked like little children.
Oh. It’s all fun and games. That is, until you are behind bars, and everyone despises you. They sit at you. They sneer, and call you names. All on bogus lies, and accusations.
The beliefs of many Americans are shaped by the government, wealthy oligarchs, and a rabid group of for-profit televangelists that emphasize the collection of money to fight “the scourge”.
And I was “this close” from spending the rest of my life behind bars because some red-neck hicks believed that Chinese women looked like little children.
About the girls
Chinese women are many things. But scared waifs, brown skinned, short tiny and petite, and flat chested are not them.
Rural Nigerian girl. Often confused as Chinese by her oval eyes.
Sigh.
Here is part ten of my series on learning about China by looking at pretty girls. This particular collection consists of a very average selection of attractive Chinese girls, and you all might just be “blown away” by the content. Indeed, there are some favorites in here.
I was told, directly to my face, that “Chinese women look like five year old children”. This is by the entire Judicial Department in Little Rock, Arkansas. Does this woman look like a five year old to you? To me, she must be at least over eight years old.
Let’s get on to the girls of China, eh?
That’s why you are here, eh?
The idea here is that you would look at the girl, and in the process concentrate on the background around her. Because these are the “real deals”. This is what China is. And while the girls want you to focus on them, their eyes, their faces, their bodies, the background tells us much about where they live.
Besides… who doesn’t like to look at attractive people? And don’t you lie. It’s biologically encoded in all humans. (Bet you didn’t know that!)
And when I look at women, I look at them with different “eyes” than most do. Certainly, when I was younger I looked at at attractive woman and thought about sex. But that pretty much evaporated as life hit and I entered adulthood. Now when I look at an attractive woman I look at…
Form, and shape. This is my “artistic eye” that I use to judge what it would be like to paint her on canvas. Eyes are easy to paint. It’s the face frame is this more of a challenge.
Her personality. What characteristics she alludes.
Her body structure. I personally prefer a stout woman; a robust woman, that has a nice “fish shape”. But that does not mean that I am not attracted to other forms. A petite, or thin, or even short curvy woman are all attractive in “my book”.
And finally…
I always imagine what it would be like to go out. Maybe on a “date”, or simply just for lunch or dinner, or coffee. With them. Talking. Chatting. Looking good. Feeling good. Eating delicious foods, and drinking things in a nice slow pleasurably leisure pace.
And seriously guys. And then, say maybe mid-meal, I pretty much know how I want or desire to proceed with the relationship after the meal. Whether it’s going to be playful fun, a good friend, a ship that passes in the night, or something more substantive.
To Open the Files
Like my other posts.
Just unzip to whatever folder you want and then just play the first video, the other videos will play immediately afterwards (if you follow the default settings on your OS). Most videos are between one and a half to four minutes long. All told each zip file will give you about five to ten minutes of viewing.
A fine Chinese woman. She’s in her late forties, early fifties. She’s a “looker”, and attractive. She is in no way a “child appearing brown-skin waif”.
I find the ladies lovely. But others might not.
For you others, well, I really hope that you are not too bored.
While I tend to prefer ladies with a more motherly and robust appearance, I find all of them to be very attractive. From the tall thin leggy beauties to the short cute little kitten like cuddle balls. But of course, most people from Arkansas think that my interest in these gals are because they look preadolescent.
A Chinese girl in her 20’s. She is attractive. But does not look like a child.
Really. Do you think that this beauty looks like a ten year old child?
I like women in all their attributes.
Just like I like cats in all their glory.
Women are like cats. You accept them as they are. You do not try to change them, or make them “better”. You live with them in peace and shared affection, or they will get up, leave the room, lick their wounds and find another place to hang out at.
Many women get this serious unsmiling look on their face. Not attractive. If you want to see attractive women, watch a J-Pop video. Like TWICE.
This gal has everything that I find attractive in a woman. Big smile. Clean appearance. Longish hair that is clean, healthy and well maintained. Robust Chest, is playful. Is wearing comfortable clothes that fit her well.
TWICE “Heart Shaker”
You know, all of the girls of TWICE are ethnically Han Chinese. It’s a K-Pop group.
TWICE (트와이스) is a girl group consisting of 9 members: Jihyo, Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, Sana, Mina, Dahyun, Chaeyoung, and Tzuyu. The band debuted on October 20, 2015, through the survival show Sixteen, under JYP Entertainment. As of February 2020, JYPE is partnering with Republic Records to help promote TWICE worldwide.
Here’s one of their videos. This one is “Heart Shaker”.
Notice how great and happy they “feel”. I argue that it is the smiles that they have. The smiles. The big glorious smiles! Watching the video will show that it’s the smiles that radiate…
Go ahead watch it. Pay particular attention to the smiles.
This is true for the human sexes, as it is for animals, for flowers and for things such as building and art. Personally, I find art that massages the soul to be truly beautiful and inspirational. Which is why I have a complete index devoted to the subject.
If you had a choice, wouldn’t you prefer to surround yourselves with beautiful things, beautiful creatures, beautiful places, and beautiful relationships. It is up to us to attract and emit the same kinds of attractions. Whether it is beauty, kindness or happiness. We become what we emit.
Maybe that is why I associate women, girls, ladies with fine and delicious food.
Some women remind me of delicious steamy burritos covered in hot delicious cheese.
This post discusses Han Chinese women and why they do not at all resemble the American narrative. And I am also including a MM lesson here. Smiles will increase your relative attractiveness to others by a good three (3!) points. After all, four points are all you need to have someone consider you to be attractive.
Be clean and well-groomed. (+1)
Dress comfortably and be yourself. (+1)
Smile (+3)
You will attract others. With +5 points you will be unstoppable.
This is important if you are going out on a date, interviewing for a job, meeting in-laws for the first time, trying to get a customer, or just want to make new friends. Smile.
Again. Check out the smiles on these girls from the group TWICE. The song is called “Ooh-Aah.”
Go ahead watch it. Pay particular attention to the smiles.
As I have said before…
Being a man, eventually you reach a balance point where your hormones are under control and all you really want to do is get to know the girl, have a good time together, and enjoy the moments. And really as you get older this becomes more and more pronounced.
You savor the steaks you eat. You enjoy the perfume she wears, you listen to her talk and enjoy the night air after the dinner. You joke, you laugh, and maybe sing a song or two while walking on the jetty.
Women are magical.
When I think of women, I tend to think of doing things with them. You know like some Korean BBQ.
To go out, chat on in a mall, go window shopping with, and enjoy a nice meal. Maybe Thai or Viet food is always a pleasure with companionship. Colorful, tasty, delicious and relaxing. I can easily picture sharing a steamed fish and some coconut / pineapple rice together.
Delicious and savory South East Asian food.
I think that the beauty of these videos is that in a few seconds you can see the “personality” of the ladies as they try to display their charms for the world to see. It’s their choice of clothing, the area where the video was filmed, the selection of music, the way their hair is done up, and so much more.
Like the clothes that they chose to spend the evening in, and the choice of shoes that they wore. Guys, you all had best be more attentive. Don’t you know.
I do not know what it is called, but boy does it look delicious.
Each little video is like a window to the soul. Where you get a little glimpse of the girl behind the mask. That little presentation is just pure gold.
They make me hungry.
I can’t help but think of buttered French baguettes, and some delicious soft cheese. Which reminds me of a friend that I was chatting with. She told me about the sad, sad story about how rural towns in France have been replacing their hand-made home-made (authentic) baguettes with machine made replacements. It’s horrible!
I mean… WHY! In God’s name; WHY?
Ah….(authentic) baguettes.
These wonderful, and delicious crunchy bits of Heaven are now being replaced by these pale imitations of robotic mass-production…
Fake baguettes have now flooded the rural French countryside.
For me, it is like replacing a nice dry red wine with grape soda. There is NO comparison.
For me it is like replacing a beautiful flower bed full of roses with plastic flowers stolen from a cemetery.
It’s horrible!
Notice the lack of air pockets, and the lack of a tough crusty exterior. No personality at all. Just a homogeneous blob.
Yuck!
I just cannot imagine any French person referring to this , this as a baguette.
Back to the girls of China
They like women all over the world, have beauty. And like elsewhere they all have their charms.
Some have personality.
Some girls have personality.
And some really do.
While others just have a strong softness. Some are calm and composed, some are happy and light.
Some have stories to tell, and adventures to experience.
Maybe you too can become part of their adventures.
Some girls are living an adventure.
Some have a great body.
Some girls work on physical training and it shows. I, myself, love to life weights. Though I have really toned down my passion in this area, I cannot help but admire the effort that these gals put into their program.
They have long legs, or great dimples. Some have just long, long hair or dark, dark eyes. Some have a soft touch, while others have a careful composed prettiness.
Some have a wonderful smile.
Some girls have a natural smile that is warm and inviting.
Some women are comforting.
They calm me. They sooth me. They relax me. They are like clean laundry blowing in the breeze on a sunny Spring day. Or like a nice toasted cheese sandwich that you eat with a bowl of tomato soup.
Some girls are like a nice toasted cheese sandwich that you eat with a bowl of tomato soup.
Some just look great in a particular outfit, while others just fit the particular environment.
Some girls look great in a particular outfit.
Girls, ladies, women are like beautiful flowers that should be treasured and cherished. For they are all wonderful.
But do not mistake the cuteness of a tiger for the damage it could cause if you angered it. Chinese women are very, very capable people. You can take that “to the bank”. Never fail to understand that they are strong, knowledgeable and powerful in their own right.
The girls of China tend to be very beautiful.
All are wonderful.
Such is the beauty of women. And for us, and for everyone, we need to appreciative the world around us more.
Some girls remind me of a cat that ate the bird.
Some girls take me to another time and place; and reality.
Some girls alter my reality.
And that’s what relationships do. So if you want to have a great adventure on your world-line travels hook up with a partner that will accentuate your world-line adventures through the MWI.
Some girls remind me of ravioli. Good. Warm. Delicious. Tasty. Pleasant aroma, and so fulfilling.
Some girls remind me of ravioli. Good. Warm. Delicious. Tasty. Pleasant aroma, and so fulfilling.
This girl reminds me of ice cream stands on hot Summer days. Maybe with a nice creamy orange-cream ice-cream. Or, perhaps a “Blizzard” with crunched up Oreo cookies as a topping. Or maybe a frosty root-beer float.
This girl reminds me of ice cream stands on hot Summer days.
As I have elaborated upon in other posts, I now associate women, girls and ladies with food. In fact, when I look at food I think of women. And when I look at women I think of food. I suppose that you all must think that I am completely bonkers in this regard.
But that’s just the way it is.
This gal reminds me of hot buttered corn, with Lays potato chips, dill garlic spears (pickles), potato salad, and Mr. Pibb. (An American soft drink.)
When I think of women wearing comfortable casual clothes I imagine us in the house together. She’s cooking on the stove wearing an apron. I know, I’m such an old fashioned chauvinist guy, and us talking. I sit there sipping on a wine, and helping her, maybe doing some food prep and she’s busy talking about this or that. Nothing too serious, but fun, light conversation that is engaging and delightful.
A delightful woman is like a fine loaf of bread, piping hot, out of the oven, hot and toasty.
Now, I know. I know. I mean it; I know that this is not what anyone really WANTS to hear.
They want to hear about sex, and porn. they want to hear about expensive clothing, makeup and beauty perfection. They want to hear about the salacious details on dates and relationships that have turned sour.
Not here.
(I’ve) been there. Done that.
I just want to have a good time and munch.
These two girls remind me of the silliest thing. I imagine left over meatloaf, on two slices of white bread with a bunch of ketchup on top. Don’t ask me why. Because I am not aware of the associative meaning.
And just because I enjoy the more curvy robust girls, that doesn’t mean that I do not find other women just as attractive. Some of my favorite girls are short, thin and very petite. But that is just me.
I like them all.
Just like I like Pizza, cheeseburgers, steaks and fried chicken. Don’t force me to choose. I just cannot. I love them all. And that is the same with beauty. There is no set idea of perfection, but rather a wide and diverse spectrum of characteristics that all work together to create an “image”.
A wonderful woman is like a fine roasted chicken. Tender and hot on the inside, and a bit crunchy on the outside.
We have to be more aware, and certainly more appreciative.
Not every girl is a “ten”. But that rating scale is based upon appearance alone. When the actual characteristics of a person consists of a wide spectrum of attributes. From appearance to personal grooming. To manners, the way that they talk, their friends, and their interests. To kindness, dreams, and opinions on life. Everything combines to a whole. And you all will not get that in a static image.
This gal reminds me of kite flying, a blanket on the lawn, two bottles of red wine (or chardonnay) and some hard crusty rolls with Gorgonzola cheese.
When I look at something, or someone who is beautiful it first strikes my interest. This is a normal reaction and there is nothing evil, disgusting or slimy about it. People naturally gravitate towards the attractive. But you know, and I am certain that some dog owners know, that even the most ugly dogs have characteristics that make them very special and beautiful in our eyes.
And that’s one of the great things about life.
It’s to experience beauty in everything. To appreciate beauty in everything, and to contribute to that beauty in good, substantive, and helpful ways. To make the life better for friends and family; to improve society and to rid the world of the evil, the confused and the horrible.
This girl reminds me of a jar of hot mixed vegetables. When I mean “hot”, I mean spicy. When you pickle vegetables with hot peppers. It’s oh so tasty. Like this woman here.
In this particular post we will look at these groups of videos. I do hope that you enjoy them…
You all might wonder why I am posting these pictures on the internet. But you shouldn’t.
Try to find pictures of beautiful girls from China using Google, Bing or any American or Western search engine. What you will get are stock images, advertisements, pictures of children, and professional photos associated with some Western “journalism”.
Now this is sexy.
Nonsense. This is what it’s like.
This is the real, honest to goodness deal.
The Videos
All the Videos HERE. It’s all in one big zip file. Just download and open up and watch. I hope you all enjoy them. 337 MB.
Oh, and don’t leave yet!
Special Bonus
Here’s another TWICE video. Please pay attention to all the smiles, and the upbeat action. This one is a favorite of mine (and my daughter) because it was filmed in Boston. And I have many, many fond memories of Boston Massachusetts.
The song and video is “Likey”. As you watch it, please keep in mind that people are attracted to smiles. You might be ugly as shit, but a big toothy smile will open doors for you.
Chalk it up to MM survival hints 101.
Go ahead watch it. Pay particular attention to the smiles.
Do not forget that a nice big smile can open up many doors.
And if you are a woman, and you want to snag a man, a very special guy, then smell like donuts. (Just joking. Kind of.) Actually, though, there is an entire website to the science behind perfume selection in this regard. You might want to visit it here.
Do you want more?
You can find many more videos in my “Learning about China by looking at pretty girls index” over here…
Here is part nine of my series on learning about China by looking at pretty girls. This particular collection consists of a very average selection of attractive Chinese girls, and you all might just be “blown away” by the content. Indeed, there are some favorites in here.
I’ve been spending way too much time dealing with the rubble of Metallicman after the three detailed attacks on my system, my content and my subscriber base. Apparently the people who attacked MM were not so worried about what I had been posting, but they wanted to know who have been subscribing to it, and since they couldn’t extract the data they tried to brute-force crowbar their way into the databases.
They failed, but boy or boy did they leave a lot of wreckage behind. I guess, I really don’t know, but I guess, that their normal loopholes that they normally exploit revolve around the profit ends and the collection of data in that venture. And since I don’t do that, they were left scrambling to find other means to enter. All of which failed.
I wrote up a great post, that has been up for hours and no one is reading it. So I wonder why. Well they also corrupted my URL assignment code. Jeeze! Don’t these guys have better things to do with their time?
It seems really strange to me. Most MM readers are rather congenial, don’t you know. So I figure it must be a problem on my end. Sigh. So I’ve been debugging it all evening. Jeeze part two. Can’t I ever get a break?
But something else curious has been happening.
More than just a few people have been writing to me through the ‘back channels” telling me of similar events that they are experiencing. Taken as a whole, it seems that something bigger than just a nefarious hacking attempt has occurred.
I am a regular reader of your site. I am living in France, so I guess I must be 7 hours behind you. In any case, I experienced the problems on June 2, given the time difference from where you're at. Anyway, I had a "taunting" kind of dream very early in the morning and my husband couldn't stop bugging me. I couldn't gather my thoughts. He only calmed down and went to sleep after I started thinking that some outside force was using him as a conduit to bother me.
It was a blatantly ridiculous dream where someone tries to haunt me by saying "we know what you did in the past", which I brushed off and thought, "well i'm not the only sinner here hypocrite, and even then I'm a fucking saint by comparison"... But still, this is not a typical dream. Usually my dreams are just nonsense. It felt like it was a deliberate attack. A bullshit attack to be sure, but definitely felt "deliberate". I can't explain except that's how I felt when I woke up. I have no "proof". Just a very strong feeling, so take that as you will.
Anyway, I wake up to my morning routine, which includes visiting your site for new articles. I see that your site is loading very slowly or not at all. I tried several times, but no dice. Then I immediately get a rash of appointment cancellations. I told myself to stay steady and remember my "homing thoughts" and to not break my stride. I also thought that this attack would not come if the resistance was not on the correct path.
The next day, your site is working fine again. I get some additional perfect reviews and new appointments. I'm not saying the events I experienced are connected to what happened to you, but I had a sense that something was going to go haywire in the early morning of my suspicious dream. I was surprised to find out that Zhuhai experienced a suspiciously prolonged electromagnetic storm during this time.
Maybe you had other readers who experienced something strange or "off" the day your site got attacked. If this occurred, then it's definitely something worth remembering and keeping in the back of the mind for future reference.
In any case, I (and I'm sure many silent readers as well) are grateful for your work and the information you put out there.
-Anonymous M
Well, yeah. How the heck does someone not connected with the operation of the site also have odd and unusual experiences happening to them as well? So I responded…
Thank you for that. You are not the only one. Something has occurred, and it's bigger than what we humans understand. There was a battle, or reset, or "something". Call it an adjustment, if you want. But something happened. Yeah, you are not crazy.
Anyways…
Speaking of a “break”…
I’ve discovered another fine “white wine” that I have “taken a shine to”. It’s very cheap, and tastes great. But it’s at 43% alcohol instead of 55%. Never the less, aside from that, it’s rippin’ good. So it charges me up and refreshes me at the same time. Perhaps I have become more like BenderBendingRodríguez who needs alcohol to function properly. Heh heh.
Bender Bending Rodríguez
I’ve been so wrapped up in dealing with the carnage that I haven’t had the time to enjoy the little pleasures in life. Like good food, good drink and fine companionship. Now that’s a shame, eh?
Let’s get on to the girls of China, eh?
That’s why you are here, eh?
The idea here is that you would look at the girl, and in the process concentrate on the background around her. Because these are the “real deals”. This is what China is. And while the girls want you to focus on them, their eyes, their faces, their bodies, the background tells us much about where they live.
Besides… who doesn’t like to look at attractive people? And don’t you lie. It’s biologically encoded in all humans. (Bet you didn’t know that!)
Women look at other women with “different eyes” than men do. Of course, everyone knows this. Let’s look at this picture below.
Here’s my comments.
Her eyebrows are perfect. Just perfect. You can see the lines and details in them. very nice. Very sweet.
Nice robust chest with a very comfortable top, and the way that those jeans fit her is really awesome. This is the “go around town” outfit where you feel good and comfortable and wear the clothes like a second skin.
I like the necklace. But I wonder what is it’s significance. Does the letter “H” mean something, or is it just an accessory? Us guys usually haven’t a clue, but when we are out eating a noon meal with the woman in question, ti would probably come up as a conversation piece.
I have to say that her hair is distressed. It’s thin, and seems to be over processed. I think that she needs to seriously condition it. My guess is that she has been changing her hair color far too often than she should.
She looks to be in her 30’s. But this is China, she could easily be in her 40’s without any issue.
To Open the Files
Like my other posts.
Just unzip to whatever folder you want and then just play the first video, the other videos will play immediately afterwards (if you follow the default settings on your OS). Most videos are between one and a half to four minutes long. All told each zip file will give you about five to ten minutes of viewing.
Here is a younger lass. She’s in her 20’s. She have a very Asian face, and a very round face as opposed to an oval face. Like all Chinese, her eye color is brown. But with black hair and brown eyes, what’s not to love? I do love the way that he lips part, and the red color just matches her skin complexion. You will notice that the skin is pale. This is considered to be beautiful in China. Even in the Southern regions near Guangzhou.
She has a nice robust chest, and is wearing a cute top with a curious pattern. It seems to be embroidered, which (if you know me) is one of my loves. I just love embroidered work. Especially shirts and jackets.
Judging from the video, I would guess that she is in her middle 20’s and is healthy and fit. But I could be wrong. She might be 80 years old. It’s difficult to tell the age of a Chinese woman, don’t you know.
I find the ladies lovely. But others might not.
For you others, well, I really hope that you are not too bored.
While I tend to prefer ladies with a more motherly and robust appearance, I find all of them to be very attractive. From the tall thin leggy beauties to the short cute little kitten like cuddle balls. But of course, most people from Arkansas think that my interest in these gals are because they look preadolescent. Really. Do you think that this beauty looks like a ten year old child?
This gal has everything that I find attractive in a woman. Big smile. Clean appearance. Longish hair that is clean, healthy and well maintained. Robust Chest, is playful. Is wearing comfortable clothes that fit her well. And has hands that dance…
…do you know what I mean “that dance”…
…smooth articulated moments that move like water, and are graceful and calm. Peaceful and eloquent.
Some key points
Beauty is up to the person who views it.
This is true for the human sexes, as it is for animals, for flowers and for things such as building and art. Personally, I find art that massages the soul to be truly beautiful and inspirational. Which is why I have a complete index devoted to the subject.
But, what I consider to be beautiful might repel others. And likewise, what others find beautiful repels me.
Consider this work of “art”…
Is this “art”? Is this “beautiful”? Does this evoke the senses?
I argue that it’s a contemporaneous joke that is trying to capitalize on the current contentious political scene. Not any kind of work of value, no matter what your political persuasion is. Art evokes the senses and stirs the emotions. If it fails to do so, then it is not art.
But beauty comes in many forms and many shapes. While this particular post or article is about the beauty of Chinese ladies, I argue that beauty can be found everywhere. Look at cats for instance…
A beautiful cat.
And I have said this many, many times before.
If you had a choice, wouldn’t you prefer to surround yourselves with beautiful things, beautiful creatures, beautiful places, and beautiful relationships. It is up to us to attract and emit the same kinds of attractions. Whether it is beauty, kindness or happiness. We become what we emit.
Again. Nice eyebrows. Very Chinese eyes.
Short fingernails. She’s obviously a working or office girl. You try typing on a keyboard with long fingernails. Oh, Lordly as if that’s going to happen. Not!
Nice chest. Very cuddly soft sweater. Personally I find the bright blue too garish for my personal tastes, but she looks good in it.
Now, when I was younger, my tastes in women were shaped by the images and magazines of the time such as Playboy, and Penthouse. That’s all I had to go on, and as a young man, with my hormones a raging, all I could do is tremble as I asked a girl out. Which most of the time was a failure.
But it’s all a growth phase that we all go through.
This chick has over processed her hair. I really don’t think that she should do this. But in all fairness, she is going for a “look”. You can tell by her clothing and her lipstick color.
Notice the background. She is in a typical Chinese housing complex, and the view is very common throughout China.
Bing a man, eventually you reach a balance point where your hormones are under control and all you really want to do is get to know the girl, have a good time together, and enjoy the moments. And really as you get older this becomes more and more pronounced.
You savor the steaks you eat. You enjoy the perfume she wears, you listen to her talk and enjoy the night air after the dinner. You joke, you laugh, and maybe sing a song or two while walking on the jetty.
Women are magical.
I will bet that this girl (below) would be fun to be with. To go out, chat on in a mall, go window shopping with, and enjoy a nice meal. Maybe Thai or Viet food. Colorful, tasty, delicious and relaxing. I can easily picture sharing a steamed fish and some coconut / pineapple rice together.
I think that the beauty of these videos is that in a few seconds you can see the “personality” of the ladies as they try to display their charms for the world to see. It’s their choice of clothing, the area where the video was filmed, the selection of music, the way their hair is done up, and so much more.
Like the clothes that they chose to spend the evening in, and the choice of shoes that they wore. Guys, you all had best be more attentive. Don’t you know.
Each little video is like a window to the soul. Where you get a little glimpse of the girl behind the mask. That little presentation is just pure gold.
Some have personality.
And some really do. While others just have a strong softness. Some are calm and composed, some are happy and light. And some are stunning and serious while others remind you of Summer carnival rides, cotton candy and “bear claw” cakes to s’munch upon.
Like this girl below. I would love to ride on a merry-go-round with her, a roller-coaster, or just explore a fun house while snapping videos to post on Tictok.
Some have a great body.
They have long legs, or great dimples. Some have just long, long hair or dark, dark eyes. Some have a soft touch, while others have a careful composed prettiness.
Some have a wonderful smile.
Some just look great in a particular outfit, while others just fit the particular environment. Girls, ladies, women are like beautiful flowers that should be treasured and cherished. For they are all wonderful.
But do not mistake the cuteness of a tiger for the damage it could cause if you angered it. Chinese women are very, very capable people. You can take that “to the bank”. Never fail to understand that they are strong, knowledgeable and powerful in their own right.
This girl below has artistic hands. Much like I have. She’s really pretty typical, but this particular pose would be really nice to paint in oils. Just remove the damn camera phone so that I can get a decent look at her face. You do know girls that there is more to your being than just your hips and chest. Your entire face is what presents your image to the world. Omit that, and you are just a thing.
I get it. You are proud of your attractive body. And I, like most me, appreciate that body. But when I am with a chick it’s how I picture us interacting together that means more than just the appearance. From the simple morning hello, to the nighttime escapades. What makes a person special is how they carry themselves.
All are wonderful.
Such is the beauty of women. And for us, and for everyone, we need to appreciative the world around us more.
Some girls just make me melt, and some with pony tails are just adorable. Here is a girl in a country backyard garden. It’s pretty typical China with blue skies, bright green colors and warm temperatures.
Oh, I guess that I am a tad bit crazy. When I see an attractive girl all I want to do is be with them and talk. Hopefully over food. This idea that I would associate attractive girls with food is nothing that I would ever believe when I was younger. But here we are.
In those days, I was always in a hurry. Eat, run, work at a frantic pace. Get laid off. Hustle to find new work. Work at a frantic pace to learn the job. Hurry up. Do the task. Complete the task. Crash. layoff. Repeat.
Now I savor life.
I savor the time that I share with others, and I appreciate the time that they devote in getting ready to go out with me. I appreciate the clothes that they wear, and the behaviors that they have. I pay special attention to what they have to say and why.
Speaking of food…
Here’s a random selection of some of the food and meals that I had over the last few weeks. Just like in my prayer / affirmation campaigns; “I eat fine, delicious and healthy food in a calm and relaxed manner with friends and family”.
Sweet and sour pork. Authentic Chinese Guangzhou style.
Sweet and sour pork is one of my favorite Chinese dishes. There is a sort of pale-copy of it in Chinese American restaurants back in the United States, but the real deal is fresh. It’s not pre-packaged out of a bag and cooked up on the stove like it is in America.
And here’s what I talk about when I eat beef….
Vietnamese style ginger beef. Oh so tender and so very delicious.
As much as I love a fine steak ( Filetmignon is my favorite), I do love those really tender slices of beef that are cooked oh so very right. So yummy.
The next meal was taken in a Dim Sum restaurant and the lunch meal was extraordinary. Of course, the main meals are great and tasty but make for great conversation pieces, like these little tank crapes…
Battle Dim Sum meal.
I love food in all of it’s many incarnations. And being in the Guangzhou area we get a fine selection of South East Asian food. I must tell you’se guys that Singapore food is just awesome, as is Malaysian, Cambodian, Thai and Vietnamese. Many of them have ingredients that are unavailable in the United States part of it is because of price, but a lot of it is because they are banned.
For the children…
…don’t you know.
Check out this nice Thai shrimp…
Sweet curried prawns.
We have some favorite restaurants that we hold VIP membership with. These “memberships” are an on going thing all over China. You get 20% off the price, a waiver of the various fees for tea, napkins, seats and rice, and preferential treatment. To get it you must deposit a few thousand yuan in the establishment and then you pay your bill drawing from that account.
And here’s a nice meal that I had in one of our “family restaurants”…
Pork neck and curried chicken.
For some odd reason, I now associate women, girls and ladies with food. In fact, when I look at food I think of women. And when I look at women I think of food. I suppose that you all must think that I am completely bonkers in this regard. But that’s just the way it is.
When I think of women wearing comfortable casual clothes I imagine us in the house together. She’s cooking on the stove wearing an apron. I know, I’m such an old fashioned chauvinist guy, and us talking. I sit there sipping on a wine, and helping her, maybe doing some food prep and she’s busy talking about this or that. Nothing too serious, but fun, light conversation that is engaging and delightful.
Now, I know. I know. I mean it; I know that this is not what anyone really WANTS to hear.
They want to hear about sex, and porn. they want to hear about expensive clothing, makeup and beauty perfection. They want to hear about the salacious details on dates and relationships that have turned sour.
Not here.
(I’ve) been there. Done that.
I just want to have a good time and munch.
And that young girl going out with “her crew”, see the beauty of her age around and what they are doing. As I have said, beauty comes in all shapes, sizes, ages, and types. And just because I enjoy the more curvy robust girls, that doesn’t mean that I do not find other women just as attractive. Some of my favorite girls are short, thin and very petite. But that is just me.
I like them all.
Just like I like Pizza, cheeseburgers, steaks and fried chicken. Don’t force me to choose. I just cannot. I love them all. And that is the same with beauty. There is no set idea of perfection, but rather a wide and diverse spectrum of characteristics that all work together to create an “image”.
I just love how she parts open her lips. What a very nice image.
We have to be more aware, and certainly more appreciative.
Not every girl is a “ten”. But that rating scale is based upon appearance alone. When the actual characteristics of a person consists of a wide spectrum of attributes. From appearance to personal grooming. To manners, the way that they talk, their friends, and their interests. To kindness, dreams, and opinions on life. Everything combines to a whole. And you all will not get that in a static image.
When I look at something, or someone who is beautiful it first strikes my interest. This is a normal reaction and there is nothing evil, disgusting or slimy about it. People naturally gravitate towards the attractive. But you know, and I am certain that some dog owners know, that even the most ugly dogs have characteristics that make them very special and beautiful in our eyes.
And that’s one of the great things about life.
It’s to experience beauty in everything. To appreciate beauty in everything, and to contribute to that beauty in good, substantive, and helpful ways. To make the life better for friends and family; to improve society and to rid the world of the evil, the confused and the horrible.
What I like about this particular picture is this model (and she is a model. She models trousers) is how comfortable she appears. She has a nice chest, thin waist, but the pants fit like a very comfortable glove. Haven’t you’se guys ever had clothing that felt so good when you put them on, that you felt… regal? Well, that is the feeling that I get from this particular picture.
In this particular post we will look at these groups of videos. I do hope that you enjoy them…
You all might wonder why I am posting these pictures on the internet. But you shouldn’t.
Try to find pictures of beautiful girls from China using Google, Bing or any American or Western search engine. What you will get are stock images, advertisements, pictures of children, and professional photos associated with some Western “journalism”.
Oh, and don’t leave yet! Let’s talk about the girls for a spell….
Talking about the Girls
Smiles that can open up all sorts of doors.
Let’s talk a little about the girls.
These girls are mostly between the ages of 18 years and 45 years old. The vast bulk of them are in their late 20’s. In China, if you are a woman, the ages between 23 years old and 30 years old are the dating years where you look for a husband worthy to start a family with. In China, if a woman cannot find a man by the time she is 28, she is considered a Spinster. And is considered unmarriageable.
Yikes!
The age to get married for a woman in China is between 25 and 28. If they do not get married their entire family will sponsor these date-a-thons where they will have these programmed courting-rituals where the girl and the boy (part of a long line of boys) will spend time together.
The family won’t tell the girl beforehand either. She’ll walk into the house, and before she knows it, she’s on the fast track to get married. In the USA we call this a “shotgun wedding”. Only in China it’s the other way around.
This is an average, but beautiful girl from China.
I don’t know about you’se guys, but all these girls look pretty darn marriageable to me. They would be on the “A” list in any man’s personal list.
And no, someone had best hit those morons in Arkansas on their idiotic moronic heads. They do not look like pre-adolescent children do they?
What age do you think this lass is? Ten or twelve?
A special bonus
Now here is a very special bonus that I am including in this article.
You know that the United States is all upset that China is forging relationships with nations in Africa, and the tried and true methods of giving wads of money to African dictators no longer works. And the Chinese help, infrastructure and investment is changing the nations of Africa.
But you NEVER see or hear about it.
China is leading the world in Change. Look at these beauties. Gosh their hair is so wonderful. And look at those eyes, and lips. My goodness!
Not once did FOX “news”, CNN, Salon, the Huffington Post, or Free Republic ever mention how the good works that China is doing inside Africa is transforming the societies there. It’s “soft power”, don’t you know, and America hates that. You cannot make money on wars when everyone is happy.
Here’s a video showing the good things that are happening in Africa, and not this is not a propaganda flick. Like all the videos in this article, this is the real deal taken by people who are participating in it first hand. Notice how beautiful the African ladies are. Notice how happy everyone is. Notice that they are providing a stable source of income and a future.
This is Africa today.
This is because of China. And notice how they are all speaking Chinese in Africa. It makes a difference when you are not blowing up their houses, machine gunning down their cattle, and carpet bombing their cities.
Here is part eight of my series on learning about China by looking at pretty girls. And this one is a collection where I try to offer a different selection of all sorts and sizes.
Today is a nice lazy Saturday.
I went out to pick up some packages at the local “box store”, and then went off to the MeiYeJia quick-mart that I have mentioned before. It’s all so mellow. I passed one of the neighborhood kitty cats. He is a young gun. Maybe a year old, and taking a nice nap in the front. Like this…
Life is hard. Then you nap.
I went in to get a coke.
I don’t drink sodas like I used to in the United States. It’s far too sugary, and actually in China beer is just about the same price. So I tend to drink beer. But I wanted to get a “Black Coke” with is a zero calorie coke. I don’t care whether it has sugar or not. It’s just not as sweet as the regular coke.
And as I got it, I saw both of the children studying.
They are in first and second grade. And here it is on a Saturday at 3 in the afternoon, and they are there, next to their parents in their franchised quickie-mart, studying. So I slyly took a serendipitous photo of her while she was engrossed in her studies.
People. This is what China is.
First grader studying next to her parents in the family store on a lazy Saturday afternoon.
You would never see this in the United States.
Anyways…
Let’s get on to the girls of China, eh?
The idea here is that you would look at the girl, and in the process concentrate on the background around her. Because these are the “real deals”. This is what China is. And while the girls want you to focus on them, their eyes, their faces, their bodies, the background tells us much about where they live.
Besides… who doesn’t like to look at attractive people?
This is an average, but beautiful girl from China.
To Open the Files
Just unzip to whatever folder you want and then just play the first video, the other videos will play immediately afterwards (if you follow the default settings on your OS). Most videos are between one and a half to four minutes long. All told each zip file will give you about five to ten minutes of viewing.
I find the ladies lovely. But others might not.
For you others, well, I really hope that you are not too bored.
While I tend to prefer ladies with a more motherly and robust appearance, I find all of them to be very attractive. From the tall thin leggy beauties to the short cute little kitten like cuddle balls.
This is an average, but beautiful girl from China.
Some key points
Beauty is up to the person who views it.
And I have said this many, many times before.
Now, when I was younger, my tastes in women were shaped by the images and magazines of the time such as Playboy, and Penthouse. That’s all I had to go on, and as a young man, with my hormones a raging, all I could do is tremble as I asked a girl out. Which most of the time was a failure.
But it’s all a growth phase that we all go through.
And eventually you reach a balance point where your hormones are under control and all you really want to do is get to know the girl, have a good time together, and enjoy the moments. And really as you get older this becomes more and more pronounced.
You savor the steaks you eat. You enjoy the perfume she wears, you listen to her talk and enjoy the night air after the dinner. You joke, you laugh, and maybe sing a song or two while walking on the jetty.
Women are magical.
This is an average, but beautiful girl from China.
I think that the beauty of these videos is that in a few seconds you can see the “personality” of the ladies as they try to display their charms for the world to see. It’s their choice of clothing, the area where the video was filmed, the selection of music, the way their hair is done up, and so much more.
Each little video is like a window to the soul. Where you get a little glimpse of the girl behind the mask. That little presentation is just pure gold.
This is an average, but beautiful girl from China.
Some have personality.
And some really do. While others just have a strong softness. Some are calm and composed, some are happy and light. And some are stunning and serious while others remind you of Summer carnival rides, cotton candy and “bear claw” cakes to s’munch upon.
This is an average, but beautiful girl from China.
Some have a great body.
They have long legs, or great dimples. Some have just long, long hair or dark, dark eyes. Some have a soft touch, while others have a careful composed prettiness.
Some have a great body.
This is an average, but beautiful girl from China.
Some just look great in a particular outfit, while others just fit the particular environment. Girls, ladies, women are like beautiful flowers that should be treasured and cherished. For they are all wonderful.
But do not mistake the cuteness of a tiger for the damage it could cause if you angered it. Chinese women are very, very capable people. You can take that “to the bank”. Never fail to understand that they are strong, knowledgeable and powerful in their own right.
This is an average, but beautiful girl from China.
All are wonderful.
Such is the beauty of women. And for us, and for everyone, we need to appreciative the world around us more.
A beautiful girl of China. This is an average, but beautiful girl from China.
That fat gal at the store that you see every day, she’s a kind, lovely beauty, who could use some TLC.
And that older woman wearing that elaborate outfit, just look at her, see how the light plays upon the details.
A beautiful girl of China. This is an average, but beautiful girl from China.
And that young girl going out with “her crew”, see the beauty of her age around and what they are doing.
We have to be more aware, and certainly more appreciative.
This is an average, but beautiful girl from China.
The Videos
Let’s have a look at the videos shall we? I’ve got a bunch for certain.
In this particular post we will look at these groups of videos. I do hope that you enjoy them…
You all might wonder why I am posting these pictures on the internet. But you shouldn’t.
Try to find pictures of beautiful girls from China using Google, Bing or any American or Western search engine. What you will get are stock images, advertisements, pictures of children, and professional photos associated with some Western “journalism”.
Nonsense. This is what it’s like.
This is the real, honest to goodness deal.
Oh, and don’t leave yet! Let’s talk about the girls for a spell….
This is an average, but beautiful girl from China.
About the girls
These girls are mostly between the ages of 18 years and 45 years old. The vast bulk of them are in their late 20’s. In China, if you are a woman, the ages between 23 years old and 30 years old are the dating years where you look for a husband worthy to start a family with. In China, if a woman cannot find a man by the time she is 28, she is considered a Spinster. And is considered unmarriageable.
The age to get married for a woman in China is between 25 and 28. If they do not get married their entire family will sponsor these date-a-thons where they will have these programmed courting-rituals where the girl and the boy (part of a long line of boys) will spend time together.
The family won’t tell the girl beforehand either. She’ll walk into the house, and before she knows it, she’s on the fast track to get married. In the USA we call this a “shotgun wedding”. Only in China it’s the other way around.
This is an average, but beautiful girl from China.
I don’t know about you’se guys, but all these girls look pretty darn marriageable to me. They would be on the “A” list in any man’s personal list.
This is an average, but beautiful girl from China.
Do you want more?
You can find many more videos in my “Learning about China by looking at pretty girls index” over here…
Here is part seven of my series on learning about China by looking at pretty girls. And this one is a “mother lode”.
Definition of motherload“…a huge shipment, large in quantity.”
The idea here is that you would look at the girl, and in the process concentrate on the background around her. Because these are the “real deals”. This is what China is. And while the girls want you to focus on them, their eyes, their faces, their bodies, the background tells us much about where they live.
Besides… who doesn’t like to look at attractive people?
To Open the Files
Just unzip to whatever folder you want and then just play the first video, the other videos will play immediately afterwards (if you follow the default settings on your OS). Most videos are between one and a half to four minutes long. All told each zip file will give you about five to ten minutes of viewing.
I find the ladies lovely. But others might not. For you others, well, I really hope that you are not too bored.
Some key points
Beauty is up to the person who views it. What is attractive to one person might not be attractive to others. A case in point is a girl who I had a relationship with when I was in High School working in the coal mines. Everyone thought that she was ugly because she did not have a great face. But I liked her, and her body was absolutely rocking.
Like, (hey!) guys, you have no… NO!… idea.
I think that the beauty of these videos is that in a few seconds you can see the “personality” of the ladies as they try to display their charms for the world to see.
Some have personality.
Some have a great body.
Some just look great in a particular outfit, while others just fit the particular environment.
All are wonderful.
Such is the beauty of women. And for us, and for everyone, we need to appreciative the world around us more. That fat gal at the store that you see every day, she’s a kind, lovely beauty, who could use some TLC. And that older woman wearing that elaborate outfit, just look at her, see how the light plays upon the details. And that young girl going out with “her crew”, see the beauty of her age around and what they are doing.
We have to be more aware, and certainly more appreciative.
The Videos
In this particular post we will look at these groups of videos. I do hope that you enjoy them…
Group 1 (Sorry it got lost in the sorting. I blame a host of problems resulting in a “perfect-storm” of erasure, deletion, and loss.)
Here is part of my series on learning about China by looking at pretty girls. The idea is that you would look at the girl, and in the process concentrate on the background around her. Because these are the “real deals”. This is what China is. And while the girls want you to focus on them, their eyes, their faces, their bodies, the background tells us much about where they live.
Besides… who doesn’t like to look at attractive people?
To Open the Files
Just unzip to whatever folder you want and then just play the first video, the other videos will play immediately afterwards (if you follow the default settings on your OS). Most videos are between one and a half to four minutes long. All told each zip file will give you about five to ten minutes of viewing.
I find the ladies lovely. But others might not. For you others, well, I really hope that you are not too bored.
Some key points
Beauty is up to the person who views it. What is attractive to one person might not be attractive to others. A case in point is a girl who I had a relationship with when I was in High School working in the coal mines. Everyone thought that she was ugly because she did not have a great face. But I liked her, and her body was absolutely rocking. Like, guys, you have no idea.
I think that the beauty of these videos is that in a few seconds you can see the “personality” of the ladies as they try to display their charms for the world to see. Some have personality. Some have a great body. Some just look great in a particular outfit, while others just fit the particular environment. All are wonderful.
The Videos
In this particular post we will look at these groups of videos. I do hope that you enjoy them…
Video Set A
The archive starts out with a lot of cute butts, and a lot of shaking. I do love girls that are soft and cuddly. That’s one of the fundamental differences between the sexes. Mean tend to be lean with muscles everywhere. Women tend to be soft and nurturing.
Look at these girls. You can control how your life will manifest. You do that by thoughts, and verbal affirmations in a prayer campaign. What’s stopping you from making the kind of life that you yearn from materialize? What is stopping you?
All you need to do is show some compassion to animals, to others, and to the down and out, and you have won my heart. You can look good, and be super attractive, and you will be noticed, but it is what is inside of you that will act as the glue that will hold your life and your relationships together.
Here is part of my series on learning about China by looking at pretty girls. The idea is that you would look at the girl, and in the process concentrate on the background around her. Because these are the “real deals”. This is what China is. And while the girls want you to focus on them, their eyes, their faces, their bodies, the background tells us much about where they live.
Besides… who doesn’t like to look at attractive people?
To Open the Files
Just unzip to whatever folder you want and then just play the first video, the other videos will play immediately afterwards (if you follow the default settings on your OS). Most videos are between one and a half to four minutes long. All told each zip file will give you about five to ten minutes of viewing.
I find the ladies lovely. But others might not. For you others, well, I really hope that you are not too bored.
Some key points
Beauty is up to the person who views it. What is attractive to one person might not be attractive to others. A case in point is a girl who I had a relationship with when I was in High School working in the coal mines. Everyone thought that she was ugly because she did not have a great face. But I liked her, and her body was absolutely rocking. Like, guys, you have no idea.
I think that the beauty of these videos is that in a few seconds you can see the “personality” of the ladies as they try to display their charms for the world to see. Some have personality. Some have a great body. Some just look great in a particular outfit, while others just fit the particular environment. All are wonderful.
The Videos
In this particular post we will look at these groups of videos. I do hope that you enjoy them…
Video Set A
All these girls are lovely. There is one video that takes place in Vietnam; that’s the one with the girl on the arm of the Westerner. There is also a video of a hiding space inside one of the apartments. The Chinese have not forgotten their past. They have secret rooms and access areas no matter how safe the world appears at the moment.
I threw in one American girl Tictok video for comparison purposes and one WTF video showing how the government monitors people via drones and gets you to help, safety or to correct bad behavior. I also threw in a Chinese translation app that is really handy to have around. Check them all out. The rest are all cute girls.
Here’s an interesting group with one video of a guy in Vietnam trying to pick up some street girls on break, and some other pretty Chinese girls. I do like to show compare and contrast videos for the viewer and reader to see things in a different way that is not intuitively obvious.
Here is part of my series on learning about China by looking at pretty girls. The idea is that you would look at the girl, and in the process concentrate on the background around her. Because these are the “real deals”. This is what China is. And while the girls want you to focus on them, their eyes, their faces, their bodies, the background tells us much about where they live.
Besides… who doesn’t like to look at attractive people?
To Open the Files
Just unzip to whatever folder you want and then just play the first video, the other videos will play immediately afterwards (if you follow the default settings on your OS). Most videos are between one and a half to four minutes long. All told each zip file will give you about five to ten minutes of viewing.
I find the ladies lovely. But others might not. For you others, well, I really hope that you are not too bored.
Some key points
Beauty is up to the person who views it. What is attractive to one person might not be attractive to others. A case in point is a girl who I had a relationship with when I was in High School working in the coal mines. Everyone thought that she was ugly because she did not have a great face. But I liked her, and her body was absolutely rocking. Like, guys, you have no idea.
I think that the beauty of these videos is that in a few seconds you can see the “personality” of the ladies as they try to display their charms for the world to see. Some have personality. Some have a great body. Some just look great in a particular outfit, while others just fit the particular environment. All are wonderful.
The Videos
In this particular post we will look at these groups of videos. I do hope that you enjoy them…
Video Set A
We start this set with an American girl. She’s not bad. Nice. Fun. Kind of cute. Then we follow up with the Chinese girls. Look, and see how they all present themselves. Some are elegant. Some a fun and playful. Some are nice, and others are exciting. All of this is what China is about.
In this group I almost overdosed on cute. So many cute girls doing cute things. Why it just takes me back to a younger time, and an easier time. That’s magical. And that is what makes women so magical at times.
Yes. There are some beautiful girls here in this set. But the ones that I like the most are the girls being themselves in a normal situation, such as the girl in her college dorm room. You see, you don’t need to get all dressed up and made up to be attractive. You just need to be yourself. I find that amazingly refreshing.
That is not to say that I don’t like a woman to take care of herself. Because I really like it when she gets read, looks her best and goes out with me. But I really like the real girl. It’s the personality that makes the difference.
Some girls are thin, some are beautiful. Some are cute, and some… well they just defy description. But each and everyone of them is appealing. It’s their dress, their actions and their choice of music that illustrate how they feel at the particular moment in time when they made that video. And they are all a treasure. A precious treasure that you just want to be near and appreciate.
Here is part of my series on learning about China by looking at pretty girls. The idea is that you would look at the girl, and in the process concentrate on the background around her. Because these are the “real deals”. This is what China is. And while the girls want you to focus on them, their eyes, their faces, their bodies, the background tells us much about where they live.
Besides… who doesn’t like to look at attractive people?
To Open the Files
Just unzip to whatever folder you want and then just play the first video, the other videos will play immediately afterwards (if you follow the default settings on your OS). Most videos are between one and a half to four minutes long. All told each zip file will give you about five to ten minutes of viewing.
I find the ladies lovely. But others might not. For you others, well, I really hope that you are not too bored.
Some key points
Beauty is up to the person who views it. What is attractive to one person might not be attractive to others. A case in point is a girl who I had a relationship with when I was in High School working in the coal mines. Everyone thought that she was ugly because she did not have a great face. But I liked her, and her body was absolutely rocking. Like, guys, you have no idea.
I think that the beauty of these videos is that in a few seconds you can see the “personality” of the ladies as they try to display their charms for the world to see. Some have personality. Some have a great body. Some just look great in a particular outfit, while others just fit the particular environment. All are wonderful.
The Videos
In this particular post we will look at these groups of videos. I do hope that you enjoy them…
Video Set A
Some very fine active chest action with these girls in this group. I also threw in (accidentally) a video depicting how this one particular crew of pick-pockets operated by crashing into people and stealing their belongings when no one was watching. Don’t worry, they were caught and are now in prison doing time, and organ harvesting. After all, they were really bad. But the girls here are nice, and I love the aggressive boob action. Hey! If you’ve got it, let it rip!
This is a pretty good collection. The second video shows some KTV girls getting paid for their time at the club, and it’s a pretty interesting set up, eh? And there are some really cute girls thrown in the mix as well.
This is a nice set. I sort of “polluted it” by throwing in two American Tictok videos into the mix. Can you figure out which ones? Take your time. It’s tricky as one girl is an Asian-American.
There’s a video of an American and one of a Mexican lady in this mix. Can you tell who is who and which ones are not Chinese? It’s a fun game. I have personal favorites here, and I think that you all might appreciate them.
Here is part of my series on learning about China by looking at pretty girls. The idea is that you would look at the girl, and in the process concentrate on the background around her. Because these are the “real deals”. This is what China is. And while the girls want you to focus on them, their eyes, their faces, their bodies, the background tells us much about where they live.
Besides… who doesn’t like to look at attractive people?
To Open the Files
Just unzip to whatever folder you want and then just play the first video, the other videos will play immediately afterwards (if you follow the default settings on your OS). Most videos are between one and a half to four minutes long. All told each zip file will give you about five to ten minutes of viewing.
I find the ladies lovely. But others might not. For you others, well, I really hope that you are not too bored.
Some key points
Beauty is up to the person who views it. What is attractive to one person might not be attractive to others. A case in point is a girl who I had a relationship with when I was in High School working in the coal mines. Everyone thought that she was ugly because she did not have a great face. But I liked her, and her body was absolutely rocking. Like, guys, you have no idea.
I think that the beauty of these videos is that in a few seconds you can see the “personality” of the ladies as they try to display their charms for the world to see. Some have personality. Some have a great body. Some just look great in a particular outfit, while others just fit the particular environment. All are wonderful.
The Videos
In this particular post we will look at these groups of videos. I do hope that you enjoy them…
Video Set A
You can download this file archive HERE. 13MB. Generally comparatively small.
Video Set B
Let’s play a game. I threw in one American girl from the American version of TicTok in the group can you find her? Look carefully. LOL. How would you describe her compared to the rest of the Chinese girls?
Now the fun and games continue. I snuck in two (not one) American girls in this group. Can you find them? Can you identify them? Come on! It shouldn’t be so hard, eh?
Additionally, one of the videos, I think that it is the 9th one down shows an entire family. Note that the mother looks just a beautiful as her young 19 year old daughter. China is amazing.
Here, we also have some girls from Vietnam thrown in to the mix. Can you identify which videos they are? Over all I strongly believe that there is a girl for every guy in this world and beauty only goes as far as to attact and get noticed, but it is the personality, the inner strength and their skills that maintain a relationship.
Again, here there are many girls from China. They come in different sizes and shapes. Some are like beautiful flowers, while others are like cute little dolls, and still others are strong confident women. And for me, personally, all of them are attractive. I think that the beauty that a woman possess goes far deeper than what she displays to the world outside, and I hope that these little videos show that aspect.
Again, some beautiful ladies that come in all sizes and in all shapes. This is why I have come to appreciate China. How many tattoos can you fin in this grouping? How many enormous asses, and how many are lifting their asses up high to wiggle for the world to see? Eh?
Here is part of my series on learning about China by looking at pretty girls. The idea is that you would look at the girl, and in the process concentrate on the background around her. Because these are the “real deals”. This is what China is. And while the girls want you to focus on them, their eyes, their faces, their bodies, the background tells us much about where they live.
Besides… who doesn’t like to look at attractive people?
After viewing this “treasure trove” of Chinese beauties, you too will have a better than average understanding about what Chinese ladies look like. Sure beats the stereotypical narrative by low-educated American sheeple…
"Chinese girls are all short, frail, little tiny women, that don't have chests and look like pre-adsolescent children."
To Open the Files
Just unzip to whatever folder you want and then just play the first video, the other videos will play immediately afterwards (if you follow the default settings on your OS). Most videos are between one and a half to four minutes long. All told each zip file will give you about five to ten minutes of viewing.
I find the ladies lovely. But others might not. For you others, well, I really hope that you are not too bored.
Some key points
Beauty is up to the person who views it. What is attractive to one person might not be attractive to others. A case in point is a girl who I had a relationship with when I was in High School working in the coal mines. Everyone thought that she was ugly because she did not have a great face. But I liked her, and her body was absolutely rocking. Like, guys, you have no idea.
I think that the beauty of these videos is that in a few seconds you can see the “personality” of the ladies as they try to display their charms for the world to see. Some have personality. Some have a great body. Some just look great in a particular outfit, while others just fit the particular environment. All are wonderful.
The Videos
In this particular post we will look at these groups of videos. I do hope that you enjoy them…
Video Set A
I have to apologize that I have four videos of the same girl in this particular collection, but she models those pants so well. And I am a sucker for bouncy chests on thin girls, don’t you know… (giggle).
This group highlights eight (8x) videos of a more robust woman that I personally find quite alluring. But that’s just me. But I will tell you that even though I enjoy the women who wear the short cute little dresses, what I really love are all those traditional clothing, whether it is Han, or as shown in this collection the “Gone with the Wind” style. I think they are awesome.
Aside from my personal love of big smiles, big hair and big chests, you will note that all these girls are inside of China. Does China look dirty, filthy, stinky or disgusting to you? What about the buildings? Does it look like things are run down, work out, or that the infrastructure hasn’t been repaired in a long long time? No. Of course not.
The featured girl in this collection of videos is so sweet that I could fall heads over heels over her and not realize what I am doing. This collection kind of shows that it’s not so much the appearance that a woman has, but rather how she acts and carries herself. Being feminine is surely very attractive.
This is a pretty large archive at 128MB. But as large as it is, the length of time for the movies are comparatively long as well. So that’s a plus.
I threw in a video of some Middle Eastern girls in the mix. Can you pick it out? Is it easy or difficult to sort out. LOL. The last video is of the same girl that is the first video, and she is from Hunan. She’s a Hunan girl. And in the last video you can see her mother next to her. My father always told me that to see what will happen to the girl that you marry, look at her mother. I would argue that it’s not always a direct correlation, but it has some merit worthy of thought, eh?
You can download this file archive HERE. 120MB. Pretty large, and might take a few minutes to download.
Video Set E
This collection is much smaller than the previous one, and would end up loading much faster. It’s a great way to look at some fine Chinese girls quickly.
This article is devoted to one of my more neglected sub-indexes. Which is the “learning about China by looking at Chinese girls” sub-index. Well, in this article we won’t be teaching you all all that much about China so much as we are showing you images of what the girls are like in China.
I know, I know… the American propaganda mills have been working over-time to make China look like an evil monster, dark, gloomy, sad and dirty. It’s nothing like that. But you know, the sheeple love to read things like that. It makes them feel good about their sorry lives.
So what I did was I got on my local internet and started collecting short videos made by gals here in China. They are in no particular order. I just went ahead and vacuumed them up as I found them. Over all, they are a great introduction to what the girls of China look like today.
I took the micro-videos and grouped them into batches of ten. Then I zipped up the file so that you can download all ten together. It’s much faster and easier for you to check out these ladies this way. I did make a point to put at least one “noticeable” worthy girl in each group. I’ll have you know.
But first…
Realize that just because the girls like to dance around on Chinese social media does not equate them to be the “standard, and normal” Chinese lass. They tend to stand apart in one way or the other as this video clearly indicates…
But first, let’s see what kinds of images that you can find on American Internet and American websites that depict what Chinese girls must look like. OK.
This is a screen shot of a Bing Image Search…
Chinese girls according to Bing Search.
You know, there are ugly people all over, but seriously, the density of all these types of girls gives you the illusion that this is what all the Chinese girls look like. It’s not even remotely true.
Some Examples of Chinese Girls…
OK. Here’s some fun videos of come pretty Chinese girls.
Click on the link under the picture. It will download a ZIP file.
Unzip to a folder.
Then when you open the folder you will see the ten videos.
Click on the first one, and the computer will play all ten one after the other. You should be able to go through all the ten micro-videos in just over a minute.
Group 1
The ladies come in all shapes and sizes. Some are busty. Some are not. Some are short, and some are tall. All are lovely.
And you can access these young ladies by clicking HERE.
Group 2
Most of the Chinese girls like to wear tight fitting clothes. It’s the current fashion, I figure. I am not complaining. It’s like when I lived in California back in the early 1980’s, and all the girls wore these one-piece spandex suits that they rode bicycles in.
And you can access these young ladies by clicking HERE.
Group 3
All of these girls, no matter what size or shape, all have one or more attributes that are attractive to me personally. I think that it is their personality that comes out on these little videos.
And you can access these young ladies by clicking HERE.
Group 4
You will note that not all Chinese girls have long black hair. Many have brown or shades of brown hair. And while the predominant eye color is brown, there are other colors that manifest from time to time.
And you can access these young ladies by clicking HERE.
Group 5
When I look at these girls, a flood of thoughts assault me. And one of the dominant thoughts is, of course, sharing a bottle of wine with them and eating some fine delicious food.
And you can access these young ladies by clicking HERE.
Group 6
All of these gals have a story to tell. Wouldn’t you like to sit at a table, enjoy some fine food, play some games. Drink some wine and listen to their stories?
And you can access these young ladies by clicking HERE.
Group 7
The gal on the bottom row in the middle is wearing some traditional Hunan clothing. I find the gals, the food, and the hilly countryside very appealing to me.
And you can access these young ladies by clicking HERE.
Group 8
The girl in the blue jeans is showing off her butt. It’s a pity that she doesn’t turn around so that we can see her face, and shape. But that’s the way life is. Sometimes people want to emphasize what they feel is their “best” physical attribute.
And you can access these young ladies by clicking HERE.
Group 9
Girl number two here is quite top heavy. I think that the outfit doesn’t do her justice. She might be better served with a long dress and a expansive top. But that’s just me, don’t you know.
And you can access these young ladies by clicking HERE.
Group 10
Having cleavage is a “thing” for girls in their 20’s in China, I guess. But you have to see them outside the work environment and in the clubs or KTV’s to appreciate it.
And you can access these young ladies by clicking HERE.
Group 11
The girl cutting up food is a real turn on. There are few things that get me more excited than a woman making and cooking dinner. It’s a fetish I suppose.
And you can access these young ladies by clicking HERE.
Group 12
This first gal in the golden spandex has a very nice butt. I could watch her a walking all day long, I’ll tell you what.
And you can access these young ladies by clicking HERE.
Some final thoughts
Now that I am older, when I look at a pretty and attractive lady, I think about going out together. I think about talking, eating fine delicious food, and drinking some nice alcohol. It makes me want to put on my “best side” also and just spend a lovely day or evening together. Engaging in free talk, and just having fun.
If something else happens, then great. If not, well, that’s fine too.
In every event, we would all have a great time. Talking, being our best and sharing our thoughts, our lives and fun together. It’s a precious thing.
One of the things that I really like about China is that you can speak freely to each other. You don’t have to worry about offending someone by your mannerisms, or your language or your subject matter. And this fact really becomes pronounced when I meet someone from the West who comes to China on a visit and I immediately notice they stiffen up and get uncomfortable when I speak, or smoke or drink.
But what’s their problem. I offer them a cigarette. You know?
Jeeze! They are so imprisoned that they don’t know what freedom actually is.
Being afraid to say something, least the person gets offended is not freedom. Freedom is the ability to be yourself. So be it. Don’t try to please others. Please yourself. You’ll end up being a heck of a lot happier in return.
Throw in some fine delicious wine.
And some tasty food.
And some great conversation with some attractive ladies, and you have the makings of a wonderful time. I kid you not. You can believe me on this. And that is really true if one of the ladies is an animal lover, a cook, a gardener, a history buff, a poet, an archivist, or a dancer. My experiences with these kinds of women has always been extraordinary.
And don’t even get me started on some of the prime MM subjects here. You’ll never get me to shut up!
Generally speaking in China, the more you can drink, the more respect you will earn. If you can drink excessive amounts of alcohol, still stand up, form relatively coherent sentences and follow proper Chinese drinking etiquette (see below), you’ll no doubt impress your table-mates and leave a good impression. If you fail, don’t worry! You probably won’t remember it anyway. Obviously never drink more than you can handle no matter what the pressure.
Do you want more?
I have more posts like this in my Pretty Girls of China Index here…
Some people come to Metallicman for the articles on space, extraterrestrials and my experiences. Others come for glimpses and insight into China, while still other come to understand the MWI and world-line travel, and yet still others come to see pretty girls. This particular article is about observation, understanding and finding your place in a world full of situational adventures…
…
I once dated a woman who left me for a member of a motorcycle gang.
Her best friend was dating one of the gang, and soon she hooked up with a guy in that gang; another gang member. And, no, this wasn’t in my teenage years. I was in my 40’s at the time and my (former) girlfriend, and her friend were both in their late 30’s. Owned houses and successful businesses. The woman who was dating the (first) biker gang member owned a complete hotel with a restaurant, as well as other property. She also had a huge bank account from her ex-husband who had died earlier.They didn’t need to “go slumming”. They could have picked any guy they wanted.
And they wanted some fun and adventure, I suppose.
Anyways, they lived in a nice “bedroom community”; meaning a nice quiet town in central Pennsylvania. Not much going on. The town itself was beautiful, and calm and located in a nice part of the country.
I don’t know how they ended up getting tangled with this crew but the guys were also in their 30’s, and they looked the part of a motorcycle gang. Long hair, tattoos, and a really hash demeanor. They had a sort of a (young) Willie Nelson vibe.
Of course, they rode Harley Davidson motorcycles, and had the “colors” on their vests, and wore black leather boots. It’s not just stereotypical, it was the real way that they dressed and acted. It was like a scene from Bad Company, and The Cult. Chains dangling from their leather wallets, big massive belt buckles on leather belts. Pins on their vests, and elements of grey hair at their temples and on their beards.
They were also heavily involved in the meth trade. They manufactured it, and used it. And during the brief period of time when I was still dating my girlfriend, she would tell me about the absolutely insane levels of Animalistic sex her girlfriend would have with her gang-member boyfriend. She said all that they did was have near continuous sex, without sleeping or eating, for days.
I would imagine that it was something like what is described here…
What’s It Like To Have Sex For 9 Hours Straight
Reprint from HERE. All credit to the author and reprinted and edited to fit this venue.
It was with a girl I’d been dating over a year and it involved meth. Kids, don’t ever try meth, I am not kidding… but if you do make sure you have sex*, because – holy shit.
*with someone you trust
My girlfriend and I were already very familiar with each other’s bodies, and we were averaging at the sweet spot of about 45 minutes of intercourse a day, which is to say we were already trained for marathon humping. We’d had sex on meth once before (three hours that time), and it was so much fun we decided to set aside a Saturday night to try it again.
At 11pm, we start smoking, and put some porn on to set the mood.
By 11:15, we’re humping like frantic rabbits. Not your standard “I want you, you want me, let’s do this” sex, this is downright animalistic fucking. Fast, slow, vigorous, violent. Each sensation intensified five-fold. We’re inventing positions beyond the kama sutra, fucking at every conceivable angle to find the best ones. We are energizer bunnies running on unadulterated carnal lust, an unstoppable desire to push every limit of pleasure. This is what porn wishes it looked like.
At midnight, we’re both still horny as hell but I’m exhausted. She on the other hand has more energy now than when we started (this must be how succubus legends started) and spends the better part of the hour riding me. We go down on each other every once in a while for intermission.
1am, my orgasm is nowhere in sight, which is great because neither of us want to stop. We do slow down the rhythm and switch positions more frequently. Short break to smoke some more and change the 5-6 porno movies we have playing on loop.
2am, we are so dehydrated that we need to take an extended pause to chug several cups of water each. We’ve already passed our previous time record, but we’re just getting started. Everything is so goddamn sexy. She is so fucking hot, I’m so fucking hot, we’re just wild beasts succumbing to our deepest nature. Our passion is an unstoppable force. We just want to feel each other, as deep and intensely as possible.
3am, she’s no longer getting wet but we both want to keep going, so we chug more water and get the lube out. We go down on each other for about half an hour, slowly and oh so deliciously. She tastes better than she’s ever tasted before and I can’t get enough of her, 69 has never been so fun. We’re trying out new things that we’ve never done before. Any inhibitions about sex we’ve ever had in our lives are gone.
There is literally nothing we could do right now that would turn the other person off. We take advantage of this to ask each other to do things we’re usually too ashamed to ask for. We talk dirty like never before. Licking assholes, smacking each other, throwing her around the room, you fucking sexy slut this, give me your fucking dick that… It’s all so goddamn intense.
4am, I can’t even keep it up anymore. She goes down on me but it’s no use – my body is utterly depleted. I’m angry at myself because I don’t want to ever stop having this kind of sex, she tells me not to push myself too much. We cuddle for half an hour, softly massaging each other’s genitals with lube. The gentleness is a welcome change of pace for both of us and eventually I get it up again and slide back inside her, but now I’m alternating between hard and soft, all the while desperately willing my penis towards the former.
5am, we are so tired. We haven’t eaten in 12 hours and I haven’t done this much exercise in years. I’m not even inside her most the time anymore, we’re just rubbing each other and telling the other how turned on we are, how much we love each other, how hot this is, while our eyes are glued to the monitor that’s playing 6 porn movies simultaneously. We compare notes about which movies are our favorites, and it’s the sexiest conversation ever. We smoke a little bit more.
6am, it’s on again. Our second (or maybe 4th/5th) wind is here and we’re back at it full force. We’ve gone totally numb to the porn now, there’s been so much of it, so we turn it off, which strangely enough gets us more excited.
7am, we decide to record this on video because this is going to look amazing, but sadly we’ve missed most of the best stuff and now it’s a mix of me slow-thrusting and her trying to keep me hard with her mouth, with the occasional scene of enthusiastic passion. I spend more time watching the live recording than looking at her… I stop filming after 45 minutes so I won’t be distracted anymore. A bit more good and vigorous fucking.
8am, we can’t go on. I can’t go on. The passion is still every bit there, but the flesh is weak, so so weak. I am utterly and entirely done. I still haven’t come because of the meth, but there is literally zero energy left in my body. Every reserve has been tapped, just holding my body upright seems like a herculean task. She insists on finishing me off with her mouth. God bless her loving heart.
8:30, after a half hour blowjob, and nine hours of semi-continuous fucking, I finally come. It’s like a volcanic eruption, I almost black out from the release. I collapse hard, immobilized for a good twenty minutes.
My penis is so raw that the slightest touch is unbearably painful.
Of course I can’t sleep, because, the meth, but we both feel so amazing (and exhausted). There is lube and other fluids all over the place, but we don’t care. After a rest (and a huge spliff to ease the comedown) we pull ourselves up and go get some breakfast, which we have to force ourselves to eat.
It would be 36 hours before I got another erection.
We never replicated the events of that night after that. We decided to flush the little bit of remaining meth because it was just too powerful a force – that shit will get you addicted so hard and so fast. As amazing as we felt during the high, the sheer misery of the comedown was almost more intense, and even in our exhaustion we were desperate for another puff. Plus I was terrified that the drug-free sex would never be as good again in comparison.
But it remains a really great memory in my mind, and truth be told, our inhibition-free romp allowed us to discover even more about each other’s sexuality, and opened some gateways to more amazing (even drug-free) sex in the future.
– Jeremy Tschen
Some thoughts
I enjoy sex like most people. However, as an older man, I am more on the relaxed and laid back side of it all. Having wild and crazy sex like what is described herein is great for a younger man, but for me it might put me into a coma. Ugh!
I think that taking a drug occasionally to achieve a certain objective has it’s merits. If you have high blood pressure, you take a pill every day. If you have erectile dysfunction, you can take a little blue pill, and if you need a vacation, perhaps you can take a recreational drug to expand your frame of reference. But in all cases, I must advise against habitual use.
And this goes for sex as well. Too much sex can cause problems.
Though, you might die with a smile on your face.
I have a very good friend who was taking triple doses of Cialis every day for three years. (Why he did that, I will not get involved in.) But what I can say is that he eventually developed Esophageal cancer. Which is a very rare form of cancer, and he was in a terminal stage. Last I heard he was having a real rough time at it. It’s tough for him.
He’s only three years older than me.
Don’t get too dependent on chemistry to evoke enjoyment. It will not be good.
Anyways, I felt that this story was interesting. And it added a little bit of background and elaboration on what my girlfriend’s friend was saying. And at the time, really, I had no idea.I really didn’t. The wild sex was mentioned on more than one occasion to me, and I even wondered if she wanted me to be more active, but when I asked she’d always say “Lord, for goodness, No.” So I didn’t pay it any mind; I didn’t pay it any attention.
In hindsight, I imagine that my ex-girlfriend got to have a taste of this “forbidden fruit” and her life migrated in what ever direction that it would tend to carry her off to…
…probably not a good place.
After taking crystal meth, the desire to use more typically becomes very strong.
This physical pull to keep taking more of a drug is called “dependence.”
Becoming dependent on a drug is part of the addiction cycle.
Crystal meth addicts are also likely to develop a strong “tolerance” to the drug, which means that, with continued use, more and more of the drug must be taken in order to achieve the same desired effect.
-History of Crystal Meth
I don’t believe she left me because of the promise of meth-induced marathon sex adventures. Instead I think that she left me because the allure of a big, dark, husky tough talking, rough around the corners, biker appealed to her base instincts. She, perhaps, found herself “under his spell”. And she enjoyed that.
Sometimes, it seems, that women go for either [1] the super-tough macho men, or [2] the sickly men that need nurturing and attention.
Women can’t explain it, there’s just something about a deep breathy voice that makes us weak in the knees. According to a British study, women prefer men with deeper voices because it’s subconsciously perceived as a sign of masculinity. The study asked 60 women to rate the sex appeal of 10 male recorded voices, with results showing that the deeper breather voices, which were voices both masculine and tender, win in overall popularity. "These results suggest that what makes the voice attractive are mostly properties that enhance the characteristics already in the averaged voice of the sex," explained the authors, the Daily Mail reported.
What is attractive?
Which brings up another subject that I covered elsewhere on what is attractive to me as a man. Here, let’s see what might be attractive to a woman who meets you for the first time. Or second time. Or, maybe third time.
Consider this list…
#1 Good grooming. Dress well and look good no matter where you are. You never know when you’d bump into the woman of your dreams. It’s a simple tip, but something almost all guys never focus on. Groom yourself well with quality man products and complex perfumes that smells great on you.
#2 Be assertive in your behavior. Women love a man who’s not fickle minded. Have an ego and believe in yourself and your decisions. As hard as this may seem, be the man who can put someone else in place when they overstep the line or misbehave with you.
#3 Charming personality. A charming personality is everything, but yet it’s not something most men have. In fact, meeting a man who knows to charm a girl is a hard task for any woman. Improve your body language around women and learn your manners around them.
#4 A good physique. Go build those biceps and those deltoids in your shoulders. When you work out, you look healthier and radiant, and clothes look oh-so-sexy on you. If you want to attract a girl at first sight, you have to remember that appearances do matter. A lot.
#5 Have a good sense of humor. It takes less than a minute for a girl to know if a guy has a good sense of humor while having a conversation with him. And that’s all you need to impress a girl. All girls know that a guy with a great sense of humor can be a lot of fun over dates or phone calls. Have a light hearted and fun approach towards life and try to look at the bright side all the time. You’ll draw women to you like moths to a flame.
#6 A man who’s not a pushover. A guy who’s a pushover is one of the worst kinds of men in the hierarchy of dating. A pushover is a guy who prefers to accept defeat just to avoid conflict with someone who’s dominating him. Don’t ever be taken for granted by anyone, be it your own friends or a colleague. Have a spine and principles in life. If you feel you’re being wronged, learn to voice your opinion instead of being implosive.
#7 A good job and a nice salary. Well, now we’re getting shallow. But it’s better to face the truth than pretend like money doesn’t matter. Of course it does! You like a sexy woman over an unattractive women. Women like a rich guy over a church mouse. Be rich and drive a great car and you’ll have a huge advantage already. Just a word though, it’s just an advantage, but it’s not enough.
#8 A man who’s respected by others. Women like to be respected by the man they like, but they also like being with a guy who’s respected by others. If someone doesn’t respect you, is it your own fault? If it is, try to get better. If it isn’t your own fault, walk away from them. Or stand up and claim the respect you deserve from them. It all comes down to this, if you genuinely respect yourself and have an ego, would you ever allow someone to throw you around for no fault of yours? Stand up and be a man.
#9 A confident man. Confidence is a great trait to have for any man. It’s an inner strength that’s seen and envied by anyone you meet. A confident man is more attractive to women because he believes in himself and his abilities, and he doesn’t tuck tail and run when he knows he’s right.
#10 A man who looks good. Good looks always make things easier when it comes to attracting the opposite sex. But when it comes to a man, thankfully for average looking men, there’s more than just a face carved by the gods that matters. Look your best, dress well and maintain a good posture. A straight back with an air of confidence can definitely impress the girl you like. Have a happy, cheerful face and a genuinely happy smile and you’ll do wonders.
#11 A good conversationalist. Just like a good sense of humor, knowing how to speak to a woman is a trait that all women look for in a man. Be pleasant, speak smoothly in a low tone and show genuine interest in the woman while speaking to her. Create conversations around her and make her have a nice time with you.
#12 Respectful behavior. Be respectful towards others when they deserve your respect. All good natured women like a well mannered and kind man who doesn’t treat others badly just because he can. Don’t be rude to waiters or your subordinates unless you have a reason to. Treat everyone with respect and you’ll be treated with respect. Women see kind men as good fathers, and it’s a trait that women instinctively like. Have good etiquette and treat women chivalrously, and you’ll notice them warming up to you almost instantly.
#13 An alpha male. The best women are always in the arms of the best men. No woman would want to date another guy’s man Friday if she’s desired by all men. If your friends don’t respect you, find new friends. You may have noticed this already, but there are always just one or two guys in a big group of guys who date the sexiest women while other guys sit wide eyed and hear their success stories in awe. They’re the alpha male. Be that guy.
#14 Make her feel comfortable in her skin. Women like a man who makes them feel at ease within the first few minutes of a conversation. Be the guy who can take away the air of nervousness in a first conversation while talking to a woman and she’ll like you for it. Indulge in a pleasant conversation and ensure that she feels involved and excited to talk to you.
#15 A compatible personality. Here’s a downer that you have to accept when it comes to understanding what women look for in a man. You may be a great guy, but at times both of you may just be way too incompatible for each other. She may like you, but she may not be willing to date you for her own reasons of compatibility. If you want to avoid this, be pleasant and genuine, and most of all, focus on her interests and learn about her likes and dislikes while talking to her so you know the right things to say at the right time. If she feels compatible with you and your personality, and thinks you’ll get along with her friends and family, she’ll definitely like you.
Conclusion
Personally, that when it comes to women’s preferences, it’s indeed complicated and depends on the situation. If there is one thing that I have learned is that everyone is different and what appeals to one person would repel another.
So my list above is just a guideline.
Seriously, if you take care of yourself. have self confidence, and can earn a buck or two, there’s no reason why a woman wouldn’t want to talk with you. And then from there… well, anything is possible.
Yet in most of my experiences, I can say that a hard, rough and “dark” man image appeals to most of the ladies that I have known. Of course, it doesn’t mean that they will just throw themselves into the sack with them, as other factors will mitigate the animal attraction, but it seems to be unmistakable. A strong man, a confident man, and a fun man are all positives when dealing with women.
Not that it matters to me. I’ve got a family, and they are a handful. In fact, more than just a handful. And yet, if I want some diversity, I go and get it. So it’s not really a big deal to me.
I want to believe that our lives and our experiences are PERSONAL matters. We can learn from the experiences of others, and apply the lessons to our own lives. But we should never want to relive the experiences of others. Simply because there are often unstated connections and conditions that complicate their relationships and situations.
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Interior of a roadside diner.
American burgers.
The propaganda of fear has been used quite effectively by those who want to gain control, and it is working on the American populace.
Here’s one with ICs… 
or, [B] Have a bio-feedback loop that measures your brain frequencies and then adjusts the pulse width of your message carrier wave.
